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ODIN,
ruler of the glorious deod in Volhollo, to whom human socrif1ce wos
offered os G ive r of Victory. In Christian times, Odin become identif1ed with
St. Nicholos.
Culver Pi<tures
end of S
t.
Nicholas took the forro of
a children's festival concomitant
with the celebration of Christmas.
The children's St. Nicholas revels
!asted until December twenty-eight
- Holy Innocents Day, com–
memorating King Herod's slaughter
of the infant boys in Judaea. This
pageant has for the most part faded
away, but in Austria as recently as
PlAIN TRUTH Oecember 1973
30 or 40 years ago, St. Nicholas still
appeared on his day, traveling
about in the robes and mitre of the
Church instead of the more popular
northern red jacket with white
fleece trirnmings.
The two images - Odin and St.
Nicholas - met and merged in the
northern European countries from
which grew the modero concept of
Santa Claus. Both Odin and St.
Nicholas were travelers of the road;
both wandered about inspecting the
deeds of mankind. Remember the
línes of one Christmas song:
"Gonna find out who's naughty or
nice, Santa Claus is coming to
town"?
Both Odin and Nicholas carried
on their activitíes
in
the dead of
winter. And St. Nicholas was well
known for bringing
gifis
in secret.
When the children of the Lower
was one saint who preferred to deliver
his presents during the night. Today,
the stockings are still hung by the
chirnney with care, but
it
certainly
isn' t St. Nicholas who foots the bill!
One M ore lngredient
Christmas in the 1970's would not
be complete without the tree. Our
modero midwinter blend of Satur–
nalia. northern European legend
and "Christian" mythology would
not be as bright without the custom
which originated from the use of
devil-defying evergreen branches in
northern Europe around New
Year's. Those forerunners of the
beautiful ornamental trees of today
were often tree-tips hung from the
open rafters.
You Can' t Put Christ Back
lnto Christmas!
It
soon becomes plain that even
though the lax but still-professing
Christian church of the third cen–
tury may have succeeded in putting
a different label on the festival of
Saturnalia, it could never really
transform that festival into anything
remotely resembHng a biblically
sanctioned festival of God. Christ–
mas is merely an ancient pagan
celebration in more up-to-date and
respectable wrappings.
If the Jesus Christ of the New
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