The lore of Christmas

Once, way back several decades ago, I believed in Santa Claus, as did many other children around the world. Santa was a living being with the ability to make every child happy overnight and was cause for celebration. At the same time, the build-up to such times around the Christmas tree and the birth of Jesus and the following days after always seemed like a magical time – no school and everyone had time to be together to do things.

Wondering about my beliefs in the spirit of Christmas and wondering why it is so deeply ingrained throughout the world as “THE” time to celebrate, I decided to do some research on the topic of Christmas and its origins to see what all the fuss is about.

First of all, a long time ago, some strange things were happening in the Middle East. A bright star, angels and sheepherders hanging out, three wise guys take an extended tour to find a king, that type of stuff. And then, the ultimate Christmas occurrence, Christ is born in a manger to a virgin, hence the moniker Christmas (get it?). No one was celebrating at that time, as the dictator of those lands was paranoid of such things and wished that all his competition for his kingdom would disappear.

Christmas wouldn’t be celebrated for some time, as it took several centuries for Christianity to take hold. So where does Santa come in the picture? Is he aged and steeped in tradition or is this aspect of Christmas a fairly recent invention as opposed to the nativity?

Actually Santa Claus, the reindeer, the Christmas tree, the gift giving and spirits of Christmas all come from acts of charity and giving to the poor and needy. Some rich dude named Sinter Klaus used to hand out food to the poor back in medieval times in the hard winter months and sometimes would dispatch items down the chimney. Later on, this charitable soul became popularized and eventually became a saint. Nichola or Nicholas was apparently his first name. After a few centuries of celebration, several poems and songs taught to the young and old alike spawned a whole genre of culture called Christmas.

Santa didn’t really show up in force until the late 1800s when Charles Dickens and those olde English writers became mega-sellers in the book world for epitomizing Christmas as a time for soul wrestling, the will to give to those in need or to keep flogging the whip until the horse dies, that sort of stuff.

It wasn’t until television arrived in every home that the commercialism of Christmas reared its ugly head. For many children whose minds have been imprinted by Christmas from birth to the awkward age of 20, it is a time of receiving and eating candies, playing in the snow and forgetting that steep hill could be dangerous for that new sled you got under the tree.

For many parents, it is the sheer volume of activity around giving that makes it worthwhile to see the kids when they shriek and disappear under a flurry of wrapping. It also seems worthwhile to receive something too, but many good folk never forget the true meaning of Christmas and attend church en masse to celebrate the biggest birthday in history.