Santa’s
Gift
“We
think we mature and grow out of naïve belief when we stop believing in Santa,
but it would be more appropriate to say that we lose our sense of enchantment
and the magic of what it means to be human.”
Thomas
Moore (The Soul of Christmas, p.124; Franciscan Media, 2016)
My
friend, Anna Dudley, gave this month’s Jung After Work presentation on “Solstice,
Shaman, and Santa.” She gave a brief history of the images of Santa, or Saint
Nicholas, that began surprisingly in Siberia, near the North Pole. When we lay
images of our modern concepts of Santa Claus beside those of ancient and modern
Shamans, we can see how close they are—the animal furs, the red clothing, the
reindeer helpers, the magical flight through the night to every location on earth
and entering homes through the chimney (smoke hole). Who could do that except a powerful shaman? Of course, the Solstice nights are very long, and not everyone has a
chimney, but still. Santa’s magic, right!
Santa
Claus is an archetypal (universal) figure, a “jolly old elf,” whose name, Thomas
Moore suggests, is the English equivalent of “Holy One.” He represents the
spirit of joy, of giving, of generosity, and loving kindness, especially toward
children who are still close to the source of life. So, when we stop “believing”
in Santa, we lose a deep archetypal connection to wonder and magic. As Moore
calls it, “enchantment.”
Some folks
have no need for magic in their lives, but I am not one of them. I think when
we lose our sense of wonder, of awe, and the expectation that anything can happen,
we lose a large chunk of what it means to be human. Wonder is fundamentally
spiritual, and even though it’s associated most with children, we all desperately
need it—besides, we still possess the capacity of a child to feel awe and to be
inspired (in-spirited) by wonder. We still possess the capacity to imagine, to
hope, and to trust in goodness. At least, I hope we do.
How many of us still
drive around town to look at the Christmas lights? They brighten our hearts in some deep
and unnamable way even though we know they are simply wire and plastic and
strings of electric bulbs. Santa is the same—he comes at the darkest time of
year, in the dead of night, when we are at our most vulnerable and tells us, “Don’t
let the darkness overwhelm you. Never give up hope. Here’s a gift to cheer you
up.” Who doesn’t want to believe in that!
Merry Christmas,
everyone. Keep hope alive!
In the spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment