Who is Santa Claus?

Who is Santa Claus?
Rey T. Sibayan
December 6, 2005


Who is Santa Claus? Does Santa exist? Were there physical proofs that Santa Claus lived in this world?
It is said that during the 4th Century, there are two main, incompatible belief systems about St. Nicholas also known as Santa Claus.
Among Roman Catholics and conservative Protestants, there is a near universal belief that St. Nicholas of Bari once lived in Asia Minor, and died in either 345 or 352 B.C. or the Christian Era.
The Catholic Information Network speculates that he was probably born in Patara in the province of Myra in Asia Minor; this is apparently based on the belief that he later became bishop of Myra in Lycia (now Turkey).
He is alleged to have attended the first council of Nicea; however, his name does not appear on lists of attending bishops. He is honored as a Patron Saint in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Sicily, and Switzerland. 2 He is also considered the patron saint of children and sailors.
The other belief system is from most religious historians and experts in folklore, who say that there is no valid evidence to indicate that Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) ever existed as a human. The belief that there are quite a few indicators that his life story was simply recycled from those of Pagan gods. Many other ancient Pagan gods and goddesses were similarly Christianized in the early centuries of the Church.
His legends seems to have been mainly created out of myths attributed to the Greek God Poseidon, the Roman God Neptune, and the Teutonic God Hold Nickar. "In the popular imagination [of many Russians] he became the heir of Mikoula, the god of harvest, 'who will replace God, when God becomes too old.'
When the church created the persona of St. Nicholas, they adopted Poseidon's title "the Sailor." They seem to have picked up his last name from Nickar. Various temples of Poseidon became shrines of St. Nicholas.
"In medieval England... in tiny sea ports we find the typical little chapel built on an eminence and looking out to sea." St. Nicholas also adopted some of the qualities of "The Grandmother" or Befana from Italy. She was said to have filled children's stockings with gifts. Her shrine at Bari was also converted into a shrine to St. Nicholas.
It is also reported that the Christian church created a fictional life history for St. Nicholas. He was given the name Hagios Nikolaos (a.k.a. St. Nicholas of Myra).
There are many legends and miracles attributed to Santa Claus such as: When he was an infant, his mother only nursed him on Wednesdays and Fridays; he fasted the remaining days; He halted a storm at sea in order to save three drowning sailors; During his lifetime, he adored children and often threw gifts anonymously into the windows of their homes; His father left him a fortune which he used to help poor children; He grabbed the sword of an executioner to save the life of a political prisoner; He brought back to life several children who had been killed.


During the 11th Century, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that during the Muslim invasion of Asia Minor, his remains were transferred to Bari in Italy, where he became known as Nicholas of Bari.
In 19th Century, St. Nicholas was superseded in much of Europe by Christkindlein, the Christ child, who delivered gifts in secret to the children. He traveled with a dwarf-like helper called Pelznickel (a.k.a. Belsnickle) or with St. Nicholas-like figures. Eventually, all three were combined into the image that we now know as Santa Claus. "Christkindlein" became Kriss Kringle.
Before the communist revolution, large numbers of Russian Orthodox pilgrims came to Bari to visit St Nicholas' tomb. "He and St Andrew the apostle are the patrons of Russia."
If we consider all of these stories and beliefs about Santa Claus, it is now clear that what we see in the movies and what we heard from our parents about the story of Santa, who rides his sleigh of reindeers distributing gifts, is merely a fiction to fit the children’s belief about an extraordinary person.
But the most important message we have to digest from these stories about Santa whether he existed or not in the physical world, is the importance of giving and sharing what we have to other people, and sending the energies of LOVE to all creations in the Universe. # (Rey T. Sibayan, http://misteryolohika.tripod.com.)