Santa is Always the News

We all know Santas story by now. He was originally a bishop back in the day, and after he died he became known as saint Nicholas, or saint Nick for short. And even way back then, before Christmas became a major holiday, the anniversary of his death was a day to celebrate by giving out gifts. But most of us dont know that saint Nick actually had a bad rap for a while, and that is actually how he got all of the other names we know him by today.

During the time of great change in the Christian Church known as the Protestant Reformation, which occurred in the 1500s, the famous Martin Luther declared that all good Christians should stop celebrating saints. For the devout followers of Luther, that meant also stopping the celebration of saint Nick, no matter how fun the gift giving had become.

But of course, not all Christians stopped celebrating saint Nick, not even all of the Protestants. Instead of stopping the celebration, they crafted a plan to enjoy the saint Nick holiday in secret. This is when saint Nick became known in England as Father Christmas. In Germany, people referred to Santa as Christmas Man, and the Dutch created the name Sinterklass.

About this time, a large majority of Dutch settlers moved to New Amsterdam in Americawhat would later become New Yorkand brought their celebration of Sinterklass with him. Americans caught on to the idea, and tried to pronounce his name right. But instead, what came out was Santa Claus.

However, Santa Claus did not hit the big time until the author of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving, got wind of Santa Claus and promoted him the American press. This happened in the early 1800s, when Washington Irving wrote a story called the A History of New York, in which he went into great detail about a man called Sinterklass. This saint Nick was fat and short, wore a funny costume, and would travel around on the Eve of saint Nicolas on a horse.

The idea of jolly gift-giving man caught on in the American press. Another writer, the poet Clement Clark Moore, wrote a poem called A Visit from St. Nicolas, which is better known as, The Night Before Christmas. It was Moore who made saint Nick a jolly old elf who flies around the night in a magical sleigh powered by eight flying reindeer. We all know the names of those reindeer, right? Well, Moore also included them in his poem.

Americans would get their best images of Santa Claus in the magazines of the late 1800s, when the cartoonist Thomas Nast put out his own visions of saint Nick in Harpers Weekly. For Nast, Santa was a bigger man with a big fat belly, who wore a red suit lined with fur and a big leather belt. Nast also started drawing images of Santas workshop in the North Pole, and Santa using a list to keep track of his kids who were naughty and nice.

Of course, these are all the images of Santa that we use today in the newspapers, in cartoons, and on TV. Or should we say, perhaps, images of Sinterklass?

Randy Stocklin is the co-owner of Mail from Santa Claus. Mail from Santa Claus offers memorable letters from Santa Claus that helps keep the Christmas spirit alive. For more information about Mail from Santa Claus and to purchase letters from Santa Claus please visit http://www.mailfromsantaclaus.com/.

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Karmic Yoga-Correction Agents

Throughout the ages there have been men and women who have labored to better the world. Some of them worked through communities and institutions while some of them worked at what some people call the grass roots level, to raise a group of people wanted to help provide for the needs of the society at a deeper, more personal level, than most governments. These groups were often met with a great deal of resistance, but as more people joined them and they gained more power, they also gained enough prestige to become part of the larger system. This was both a blessing and a curse.

Today, due to the speed of communication, we can see the fruit of their success faster. As they become part of the system they get more power, but the amount of compromising necessary to remain at the table and keep that power also increases. After they have compromised too much they become the system instead of agents of correction. They begin to make a few cosmetic changes here and there and to pass out the Band-Aids, but they really dont make the foundational changes needed to stop people from getting wounded.

Their success has ultimately become their failure. They have ended up selling their souls to do good and bending their values so far they dont exist anymore. Finally they end up being the oppressors and suppressors they thought they were fighting. This is an example of how ones success externally can contribute to ones demise internally. The Shaolin discuss this in their wisdom literature. They say that some people only use their energy and light of awareness to fight against darkness and evil externally. While their awareness is being applied on the outside the evil they are fighting finds a place of welcome on the inside. They are then turned into what they are fighting against.

The Shaolin say that is more important to use the light of awareness on the inside to purify and strengthen oneself so one can work to fight evil from a place of wholeness, completeness, and goodness. To create a better society it is important to know who one is and to cultivate ones sense of self, honor, and dignity. One can work from a place of strength and power then, creating new ways to bring about social change. If one is moved by anger or by fear it can seem that she is doing great work while she is destroying the very principles inside herself that she wants the world to embrace. But if she struggles from a place of certitude and love, she will bring the principles she embraces to the world and be an example for following generations.

If you want to be a social change agent as part of your Karmic yoga, cultivate love of self and neighbor. Treat yourself kindly. Truly love yourself and your neighbor--even those who oppose you. love combined with just action will lead you to life. This life will replace the drudgery of fighting unbeatable odds, or the tiredness from maintaining a sense of righteous anger throughout the years and transform your work to one of joy. Your work will become part of the great spiral dance that weaves together and takes apart corrupt thoughts, concepts, and social systems, and recreates them in the image of love. You will be the very essence--the creative process of life, and your legacy of justice, which is applied love, will endure forever.

Dr. John W. Gilmore is the founder and spiritual Leader of the Cyber Circle of Creation spirituality, which is an online service dedicated to deep ecumenism, mystical union with the Divine, and a progressive voice for societal transformation. He is a spiritual Director, martial Arts instructor, a writer and a certified reiki Master teacher, Massage Therapist, a Reflexologist. For more commentaries like this one explore this e-zine or our Free journal of Practical spirituality at http://www.dswellness.com . You can also find a link to our cyber service, The Circle there.

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