Ssssh, Santa Claus is BLACK

For what it is worth, St. Augustine was black. More than any other person, he provided the theological foundation of Christianity.

• • Thanks for commenting.
• • Native Italians, for one, still venerate the BLACK Madonna, a figure who still has an immense cult.
• • The Roman Catholic Church, in an attempt to be a solid patriarchal institution, was worried about the great number of FEMALE icons who had cults. They tried their best to eliminate the most powerful female figures and subsume the feminine influence entirely under one image: the Blessed Virgin. Virgins have no sexual power, you will notice.
• • The Roman Catholic Church, fearing the powerful influence of older female figures representing maturity and wisdom, worked their public relations machine overtime on this transformation.
• • Result: the wise older woman was made the enemy of the church - - the witch.
• • Never underestimate the power of intense public relations and a full holiday schedule. And any institution classified as a "religion" pays no taxes. Sweet, eh?
~ ~ come up and see Mae ~ ~

In Poland we celebrated St.Nicholas day December 6.
Many Russian (and Polish) icons are black but we used to be told that age had darkened the originals .....

Some of the Italian Saints are black.

Maryuri

Fantastic information! Really enjoyed reading not only what Mae wrote but some of the rest as well. I am like a sponge when it comes to information! I soak it up gladly! This is GREAT!!!

Thank you! I'm always joyful when our history is trufully revealed. But Santa Claus? Hmmmm....At least in MY household...but little did I know! I always thought that he was of Scandinavian origin!!!!

I regret to inform you that "jolly old St. Nick" as the bringer of toys to children, driver of reindeer-powered sleigh, was pretty much invented as entertainment for his children by an Anglican priest who taught at General Theological Seminary in NYC in the 19th century. [Clement Clarke Moore (1779 - 1863)]

Every Christmas, the entire seminary customarily gathered around the fireplace (of the old gent's apartments? can't remember) while the eldest faculty member (in those days, always a man who grew appropriate side whiskers for the event) read from a first edition of the loathsome tale while we all attempted to look like we were enchanted.

The custom of giving a small gift to all dependents (like servants and tenant farmers as well as children) on Christmas was part of the British aristocracy's noblesse oblige and dates back further than anyone has been able to document, possibly into Druidic times (when, of course, it had nothing to do with Jesus and everything to do with sacrifices to bring the sun back).

The Victorians, who were suckers for anything treacly, inflated St. Nick's size, turned his red (for blood) martyr's robe into a more modern snow suit, and the American merchandisers did the rest.

Other cultures have different gift-days for children. When the three "kings" (aka astrologers) supposedly arrived at the creche (check your synoptic gospels, dears, and you'll see that stable, kings and shepherds are all fragments of different stories, and don't all show up in the same tale as we've conflated them), this day became the traditional day to give gifts, especially in Latin cultures.

Personally, I think we should take every copy of Moore's pernicious poem, every muzak tape of faux carols, all the decorations (pagan, my dears, strictly pagan), and every advertisement that features gleeful gift recipients and burn them in a huge bonfire. Then let's all strip naked, slather ourselves with woad, and dance around it.

Want to celebrate the birth of Jesus? Be my guest. But please don't confuse it with Christianity with Consumerism. Give generously to charities and leave the junk in the stores.

Bah, humbug (as Dickens, that good Victorian would say).

• •.Nina, the DUTCH came to New York City [New Amsterdam] in the 1600s and brought the December 6th feast day of St. Nicholas with them, along with the old European custom of giving children small toys, candies, etc.
• •.Clement Clark Moore heard about this old European feast day via the DUTCH who colonized Manhattan in the 17th century.
• •.By the 19th century, the church - - fearing the immense popularity of St. Nicholas and his Dec. 6th feast day in this country - - wanted no one to upstage their Nativity pageantry in late December, therefore, the holidays of December 6th and December 25th were merged.
• •.In Europe, St. Nicholas appears in artwork wearing a bishop's mitre and a blue robe. That was before Coca Cola, etc. interfered with his costume.
~ ~ ~ come up and see Mae ~ ~ ~

Thank you for that very informative information he was always Black to me because he was my parents. I have read were lots of saints were of black orgin but it's never talked about.Happy you wrote this blog Mae.

Classylind

It is worth noting the evidence which would not exclude the possibility of Saint Patrick being black.

Traditionally, St Patrick was born Maelwyn Succert or 'Melvyn Sickert'in 415 AD, to an 'anglo-roman' i.e. nativised roman family in Wales. The legion controlling South Wales was the 2nd Augustan legion, and it was stationed at Caerleon for almost 300 years. Retired legionary veterans were encouraged to settle the lands in which they had spent their service, and were granted a house and land to live on and farm.

The surviving tombstones of centurions from the 2nd Augustan legion contain examples of North African centurions buried in South Wales, in the area from which it may be supposed St Patrick originated. There are also written records of other soldiers and officers from North Africa who served there.

These include:

'Silius Plautius Haterianus' of Lepcis Magna (Libya)
'P. Septimus Geta' (later emperor Septimus Severus) also of Lepcis Magna (Libya)
'C. Memmius Fidus Julius Albius' from Bulla Regia (Tunisia)
'M. Julius Quadratus' from Castellum Arsacalitanum (Numidia)
'C. Octavius Honoratus' Thuburnica (Tunisia)
'M. Petronius Fortunatus' Cillium (Tunisia)

• •. Very interesting remarks about St. Patrick.
• •. Thank you for posting this and adding to our dialogue!
~ ~ ~ come up and see Mae ~ ~ ~