When the old gods ruled the world, Odin, the all father, rode the skies of the north on a white horse. He was bedecked in fanciful attire and attended by playful and masked elves. He could cure disease and tell the future, but he was a stern man.

Kolyada, on the other hand, was a slight and cherubic elfen maiden who traveled Russia in a sleigh and rewarded children with treats and toys as they sang carols to honor her. She was dressed in white fur with a halo of light adorning her small head.

Saint Nicholas was the one who flew over Dutch roof tops and slid down chimneys. Yet he was also a real live saint who helped the poor and performed good deeds and miracles. He was a bishop of the Church around 350 AD and Santa's red robe and white fur come from the Dutch and Russian Bishop's cape and miter.

Christkindl was an angel who visited Germany riding a tiny deer laden with toys. Her essense was beneficence and her office was Angel of God. She carried a fir tree alight with candles and left it with a family who most embodied the spirit of life in mid winter.

These and many more are the sources of our endearing and curlicued Santa Claus. Few entities have as tangled a pedigree. We have developed Father Christmas from the gift givers, the merry makers and the supremely good and gracious. So joyful a season did he usher, that the triumph of light over dark was assured.

A Russian tale tells of a childless couple who shaped a maiden from the snow. They were delighted with their creation and when they smiled and called her daughter, she came alive, bright eyes gleaming and rosy cheeks aglow. She was a true and loving daughter throughout the brief days of winter. Some thought it was a miracle but when she melted in the spring mist, it was sure: Winter would always give way to light and life. Where there had been snow would come fields of daisies, from life that had hibernated would come the spring babes. And the lesson for people was to laugh in the heart of winter, to sing for the light and the life of the world.

And thus Santa exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion.

And the form, though different in every land, chronicles the history of a peoples affinity with the seasons and their nature.

The Christmas gift givers of Norway and Denmark were elves called Julnissen. They lived in the attic or under the stairs throughout the year, but came out and hid presents throughout the house on Christmas Eve. And in Sweeden it is the bearded TomTen who appear only to bring gifts and are seen no more.

In Italy, Befana rode a broomstick through the air and gave presents to children who were good and coal to those who were not. Her sack of toys was always magically refilled and the lump of coal never filled more than a pocket. It was said she was paying penence for ignoring the Kings seeking direction to the Christ Child on Christmas Eve. But her countenance becomes less grim and more cheubic with every passing year.

In Japan Hoteiosho is said to have eyes in the back of his head to better watch the behavior of little boys. The girls, always known to be good. In China, Lam-Khoong-Khoong fills stockings. And Pere Noel does so in France.

Some of Santa’s magic aura comes from Melchoir, King of Arabia and one of the three wise men. He brought gold coins and a golden apple to the Christ Child. He was a bearded and cloaked figure and is said to ride with the other two kings over Spain and Italy each Epiphany Eve. Children leave straw for their mounts and the kings fill the children’s shoes with gifts.

It is not that children believe that Spain or Italy is between Bethlehem and Arabia. It is that all peoples everywhere have taken the characters of the stories and melded them with their traditions and fitted them with their own beliefs, so that Santa in all names is embodied in nearly everyone’s life who wants to expand their heart in winter. He is a Christian saint, an old god, an angel, a penitant. He is male, but has female counterparts, And he gives.

The very best explanation of Santa may be by Francis P. Church as written in 1897 in The New York Sun in possibly the most famous editorial of all time: Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus.

Dear Editor: I am eight years old. Some of my friends say there is no Santa Claus. Pap says, "If you see it in The Sun, it is so." Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus? Virginia O’Hanlon, 115 West 95th Street.

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.

No Santa Claus! Thank God, he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

There is room for all customs during this holiday. Room for the elder gods, and room for the new order. Room for the lords of snow and frost and for the ancient tales and ceremonies.

Their is room for all folk to fit their patterns of life into cherished traditions. And in the birth of the Christ Child, is the promise of spring in the heart of winter. The divine gift of hope in times of dark.

Starting your own Traditions:

Each family celebrates Christmas in its own way. May all of us take the spirit of generosity and adventure brought to us by Santa and his spirits and use it to be our best in this special and saintly season. Remembering that the spirit and essence of Christmas is its true value and gifts are simply an expression of that value.

Each family celebrates Christmas in its own unique way. It is a time of new beginnings as well as a time of honoring the past. As the sun renews itself, we too can renew our convictions and beliefs.

For further reading on Christmas we recommend the following books:

The Evolution of the Christian Year by Alexander McArthur

Christmas Customs and Traditions by C.A. Miles

Christmas Treevia by D. Peter Harrington

Christmas Customs Around the World by Herbert Wernecke