Santa and The Magic Mushroom

Santa’s origin story doesn’t just come from one tradition. He is a composite of many traditions, including the story of a long-ago bishop, turned Saint named Nicholas. After dropping a few sacks of gold in through a window to help a poor family, he was celebrated for his generosity. As time passed, he became known as Sinterklass, a Father Christmas-like figure who left sweets in the shoes of good Dutch boys and girls. Wearing the red of a bishop’s gown and sporting a long flowing beard, Father Christmas came to the New World with the arrival of European settlement.

But according to a theory suggested by some academics, including anthropologists and mycologists, Santa Claus might have taken shape from the solstice rituals of people in the Siberian and Arctic regions, which happens to be a dead-on ringer for the North Pole part of Santa’s story.

Long ago, the indigenous people of these distant lands had a late December celebration where the tribe’s Shaman would gather the mushroom Amanita muscaria. This mushroom is the classic toadstool of fairytales, with its white stalk and red cap sprinkled with white dots, and it is a toxic and hallucinogenic mushroom.

According to historical accounts, shamans harvest these highly psychedelic mushrooms in the fall and would dry them by hanging them on the branches of the pine trees where they grew. As the darkest days of the year drew close, the shaman would return to the pine tree and bring the mushrooms back to the village as gifts. On this day, he would wear special clothing reflective of the toadstool’s color scheme—a red coat trimmed with white fur. Sound familiar?

He would visit the members of his village using a sled to travel over the snowy landscape. Because the snow often blocked the doors, he would enter their tent-like homes through the smoke hole, leading to the speculation that this explains why Santa comes down the chimney. He would then leave the dried mushroom as gifts in socks, often hung near the fire to dry.

As for Santa’s reindeer and how they can fly, this may have its roots in this same story. As it turns out, reindeer actively seek out fly agaric mushrooms, eating them and then feeling the effects of the mushrooms’ properties, which include a lot of leaping and prancing that might look like flying.

To learn more about how this far northern custom might have found its way into our modern iconography and mythology of Santa Claus, join naturalist and folklore fan Susie Spikol at NOVA Arts on December 8 from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. For more information and to register, check out https://harriscenter.org/events/nature-on-tap-santas-magic-mushroom-a-look-at-the-role-of-the-fly-agaric-mushroom-in-the-mythology-of-santa