Santa Claus Was a Shaman
The long history of the man in red who comes bearing gifts.
BY: John and
Caitlin Matthews
Santa Claus is only the latest of many
figures that have come to be associated with bringing gifts on the night of
December 25th. In France presents are given on New Year's Day and called entrennes, a name that can be traced back to the strenae,
green branches, exchanged between people at the Roman feast of the goddess
Strenia. In Sicily it is an old woman named Strina who brings gifts at
Christmas, continuing a tradition that began in the days of the Roman Empire.
The figure who stands behind the jolly old man of Christmas
is older even than this, however. In fact, his story takes us back to the
beginning of recorded history, when some other characters climbed up trees of a
different kind, and returned with gifts for everyone. These were not toys or
perfume or watches, but messages concerning the year to come, the turning of the
seasons, or the fate of the world. These people were shamans, who performed the
functions of priest, historian, and record keeper, scientist and magician.
Of course there were shamans all over the world, and in most
cases, they performed the same or similar functions, but, for obvious reasons,
it is those who originated in the far North--anywhere from Lapland to
Siberia--that interest us most in this context. It is these people who often
wore bells on their ritual costumes, who shinned up the central poles of their
skin tents, and who returned with the gifts of prophecy and wonder from the
Otherworlds. It is to these people that we have to look for the first appearance
of the figure who, thousands of years later, evolved into the jolly old man of
Christmas himself, Santa Claus.
If we look for a moment at some of those similarities we can
catch a glimpse of the evolution of one into the other. If we dip our hands into
Santa's sack--so like the shaman's bag of tricks--the first thing we find are
the bells that jingle on the harness of the eight magical reindeer. Contemporary
accounts of northern shamans, including those of the Altaic and Buryat regions
of Siberia and those of the Finns and Laplanders, again and again emphasize the
importance of bells in their traditional costumes. These form a double function;
as noise-makers to announce the presence of the shaman as he enters the spirit
world, and to frighten off any unfriendly spirits who might be lying in wait for
him.Red Robes and Firelight
Reaching
into the sack again we find a red robe or cloak, trimmed with white. On one
level, red signifies the sacred blood that links all human beings and that is
also perceived as a link between humans and animals, and between the shaman and
the earth. It is also, of course, a symbol of fire, that most powerful of
magical weapons, as well as the gift of warmth and life to all, especially
significant in such cold lands as those we are considering here.
The shamans possessed this gift of fire, which initially
perhaps they alone had the power to kindle (the number of flint fire-lighters
found among shaman's bundles alone is enough to suggest this) and which was a
gift they brought to the tribal people they served. It was believed that these
gifts were entrusted to them for the people by the gods and spirits of the land.
Here, the symbolism of red fire in the white desert of winter is a vital image.
Is it stretching the point too far to see an echo of this in the red and white
costume and white beard of a certain other figure?
Dipping into the sack again we find reindeer with bells on
their harnesses, who can fly through the sky and cover vast distance in no time
at all. This is yet another echo of the shaman's journey into and through the
heavens.
So Santa is an old man dressed in red who comes out of the
dark forest of the North on a sleigh pulled by reindeer...the shaman climbing
down through the smoke hole of a skin tent with bells jingling, bearing in his
hands a red painted wooden reindeer.