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Show Santa Claus SANTA Claus i3 a real saint to the children. chil-dren. He is their good angel: he brings them marvelous gifts; he never has a bargain bar-gain sale of remnants, and his stock never runs out They see his picture with his sleigh and reindeer teams, in fancy they hear his bells and they never question the statement that his is a magical sleigh that runs just as well on a housetop as in the best beaten path. Still the truth is Santa Claus is an old pagan. Wie do not know at what time he first had a habitation and name, but sure it is he first came down from the north, else he could not have had either reindeer or sleigh. We do not know whether his is of old Norse or Teutonic stock, for they both had early habitations around the Baltic, for both of them Odin, or Woden was chief among the gods and Thor was his opponent. oppo-nent. And those northmen had a multitude of other gods and goddesses, to each of which some special excellence was attached, and they were prayed to and feast days were dedicated to them. It was from that source that the mistletoe mistle-toe received its significance, for it was with a sprig of mistletoe that Baldr was shot, which only meant that Baldr, the sun, was practically prac-tically put out of business during the winter months. All were typical of some phase of nature or of human life. Thus the story of Slgmund. He could only win the nymph of his heart by riding through the fire to J , and he did not hesitate at all, any more than would a bishop who wanted a second wife. Thero were gods on watch, gods of the chase, of the seasons, of the torrents, of the planting time and the repeating time, of the home; indeed, the Norsemen had more gods than any other race, to them all special virtues attached, special offerings of-ferings were rendered. And out of these offerings offer-ings and ti0 pictures, drawn of the beneficence of th'esesaveral duties, Santa Claus finally took form as the special providence of telling children chil-dren about the harvest time. But he was fan old pagan just the same, which only proves tliat good can come to us from unholiness. |