The traditional festivity that is celebrated in most corners of the planet has a much bigger background than thought.

Christmas has become, over the years, a traditional celebration in almost the entire world, in some cases even transcending religions and creeds. Diego Viegas, anthropologist at the Faculty of Humanities and Arts of the Universidad Nacional de Rosario, investigates Christmas and its roots, focusing on the pagan and shamanic customs that surround it. 

This holiday has an iconic character, who embodies the essence of the holiday: Santa Claus or, as he is mostly known by these payments, Father Christmas. Where does this character come from? Did he truly exist? How many versions can we find? 

In the XNUMXth century, one of the first personifications of Christmas emerged in France: Père Noël, who represented all the attributes and values ​​of the celebration. Furthermore, in the XNUMXth century, there is documentation that demonstrates the existence of a “Father Christmas”, a character who came from the mountains and who represents, in some way, the shamanic issue of not polarizing good and evil so radically. “In fact, the shaman accesses the upper world and underworld, and it is part of his job. Already in the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, in the illustrations of Father Christmas, you can see how he punishes bad children and rewards good ones. A clear Christian polarization is not established,” explained Viegas. 

The character was characterized as a wild man, with a beard and dressed in animal skins. "This representation of the natural world, which represented the spirit of winter, the solstice and perennial plants, at some point in history was mixed with Saint Nicholas, a Christian saint of whom very little is known about his biography."

Nicolás de Bari was a bishop who lived in the XNUMXth century and was very popular during the Middle Ages, to the point of being the protagonist of many legends in which he helps boys and girls. He “Several miracles are attributed to him and he begins to mix with the memory of the Roman Saturnalia and solar gods.” 

The stories of Saint Nicholas were mixed with the myths of the Norse god Odin, who was a key figure in the pagan midwinter celebration of Yule, to form the basis of the legend of Santa Claus. 

However, some of the old traditions still exist and were not allowed to be forgotten. “In the Basque Country, to this day, they receive gifts from Olentzero, a giant ogre who comes down from the mountains and leaves coal for bad children. This is similar to the figure of Grýla, an ogre from Iceland who at Christmas takes a sack and goes down to the villages in search of children who have misbehaved. Both, over time, became kinder and they also bring gifts, but originally they represented the negative of this time.

In Catalonia, curiously, the presence of the Tió de Nadal predominates, which is one of the rarest Christmas figures. In essence, it is a large log that is placed in the house, feeding it starting December 8. “When Christmas comes, in the past they would set it on fire and now they only hit it to force it to defecate small gifts and sweets,” the researcher explained.

In the case of the United States, more precisely in New York, the first illustrations of modern Santa Claus emerged in the XNUMXth century. This city had a large community of citizens from what is now called the Netherlands, with great devotion to Saint Nicholas, patron saint of those lands. “Saint Nicholas was still in his bishop's clothes and did not come by sleigh yet, but by boat from Spain, which represented a very distant land for them. In New York, this Saint Nicholas begins to mix with characters from the pagan European winter, and there are several that begin to synthesize as one. In Dutch it is called Sinterklaas, but in the United States since they did not know how to name it correctly, it became deformed and that is where Santa Claus comes from.”

An American cartoonist of German origin, taking up the tradition of the Bavarian Belznickel, a poem by Clement Moore and Dutch and Nordic traditions, broadly created the aesthetic essence of the character. “It was he who invented that he lives in the North Pole, that he has elf helpers who make gifts for children, and so on.” 

Although it was Coca Cola that at the beginning of the last century strongly appropriated its figure, turning it into a commercial stereotype, it was not the first brand to want to use it for such purposes. “In 1920 there was a tonic water that became the first to advertise with the character. Coca Cola did it only ten years later, and it is mistakenly believed that they were the ones who standardized that the suit is red and white, coinciding with the historical colors of this soda. In 1840 there were already illustrations with clothes of that color, so it predates this commercial use. In fact, in Europe during the XNUMXth century, the majority dressed in blue or brown and the Père Noël dressed in white, because of the snow. Another important color is green, because historically the English figure dressed in that shade.”

Currently, Santa Claus or Santa Claus is a central character of Christmas. Not only is it a story that is told to the youngest, but there is a commercial industry behind it that confirms it as the protagonist of this festivity: commercials, movies, animations, decorations, etc. 

His warm red and white suit, his long beard and gray hair, his physical appearance, the sleigh pulled by reindeer, are not subject to discussion, despite the fact that it often does not coincide with the culture of the countries that are found in summer. Christmas times. Today, it is a construction of modern capitalism that transcends borders that “covers magic” every Christmas.

The origin of the festival

During the first years of Catholicism, the birth of Jesus was not one of the important events, but rather his resurrection attracted all attention. “Even different dates of birth were set. In the 25rd century this fact began to take on more importance and speculation began about when he was born. March 10, January 20, May 25 were just some of the many proposed dates. Until Pope Liberius decreed the birth of Jesus on December 354, in the year XNUMX,” the researcher highlighted.

This date coincides with the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, a celebration taken by many cultures and celebrated for more than four thousand years. “The date was the most unlikely of those considered regarding the birth, according to what appears in the Bible. "Evidently there was a political decision, since not being able to eliminate from the calendar one of the festivities with such deep and ancient roots in Europe, it was decided to take it as its own by the Catholic Church."

During that day, in the northern hemisphere, "light begins to win over darkness", and from there, the birth of the sun is celebrated. "Every day the amount of sunlight in the day increases, and that is why it is so important."

A popular saying goes “if you can't defeat your enemy, join him,” and that is exactly what the Catholic Church did. The Saturnalia were important Roman festivities, where gifts were exchanged and a carnival atmosphere was called a relaxation of social norms. These continued to be celebrated by the majority of the inhabitants, which meant that the Church had to build an action plan around these imminent celebrations. “First they fought it, but then incredibly during the Middle Ages there were parody masses, which were clownish and jugglery, where the priests themselves dressed up. Outside, the people continued with the same customs of the Saturnalia, something that the Church could not banish.

In the Germanic territories, the Yule festivities were commemorated on December 25, a holiday more similar to Halloween. “Odin, the Norse god of war, came with his ghost army on a kind of wild hunt. He was riding an eight-legged horse, and could be the distant inspiration of the North American Santa Claus, who flies just like Odin, but with reindeer instead of a horse." 

Another aspect that lasts to this day corresponds to the Christmas tree, which has a strong connection with shamanic roots. “The pine, the fir, the larch, among others, are the typical Christmas trees that continue to be an Axis Mundi, that is, an axis of the shamanic world. In the United States there is a large forestry industry, where specimens are placed inside houses, as was originally done in Germany. Furthermore, the 12 days of Christmas, as a heritage of Germanic customs, arise from a time when smudges were made in stables and houses to scare away evil spirits. On the other hand, holly and mistletoe wreaths, so common at this time, have their origins in the Celtic peoples.”

Journalist: Gonzalo J. García