The True Meaning of Christmas
Santa Clause was a Finnish shaman, known for wearing the characteristic red and white garb and hat donned by sleigh-riding Sami spiritual men of Lappland.
During harvesting season, he would walk the trails of the Northernmost forests of Finland, picking amanita muscaria, the entheogenic mushroom traditionally used in his rituals. This mushroom grows in a unique symbiotic relationship with the root systems of certain coniferous trees -- specifically the Pine. Picking them from beneath the tree, like gifts, he would place these beautiful red and white wet mushrooms onto the branches of the tree to dry them in the sun. Later, on his return trip, he would pick these dried mushrooms from the "Christmas" trees, carrying them in a big sack.
The shaman would deliver the psychedelic mushrooms door to door, providing spiritual experiences during the solstice to often-isolate members of his community. If the psychedelics were not fully dried yet, families would dry them themselves placing them in socks and hanging those stockings from above the fireplace. During Finland's strong winter storms, snow drifts would often block the entrance of the family's house -- at which point he would be forced to enter through the chimney, which was very large in the traditional Sami home.
Santa, as was the tradition of all Sami shamans, would feed the amanita muscaria to his reindeer, whose digestive system would filter out the toxic compounds in the mushroom. Santa would then drink Rudolph's urine, which was psychoactive. In essence, this would cause his reindeer sleight to "fly" - or ascend and traverse the upper realms of shamanic consciousness and interact with the spirits there.
Call me "Old Fashioned" or conservative, but I get a rare joy out of keeping with my family's original Christmas traditions. I encourage you to do the same:
http://www.iamshaman.com/amanita-muscaria.htm
During harvesting season, he would walk the trails of the Northernmost forests of Finland, picking amanita muscaria, the entheogenic mushroom traditionally used in his rituals. This mushroom grows in a unique symbiotic relationship with the root systems of certain coniferous trees -- specifically the Pine. Picking them from beneath the tree, like gifts, he would place these beautiful red and white wet mushrooms onto the branches of the tree to dry them in the sun. Later, on his return trip, he would pick these dried mushrooms from the "Christmas" trees, carrying them in a big sack.
The shaman would deliver the psychedelic mushrooms door to door, providing spiritual experiences during the solstice to often-isolate members of his community. If the psychedelics were not fully dried yet, families would dry them themselves placing them in socks and hanging those stockings from above the fireplace. During Finland's strong winter storms, snow drifts would often block the entrance of the family's house -- at which point he would be forced to enter through the chimney, which was very large in the traditional Sami home.
Santa, as was the tradition of all Sami shamans, would feed the amanita muscaria to his reindeer, whose digestive system would filter out the toxic compounds in the mushroom. Santa would then drink Rudolph's urine, which was psychoactive. In essence, this would cause his reindeer sleight to "fly" - or ascend and traverse the upper realms of shamanic consciousness and interact with the spirits there.
Call me "Old Fashioned" or conservative, but I get a rare joy out of keeping with my family's original Christmas traditions. I encourage you to do the same:
http://www.iamshaman.com/amanita-muscaria.htm