#santa is a myth

[jim-fetter-illustrations]

HO, Ho, Ho,.................Hoax!

The fantasy of Santa has changed over the decades.

Santa's images have gone through marketing transitions during the years to get more of that cash flowing for his industry creators. Santa wasn't always illustrated as a jolly soul with a red coat, rosy cheeks, big white beard, portly belly, and black boots.

Ya see, Prior to 1931, Santa was illustrated as a tall gaunt man looking like a spooky character by the christian church as Saint Nicholas in the 4th-century, and that's what all other Santa's evolved and were created from, The Church!

From that point on Santa was created by The Harper's Weekly Magazine, by their illustrator Thomas Nast who was originally a political cartoonist for the magazine but was commissioned to do a modern Santa that would generate sales for industry who ran continuous advertisements in Harper's Weekly.

Next we had Clement C. Moore,

The New York poet who published the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas in 1823, which is also known as Twas the Night Before Christmas. In the poem, Santa is described as driving a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer, filling stockings with presents, and landing on roofs.

Then we had tons of Coca-Cola advertisements for Santa Claus in the 1930s. And Coke's Santa was a portly, white-bearded man in a red suit with a black belt and white fur trim.

Our European neighbors invented their own legends, and mythology of Santa called "Sinterklaas" which became Santa Claus, and Kris Kindle became Kris Kringle, and that folklore take a whole different path to the whole Christmas thing.

The image of Santa Claus had evolved over the centuries, but the origins of the character are purely from religious organizations to get people to BELIEVE, and believe in whatever the church suggested was reality, even if it was just an illusion, a fantasy, a fairy tale, and now the church was saying it was really real!

If you can imagine such a hoax being Perpetuated upon humanity,.... but people did believe it, because it was after all from the church that invented Jesus, and God,... and today Santa generates billions for industry and the covertly, the church even though Santa is never mentioned in the bible.

But SANTA backwards is the Greek name "Atanas" which is a shortened form of "Athanasios," which means "immortal", just like God is....... interesting to say the least.

Ho, Ho, Ho.......... Hoax!

[pratchettquotes]

Holiday Theme: Happy Hogswatch

"Now...tell me..."

WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HADN'T SAVED HIM?

"Yes! The sun would have risen just the same, yes?"

NO.

"Oh, come on. You can't expect me to believe that. It's an astronomical fact."

THE SUN WOULD NOT HAVE RISEN.

"Really? Then what would have happened, pray?"

A MERE BALL OF FLAMING GAS WOULD HAVE ILLUMINATED THE WORLD.

They walked in silence for a moment.

"Ah," said Susan dully. "Trickery with words. I would have thought you'd have been more literal-minded than that."

I AM NOTHING IF NOT LITERAL-MINDED. TRICKERY WITH WORDS IS WHERE HUMANS LIVE.

Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

[redbootsindoriath]

Happy Christmas!

(And Yule, winter solstice, lunar new year, etc, there are a lot of holidays at this time of year but it happens to be Christmas today, so there we go.)

Anyway, it always struck me as funny how Beleg showed up with supplies that one winter like Saint Nicholas himself except bringing gifts to the kids on the naughty list. Couldn't believe I hadn't done a comic relating to that yet.

Transcription:

[Santa:] "Ah, well, I got here first. Tough luck, sorry, man. But hey, I do have some job openings for elves!" [Andróg:] "What's this black stuff he gave to all of us?"

[averagecontentenjoyer121]

Random shower thought:

Hypnos, from Greek mythology, is kinda like Santa Claus but instead of being presents to nice kids he brings sleep to people

And Thantos, his brother, is like Krampus, if instead of kidnapping naughty kids he took those whose time was up.

[ex35life]

Artemis and her doggies. Stay tuned for her twin brother coming soon!

[artbyanca]

Hephaestus at work.

[zedif-y]

"eye contact is necessary and polite" "avoiding eye contact is rude" why do u want my eyes on u so bad

[jennyandvastraflint]

Paternoster Secret Santa fics

Hey there, these are all the fics I wrote for the Paternoster Gang Secret Santa exchange! I thought I'd gather them all here in case some of you are interested in reading them!

Lovers' Gloves (3.8k)

(for @capybaraonabicycle I'm so glad you enjoyed it, dear!)

Summary: It is the first Christmas at Paternoster Row since Strax moved in, and Strax was behaving oddly all throughout December. On Christmas Day, he surprises Jenny and Vastra with putting a wrapped parcel at their feet as a gift.

just freaks like you and me (5.6k)

(for @spaceuber it was a delight writing for you, and I hope you enjoyed it!!)

Summary: When Strax tosses an apple he tried to juggle at Jenny, Vastra snatches it out the air with her tongue and begins tumbling back through memories to a much worse time. In the greenhouse, Jenny comes to find her and they talk, and Jenny shares some of her past as well, and they decide to put on a circus show for the Irregulars together with Strax to create some positive memories tied to the tricks they learned at the circus.

battle in the bedroom (double drabble)

(for @marvellouspinecone and it was a marvellous delight writing about Strax for you, and also about Tom and Stonn in the two Greek Mythology AUs! So glad you enjoyed them!)

Summary: Strax is fighting his most formidable foes yet, and they have been lying low in Paternoster Row! He wins.

sun grieving - song remembering (473 words)

Archive Warnings: Major Character Death (canonical in the myth)

Summary: Tom and his lover Stonn meet each other near Sparta and fall in love. A discus throwing contest ends badly. The sun grieves. A flower to feed people is born.

The Fall of IC-4RUS (or: How Stonn crashed on Earth and met Tom in Ancient Greece) (1k)

Summary: Stonn, piloting the IC-4RUS, is following his commander on D4ED-A7US through the solar system, drawn in by the blue planet he sees there. Steering too close to the sun, Stonn abandons his home planet, the commander, and the war, and he navigates his ship to Earth on its last legs. There, he is found by none other than Tom, a young artist in a precarious living situation who is willing to take him in, and the two grow close almost immediately.

longing ocean deep, there's no remedy (5.8k)

(for @trekkingaroundasgard Writing this fic was painful as hell, but it was also fascinating to imagine, and now that I've touched upon Vastra post Jenny's death, I will not do it again XD I'm soooo glad you enjoyed it, even though the meeting with the Doctor was rather short compared to the buildup to it. I feel honoured to have written this for you!)

Archive Warnings: Major Character Death

Summary: Through the decades, the little family at Paternoster Row 13 changes, until finally, with Jenny's death, there is no more Paternoster Row 13 to return to, and Vastra lives on on her own, grieving her dear wife for years to come.

One Christmas, the Doctor visits and comforts Vastra. They have a gift for her.

until the mornings comes to steal you away (6+k)

(for @jennyvastraflint This isn't yet finished, but I am so, so happy to be able to finally write my vampire AU, so thanks for providing an opportunity! I'm glad you are enjoying it as much as I am, and I reassure you the final chapter will be written and posted soon XD)

Summary: A vampire preying on young pretty girls is roaming the streets of Victorian London, making the ruling class fear for their daughters' safety. On a ball, two women meet, one veiled, the other not, and Vastra leads Jenny to quieter rooms so they are undisturbed... One reveal of teeth and a stake later, neither of them can deny the feelings the other woman sparked in their chest.

Navigating harsh employers, a thirst for blood, and increasingly muddled morals, they fall in love in the moon's silver light.

Kudos and comments on any of these are very much appreciated! Do keep an eye out for future announcements of exchanges if you are interested in the Paternoster Gang and would like to write for them! I might soon host another one ;)

[babygirl-olympics]

Babygirl Olympics pt. 2!

[protoslacker]

Over time this shamanic archetype changed and it is said that with the travel of Druids this tradition spread to Great Britain. Then through cultural exchange, it was combined with Germanic and Nordic myths that related adventures such as those of Wotan (Germanic god), Odin (his Nordic counterpart) and other gods, who when traveling during the night of the winter solstice, were chased by demons in a sleigh pulled by an eight-legged horse. It was said that a trail of red and white blood fell from the sleigh and that the horses frothed white foam to the ground, where the amanita mushrooms would appear the following year.

Giuliana Furci in the Fungi Foundation Blog (2020. The Influence of Hallucinogenic Mushrooms on Christmas

The story of Santa Claus is not the creation of Coca-Cola, nor Saint Nicholas or a children’s story, it exists because of a small living being with great powers: the Amanita muscaria mushroom.

[number1spongebobfan]

Am I the ONLY adult who still believes in Santa Claus?

[wednesdaythesecond]

i love how Gerard wrote a christmas comic where poor kids don't get presents but santa exists and that's because santa is funded by rich parents who don't want to have to think about what to get their kids for christmas.

[baby-xemnas]

law talking to cora like hes jesus is incredible

[kraniumet]

"the malm whale closed because people had sex in it" misinformation and fake news. of course people had sex in the whale. whatever. it has corpse smell and is an antique.

[phaedo]

oh yeah the important note about my family and santa is that if you say that if you tell your kids about santa you're basically lying to them my mom will say "i technically never lied to you because i never told you about santa, you just assumed"