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Family, Parenting and Religion
Summoning the Spirit of Santa

Summoning the Spirit of Santa

Last updated on: December 9, 2023 at 10:20 am by Esa

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Summoning the Spirit of Santa 2023-12-09T10:20:09-06:00 Esa

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This article is inspired by a video Jasmines Garden put out about the Spirit of Santa . In short, her 6 year old daughter was told at school that Santa wasn’t real. As a mom she struggled between telling a truth or telling a lie to keep the spirit alive – Yet being a witch gave her the perfect answer…

Since she was an openly practicing Witch she chose to respond that way – Santa is a Spirit that we summon. We decorate our homes as an altar for him at this time of year. We leave cookies and milk as an offering. We call him in to celebrate with us. To me, this is the perfect reflection of what we do.

History of Santa

Who is Santa?

There are many stories about who Santa is and how he became the face of this season. In recent years I have even seen Odin being thrown into the mix.

I grew up with a mom who was a devout catholic and heavily influenced by her Irish and Germanic heritage. The story she told us as children also fits very well with the witch’s perspective. There was a man in a small village in the Netherlands, and it was customary to leave their wooden shoes outside on the doorstep. The man was a woodworker and during a bleak time of the village he decided to carve little wooden toys and trinkets for the children. Then on Christmas eve he went around and put them into the shoes of the children, so when they woke up the next morning they would be surprised by the small gifts. It was a way to bring Joy and Hope in a time of darkness. He continued this act for the rest of his life and they called him Saint Nicholas.

To my mother, Santa was the spirit of St Nicolas. The gifts he continued to bestow onto the world was not the physical kind under the tree but the spirit of the season, the act of giving to others without expecting anything back, sharing a part of you with others, bringing joy but most of all – Hope. It is the Spirit that she honored. She may have been catholic but she was deeply rooted in her Irish side, including her belief in spirits.

Hope in the Dark Night

No matter what traditions you are looking at, Pagan, abrahamic, and even atheist, I feel the emotion of Hope is what binds us all together in this season.

It is the Hope of new beginnings that carries us through the long dark nights of winter.

It is Hope that we celebrate in.

In an ever increasing world of division between people, Hope reminds us that we are all in this together because as human beings we all have the same basic needs and wants.

Just as we Hope for the light to return, the days to get longer, and for it to grow the seeds of new beginnings in the natural world – we also hold that same Hope for our internal worlds. To move past our hardships, our struggles, the storms and towers we have endured through the year, and we turn our attention to the Hope of new beginnings.

Many will say it is a season of Love – From my perspective though, this is the season of Hope.

Traditions Evolve and Change

You have seen the memes, arguing about who stole what symbolism. Each side having their own version of when something began and how, as well as, what its true meaning is. In truth though, in our current age, it is all a blending of traditions and people. It may have started as one thing yes, but just like culture blends, so do the symbols of it.

Our society has conditioned us to always be looking backwards or forwards in time, but avoids the present moment. Like most things, it is a product of trying to control people. If they are always focused on recreating the past or inventing something new – focused on the mistakes of the past and the dreams of tomorrow – then people do not see the power they are holding in the present.

The past is gone. We study it to learn from it. To see the patterns and cycles, the choices made within them and the outcomes that came from it, so we can make different choices and create different outcomes. The Future is being written by the present choices and actions. Dreaming and planning is important because it helps give us direction, focus, and goals to work towards for those changes we want to see.

History of the Christmas tree – History Channel

Symbolism for Us

I come from a family of blended people, blended cultures, and blended beliefs. Evolving and changing with each generation. Each of us leaving our own mark on this season.

I don’t care where the tradition of the Christmas tree started – I care about what that tree symbolizes for me now, in this life. Trees have deep spiritual meanings for me. They represent me – the roots that I come from, the trunk of the self that holds strong, and the canopy of possibilities and directions I grow – including the new lives I have added to this world and all their possibilities.

As many I know focus on designer style trees, my tree – the one I grew up with and that calls to me – is the one of memory. The multi colored lights and mismatched ornaments that we have made and collected over the years. It represents my family, highlighting all our uniqueness in a place we all come together in harmony.

I don’t care where the tradition of christmas cookies came from – I care about the memories I had as a child with them, and the ones I create with my own as we come together to make them. It isn’t the cookie but the time we are together making them. The conversations, being together and sharing stories, and strengthening our bonds.

Summon the Santa!

I summon the Spirit of Santa – the Spirit of Hope – the Spirit of Love – the Spirit of Giving for the Joy of another – the Spirit of Humanity.

We decorate our homes and in this act we create a living altar to this Spirit. Inviting it into our homes, our lives, and into our hearts. These symbols bring us joy when we look upon them. They bring memories to the surface – and even though some of the memories bring an amount of sadness for the absence of someone, that saddens comes from a place of love – because we loved.

We adorn and surround ourselves with light. Candles, fires, electric lights – because it represents the Light in the darkness. Protection – Joy – Hope – Love – and filling ourselves with that light. We summon with light because light is energy, and energy is what is needed to move anything. We light our homes and drive around to see the lights of others – a community coming together to share light with each other.

I summon the Spirit of Santa – the spirit of giving. Not the commercialized expectation, but giving of myself. Being present, in the present, with people. Giving my attention, my love, my joy, and my hope for them. I don’t need a store bought gift – I just need presence. The most important gift I feel we can give is our time. This is a time of coming together – putting aside all our differences and seeing the places where we all stand in harmony together – for we are all human beings. In the end, you will take nothing with you except memories. No matter what we leave behind, the only thing that lasts is memories – so memories are the true gift.

Our decorations call in the Spirit of Santa. We call the Spirit into ourselves and with all we share them with.

Our offerings feed the Spirit of Santa. Growing and spreading the energy of the Spirit among those around us and every soul we encounter.

This is the true magic of the season. It is the magic we all weave together, no matter whether you are a witch, a religious person, a spiritual person, or just a person walking through this life.

art by Esa

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About Esa

Author, Oracle, Guide, and Teacher of the Death's Emissary/ Death Doula course. "You are building your own path, your own connections, and shaping your own destiny. We can inspire others through sharing - we can Guide through our own experiences - but each of us must walk our own path." You can read more about the author here.

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