“St. Nicholas Day”—Where Did It Come From?
WALK through the streets of Belgium in early December, and you will see a captivating sight: small groups of children going from house to house, singing short rhymes called “St. Nicholas songs.” Householders respond to the charming youngsters by rewarding them with fruit, candy, or money.
The occasion? “St. Nicholas Day”! In the United States and other lands, “St. Nicholas,” or “Santa Claus,” is connected with Christmas day. But in Belgium, the bearded “saint” has a day of his own. Indeed, “St. Nicholas” (Sinterklaas, or Sint Nicolaas), whose day of festivity falls on the sixth of December, is one of the most popular “saints” in Belgium and the Netherlands. Many a church, chapel, street, or housing quarter has been named after him. He is traditionally known as “the great friend of the children” who readily distributes gifts to them on his feast day.
The evening before that holiday, the young children place one of their shoes or slippers near the chimney while they sing their little rhymes. They have been told that “Saint” Nicholas and his black servant (called Black Peter) will arrive that night by steamship from Spain. Afterward, the “saint” will ride his gray horse across the rooftops, followed by Black Peter, who carries a rod and a large bag containing toys and sweets. Nicholas also brings apples, nuts, and other produce of the field. Often he leaves a kind of brown, spiced biscuit called speculaas, or bishop’s biscuits, which are baked in special, cleverly designed shapes.
The recipients? Children who have been good during the past year. The disobedient ones, though, will supposedly get the rod; or worse, they may be put into Black Peter’s bag and carried off! Understandably, then, the children are eager to appease these nocturnal visitors. Thus, a glass of gin awaits the “saint,” and a carrot or a few sugar cubes are laid ready for his horse.
Many parents in Belgium consider “St. Nicholas Day” the most joyful time of the year. They delight to watch the expectant faces of their little ones who are eager to find out what the “good saint” has brought them! So they pass on the legends to their offspring, little knowing where these customs originated. If they knew, perhaps they would be shocked.
“Saint” Nicholas and Odin
The Oosthoeks Encyclopedia explains: “[St. Nicholas’] celebration in the household sprang from the church festivity (including surprises for the children) which in turn sprang from pre-Christian elements. Saint Nicholas, who rides on the rooftops, is the pagan god Wodan [Odin]. . . . Saint Nicholas was also the leader of the wild chase in which the souls of the dead visit the earth.”
Yes, the Teutons believed that Odin, or Wodan, their chief god, led the souls of the dead on a furious cross-country ride during the “twelve bad days” between Christmas and Epiphany (January 6). The resulting gale carried along the seeds of the produce of the fields, stimulating fertility. The apples, nuts, and other autumn produce given around “St. Nicholas Day”? These were symbols of fertility. Ancient people believed that they could appease their gods by giving them presents during the cold, dark winter days. This would result in increased fertility for man, animal, and soil.
Odin was accompanied by his servant Eckhard, the forerunner of Black Peter, who also carried a rod. As recently as the Middle Ages, it was the popular belief that certain trees and plants could render humans fertile and that merely striking a woman with a branch of such a tree sufficed to make her pregnant.
The book Feest-en Vierdagen in kerk en volksgebruik (Holidays and Celebrations in the Church and in Popular Customs) mentions a few other similarities between Odin and “Saint” Nicholas: “Wodan, too, filled the boots and wooden shoes placed by the chimney but with gold. For Wodan’s steed, hay and straw were also placed in the wooden shoe. The last sheaf of the field was also for the horse.”
The book Sint Nicolaas, by B. S. P. van den Aardweg, points to a few other striking similarities:
“St. Nicholas: a tall, powerful figure on a white horse. He has a long white beard, a crosier in his hand, and a miter on his head . . . with a wide, flowing bishop’s cloak.
“Wodan: a person of tall stature with a white beard. He wears a wide-brimmed hat pulled deeply over his eyes. In his hand he holds a magic spear. He is clad in a wide mantle and rides his loyal gray horse Sleipnir.
“There are more of these apparent similarities: Wodan rode his gray horse through the air and shuddering people offered cakes with filling in addition to meat and produce of the fields. St. Nicholas rides on the rooftops and children prepare hay, carrots, and water for the horse. Gingersnaps and the rod were symbols of fertility long before the beginning of the St. Nicholas festivities.”
Modern-Day Fertility Rites
A number of other customs in connection with “Saint” Nicholas likewise betray their pagan origins. For example, in northern areas on December 4, young boys from 12 to 18 years of age appear on the streets. Dressed in grotesque costumes adorned with feathers, shells, and other regional products, the masked boys represent “little Saint Nicholases,” or Sunne Klaezjen. During the evening of the following day, men 18 years and older get their turn. In the early evening, they rove the streets. Using brooms, buffalo horns, and cudgels, they drive away all the women, girls, and little boys they happen to meet. Young girls are made to dance or jump over a stick.
The purpose of all of this? Again it was fertility—the ever-recurring concern of ancient cultures. Winter was a dark and anxious period, and it was often viewed as the time during which the fertility god was asleep or dead. It was thought that by various means the deity could be given new life or that the god or goddess could at least be given some assistance. Gifts, dances, noise, blows from a fertility rod—all of these were viewed as ways to expel wicked spirits and increase fertility in humans, animals, and the soil.
So when young girls jump over the stick, they mimic their ancestors who believed that the height to which they jumped would be the height to which flax would grow. By driving out women and children, the young men reenact the rite of driving out wicked spirits.
A Decision for True Worshipers
Why have such rites become a part of so-called Christianity? Because centuries ago, church missionaries did not insist that their converts follow the Scriptural command: “Get out from among them, and separate yourselves . . . and quit touching the unclean thing.” (2 Corinthians 6:17) Instead of eliminating pagan practices, Christendom’s missionaries actually perpetuated these customs by modifying and using them. Such customs were then spread throughout the world.
Dutch emigrants who settled in North America took the “Saint” Nicholas celebration with them. In time the name was corrupted to “Santa Claus.” The stately bishop was transformed into a red-cheeked, obese fellow dressed in a bright-red suit. His bishop’s miter was exchanged for an elf’s hat and the white horse for a sleigh pulled by reindeer. Santa Claus, however, continued to be a gift bringer, although his visitation was shifted to Christmas Eve.
In Protestant areas of Germany, the Catholic “Saint” Nicholas was replaced by the more neutral “Father Christmas.” The pagan elements, however, remain clearly discernible to this day.
Jesus Christ said that “true worshipers will worship the Father with spirit and truth.” (John 4:23) For sincere worshipers, “Saint” Nicholas customs present a real challenge: Will these worshipers continue to perpetuate the ancient practices of the Odin cult, or will they break free from vestiges of heathenism? This is a good time of the year to think about that serious question.
[Picture Credit Line on page 26]
Harper’s Weekly