Here Comes Santa Claus

Kids all over the world are rubbing their hands together eagerly in anticipation of the jolly fat man coming into their homes via the chimney (even if they don't actually have a chimney) and leaving a bounty of wrapped gifts to be torn into before the sun actually breaks the horizon in the morning.

Sounds good, right? Any other time of the year, we'd be shooting first and asking questions later if someone tried to sneak into the house but as long as it's Christmas and the trespasser is dressed in red velvet with a full white beard, we hold off on the hail of bullets.

So where did the idea of Santa Claus come from?

Well, did you ever imagine the words "Santa" and "prostitute" in the same story? Hold onto your Santa caps then...

In the 4th century A.D., a Catholic priest named Nicholas lived in Myra (part of modern-day Turkey) and ministered to the Christians there during a huge economic downturn. It nearly broke his heart that one family's fortunes had gotten so low that the father couldn't afford dowries for his three daughters. Without dowries, no men would even think about marrying the girls and their only option to survive was for them to become prostitutes. Father Nicholas simply couldn't allow this to happen so he scraped together dowries for the three sisters, allowing them to make decent marriages. For this and other acts of extreme kindness, Father Nicholas later on became canonized as Saint Nicholas.

Over the centuries, Christianity spread over Europe and Christian beliefs sort of merged with the pagan beliefs of the areas. In Scandinavia, the people worshipped the Norse gods, led by the chief god Odin. Every year, in the winter Yule festival, little children would leave their shoes on the doorstep in the belief that Odin would fill them with small gifts. By the 13th century, Odin's penchant for gift giving got all wrapped up in St. Nicholas' story and people began to refer to him as Sinterklaas, "the good saint." To this day throughout Europe, many people give gifts on Sinterklaas Day (December 5) to celebrate the works of the good saint. (They also get gifts on Christmas Day too! I'm thinking that we Americans are gypping ourselves- 2 days of presents!?!)

By the 19th century, Sinterklaas' name changed with the language of each country. He is most often referred to as Santa Claus or some form of Father Christmas. I personally love the French version of the Santa Claus/Father Christmas story. Pere Noel (the French translation of Father Christmas) rides around on his beloved donkey Gui (French for Mistletoe) bringing presents to all the worthy children, those who have been good throughout the year. But Pere Noel and Gui aren't alone- with them rides Pere Fouettard who dresses in black leather and spanks all the children who have been bad throughout the year. Can't you just picture all the naughty French children hiding under their beds?

So as you snuggle down in your nice cozy bed tonight, ask yourself this question... are you going to be getting red velvet or black leather tonight? (Holy mistletoe, Batman, this post just took a completely different twist didn't it?!?)

Regardless, Happy Christmas Eve everyone!