>>49248
That's a good summary of the more recent iterations of Santa, and it seems to confirm that the gift giving tradition comes from another origin (Saint nick > Christ), and the story of "The three wise men gave gifts so now we will give gifts", fit in as an excuse to bring the gift giving tradition over, as it seems. Saturnalia included gift-giving as a staple, it was an odd celebration. It included both degenerate activities, along with honorable ones, such as gift giving, dressing up in nice clothes, etc. Maybe the Saint Nick story took the themes of gift giving from Saturnalia? As the winter solstice celebrations and Saturnalia celebration pre-dated Saint Nick. It seems too coincidental to pick a time many cultures celebrated the winter solstice as the celebration of the saints, but who knows. Looking into this.

However, I do continue to think there is some truth in the past culture's practices influencing the Christmas we have today. The clear correlation of Saint Nick's influence on the Santa character is obvious. So obvious that people often refer to Santa as "Old Saint Nick". However, for origins which are further removed though still just as influential or perhaps even formative, it can be harder for some hardliner Christians to admit. Of course I refer to the influence from Saturnalia or winter solstice celebrations. Insofar as the Saint Nick story goes, it doesn't seem to explain the appearance of decorating the house with trees specifically being brought indoors, hanging stockings by the fire, the use of flying with reindeer. At most, it can answer Santa bearing gifts for children, but even then there are still possible ties to Saturnalia (and winter solstice celebrations, as they include gift giving). I think the reindeer could very much be drawn from the shaman living in the North Pole who fed the reindeer Amanita muscaria during the celebration of the winter solstice, perhaps giving the reindeer a sense of "flying"? (If interested, this article mentioned earlier goes into further detail: https://www.ffungi.org/blog/the-influence-of-hallucinogenic-mushrooms-on-christmas ). This is the only mention I can find of reindeer having significance in the "Christmas" lore.

I would agree that some themes of Christmas just fall hand in hand with it being winter, maybe for something like snow or pine cones. However, I would bet most Christian areas do not have reindeer nearby, so it's strange they are heavily represented. Reindeer are native to Arctic areas, such as the areas the shaman would inhabit. There are a number of very odd and specific Christmas objects/ideas that cannot be hand-waved away. Why do we bring a tree inside our house? Why make wreaths? Why decorate with lights? Why hang stockings by a fire? Why put ornaments on a tree? Why does Santa ride specifically with magical flying reindeer? These are very specific themes that in no way originate from Christianity or from what I can find, any Christian practice. Why is it accepted as a Christian celebration? It doesn't really make sense. Christians did not traditionally celebrate birthdays, pagans did. Jesus' birth was not in December, so it's strange to place a holiday dedicated to his birth right during the winter solstice. Perhaps my gripe is that it has been presented as factual that Christ was born December 25th, we celebrate his birthday on this day. The odd quirks that come with Christmas seem to go largely ignored, but promoted in our culture as fact. It could all just be originating from the Saint Nick story, but the above seems too coincidental for that to be the start.