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OT The historic roots of Santa Claus
I just read the history of Santa Claus at yahoo news and thought it
apropos for the season
to share it with you all. I print it below.
Also, whilst touring with the great British fingerstyle/altered tuning
acoustic guitarist,
Martin Simpson, he told me that once, touring in Japan, during the
Christmas season (some
Japanese really get into the Christmas spirit as a kind of exotic
experience from what I've heard) he
saw a decoration in a window that had Santa Claus hanging, crucified on a
Cross.............whooooaaaaa!
Okay, here's my irreverant Christmas card to this wonderful list.
Merry Christmas to all of you, whether you celebrate or not......
love, Rick
*********
THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF SANTA CLAUS (an eye opening read)
In ancient times our ancestors found it difficult to deal with the harsh
Winter season... obviously with
out the modern comforts we all enjoy. A mild Winter was always something
they longed for, and
often tried to appears the forces of Nature with various religious
activities. The Pagan Vikings would
dress someone up to represent Old Man Winter, and then make him as welcome
as possible. The
British eventually adopted this custom, and after the advent of
Christianity, called him Old Father
Christmas. He was welcomed into each household to enjoy all the Feasting
and festivities. He was
plied with Mead and food to try and keep him in a good mood. It was hoped
that these activities
would make for a mild Winter and a good Spring. Much later, this ancient
Pagan figure, was confused
with Santa Claus, and today most think of them as one in the same.
Actually "Santa Claus", as he is
most commonly known, started out as a Christian Monk who died in 345 CE.
and who eventually
gained sainthood. Needless to say, he eventually became more popular than
"the Christ" and was
burned in effigy by the French clergy, in the middle part of the 20th
century! Finally, in 1969 CE,
Pope Paul VI demoted him in non-saint status! Today, the fat, jolly, red
suited Old Man is actually an
invention of the Coca-Cola Company. Strange, but true! In 1931, Coca-Cola
hired an artist to
redesign Santa Claus for their Winter advertising campaign.. Red and white
are the official colours of
Coca-Cola, hence the Old Man's new outfit. Since that time, the look of
Santa Claus has been carved
in stone.
Years ago Father Christmas or Old Man Winter, would appear in green,
purple, blue, blue-black or
even brown, often trimmed with brown, black or white furs. Sometimes even
covered head to toe in
fur skins. But no more! True to Corporate America's goal's, now all see
him as the fat jolly man in
the red suit, with lots of goodies for everyone.
Before Clement Moore write his famous poem in 1822, Father Christmas
travelled by foot or by giant
White horse (Sleiper? - Odin's eight legged horse). But Moore, a very
learned man and professor of
Literature, changed all of that forever when he introduced the idea of
reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh.
This was not done on a casual whim, but came from an ancient Finnish
legend about "Old Man
Winter". The Ancient Finns belied that Old Man Winter drove the reindeer
down the mountains, into
the lowlands each year with the coming of the cold (food source?). Moore
grafted part of this Finnish
legend onto the existing Farther Christmas. Why eight reindeer? Some
scholars have speculated that
the professor was having some fun with the general populace by perking up
his tale with a scholarly
reference to Odin, who rides an eight legged horse. As well known author,
Desmond Morris has
stated:
"Odin's horse carried the god around when, clad in a large cloak and hat,
he set out to meet his
people, dispensing rewards and punishments as they were due. There are
clearly elements there
suggesting that Odin was a precursor of the Farther Christmas-Santa Claus
figure, and it may have
amused Moore to incorporate at least one Odin feature in his new
creation". So again we find that
much of what we consider to be strictly a Christian phenomenon... is
again, based in Pagan reality
--