Cart is emptySo, Santa is a shaman – Let’s dig into the meaning of the age-old traditions that were, and some still are celebrated around Christmas time. At the same time, we will discard the consumerism and commercialism that surround Christmas today.
Winter Solstice – the Shortest day of the year. Perhaps the one thing that stands out about this day is the televised celebration of the Solstice by Druids at Stone Henge in England.
The scientific explanation for the Winter and Summer Solstices is the way the earth travels around the sun. The earth does not travel around the sun in a circular orbit; it is elliptical. At the same time, the earth does not rotate exactly on its axis, like a spinning top it oscillates slightly, resulting in it tilting away from the sun during part of the year, and towards it at other times.
At the Winter Solstice in December, December 20th or 21st, we have the shortest day of the year; in the northern hemisphere, this is when the earth is tilted away the Sun, the Sun is lower in the sky, and the hemisphere receives the least sunlight and least warmth.
At the Summer Solstice on June 20th or 21st, we have the longest day of the year; in the northern hemisphere, this is when the earth is tilted towards the Sun, the Sun is higher in the sky, and the hemisphere receives the most sunlight and most warmth for a longer period of time.
It’s the opposite way round in the southern hemisphere
At the vernal equinox on March 20th, it marks the start of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, Spring starts on September 22nd or 23rd. At the vernal Equinox, the days and nights are equal in length.
At the Winter Solstice, the sun appears to be stationary in the sky for three days because the sun rises to the same point in the sky three days in a row. Something it does not do at any other time.
The sun appearing to be stationary at the Winter Solstice represents the dying king or Sun God. This should not be confused with it disappearing at night. In Egyptian mythology the sun dies at sunset and is reborn at dawn, which is not what we are interested in here.
Go far enough north during the winter solstice, and you will not see the sun at all. The tilt of the earth is such that the sun does not appear at all during these three days. On December 24th the sun appears to start rising in the sky again. In Christian belief, the next day, December 25th is the birth of Jesus and many traditional celebrations have a manager as part of the festive decorations.
To the Shaman, Winter Solstice is a time of celebration and new hopes for crops, animal husbandry and babies will be conceived, and, generally, hope for a good year ahead. The old year transforms or is reborn into a new one. Transformation is a very shamanic quality; the myths at this time point to the awakening of our true nature.
The shaman is an essential part of the community and at the winter solstice, the shaman, male or female, had special duties to perform. From these duties, it is the shamanic traditions we use today to symbolize Christmas.
The traditional Christmas tree is an evergreen conifer, the dominant species of tree that grows in the harsh northern climates. Whether you have a real tree or an imitation one, it is the symbol of the tree that is important.
The Amanita Muscaria mushroom grows at the foot of evergreen conifers and has a symbiotic relationship with the tree. Nutrients pass back and forth in their roots to the point where the mushrooms can’t grow without the tree, resulting in the mushrooms being seen as the fruit of the tree.
The mushrooms have a distinctive bright red cap with white spots or growths on it.
The shaman chooses and dries the mushrooms by hanging them on the lower branches of the conifer tree where they were gathered. So, now we have a green conifer with red and white mushrooms drying on its branches. Does this remind you of the decoration you attach to the branches of your Christmas tree? The tree is green and the mushrooms red and white, the usual Christmas colours.
Early decorations on Christmas Trees were editable. It was too costly to have decorations that were not. Usually, the edible decorations were some sort of baked dough. Later, apples were used as they symbolized the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Apples were replaced by shiny red balls, which were not edible.
When Shaman gathered mushrooms, they traditionally dressed in vivid red and white clothes to symbolize the mushrooms they were picking and to let the spirits of the woods know what they are doing.
In the northern climate, deep snow and ice make travel difficult. Some sort of sledge or sleigh is required to get around. In the cold north, the lowest recorded temperature in Siberia was -67c / -97.3F. To survive outside in these temperatures, layers of fur would be put on, making the person appear rather “chubby or fat.”
In the northern climate, reindeer are an important source of meat, fur, bone, and other animal products for all manner of traditional needs. They are an important source of power to pull things; one, or more, may be attached to a sleigh to move it through the snow, woods, and across the plains. This practice continues to this day, as horses are not hardy enough to survive and work in the harsh climate.
So, now we have a rather well-rounded person, riding a sleigh, pulled by one or more reindeer and dressed in red and white clothing.
The Amanita Muscaria mushroom does not contain psychedelic substances; it contains muscimol and ibotenic acid. The mushrooms have a psychedelic-like effect and can create visions and altered states of consciousness, a sense of euphoria, and clarity of mind. The shaman brings them in a sack for their own use and to share with the people they are visiting.
In rare cases the mushrooms can be poisonous to the person consuming them. The chemicals in the mushrooms can also cause chills, sweating, salivation, nausea and Ibotenic acid induces vomiting.
The need for shaman to perform ceremonies and conduct healing and retrieving souls in soul journeys is still very much needed even when the snow is deep and the door to the traditional nomads Yurt is snowed in. To get in, the shaman climbs on the roof and enters through the smoke hole in the roof top.
Now we have everything we recognize in Santa today. A portly shaman, dressed in red and white clothing, carrying a sack of good things, who arrived on a sleigh, pulled by reindeer, and entering through the smoke hole in the roof. If everyone is high on mushrooms, stories of the shaman flying across the sky on their sleigh, pulled by faithful reindeer, to visit many yurts during the night seem quite believable.
Have a wonderful holiday season and celebrate the Winter Solstice this year. Celebrate the start of the New Year, which begins the day after the solstice… not a week later!
We all have free will use it to move forward through the week.
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Photography: Mark A. Ashford
Music from Epidemic Sound:
Music – Epidemic Sound – ES_A Christmas Miracle – One Man Quartet
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