Santa Stories

Once again, Wikipedia proves to be an interesting source of folk historical knowledge. From the entry about Father Christmas:
Although Father Christmas and Santa Claus (the latter deriving from Sinter Klaas, Saint Nicholas) are now used interchangeably, the origins of Father Christmas are quite different.

Dating back to Norse mythology, Father Christmas has his roots in Paganism. Before Christianity came to British shores it was customary for an elder man from the community to dress in furs and visit each dwelling. At each house, in the guise of "Old Winter" he would be plied with food and drink before moving on to the next. It was thought he carried the spirit of the winter with him, so he being hospitable to Old Winter, the winter would be kind to them. The custom was still alive and well in Medieval England, and after a decline during the Commonwealth, became widespread again during the Restoration period. A book dating from the time of the Commonwealth, The Vindication of CHRISTMAS or, His Twelve Yeares' Observations upon the Times involved Father Christmas advocating a merry, alcoholic Christmas and casting aspersions on the charitable motives of the ruling Puritans.

He was neither a gift bringer nor was he associated with children. During the Victorian era when Santa Claus arrived from America he was merged with "Old Winter", "Old Christmas" or "Old Father Christmas" to create Father Christmas, the British Santa which survives today.
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ProjectX2 said:
Hey, rearrange the leters Santa and you get Satan.
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There are even closer relations between Santa Claus and Paganism than you might have realized. See the post above, regarding Knecht Ruprecht, and the Companions of Saint Nicholas.

Also, there's Zwatre Piet a.k.a. "Black Peter". From the related Wikipedia entry, once again:
According to the Saint Nicholas lore, Zwarte Piet is a servant who accompanies Saint Nicholas on his holiday travels. There seems to be a legend that Saint Nicholas once liberated a young slave named Peter, who decided to serve Nicholas (as a free servant!) rather than enjoy liberty alone. He is today commonly depicted as a Negro in the colorful pantaloons, feathered cap and ruffles of a Renaissance European page, a tradition based on a single illustration in a book published in 1850. He is sometimes associated with the devil, which is related to a story how St. Nicholas chained and enslaved the devil.

Often portrayed as a mischievous or even mean character, parents used to tell their children that if they have been good, Zwarte Piet will bring them gifts and sweets; but if they have been bad, Piet will scoop them up, stuff them in his huge sack and spirit them away to Spain (a logical place of origin for the Black assistant from the time of submission of 'heathen' Moors during the Reconquista). Though this is increasingly becoming considered outdated nowadays in most cultures, he can still carry some type of whip or scourge, especially a martinet as in France, to chastise children who have been too naughty to deserve presents - thus the generosity of the parents as St. Nicholas also paid off via an educational bogeyman-threat; the character is believed to have been derived from pagan traditions of evil spirits.

The traditions of the Saint Nicholas feast are in part at least of medieval origin, if not much older. St. Nicholas himself, as described in the Dutch tradition shows rather some similarities to Wuotan/Odin, which suggests that the duo has a pre-Christian origin. In his role as black spy we find equivalents for Zwarte Piet in Odin's ravens Hugin and Munin. The suggestion that Zwarte Piet was already a Black companion, before he became a negroid human being does not mean that we cannot trace Zwarte Piet's history.
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Bumped up for the season!

Just disregard all the Pearl Jam crap between the news stories at the start of the thread, and the historical stuff I posted.
 
That cell phone commercial with a spikey-silver-haired Jude Law lookalike as Santa and a "hot" Mrs. Claus is the most disgraceful thing I've seen all year.


What happened to the Coca Cola "Holidays are comin'" commericials with a merry, Rockwellian Santa Claus riding an old red train through a heavily Christmas-decorated little town while everyone ice-skated?

I want my childhood back!:cry:
 
Planet-man said:
That cell phone commercial with a spikey-silver-haired Jude Law lookalike as Santa and a "hot" Mrs. Claus is the most disgraceful thing I've seen all year.


What happened to the Coca Cola "Holidays are comin'" commericials with a merry, Rockwellian Santa Claus riding an old red train through a heavily Christmas-decorated little town while everyone ice-skated?

I want my childhood back!:cry:
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he drove a red and white flamed el camino!
 
compound said:
Bumped up for the season!

Just disregard all the Pearl Jam crap between the news stories at the start of the thread, and the historical stuff I posted.
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The self-titled Pearl Jam album is better than Ten.
 
when i was five i was pretending to be sleeping in my bed on christmas eve and my parents walked by my OPEN door with the presents and walked down stairs, then my dad stubbed his toe on the coffee table and screamed out ****! because he broke his toe

and that is when i began to suspect that santa wasn't real

then when i was 8 my mom went grocery shopping and asked me to help her carry the groceries inside and i saw one of my sisters presents and then she got it from santa!

and that is when i knew he wasn't real
 
I HATE christmas (I am going somewhere with that)

My boss at one of my jobs today phoned me and told me he wants me to come in a few days and wear the Santa suit for kids. (did I mention i hate kids too) but he said it would be double pay on those days.

I don't work in a shop its landscaping for my a park near me. They asked me as the current guy who was doing it has been arrested and wont be out in dec.

So i get to dress up as the mascot for a holiday i hate and have kids i hate come up to me.

I am in hell. BUT I might post a pic or two of me in my suit.
 
sjmole said:
I HATE christmas (I am going somewhere with that)

My boss at one of my jobs today phoned me and told me he wants me to come in a few days and wear the Santa suit for kids. (did I mention i hate kids too) but he said it would be double pay on those days.

I don't work in a shop its landscaping for my a park near me. They asked me as the current guy who was doing it has been arrested and wont be out in dec.

So i get to dress up as the mascot for a holiday i hate and have kids i hate come up to me.

I am in hell. BUT I might post a pic or two of me in my suit.
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Scrooge!
 
Ultimate Warrior said:
Sorry. The rights to childhood memories has been brought by Disney and are being chopped up into itty bitty pieces and distributed together with their Christmas movies.
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And at what point do the horrible sequels get released?

I like Christmas. What I don't like is how my family likes to shout and have a huge falling out every December. It's a tired tradition. :/
 
moonmaster said:
Scrooge!
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I am not!:lol: I still spend **** loads on presents for others e.g got my mother a plasma screen tv and dvd and dvds. for this year. I'm more grinch like than scrooge like :lol:

Planet-man said:
How the heck does anyone hate Christmas?:(

For me, the entire year practically revolves around it. It's like the climax.
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no new years is the Climax a reason to stay in the pub till midnight = best holiday ever!!!!
 
when i was five i was pretending to be sleeping in my bed on christmas eve and my parents walked by my OPEN door with the presents and walked down stairs, then my dad stubbed his toe on the coffee table and screamed out ****! because he broke his toe
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That's ****ing hilarious. Post of the day for making me laugh after a 3 hour Economics exam.
 
sjmole said:
I HATE christmas (I am going somewhere with that)

My boss at one of my jobs today phoned me and told me he wants me to come in a few days and wear the Santa suit for kids. (did I mention i hate kids too) but he said it would be double pay on those days.

I don't work in a shop its landscaping for my a park near me. They asked me as the current guy who was doing it has been arrested and wont be out in dec.

So i get to dress up as the mascot for a holiday i hate and have kids i hate come up to me.

I am in hell. BUT I might post a pic or two of me in my suit.
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I have a feeling after all this you will learn the true meaning of Christmas
 
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