Santa Claus - The Truth, The Whole Truth And Nothing But Lots Of Stories

 

I would guess that most Western children have heard of Santa Claus, and when Christmas comes they lie awake at night wondering what Santa Claus would bring them as gifts for Christmas this year. I know I did as a child, especially on Christmas Eve. It always amazed me that he would wait patiently until I eventually fell asleep in the early hours, before parking his sleigh and reindeer on the roof before making the hazardous journey down the chimney to leave me that special gift.

I must admit that, in those younger days, I never even considered the origins of Santa Claus. He was just, well........Santa Claus. He was born, like the rest of us, but lived centuries rather than decades

In the conventional idea of Santa Claus, he is the symbol of the purity of the innocence and faith that children put into the Christmas season. He symbolizes hope, love, and generosity. He asks nothing in return, although the odd million mince pies and glasses of sherry seemed to go down well. In reality, it seems he must be an obese alcoholic, but this article is not about truth; it is about the different story origins of Santa Claus.

In the present day, Jolly Old Saint Nick is portrayed as a happy, fat old elf, wearing spectacles, and with rosy cheeks. This jolly old fellow delivers, on Christmas Eve and night, gifts to the children on the right side of the good or bad behaviour list. The wardrobe of Santa consists of mainly red suits with white trim, black boots, and red, white trimmed hats with a pompom on top.  This modern day Santa Claus hates to shave, and his principal mode of transportation consists of a giant red sleigh and eight reindeer, one of whom has a beacon of a red nose.  He was no doubt the first ever into the Guinness Book of Records for the most chimneys scaled in any one night

However, dear old Santa Claus has not always had that sort of image. The present day idea of Santa and his many characteristics which can be traced back to a mixture of tales and legends. The Santa Claus we all know today is the end result of centuries of yarns starring kind old men and holy figures, all rolled into one.

One of the most popular explanations of how Santa Claus originated can be traced back to an old monk in Turkey named St. Nicholas. This kindly Turk,  Saint Nicholas, was famed for his kindness and for his generous nature;  according to legend ,the old monk gave away every material thing he owned so that he could spend his life travelling to help the poor and sick children of the world.  As you can see, this version of Saint Nick did not start out as part of anything at all to do with the holiday season.

So how did St. Nicholas ever become associated with Christmas? Over the years as he became more and more renowned for his charitable work, St. Nicholas became known as the protector of children all over the world.  The date of his death, December 6, was celebrated with a feast and was considered an extremely happy, lucky day.  The Orthodox Catholic Church adopted Saint Nicholas as the patron saint of children and seafarers, and the 6th of December is his day.

That is just one origin of Santa Claus. It seems his publicity agent keeps others up his sleeve. The origin of Santa Claus can also be traced back to the Dutch legend of Sinter Klaas, who travelled the world on the eve of Saint Nicholas distributing toys and candy to the good children with Black Peter by his side, who carried a whip with which to punish bad children. 

The author Washington Irving first brought the Dutch version of Sinter Klaas to American attention in 1809, by giving an account of the saint's journey on horseback on the eve of Saint Nicholas. This was in his book, The History of New York.  In 1823 the poem, "A Visit From Saint Nicholas" (also known as " 'Twas The Night Before Christmas") by Clemente Mark Moore was published, and served as the American public's first glimpse into the conventional present day idea of Santa Claus, chimneys, reindeer, cookies and all.

But, let's face it, Santa Claus is above all that speculation, and beyond scientific speculation. If scientists cannot understand how a dragon fly can fly when it should really crash to the ground like a helicopter with no blades, then how can you expect them to understand dear old Santa, his magnificent sleigh, and his magical reindeer.

Santa Claus needs no origin. He just is; and always will be. But, as you will see from my new Christmas story, Santa Claus has actually been around for more than 800 years, and going as strong as ever.