> Pagan and Sami Roots of Today's Santa Claus Myths
> (c) Tyson Yunkaporta
> Dec 11, 2007
> fly agaric, the original xmas gift, mwrop
> Flying reindeer, Santa coming down the chimney, elves with pointy hats, mistletoe - all
> these Christmas myths originate from Aboriginal cultures.
> European Pagan Origins of Xmas
> The pagan festival of the invisible sun at the winter solstice is a European tribal
> tradition celebrated for the last ten thousand years at the shortest day and longest night
> of the year. European native peoples since ancient times have held ceremonies for the
> recovery of the sun god at this time, a time which later became known as "Christmas".
> Indigenous traditions from many native peoples have been borrowed for modern Christmas
> celebrations, such as mistletoe from Celtic fertility rites and holly (originally to ward
> off evil) from the Druidic tradition. Originally Santa Claus was not red and white, but
> was first depicted like this due to a seasonal link to native spiritual traditions
> involving hallucinogenic red and white mushrooms known as fly agaric. Later the Coca Cola
> company would patent these colours and popularise the now universally accepted colours of
> Santa's costume.
> Sami Ceremony and Entheogenic Mushrooms
> The red and white fly agaric mushrooms also played a part in the aboriginal origins of the
> flying reindeer image that is now popularly associated with Christmas. These mushrooms, or
> plant teachers, have always been used in rituals involving the sacred reindeer by the
> shamans of the Sami tribal peoples, who are still practicing traditional lifestyles as
> nomadic reindeer herders in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia today. The Koryak shamans
> of Siberian tribes gained notoriety in the grand western narrative of discovery when their
> winter solstice rituals involving the fly agaric were observed and recorded by
> anthropologists/adventurers, giving rise to several modern Christmas myths.
> At this ceremonial time, the Koryak tribespeople would work ritually with the mushrooms in
> their family tents. Their shamans would also work with the mushrooms to reach a
> non-ordinary state of reality that allowed them to do spirit-walking. (Note - the western
> interpretation of this is that it was an hallucination, but written here from an
> Indigenous viewpoint it is framed differently. For Aboriginal peoples, supernatural
> abilities like spirit-walking are as much a part of concrete reality as Christmas trees
> and the presents under them. So in this article, the spirit walking is fact rather than
> belief.)
> Spirit Walkers Bringing Gifts
> Koryak spirit walkers would visit the tents of their fellow tribesmen on their flying
> reindeer, the reindeer being a sacred totemic being for Sami tribal peoples. Once there,
> they would enter the tent through the smoke hole in the roof and distribute more mushrooms
> as gifts. Then they would exit through the chimney hole and fly away on their reindeer
> beings once again. It has been suggested that the egg-nog Christmas tradition was even
> grounded in these rituals, based on the practice of tribesmen drinking the agaric-spiked
> urine of the shamans who had ingested the mushrooms, perhaps mixed with egg and spices to
> disguise the taste. (Makes you think twice about mulled wine, for that matter!)
> On a more sober note, traditional Sami reindeer herders wear red suits and long felt hats,
> which is where the modern Christmas myth of Santa's elf helpers comes from.
> Clearly, the origins of many western Christmas traditions such as Santa's elves, Santa
> coming down the chimney, gift-giving, Santa's colours, Santa's home base in the Arctic
> North, and mistletoe can all be linked to time-honoured indigenous tribal ceremonies and
> customary practices.
> Aboriginal Christmas Reflections
> Christmas is as good a time as any to acknowledge the contributions of indigenous peoples
> around the planet to the formation of global knowledge, culture and innovations since the
> "age of discovery". So much of the technology, food, textiles, traditions and even
> mathematics that formed the basis for modern western civilisation was borrowed, or
> synthesised, or developed in conjunction with native peoples. And that is one hell of a
> Christmas gift.
> So spare a thought for the planet's fourth-world (indigenous) peoples at Christmas time,
> most of whom are excluded from the bounty of first-world colonies built on stolen native
> lands, resources and knowledge. So many Aboriginal people are even excluded from basic
> rights like education. Bear in mind that in America every year people spend more money on
> Christmas presents for their pets than it would cost to educate every third-world and
> fourth-world person on earth who is currently denied schooling.
> Ho, ho, ho.
> http://european-indigenous-peoples.suite101.com/article.cfm/indigenou...
> --
> Said American [Indian] Chieftain Acuera in reply to
> the invader de Soto's demand for submission to
> the king and the church so as to 'enjoy the benefits
> of 'civilization' and service:
> "I have long since learned who you [European Christians] are,
> through others of you who came years ago to my land;
> and I already know very well what your customs and
> behavior are like. To me you are professional
> vagabonds who wander from place to place,
> gaining your livelihood by robbing, sacking and
> murdering people who have given you no offense.
> ... Accordingly, I and all of my people have vowed
> to die a hundred deaths to maintain the freedom
> of our land. This is our answer, both
> for the present and forevermore."
> -- "Florida of the Inca" (1591)
> by El Inca [aka Garcilaso de la Vega]
> - First American Author to be published.
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