#Santa claus full#

He wears a long red cape or chasuble over a traditional white bishop’s alb and red clothes.

#Santa claus full#

In the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, Saint Nicholas (“Sinterklaas”, often called “De Goede Sint”-”The Good Saint”) was an elderly, serious man with white hair and a long, full beard.

The appearance also changed from very strong and warrior like (Odin) to more jolly, bearded, and pleasant looking (Odin had just one eye, trading the other for a drink from the Well of Wisdom). Saint Nicholas left gifts in the socks or shoes, but Santa Claus would ultimately just leave them under the Christmas Tree – which wouldn’t become a custom for many centuries later though. When this happened, the date of 25 December came in and took the traditional 6 December. However, something that had happened many times before happened once again: Christianity absorbed this tradition and made it its own.

During this period, supernatural and ghostly occurrences were said to increase in frequency, such as the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky thought to be led by Odin himself. Prior to Christianity, the Germanic people celebrated midwinter event called Yule. These groups worshiped a pantheon led by Woden (Odin) –their chief god and the father of Thor, Baldur, and Tiw. Not long after that, the cult spread further North, until it was adopted by German and Celtic pagans. Things took a strange turn in 1087, when a group of sailors who idolized Nicholas moved his bones from Turkey to a sanctuary in Bari, Italy. 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 played a crucial role in early Christianity and was, by virtually all accounts, a very kindhearted man. Nicholas was born in Parara, Turkey in 270 CE and later became Bishop of Myra. Nicholas from Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai. Saint Nicholas and Christmas A 13th-century Egyptian depiction of St. However, way before he was Santa Claus, he was Saint Nicholas. Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle and simply “Santa”, is a figure with legendary, mythical, historical and folkloric origins who, in many western cultures, is said to bring gifts to the homes of the good children on the night before Christmas, December 24. Nope, I’m not crazy – Santa Claus became the big red man we know and love today thanks to a company called Coca-Cola – but we’ll get on that just a little bit later. But Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without Santa Claus, this bearded jolly dwarf usually represented in green, blue or purple clothing. Ah, now we’re getting somewhere! We’ve discussed the date of Christmas and how it is (or rather isn’t) connected to the birth of Jesus, and when we talked about the origins of some of the most popular traditions connected to Christmas.