A Mixed Mythology

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Board: Etruria
Topic: Etruscan Madness 
Topic Editor: Tuscus Sempronius
Topic Description: For all those postings from the right side of the ...

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Message: A Mixed Mythology
Author: Sacerdos - Camitlnas Tullius, Patron 
Date: Dec 13, 2000 06:48
      Christmas is almost upon us, and I thought that it would be an appropriate 
      moment to look at the (Northern hemisphere) winter festival and its pagan 
      past with perhaps a hint of irony. I write this, neither to support nor to 
      attack religion, but as Sacerdos Etruriae, I feel that I should at least 
      explore the subject of religion, and also bring this topic back to its 
      original intent: that of humour. 

      The name Christmas means the Mass or feast of Christ. Nowadays the name is 
      commonly abbreviated to Xmas - The mass of X? The unknown factor X becomes 
      apparent when we look at the symbolism and modern day iconography of 
      Christmas. Lets face it- the unknown quantity is the fat guy in the red 
      suit with the false beard. But lets look behing the false beard and find 
      out who he really is. The one- time bishop of Myra, in Asia Minor, who 
      went on to be canonised as St Nicholas? - I think not. Such an austere 
      person who looked after the welfare of young people can hardly be 
      associated with this rather obese character (symbolising commercial greed? 
      ) who travels around the world in a sleigh, wears a bright red suit, and 
      is heralded by cloven hooved horned creatures. Sleighs and Reindeer in 
      Ancient Turkey ? It all sounds decidedly incongruous. 

      So instead, lets travel to Finland, where they claim the real Santa Claus 
      originated, and we hear of the legend of Jouloupooki, the evil spirit who 
      is personified by a reindeer, and heralds a character dressed in red. This 
      evil connotation is further reinforced by other European legends, such as 
      Zwarte Piet (please correct my spelling Tanaquil) in the Netherlands :) 

      Now if we reflect on these facts, we have an obese character dressed in 
      red, associated with evil spirits, an association with cloven hooved 
      animals with horns, and a name like Santa, which as everyone knows is an 
      anagram of Satan. So all of a sudden, old St Nick, or Old Nick (!) is 
      starting to sound somewhat suspicious. That playful glint in his eye is 
      starting to look decidedly evil, and the unknown quantity X becomes clear. 
      By slight of hand the old necromancer has turned Christmas into Xmas 
      (Satanic Mass?), the festival of commercial greed and overeating. 

      Before I get carried away here, lets look deeper into this character, and 
      the iconography of the devil and demons as personified by Dante in his 
      "Inferno". I think everyone here will agree that a definite Etruscan 
      influence emerges, and we rapidly arrive at an inescapable conclusion 

      ............ SANTA CLAUS WAS ETRUSCAN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????? 







      Happy Holidays to all Etruria Members *S*









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