What Santa gives bad boys and girls. Why does Santa Claus give coal to bad kids? The custom of giving gifts was postponed to another day

Andrei Shalygin: In fact, Christmas has nothing to do with Santa Claus or Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas, that is, Saint Nicholas), especially with deer. The fact is that the Archbishop of the World of Lycia Equal-to-the-Apostles Saint Nicholas, on the eve of the Nativity of Christ, always went around the laity and secretly from them, so that no one would notice, left them gifts for Christmas in secluded places.

And he was, of course, not in a fur coat with fur lining. In the red clothes of a sedate old man they write because earlier before the introduction different colors On the twelfth holidays, the festive miter was always of the same festive color - red, that is, purple, symbolizing the coming into the World of the King of People - Christ.

However, for people, of course, New Year's gifts were more important, and since our celebration of the New Year itself broke up with Christmas, and then communist propaganda tried its best to forget the very idea of ​​​​Christmas, then the grandfather in a fur coat living in the forest turned out to be more tenacious than Nicholas the Pleasant, as he is called among the people, who became Santa Claus with the pagan Berendey Snegurochka.

It is no coincidence that Christmas is the same central holiday of the church year as Easter: these holidays symbolize the most important events for Christians - the incarnation, the birth in the flesh of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross and subsequent resurrection. According to the Bible, the Divine Infant was born on the night of December 25 in a cave near Bethlehem. The Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph were heading to this city for the census, announced by order of the King of Judea, Herod the Great, and spent the night in a cave. The Mother of God swaddled the newborn Jesus and put it in a manger (feeder for cattle), and soon the Magi came to the cave to bow to Christ.

Therefore, an indispensable attribute of the holiday was and remains christmas nativity scene- a sculptural image of the Baby Jesus in a manger, the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph in a cave (in fact, the word "nativity scene" in translation from Church Slavonic means "cave"). There may be more figures, but these three are required. In cathedrals and churches, nativity scenes are usually large: full-length painted figures, large decorations, a large number of characters. Similar large nativity scenes appear on the streets of many European and American cities. But for home, so to speak, use, there are small folding nativity scenes, many of which are inherited in families for more than the first generation: they are placed on tables or on the floor near the Christmas tree just before Christmas.

Another common attribute of Christmas among Catholics is the so-called advent wreath. This is a small wreath, woven from spruce branches and decorated with ribbons, balls and other tinsel, on which four thick candles are fixed. Each of them symbolizes one of the four weeks of Advent - the month of strict fasting preceding Christmas among Catholics. Such wreaths can be seen from the end of November in all Catholic churches at the altars, and the vast majority of ordinary lay people are happy to put them on the table in their home - at least on Christmas Eve, that is, on the evening before Christmas. Once upon a time, candles were lit in sequence, one on each Sunday, but today, as a rule, they light up at the same time - it's more beautiful that way.

Mandatory for Catholics (and not only: similar services are also held by Protestants and other branches of Christianity living according to the Gregorian calendar) was and remains a visit to the Christmas Mass. On the night of December 25, there are three of them: Mass at night (Ad Missam in nocte), Mass at dawn (Ad Missam in aurora) and Mass during the day (Ad Missam in die). Each service has a special religious meaning, and Christmas is actually celebrated three times: during the first service - as the eternal birth of the Word from God the Father, during the second - as the birth of God the Son from the Virgin, and during the third - as the birth of God in the soul of the believer.

Among Catholics, the original idea of ​​an archbishop congratulating the flock on Christmas remained closer to the original, so the main modern symbol of Christmas is Santa Claus, who is usually represented as a fat, good-natured old man with glasses and a white beard, dressed in a warm red jacket, pants and cap. However, the historical prototype of this character - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - did not at all resemble him.

St Nicholas

Nicholas the Wonderworker is one of the most revered saints in the Christian world. He is considered the protector of ordinary people, the patron saint of navigation, trade and agriculture, as well as the guardian of the poor and orphans.

According to his life, St. Nicholas was born in the 3rd century AD. in the Greek colony of Patara in the Roman province of Lycia (on the territory of the modern province of Antalya in Turkey). He gained fame as the archbishop of the World of Lycia (Byzantium), thanks to his charity and protection of the innocently convicted, as well as numerous deeds and miracles.

Catholics currently commemorate St. Nicholas on December 6th. In the Orthodox tradition, this holiday is celebrated twice - on December 19 (December 6, according to the old style) "Winter Nicholas" and on May 22 (May 6, according to the old style) "Spring Nicholas".

The face of Archbishop Nicholas was reconstructed by a team of British anthropologists and Italian scientists from the remains, which are kept in the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari.

"The real Santa Claus was 170 cm tall and had sharp facial features, which seemed even more severe due to a broken nose. His skin was dark, short-cropped matted hair, disheveled beard. A large, frightening-looking man," the researchers said.

According to legend, Archbishop Nicholas tossed small bags of gold coins into the chimneys of poor girls who were old enough to marry but had no dowry.

The tradition of giving gifts on this day dates back to the 10th century, when on December 6, students of the parish school began to distribute sweets in the Cologne Cathedral. Later in Germany, shoes or socks were hung in houses so that St. Nicholas would put gifts for children there.

Santa Claus

Santa's reindeer

The tradition of depicting Santa on a sleigh pulled by reindeer originated at the beginning of the 19th century. In the first illustrations, Santa was driving a small sleigh pulled by a single reindeer. In 1823, the first edition of the famous poem "The Night Before Christmas" was published, in which eight "horned helpers" were already carrying the sleigh.

The ninth reindeer named Rudolph, who becomes the head of the team, did not appear until 1949, when Johnny Marks wrote the song "Rudolf, the Red Nosed Reindeer." The rest of the deer are named Dasher ("Stunning"), Dancer ("Dancer"), Prancer ("Prancing"), Vixen ("Evil"), Comet ("Comet"), Cupid ("Cupid"), Dander ("Dump" ) and Blixem ("Lightning").

Veterinarian Ellis Blue-McLendon of Texas A&M University says the deer are females. At the same time, she refers to the fact that by December 25, males are already getting rid of the horns, while Santa's sleigh is pulled by ungulates with horns. And Gregory Finstead, a deer specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, is of the opinion that Santa's little helpers are castrated males who get rid of their antlers only in February-March.

Physicists from Germany have calculated the speed with which Santa Claus must move on Christmas Eve in order to deliver all the gifts. This is approximately 28,416 kilometers per hour, which is 23 times the speed of sound. It also turned out that Santa Claus can't goad his reindeer with the traditional "Ho, ho, ho!" at supersonic speed, the scream will never reach the ears of the animals.

Santa Claus Corporation

Experts from Wired magazine "revealed" the business plan of the transnational corporation Santa Claus to deliver gifts for Christmas. With the help of business consultants, delivery and surveillance specialists, and Navy SEALs, a rough plan for her work in the United States was drawn up.

According to experts, the structure of Santa Claus Inc. includes, among others, a headquarters and operations center at the North Pole, secret factories in China and Eastern Europe, Pacific shipping lines, and a huge network of warehouses and local distribution centers. It uses the most modern technologies- The surveillance system of the National Security Agency allows gifts to be delivered exactly at the moment when the child is sleeping, and the supercomputer gives accurate information about good and bad children.

Tracking Santa

In recent years, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Google have been tracking Santa's flight online.

The tradition of tracking Santa's course on Christmas Eve originated as early as 1955 after a typo in a Colorado newspaper advertisement in which, instead of a telephone, " hotline Santa's number was NORAD (then: Continental Air Defense Command - CONRAD). As the number received more and more calls, the commander on the other end of the line began to impersonate Santa Claus, and since 1958 this has become one of the modern holiday customs.

NORAD claims that the Christmas sleigh surveillance system works thanks to the nose of Rudolph the reindeer, which emits a special infrared signal that resembles the one that occurs when rockets are launched.

In recent years, you can track Santa's flight on your own using Twitter microblogging or the Facebook social network, as well as on a specially created website using Google Maps and Google Earth services. The map shows the route traveled, the next point and the number of gifts already presented.

Anton Smertin

How Christmas is celebrated

But outside the actual church holiday, everyone is preparing for Christmas and celebrating it to their taste and in accordance with national traditions. Most will try to decorate the door of their house with a Christmas wreath that resembles an Advent wreath without candles: this is a sign that Christ is expected and rejoiced in the house. Also, the majority of those who Catholic Christmas, having gathered for a festive dinner on Christmas Eve, they will certainly put an extra chair at the table, and an extra appliance on the table. On the one hand, this symbolizes the readiness of the family to meet and feed anyone who looks into the light that evening; on the other hand, it is a reminder of all relatives and friends who cannot meet festive evening behind common table; and on the third, it is a sign of memory and respect for those members of the family who are no longer alive, but who, as Catholics believe, are waiting for them on the other side of earthly existence.

By the way, about beliefs, more precisely, about the heritage of pagan times. Many ethnologists believe that it is no coincidence that Catholic Christmas took root so quickly and became so widespread, first in Europe, and then in the New World. According to scientists, the custom to celebrate the birth of the Baby Jesus at the end of December, right after the night winter solstice, perfect way coincided with the pagan traditions of meeting the turning point of winter. And therefore, in many European countries, especially in Northern and Eastern Europe, to this day there are Christmas customs with obvious pagan roots, not approved by the official church, but traditionally observed by the laity. For example, "Christmas log": such a log is chosen in advance from the most straight and clean, on Christmas Eve they bring it into the house, carve a cross on it, then pour it with oil and honey and burn it in a stove or in a fireplace.

The same legacy of pagan beliefs that have become accustomed to Christianity is the indispensable Christmas tree. The Germans were the first to put it on Christmas - first in large city squares, and then at home, and after them the custom migrated to other European countries, from where it spread throughout the world - along with Christianity.

Christmas table

The festive Christmas table is also varied, since the traditional Christmas dishes in each country are different. For example, in UK it is an oven-baked turkey in gooseberry sauce and Christmas pudding, which is poured over with rum, set on fire and served as such. IN America the same Christmas turkey is served on the table in cranberry sauce, and in France- in white wine sauce. But in Austria, Hungary and in many Balkan countries there is never a bird on the Christmas table: it is believed that it is impossible to eat it that evening - happiness will fly away.

IN Germany a traditional Christmas dish is confectionery: gingerbread, muffins or cinnamon stars, in Italy and Spain- seafood, Norway- fish, and Portugal- dried salted cod, which is usually washed down with port wine. The indispensable common attributes of the Christmas table among Catholics and Protestants are perhaps an Advent wreath and a dish with wafers - consecrated unleavened bread, which those gathered share with each other, wishing peace and good.

And of course, Christmas is an indispensable gift! Since in the Western European tradition it is the feast of the birth of Jesus that is the main winter holiday, much more important than New Year, then the main gifts are given precisely at Christmas. The tradition of Christmas gifts also goes back to the legend of the Magi worshiping the newborn Baby Jesus: they brought him gold, frankincense and myrrh as a gift. Of course, neither myrrh nor incense is given today to any of the laity, but gold, or rather, gold jewelry, is one of the most common gifts.

Children, of course, are waiting for toys and hang red and white woolen socks on the mantelpiece (who has a fireplace) or over the bed (who does not have a fireplace) in advance. This tradition came from England: they believe that once Santa Claus, who has a habit of looking into chimneys on Christmas Eve nights to find out how children are behaving, accidentally dropped a few coins from his pocket that fell into a sock drying by the fire. Since then, it has been traditionally believed that Santa Claus puts gifts into socks, descending from the roof along the chimney. souvenir.

And, for example, in Zimbabwe each family has to prepare a huge amount of Christmas gifts - several dozen! And the point is not only that African families, as a rule, have very large families. It's just that in this country it is customary to visit all relatives and friends on the way home from the Christmas service - and when you go in, you will certainly receive a gift. And although there is no such custom in other countries, it is considered indecent to refuse someone a good deed at Christmas. And in general, the month before Christmas is considered the time when you need to do philanthropy and charity - in memory of good people who once sheltered the Holy Family.

Tatyana Rubleva

One mention of a cheerful man in a red cap immediately gives rise to memories of a happy childhood, about the expectation of a holiday about gifts under the tree and various kinds goodies. The prototype of Santa and Santa Claus was St. Nicholas, who did not live at all at the North Pole. The image of the New Year's grandfather has been formed for almost 1700 years, and in some countries they even wanted to ban it. In our review, there are very curious facts about the main New Year's grandfather.

1. Saint Nicholas is not from the North Pole at all

Saint Nicholas was a Greek bishop who lived in the third - fourth centuries in warm country- Greece. Anthropologists have recreated his face from a preserved skull and found that St. Nick's nose was broken. This may have led to the frequent depiction of Saint Nicholas with a large potato nose.

2. Santa is a miracle worker

Every year, many Christians celebrate Saint Nicholas Day on December 6, the day Nicholas died. Miracles often happen on this day.

3 Nicholas Was Originally Known As The Bringer Of Gifts

Saint Nicholas was known to bring magical gifts and also became the patron saint of children. According to one of the most famous stories, Nicholas saw three young sisters who were engaged in prostitution in order to survive. He secretly brought three sacks of gold to their father (who was heavily indebted) to provide them with a dowry for the wedding.

4. St. Nicholas - the righteous

This story was often told during the Middle Ages, but is virtually unknown today. Nikolay somehow came to the inn, where the owner had recently killed three boys, chopped their bodies into pieces and stuffed barrels with meat to salt them. Nicholas brought the boys back to life.

5. How Saint Nicholas disappeared from Christmas celebrations

As the Protestant Reformation swept across much of central and northern Europe, the popularity of the saints declined sharply. Thus, the symbol of the bringer of gifts disappeared. Soon, in many families and countries, the "baby Jesus" began to play this role.

6. The custom of giving gifts was moved to another day.

When the people began to believe not in St. Nicholas, but in the baby Jesus, the day of congratulations and gifts was moved from December 6 to December 25.

7. Santa's ability to fly and eight reindeer

The Scandinavian god Odin probably influenced the development of the Santa Claus story. Odin flew on the eight-legged horse Sleipnir (it is believed that this is how the myth of Santa's eight reindeer appeared).

8 The Origin Of The Red Santa Suit

One of the main theories about why Santa Claus wears a red suit is that it happened because of Nicholas's religious stance (Nicholas wore the red cloak of an archbishop).

9. The Dutch kept the faith in Santa

While much of Europe abandoned Saint Nicholas in favor of the infant Jesus, the Netherlands retained traditional belief in its own version of the gift-bringing character: Sinterklaas. Dutch settlers later brought this tradition to the United States.

10. Christmas or booze

After the founding of the United States, most families in this country did not like or even celebrate Christmas. This is explained simply - basically the States were founded by English settlers, and in England and the colonies it was customary to celebrate the holiday with big amount alcohol. Therefore, guests often got drunk and rowdy.

11. St. Nicholas was painted almost as often as the mother of Jesus

Among all religious saints, St. Nicholas (or Santa Claus) was depicted by artists more than any other, except the Virgin Mary.

The image of Santa Claus, which is familiar to everyone today, was first drawn by a cartoonist. Thomas Nast, a political cartoonist in the late 1800s, depicted Kris Kringle wearing a red coat with white fur and quite plump.

13. The legendary Coca-Cola ad

One of the most famous facts about Santa Claus is that thanks to Coca-Cola advertising in 1931, the image of Santa was finally formed into the modern one known to everyone today. It was 84 years ago that Coca-Cola marketers decided to turn the saint into a well-fed, good-natured grandfather, traveling on a reindeer sleigh and making his way through chimneys to houses to bring gifts to children.

14. Countries where the fun tradition of giving gifts is unpopular

There are quite a few countries where Santa Claus is disliked, preferring his characters who bring gifts to him. For example, in the Netherlands, Sinterklaas brings gifts during December, and in southern Germany and northern Austria, Krampus often visits Christmas markets.

It turns out that the images of Santa Claus and the Snow Maiden were formed in the USSR only in the 1930s. The image of Frost has existed since ancient Slavic times, but only in the 19th century in Russia this image was tied to an original "Christmas grandfather" who gives gifts to children. After the revolution, Santa Claus was banned, like Christmas, and again Santa Claus "returned" to the USSR in 1936.

Before the New Year comes, it's time to find out everything.

Exists long tradition give naughty children charcoal for Christmas. It existed even before the advent of Santa Claus, Befana, Sinterklaas and his assistant Black Pete. But with the advent of the fabulous grandfather, she did not disappear, but, on the contrary, became an incentive for children to behave decently. There is no particular explanation for this "gift", for Santa, giving coal is just an ordinary convenience. Why? Now let's figure it out.

How did this strange tradition come about?

Santa enters the house through the chimney and leaves gifts in socks hanging on the fireplace. Sinterklaas, along with assistant Black Pete, also descends into the chimney and puts gifts in shoes left near the fireplace. Befana penetrated through the window, and later through the chimney, when they began to be massively used in Europe.

So, all these characters are tied to the fireplace. While stuffing stockings or shoes, wizards sometimes come across a child who does not deserve a gift. Therefore, to commemorate his bad behavior in the past year, he needs to put a gift that would serve as a hint of it. But it was not necessary to give sweets and toys, but something unusual and indecent. It was at this moment that the fireplace came to the rescue. Grandpa only needs to reach out his hand, take a piece of coal and put it in a stocking. Previously, people stoked fireplaces with coal, it was very convenient.

What other New Year's characters gave bad children

With the exception of Santa Claus, the other characters weren't limited to charcoal as a gift. They left sticks, bags of salt, onions and garlic in the shoes of disobedient children. By this they tried to show the child that he did not deserve a good gift with his behavior.

It turns out that Santa Claus is just a lazy New Year's Eve wizard. He did not stock up symbolic gifts for naughty children in advance. And if he would be too lazy to stretch out his hand for coal? What do you think about it? What would the kids get?

BISHKEK, Dec 16 - Sputnik. Observations of little patients in hospitals in the UK have shown that Santa Claus rarely gives gifts to children from disadvantaged areas, according to an article published in the BMJ magazine, RIA Novosti writes.

At the same time, the Western analogue of Santa Claus visits obedient and naughty children equally often.

"Santa's ability to bring gifts to all the children around the world for 24 hours is legendary. But we have found that socioeconomic deprivation trumps even supernatural abilities. This suggests that in Britain and elsewhere, inequality must be tackled to help Santa please all children,” said Jarvis Chen from Harvard University (USA).

In accordance with Western ideas about Santa Claus, the main friend of all children visits only those of them who have behaved well throughout the year. Santa's helpers, elves, help him keep a list of good and bad children, and give the first those gifts that they asked for in their letters, and the last receive coal or a set of sticks.

As it turned out, Santa is actually kinder than the legends say: he visited almost all the children in hospitals and gave gifts to all patients, regardless of whether they behaved well or badly.

On the other hand, there were places in England, Scotland, and Wales where Santa didn't get in—mostly those with the highest levels of social and economic distress. This was most pronounced in England, where 11 percent of children were deprived of gifts, and least of all in Northern Ireland. Scotland, contrary to stereotypes of national stinginess and lewdness, was in the middle of this anti-ranking.

London turned out to be the most inaccessible place for Santa: in the poor northeast and northwest parts of the city, only half and 70 percent of the children received gifts. Therefore, according to scientists, social services in the UK should pay priority attention to these parts of the capital and other disadvantaged areas, where social and economic hardships destroy the festive atmosphere and lead to the development of depression in children and adults.

What is the difference between Santa Claus and Santa Claus? For modern children, the name is probably not so important - the main thing is that they fulfill their duties!

By the beginning of the 20th century, the image of Santa Claus, which we also know, gradually took shape. Earlier attempts to create the type of "Christmas grandfather" who distributes gifts to children did not take root in our country.

But after the revolution, Santa Claus, as a religious prejudice, was in disgrace for more than ten years. Following the rehabilitated New Year tree, only in 1937, he appeared at the celebration of the New Year in the Moscow House of the Unions. Since then, Santa Claus has become one of the main characters of the New Year holidays.

IN different countries this character bears his own name: Papa Noel in Spain, Mosh Dzharile in Romania, Sinte Klaas in Holland, Per Noel in France, Santa Claus in America.

It is a pity that our Santa Claus is gradually being replaced by Santa Claus. What is the difference between our Grandfather and a foreign Santa Claus?

First of all - in the origin. Santa Claus - St. Nicholas (Nikolaus), a real historical figure - Archbishop Nicholas of Myra, who had a reputation as a protector of children and lived in the fourth century in Lycia, in Asia Minor, which is part of modern southern Turkey. He was elevated to the rank of saint after his death.

There is a legend that St. Nikolai heard about a poor city dweller who was forced to give his three daughters to "fornication", and saved the whole family from want and disgrace by secretly throwing them three bags of gold. Hence the gift bag - an indispensable attribute of Christmas Santa Claus.

Later, this legend was transformed into a parable about how the saint threw gold coins into the chimney of the house where the poor sisters lived, and the coins accidentally fell into stockings drying by the fireplace. Thus was born the custom of hanging up socks before the day of remembrance of St. Nicholas (December 6/19) to find gifts in them the next morning.

Gradually, this day shifted in time, and the gifts of St. Nikolai began to do it for Christmas already in the form of Santa. Although, here, too, not everything is so obvious. The Catholic Church prefers to regard Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) as a messenger rather than a giver. He only transmits, delivers the gifts of the Christ child. It is clear who you need to thank, and to whom to address your cherished desires.

Santa Claus

Russian Santa Claus is a character of Slavic fairy tale ritual folklore, a pagan spirit. Although during the formation modern image Father Frost was not without imitating Western customs, he retained almost all the characteristic Russian features.
Our Santa Claus to this day walks in felt boots and a long fur coat, with a staff. He prefers sledges drawn by a nimble and very frisky troika to all types of transport, and he does not move across the sky, like a foreign Santa Claus, but on the ground! There were never reindeer in his team.

Santa Claus and some of our grandfather's other foreign cousins ​​wear shorter fur coats, with pronounced buttons, and a hat that looks like a jester's cap.

Snow Maiden

Let's not forget about the Snow Maiden, the helper and companion of the Russian Father Frost. Her name and image are unique. No country has a Christmas or new year character with similar features.

The Snow Maiden is the embodiment of frozen waters in general and the waters of the Northern Dvina in particular. She is dressed only in white clothes. No other color in the traditional symbolism is allowed. The ornament is made only with silver threads. The headdress is an eight-pointed crown, embroidered with silver and pearls.

S. V. Zharnikova Ph.D. n. art critic, ethnologist