Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

The PAGAN Origins of Santa Claus!

by HOIM Staff

Since childhood we have been led to believe that Santa Claus is a nice, jolly man who visits our homes every Christmas. But what should we have to do with a man who supposedly flies horned beasts through the air at night? Is it about sorcery? He wears a wizard's cap. The red costume is recent, but it's the ancient color of fire. It's our cultural color for DANGER! The costume is trimmed in sheepskins. He descends into a fire pit by way of the chimney at midnight -- the hearth is directly linked to the idolatry of the Romans. The fire was sacred to them, and its place was the center of the Pagan worship of their deities.

Our mythology of Santa Claus comes to us through England, and that traces to Holland and Germany, and so on. The 3rd-century story about a "Saint Nicholas" never had any mention of "elves," chimneys, flying reindeer or supernatural feats. Even the "Christmas tree" isn't mentioned in the story. Christianity had not made any inroads into the northern areas of England, Holland, Scotland, Finland and Ireland until well into the 5th century.

If anyone named "Nicholas" existed in Holland during the 3rd century, he was a Pagan who obeyed his Druid priests. In the 8th century a Catholic by the name of Boniface encountered these Druid-led people of the north, and sought to convert them. He saw them bringing oak trees into their homes at the winter solstice and decorating them with gold balls. The word "Dru-id" means "oak-wise," because oak trees were sacred to them.

Tree worship comes directly from Babylon! At the death of Nimrod, his wife/mother Semiramis taught the young Tammuz to go into the groves (forests) and place a gift on a tree at the winter solstice. This was an offering to his father, Nimrod, who was now worshipped as the sun. The custom of tying a "yellow ribbon" around an oak tree represents a prayer to the sun. At this point branches of trees came to symbolize Nimrod also, so decorating Pagan temples and homes with holly, boughs and wreaths was the custom. The wreaths are branches twisted into circles, so the branches would be associated with the sun. Ezekiel 8:14-18 shows how women in Jerusalem were "weeping for Tammuz," and the Levite priests (25 men) were facing the rising sun and putting a "branch" to their nose. These customs were called a DETESTABLE thing by YEHOVAH God!

Jeremiah 10:2-4

When Boniface saw the people of the Druids bringing oak trees into their homes, he CONVINCED them to consider the EVERGREEN TREE instead, and used it to teach them about eternal life. He NEVER taught them that the tree or the wreath was a DETESTABLE thing to YEHOVAH God. Notice what YEHOVAH God says through the prophet Jeremiah --

"DO NOT learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile; for one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple" (NKJV).

People of other regions use palm trees.

Scholars call it "syncretism" when a religious or philosophical behavior is UNITED or COMBINED with another behavior. It is a conscious attempt to DISGUISE one of them in the camouflage of the other by re-inventing a NEW meaning, and believing in it. Nimrod is lurking nearby at Christmas, so maybe he really is Santa Claus too! The Christmas tree -- whether an oak, evergreen or palm -- is really Nimrod. Satan is still using the tree to whisper lies to us.

The Anachronism of Nicholas

If there really was a real person named Nicholas -- and it's not all just a legend -- he sure went through some changes! The oldest account of his existence is vague and of relatively recent origin. His location places him among the Dutch but, as mentioned above, these people were not yet Christians. The date and location for him makes it an anachronism (the time is "against" it being true). In the 3rd century the people of the north were barbarians (meaning "bearded Aryans"). They were Druids who burned their enemies and criminals in wicker cages over fires, threw wealth into lakes to water idols (like we still see people do in fountains), burned children as offerings to the sun, and placed jack-o-lanterns outside their homes lit by candles made from the fat of their own children. If they weren't Pagans -- nobody was! So, the legendary Nicholas couldn't have been there at that time.

Another major problem with this: they claim Nicholas was a "bishop" (presbyter, elder). Yet, at his death on December 6th, he had only reached the ripe old age of 17! "Bishop" means elder, from the Greek word presbus, "old man." We are not leaning heavily in favor of believing the tale with all these CONFLICTING facts. The fact that the Roman Catholic Church honors him as a "saint" doesn't help either!

How did we get from NICHOLAS to SANTA CLAUS? In the late Middle Ages, the Dutch who told the story of Nicholas to English listeners spoke in a very pronounced accent. When they said "Saint Nicholas," it came out sounding like "SAINTNI-CHOLAS." The English hearers of this took it down at first as "Santy Claus," and it took the more Spanish form "Santa" later on. You will sometimes see the form "Santy" in old books from earlier in the 20th century.

Irish Potato Blight

The Irish had grown very dependant upon the potato during the 18th and 19th centuries. The potato was a transplant to Ireland from Columbia, South America. In 1846 a fungus destroyed the crops causing widespread famine in Ireland. Vast numbers of people died, and the decline of the population was catastrophic -- so much so that the only hope of escape from death was emigration. It was precisely at this point that most Irish came to the United States, fleeing the Great Famine.

What they brought to the United States for the first time was CATHOLICISM, since many of the earlier colonizers had fled here from the religious persecution of Catholic and Anglican intolerance. These Irish Catholics had the rich cultural background of Druidism -- which they had blended together with Roman Catholicism. Their belief in ELVES, banshees, leprechauns, fairies, luck and all sorts of Celtic Magic came with them. They brought their pumpkin ritual seen as "Halloween," which had been a Druid festival honoring SAMHAIN -- their deity of the dead. They also brought their "Christmas tree" tradition, along with Christmas, which had been OUTLAWED as Pagan in many colonies.

The Catholics in Mexico have assimilated the cultural background of the Aztecs. Other Catholics from around the world would NOT recognize many things they do -- and so it is with them in many other parts of the world. Whatever the Pagans were doing BEFORE became inter-mixed with the Roman Catholic facade, forming a kind of "crust," MASKING THE PAGANISM. The Haitian Voodoo of Cajun Catholics has produced a spicy "mix" of Pagan and Catholic tradition down in Louisiana. So, there were NO pumpkins on peoples' porches, or Christmas trees in America until that fungus drove the Irish people to flee their homeland for America and other countries.

Things -- Like Paganism -- Go Better With Coke!

In the late 1800s, a pharmacist put some cocaine in a sweetened, bubbling cola beverage and named it Coca-Cola. By the 1930s it was a major business, and had its own advertising department, strategists and artists. One of the artists, a man named Rosenblum, decided to attempt something new. The Dutch/Irish character called "Santy Claus" was beginning to get a lot of attention, so he set his mind on aligning the Coca-Cola product with him. In Rosenblum's time Santy Claus didn't look anything like he does now. The original character was an Irish transplant, coming from people who had based their beliefs on Druid magic and ELVES.

The 19th-century poem The Night Before Christmas had catapulted our Christmas Elf into the spotlight because the character was so appealing. So Rosenblum used his artistic imagination to CHANGE Santy Claus into what we think he looks like today. Before, Santa was no more than 2 feet tall, skinny and wore green. He had a long white beard, and for all practical purposes he was a LEPRECHAUN/ELF creature with magical powers to grant wishes, watch you without being seen, and so on. He could also do you harm. The alignment with the hearth is another PAGAN syncretism -- right down to the stockings hung by the chimney with care.

To make this night visitor charming -- and more human -- Rosenblum made him a full-sized man, jolly and plump, to better assume the distinctive shape of the Coke bottle. He also used the appealing red and white PRODUCT COLORS to clothe Santa in. The drooping wizard hat was a must! The final art work was combined with a marketing message to encourage customers to leave a bottle of Coke near the hearth when he visits at midnight, Christmas Eve.

Now you know why little children say, "But how can Santa fit down our chimney -- isn't he too big?" Yes, he is NOW, but they tell the children that Santa has magical powers. When he was less than 2 feet tall, he could fit into many such tight places with ease.

If you put up a tree, hang stockings by the fireplace, and exchange gifts this coming Roman/Gregorian December, watch for the mistletoe! It's poisonous, and a Pagan spell surrounds its ritual use too. It is just a parasite to a tree, but the custom of hanging it up and collecting kisses comes from Druidism.

To sprinkle a little "salt" on this whole scheme, there may be a more realistic CONNECTION to "Saint Nicholas" that is rooted in the real world. In Revelation 2:15 there is a reference to "Nicolaitans." The messenger to the ecclesia at Pergamum was to carry a warning about the teachings of "Balaam" that they embraced. "Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the NICOLAITANS. Repent therefore!" It has been said that these were a sect of religious teachers who "lorded over the laity" -- which is what "Nicolaitan" means. The influence of Nimrod is written all over this.

YEHOVAH God DOES NOT want us to MIX up our worship of Him with Pagan ideas and ritual -- or to have any contact with it. Light and Darkness CANNOT be mixed!

Hope of Israel Ministries -- Preparing the Way for the Return of YEHOVAH God and His Messiah!

Hope of Israel Ministries P.O. Box 853 Azusa, CA 91702, U.S.A. www.hope-of-israel.org

Scan with your Smartphone for more information