is Santa Claus /etc real?

is Santa Claus/ Krampus real I'm beyond curious after reading in one of the articles in a book called the people's almanac by david wallechinsky irving wallace

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it was copyrighted in 1975
wallace irving born 1916 died no

david wallechinsky born 1948 died no

They're as real, and as not-real, as belief. And those beliefs have changed considerably over the years, even just the past several decades, much less centuries.

Saint Nicholas may very well have been a real person, and there are two likely possibilities about who he really was. One of them was born in present-day Turkey, and there are statues in what is believed to be his home town.

Krampus is descended from older pagan beliefs, and has experienced a revival in popularity these last several years. The Krampus legend was even filtered through tales of Saint Nicholas after the Father Christmas narrative began. He was reduced to imp, captured and subdued by the Saint. At some later point, when racism was common-place, the imp became a black child. I'm not sure how this may have related to the elves.

There are also tales of Saint Nicholas using pagan symbolism, which is very common in Christianized Europe, with attempts to change mindsets away from the old ways to the new.

Basically, it's complicated. What real facts there may have been have long been lost in many distorted versions of lore. So, the characters become ones of faith moreso than of much which can be proven or disproved.

There is also a well know belief that if enough people believe in something it becomes real. This is generally used to describe menacing phantoms and creatures such as big foot or slenderman. They start as a concept or even just an imaginary thing and people hear and learn about it and believe in it and sightings start. I like to believe all fable stories start with some amount of truth that gets twisted and woven over time. There are many tales of how "Santa Claus" came to be, some complete fiction while others have that shred of truth.

I like to focus (on the positive ones) the energy. When you hear Christmas Spirit, think of the energy involved in that, the feeling you get around that time of year. That energy in itself can manifest things like visions (maybe of the sugar plumb nature!) or a peek at the jolly old man himself. It is one thing to want to believe such a being is real, it is no different than believing in a God or Goddess. The importance is appreciating the spirit, and in Krampus terms, respecting the spirit. No one wants to get eaten for being naughty.

~Kaurora

This thread has been moved to Misc Topics from Fortune Telling.

thanks for your helpful comments actually if you want his real address I have it stashed away for safe keeping so people won't overbear poor old saint nick he works very hard making sure the Christmas month goes smoothly so there won't be any errors Christmas month

here it is Santa's real address 123 elf road north pole 88888

according to google search this address for Santa is top of the charts

I wouldn't trust the first Google result you see. People lie on the internet, and you have no way of fact-checking this.

Well, the magical gift-giver who comes down your chimney isn't a real being, but people believe in him, so on a spiritual level you could argue it. Kranpus falls in the same category that it's just a myth/folklore and the person's belief in the creature makes it spiritually real to the person, but it's not a physical being. [I'll go out on a limb and say on a spiritual level they exist because of the amount of people who believe in them]

As for a historical context, Santa is based on a number of people/legends from across Europe smooshed together and becoming Santa Claus when [I believe it was German] imegrants came to America and their tales were anglophized. Finally becoming the jolly man we know when The Night Before Christmas became a phenomenon and Coca-Cola branded the look. As for an actual Santa, it's based primarily off Saint Nicolas who gave gifts of gold to a poor man [the gold was sent down the chimney and landed in the stockings if I remember correctly] and that saved his daughters from going into prostetution.

Overall, if you believe in these beings, that's fine, but what do you believe they represent? How do you feel you can work with these energies? How can you honor what they represent? Building them into your path is more important than telling people you'll get gifts if you're good and beaten by reeds if you're bad. [but don't expect physical gifts appearing out of thin air, Santa isn't a physical living being]