Bringer of Candy Canes and Holiday cheer!

[Solstice Elf]

Does anyone else invoke Santa Claus as the God of solstice in their circle?

[Mnemosyne]

I guess that you could. As you know, the roots of Christmas stem from Yule. Santa has similar characteristics of some of the gods.


Today's Santa is a folk figure with multicultural roots. He embodies characteristics of Saturn (Roman agricultural god), Cronos (Greek god, also known as Father Time), the Holly King (Celtic god of the dying year), Father Ice/Grandfather Frost (Russian winter god), Thor (Norse sky god who rides the sky in a chariot drawn by goats), Odin/Wotan (Scandinavian/Teutonic All-Father who rides the sky on an eight-legged horse), Frey (Norse fertility god), and the Tomte (a Norse Land Spirit known for giving gifts to children at this time of year). Santa's reindeer can be viewed as forms of Herne, the Celtic Horned God. Decorate your home with Santa images that reflect His Pagan heritage.

http://www.circlesanctuary.org/pholidays/SolsticeArticle.html

Interesting!

Welcome, Solstice Elf! :)

[Eeluna]

I was just thinking recently about how the cookies and milk everyone leaves out for Santa Claus could actually be looked upon as an offering. Maybe I'm a little slow, but when that occurred to me, I was intrigued and wondered if it was a remnant of Pagan practices.

[jelly.belly]

Originally posted by Eeluna
I was just thinking recently about how the cookies and milk everyone leaves out for Santa Claus could actually be looked upon as an offering. Maybe I'm a little slow, but when that occurred to me, I was intrigued and wondered if it was a remnant of Pagan practices.

very true... never thought of that...