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Hi Rick! thank you for this story! what they dont say: The swiss (and probably further european) tradition is a visit of Sta Claus on Dec 6! The old man comes with a donkey and heavily knocks at the door and looks up every kid in his huge book and criticizes its bad behaviours with the threat to take it with him into the forest (this threatening part has faded since I was a kid...) but then ends up forgiving and pouring a heap of nuts, cinamon bread and oranges (and chocolate) out of his huge bag - which then turns into the dinner of the whole family that day. A wonderful party, I think, with a vibe very distinct from Christmas. I made the Sta Claus once and loved to tell the kids about the natural life in the forest and vegetarianism... :-) Its amazing how kids dive into the story and don't even realize that some times the old man is their own father! In our familiy, the being that brings the Chrismas presents was called Christ-Kid and I remember I perceived it rather as an angel with long white hair than a child... Jesus is a spirit of light and sun (nicely explained in the Zeitgeist movie). The name Christ means crucified, so to call his birthday Chrismas is rather paradox. And to imitate the tradition here on the south where the sun is at its maximum even more... But we are having nice meetings and good food, all is fine :-) And I wish you all a lot of light, too! Matthias On 25 Dec 2008, at 09:08, Rick Walker wrote: > 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 > > -- > >