We have all been children at least once and surely we will have happened to stay hidden and peek at the arrival of Santa Claus. But who is really this nice little old man with a funny look? Let's try to rebuild yours identity and to do so we pay attention to its main characteristics. Have you ever wondered why he is dressed in red? What is the reason for descending from a chimney? And why does she leave gifts only to the best children?
The dress
Santa Claus is certainly known all over the world but his origin is linked to the patron saint of an Italian city: Bari. We are talking about the figure of San Nicola. Character born in Turkey in the third century, son of a wealthy family, he was soon orphaned and decided to offer his goods to the needy. There are several miracles attributed to him. He is said to have given bags of gold coins to three girls of marriageable age for whom their father had no money.
The iconography of the saint derives from this anecdote. Depicted with the pastoral staff and three sacks of coins alternately replaced by three golden balls. It is no coincidence that some current reproductions of Santa Claus show the pastoral staff and a hat more similar to that of a Bishop who was St. Nicholas in life (as shown in the photo). But if we are still not clear about the link with Santa Claus, here it is immediately explained. It is said that Nicola sent the parish priests of his city to homes where there were children who, due to the cold, could not go to mass. It would therefore have been these priests to spread the stories of Jesus. Nicholas recommended, however, to cheer visitors by bringing gifts, exactly as happens at Christmas. But that's not all, tradition makes us discover that these shepherds wore red overcoats, they dragged a lot of gifts and moved up sledges. It seems that we are talking about characters who are completely similar to Santa Claus. It is no coincidence that in the countries of Northern Europe it is known by the name of Saint Nicholas later changed to Santa Claus.
Sprites and chimneys
Santa Claus is said to enter homes through i fireplaces leaving gifts to the best children. Perhaps we have happened to wonder why we choose to pass through an uncomfortable fireplace and here too the legend helps us to understand. Tradition has it that St. Nicholas hunted down a demon who usually sneaked into people's homes through the chimneys. Managed to defeat him Nicola forced him sprite to make excuses from the children he had frightened by bringing them presents through those fireplaces he knew well. There are those who believe that Santa Claus is precisely this demon who later became good thanks to St. Nicholas.
Bratty children and gifts
Today the children to make sure that Santa Claus brings the dons desired write a letter often filled with numerous requests. Obviously this is not enough to guarantee the gift and then mothers and fathers often encourage their children to behave well.
Probably many of you as children will remember hearing about "of the black man"That animated several folk tales of a time. It seems that this legendary figure corresponded to the name of Zwarte Piet, a Moor from North Africa who warned more naughty children. According to some traditions he would have been an assistant of St. Nicholas. This explains why Santa Claus never misses anything: he always knows what the good children and which ones did not behave well!
Socks and horses
How to prepare for the arrival of Santa Claus? Certainly by being good but also by setting up the houses with objects that Santa Claus will appreciate. Surely if you have a fireplace you cannot miss decorating it with hanging stockings. Self the sock today more commonly refers toEpiphany, it should be remembered that originally these appeared together with the boots outside and inside the houses in view of Christmas.
What if Santa is really St. Nicholas? Then it will not surprise us to know that the evening of 5th December, the day before his party, stockings were hung from the fireplace which Nicola would fill with gifts. The same can be said for the custom of arranging boots outside the houses. According to tradition, St. Nicholas moved on horseback so here is that the stivali they were not to be empty but filled with hay and carrots of which the foal would have refreshed himself. Today, due to a mixture with traditions from overseas, it is customary prepare some milk with cookies for Santa Claus and some carrots for the reindeer. Rudolph and the others appear for the first time, in the classic image of sled, following the poem "Night before Christmas”Composed by the American Clement Clarke Moore.
