30 Days of Deity Devotion: Festivals, Days, and Times Sacred to Santa

I think my "30 Days" may turn out to be far less than 30 because some of those proposed topics just do not speak to me. What I will do is blog about the ones that do and then decide what to do then.

Getting to today's topic meant skipping quite a few topics in the middle of the list...

Obviously, Christmas is the big season associated with Santa & I believe this time of year is sacred because of the way we treat each other and feel about life and family during this time. The movies, the decorations, the music all work together synergistically to create a spirit that graces us all season long (if we're lucky)

But I believe Santa's available anytime ready to help people heal and become transformed. And that any time we connect to him is sacred.

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30 Days of Deity Devotion: Santa's Elves

This is the part of the 30 days where I am directed to talk about other deities or entities connected to the one I have been writing about. For me, that means elves (and possibly magical reindeer?).

I found a really great page with elf information. It reads like it was written for children, but that just makes it really sweet. That page is where I found that great picture.

Read it here!

And here's what Wikipedia says...

"In American folklore, a Christmas elf is a diminutive creature (elf) that lives with Santa Claus in the North Pole and acts as his helper. Christmas elves are often depicted as green or red clad with pointy ears and pointy hats. Santa's elves are often said to make the toys in Santa's workshop and take care of his reindeer, among other tasks.They were first introduced by Louisa May Alcott in 1856. The association of Christmas presents with elves has precedents in the first half of the 19th century with the Tomte in Scandinavia."

Do you believe in elves?

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30 Days of Deity Devotion: Members of the Santa Family

"Mrs. Claus is the wife of the man Santa Claus, the Christmas gift-bringer in North American and European Christmas tradition. She is known for making cookies with the elves and preparing toys with her husband Santa Claus.

Mrs. Santa Claus is mentioned by name in the pages of the Yale Literary Magazine in 1851, where the student author (whose name is given only as "A. B.") writes of the appearance of Santa Claus at a Christmas party:

[I]n bounded that jolly, fat and funny old elf, Santa Claus. His array was indescribably fantastic. He seemed to have done his best; and we should think, had Mrs. Santa Claus to help him."~Wikipedia

Since 1889, Mrs. Claus has been generally depicted in media as a fairly heavy-set, kindly, white-haired elderly female baking cookies somewhere in the background of the Santa Claus mythos. She sometimes assists in toy production, and oversees Santa's elves.


Is there an actual "Mrs. Santa" somewhere back in the long ago? Who knows?

But I like to think so!

What do you think? Does Santa have a "Mrs.?" :)

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30 Days of Deity Devotion: A Favorite Santa Myth

(photo credit: Stockxpert)

"Perhaps nothing has fixed the image of Santa Claus so firmly in the American mind as a poem entitled A Visit from St. Nicholas written by Clement Moore in 1822. Moore, a professor of biblical languages at New York's Episcopal Theological Seminary, drew upon Pintard's thinking about the early New Amsterdam traditions and added some elements from German and Norse legends. These stories held that a happy little elf-like man presided over midwinter pagan festivals. In the poem, Moore depicts the Saint as a tiny man with a sleigh drawn by eight miniature reindeer. They fly him from house to house and at each residence he comes down the chimney to fill stockings hung by the fireplace with gifts.

Moore had written the poem for the enjoyment of his own family, but in 1823 it was published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel. It became very popular and has been reprinted countless times under the more familiar title, The Night Before Christmas.

Where did Moore get the reindeer? The Saami people of northern Scandinavia and Finland often used reindeer to pull their sledges around and this found its way into the poem. Reindeer, which are much sturdier animals than North American deer,are well adapted to cold climates with their heavy fur coats and broad, flat hooves for walking on snow." ~UnMuseum

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30 Days of Deity Devotion: Symbols & Icons

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30 Days of Deity Devotion: How I First Became Aware of Santa as a Patron

It started with a dream...

THE DREAM

I was walking along a country lane, it seemed, with 2 guys, who were companions, I suppose. I think we were headed to the same place but we weren't really talking as we walked.

Until I started to see things...

First, I saw a horse! What I now believe was a faerie horse. Mostly his head and neck, surrounded by a fluffy white cloud. "Did you see that?," I asked. And then I began to see more horses, appearing at different places in the sky, and by then, I believed myself.

I knew it was all really happening.

But I am not sure the guys were seeing what I saw. I don't think they ever answered me, come to think of it.

And then Santa came whizzing right by us, lower, at our level. "Did you see that?" and "wow!" But I can't remember being sure they saw it. Maybe they didn't?

Then I saw other Santas & sleighs, and some of them were skinnier, with long dark hair. Others I couldn't see, though I did see their sleighs. They were in the sky and in the clouds, and each of them went by very fast or appeared, and then, disappeared.

That's how the dream ended.

THOUGHTS

I realized that this dream reminds me of the Christian "Road to Damascus" experience. Was it meant to be an initiation, or calling, of sorts? Over time, I came to know that it was.

When I analyze dreams, one question I always ask myself is what I wish had happened differently. The only things I would have changed in the dream, if I could, are...

(1) Have the horse tell me its message, if there was one.

(2) Have a conversation with one of the Santas. Ask him to be a permanent guide. (I have since done exactly that)

Santa as faerie, who rides a white horse...

What sparked your interest in believing in Santa again?

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30 Days of Deity Devotion: Introducing Santa

(Fairy Dictionary)

Welcome to the first day of my 30 Days of Deity Devotion!

Since you're here, I think it's safe to say that you are well-acquainted with Santa already, and familiar with the traditional Santa story. But I want to encourage you to consider meeting and coming to know Santa in a whole new way by following along on my journey or getting the report I offer or both.

This won't be your grandmother's Santa, but it might be your great-great-great-great-great-grandmother's, especially now that she is in spirit!

During the next 30 days, I will be sharing all I have come to know about the spirit Santa and at the end, we'll see where we are. Coming with me?

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