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 Why
Santa Brings Gifts
If
there was ever was a candidate for endearing figure in
American and, for that matter, world culture it would
have to be Santa Claus. Yet, despite the fact that Santa
Claus remains the single most associated figure with the
Christmas season, most people are not all that familiar
with the origins of Santa Claus nor the symbolic meaning
behind much of what is associated with Santa and his
delivering of gifts during the Christmas Season.
For
example, the origin of presenting gifts at Christmas is
believed to derive from the birth of Christ when the
three wise men presented the Baby Jesus with gold,
frankincense and myrrh. (Actually, the notion of
exchanging gifts during the winter season is believed to
have begun many centuries prior to the birth of Christ
in what is now considered modern day Iraq) This winter
time tradition later morphed into the tradition of
exchanging gifts at Christmas time. But, how did this
tradition of exchanging gifts become associated with
Santa Claus?
Well,
to better understand Christmas traditions one must first
realize that what is today considered modern Christmas
traditions are often a combination of various Christmas
traditions from different centuries and different parts
of the world. Case in point, there are a number of
“characters” who collectively comprise the character
whom we know as Santa Claus. The notion of exchanging
gifts became associated with one of the historical
figures who is considered a “version” or inspiration
for the modern Santa Claus: St. Nicholas.
St.
Nicholas lived in Mesopotamian region where modern day
Turkey bordered modern day Iraq. One of the most famous
stories involving the exploits of St, Nicholas was that
he learned that three sisters were to be sold into
slavery and Nicholas, a devout monk, provided them each
with a dowry so that they could be married and avoid
being sold into slavery. (This giving of the dowry could
also be considered a continuation of the tradition of
gift giving) The
kindhearted St. Nick would later become the patron saint
of children and his “feast day” would be named
December 6th. This placed him very close to
the Christmas season and would later lead to the
morphing of St. Nicholas into Santa Claus, an
Americanized mispronunciation of a Dutch variant on a
way of saying St. Nicholas.
Ultimately,
the purpose of giving gifts is to display love, charity
and giving as evidenced in many themes of Christmas. As
such, this tradition of giving continues into the modern
era through the concept of Santa giving gifts as he did
to the three women many centuries ago.
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