The true origin of Santa Claus Hallucinogenic fungus& Pagan tradition.

Having seen several threads recently about the origins of Santa, i thought i would share with you one of the oldest traditions, twisted for modern Myth, but was Santa Claus the result of Hallucinogenic vision quests, then plagurised and reinvented for modern myth?

Quote:

indigenous traditions from many native peoples have been borrowed for modern Christmas celebrations, such as mistletoe from Celtic fertility rites and holly (originally to ward off evil) from the Druidic tradition. Originally Santa Claus was not red and white, but was first depicted like this due to a seasonal link to native spiritual traditions involving hallucinogenic red and white mushrooms known as fly agaric. Later the Coca Cola company would patent these colours and popularize the now universally accepted colours of Santa’s costume. Quote taken from here..

Link

The first Information i could find on the origins of Santa come from traditional Siberian Tribal worship going back as far as maybe 10,000 years,

Initially a celebration of the invisible sun at the Winter Solstice celebrating the shortest and longest days of the year with the recovery of the Sun God at the Summer Solstice, Later the Winter Solstice for the Northern hemisphere became known as Christmas.

Santa Claus an abbreviated name of St Nicholas the patron Saint of Children has long been associated with Christmas Particularly in Holland, Dutch settlers took the tradition with them to America in the 17th Century, he was not however associated with flying or going down chimneys until a poem by Clement Moore described the tradition of delivering gifts to children in this way, His poem a visit from St Nicholas, Link
Also known as Twas the night before Christmas,

Where did the idea come from for his poem? Reindeer are a good clue,

www.tribuneindia.com...
In northeastern Siberia, the Kamchadal,Chukchi, and Koryak peoples worshiped the Great Reindeer Spirit, their believe that the only people who could communicate with with the Great Reindeer Spirit where Tribal Shamen or Witch doctor, as today in most tribal nations Shaman use Hallucinogenic Fungi to create a trance like state, allowing them (allegedly) to fly to the Spirit world to collect messages and gifts in the shape of new songs, Stories, and Dances for their people, Entering the Spirit world during their trances.

Clement Moore was a Professor of Oriental Languages , and the Rituals and culture of the Siberian people had been know to scholars in the west for at the very least a Century,Before Moore wrote his poem it is thought he collected that knowledge and used it to create what we see today and the poem which became so well known.

You will find many different accounts as to the origins of Santa Claus, you will find it mostly depends on the religious orientation of the person offering the information, However i wrote this thread using the Clement Moore poem because it is accepted as the source for modern day Santa.

I would be interested to hear of other traditions surrounding not just Santa but other religious holidays, most commonly accepted as coming from Ancient Pagan Ritual and ceremony.


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[edit on 21-4-2008 by Jbird]

WIKIPEDIA

en.wikipedia.org...
Saint Nicholas of Myra is the primary inspiration for the Christian figure of Santa Claus. He was a 4th-century Greek Christian bishop of Myra in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In Europe (more precisely the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Germany) he is still portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes. In 1087, the Italian city of Bari, wanting to enter the profitable pilgrimage industry of the times, mounted an expedition to locate the tomb of the Christian Saint and procure the remains. The reliquary of St. Nicholas was desecrated by Italian sailors and the spoils, including his relics, taken to Bari [8] [9] where they are kept to this day. A basilica was constructed the same year to store the loot and the area became a pilgrimage site for the devout, thus justifying the economic cost of the expedition. Saint Nicholas became claimed as a patron saint of many diverse groups, from archers and children to pawnbrokers.[10] He is also the patron saint of both Amsterdam and Moscow.[11]

23Eulogy23, We prefer you add to the discussion, rather than just post quotes.

[edit on 21-4-2008 by Jbird]

Yes as i said in my post there will be many different interpretations of the origins of Santa Claus, However the article you posted is based on St Nicholas himself, My theory was to point out the idea behind a man who comes in winter bearing gifts and how because of a poem a modern interpretation came about which is still accepted on the whole today.

I'm sure a lot of these interpretations are based like many other myths on a little truth, I took the myth back almost 10,000 years to a time before organized religion, and mostly based on how traditions and practices of ancient people have been taken and combined with ideals, im sure St Nicholas was a very nice person, and loved by many, it does not alter the fact that the modern day Santa Claus came about by the Clement Moore poem, and where he got the idea for that poem, the only myth involved in my post is the myth of the fat man in a red suit flying through the sky with reindeer.

I based my post on mostly facts IE the Shamanistic practices which are still carried out to this day, when mind altering fungi are used to travel (allegedly) to the Spirit world to visit the Great Spirit, it is still a fact that the Shaman went into a trance like state (got high) and when they came out of the trance like state they had new songs, dances, and new stories, which where gifts to their people not just children,just like modern traditional Christmas and the giving of gifts, Santa Claus ( St Nicholas)did not fly until after Clement Moore Published his poem, Hence the thread title, the idea came from somewhere and it ties into his life as a scholar, and his imagination as a poet.

It is the same with almost all religious festivals they came from ancient Pagan ritual and traditions.

It would be great if others would share their understandings of traditions and their origins, how you interpret them and what they mean to you in any form? it really would.

Interesting.
I was watching a psychadelic video about it last year.

Why do so many religious celebrations have similarities?

So many rabbit holes!
I like to get an overview of things and focus on the most important.
The Two Babylons

azzllin

AND

Clearskies

AND

OP



I hope you all find this interesting.

For starters, I heard that both Nimrod and Tammuz, had birthdays on Dec 25th. I think hislop verifies one of them.

Next find your concordance and in the back there should be a list of hebrew letters and the numbers that have always corresponded to them and, find the number for satan. Only the consonants count! The vowels were added for pronunciation. Just jot down that number.

Now get your concordance and look up the chapter where satan is first mentioned, now count the chapters in the Bible from the front and jot down the number of that chapter.

And then finally, get a calender and see where exactly those number[s] lines up on.

Happy ciphering!

Originally posted by toasted
azzllin

AND

Clearskies

AND

OP



I hope you all find this interesting.

For starters, I heard that both Nimrod and Tammuz, had birthdays on Dec 25th. I think hislop verifies one of them.

Next find your concordance and in the back there should be a list of hebrew letters and the numbers that have always corresponded to them and, find the number for satan. Only the consonants count! The vowels were added for pronunciation. Just jot down that number.

Now get your concordance and look up the chapter where satan is first mentioned, now count the chapters in the Bible from the front and jot down the number of that chapter.

And then finally, get a calender and see where exactly those number[s] lines up on.

Happy ciphering!

I will follow up on what you have posted when i have time, i find all this kind of thing fascinating how ancient ritual has changed and molded into the modern world, the same rituals are now used to distance themselves from old ritual practices IE paganism being associated with Satan which is not the case, Baphomet considered by many Christians for instance to be Satan was used by the Vatican as an excuse to wipe out the Knights Templars allegedly even though the image of Baphomet being a mans body with the breast of a woman, goats head with horns, cloven feet, depicted with wings of an angel has never been proven to have been of deitic use to the Knights Templars as far as i know.

It comes down to the use of rituals, and deitic figures being used by modern organized religions as a proper gander tool against Paganistic faiths, allowing people to believe they are of evil use.

Please feel free to correct me.

Originally posted by azzllin
I would be interested to hear of other traditions surrounding not just Santa but other religious holidays, most commonly accepted as coming from Ancient Pagan Ritual and ceremony.

This is a great topic and we could all do with some Christmas cheer right now. Here are a few other Christmas traditions:-

Yule is the festival of the sun being reborn after it's symbolic death on the shortest day of the year.

The Wreath represents the year turning full cycle. An expression of faith in eternity.

The Yule Log was originally brought to the hearth, lit from the old fire and was kept burning until at least the winder solstice in hope that the fire of the sun would return.

The Yule Candle also represents the sacred flame and lit from midwinter to New Year.

The Yule Feast was to celebrate the birth of the new sun - the most important birth of the year! Traditional foods were a pig, deer or boar. The boar had an apple in its mouth to represent the Goddess. The deer represted the Green Man.

The Pine and Holly are evergreen and entice the sun to make the earth green again. Ivy represents survival and resurrection. The Holly King drove a team of deer.

Nuts are used for divination - throw one on the fire whilst asking a yes or no question. If it pops the answer is yes.

Christmas Punch, also known as Wassail which comes from Anglo Saxon Wes Hal which means Be Whole.

Giving Gifts - because this would ensure receiving the goodwill from others in the coming year.

Red is the colour of beginnings. Gold is the colour of completion and therefore it's no surprise that these 2 colours and green are the traditional colours associated with Christmas. Red and Gold are quite obviously associated with the sun.

I am a devotee to Saint Nicholas. As a practicing Catholic I love St. Nick and pray fro his intercession. I have grown to believe Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus are one in the same. Some saints and holy people, during their lifetime have been bestowed with enormous graces. According to the historical record, St. Nicholas was graced with bilocation. One mondern day saint, also had this gift, St. "Padre" Pio. Bilocation is the mystical event of being in two places at one time. Nicholas has even appeared after his death and given gifts of a year supply of wheat, long after his death. His remains exude a sweet oil use in healings and blessings. Sinterklass is simply santa Claus.

On flying, though, you might find this interesting. Several elements of ancient Germanic paganism have infiltrated the St. nicholas cult. The ancient s had beleived their bearded god Wodan (or Odin) rode over white clouds on his white horse, Sleipknik, carrying a lance and judging which people were worthy warriors to be allowed to enter the hallowed halls of Wallhalla. Exchange the lance for a bishops staff and a reindeer and , voila.

So this paganism was translated into Christianlity and St. Nicholas was told by parents to children he would fly thru the sky on Dec. 5/6 and deposit small gifts to the children who were worthy due to their good behavior.

The truth of it is, Dec 25th is not our Lords birthday, Sept 29th is the correct day for anyone who cares.

I'm not a scrooge, but celebrating either date is not scriptural either! And don't forget, our Lord was not fond of mans laws [ holidays ] at all.