Onward III

To conclude my Holi-daze silliness, a few amusing & bemusing facts re Christmas. Yes, I know it's ostensibly a Christian holiday & that not all of you are Christian, but now it's as much if not more a secular/commercial holiday, so it's effectively become everyone's celebration (at least in the Western World). Besides, it's the good cheer of the season that's really important, and that's the intention here...

First, briefly, in case you don't know:
Christmas happening when it does has "pagan" antecedents in ancient festivals connected with the winter solstice, like Saturnalia & the Kalends, but moreover with the Roman's very popular celebration of the birth of their adopted Persian sun god, Mithras (for which, to usurp & co-opt, the early Christian Church set the birthday of their "Son of God" to also be on December 25^th).
Santa Claus is in part derived from a real person, St. Nikolas of Myra, a Greek from Turkey in the 200s-300s C.E. (A.D.) who was said to be a miracle worker that helped the poor & needy. Yet, curiously ironic, he was then early on portrayed as a stern, commanding symbol of discipline; to then, inexplicably, eventually became the adopted patron saint of everything from banking, to pawnbroking, pirating, butchery, sailing, thievery, orphans, royalty, and even New York City (!)...

It's got to be a Divine joke, the ultimate "ho ho ho": The modern commercialization of Christmas & the claimed patron saint of banking, pirating & thievery being also the patron of the city of Wall Street. This drolly absurd relationship connection perfectly evinced by the fact that in 2014 it is estimated Americans alone will spend almost $1-trillion on the "Christmas Season Holidays". Well, if nothing else, it keeps people employed, including yours truly...

The Viking god Odin is credited as one of the precursors to our modern Santa Claus beliefs & customs. In one version of his myth, Odin rides a flying horse with eight legs called Sleipnir, on which, in the winter, he'd come to bestow gifts on the good & impose punishments on the bad, so children would fill their boots or stockings with treats for his horse in the hope of disposing the god favorably. However, our modern idea & image of Santa as a rotund "jolly old soul" with a white beard who magically brought Christmas presents to children was not created by the Coca-Cola Company for their Xmas adverts. It originated with fanciful descriptions of the personality made by a group of early 19^th Century American writers known as the New York Knickerbockers, which included a number of noted authors, like Washington Irving ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"). But the classic Santa long portrayed in the Coke ads did help to popularize this image to becoming the universal icon...

All letters addressed to "Santa Claus" in the United States supposedly go to Santa Claus, Indiana; unless "North Pole" is specified, then they go to North Pole, Alaska. There is an official postal unit in both of these places to process this mail & give a form reply. Evidently this got too big to handle well & so in 1996 northpole.com was started so kids (as well as parents & adults) could "communicate" with him via their computer or device. (It's okay. I know you're going to log on to it.)...

"Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" came to be as a 1939 Xmas promotion gimmick by the Montgomery Ward department store company, but like the majority of our modern popular secular Christmas songs – including "Winter Wonderland", "Let it Snow", "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire", "Silver Bells", "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", and "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" (claimed to be the best selling single in history with over 100-million copies sold) – all were written or composed by Jewish people. (Oy, vey!)...

Okay, enough silliness for this year. Pray all is well with everyone. May you all have wonderful Holidays whatever you believe in & celebrate, and my earnest hope this coming New Year will be your best one yet...

In closing, remember, if you want to ensure yourself a jolly Xmas, keep in mind the real reason Santa is so jolly: He knows where all the "naughty" girls & boys live...

Have fun. Be safe. More next year...