What was Santa?

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yes, I know, i'm evil...but most of you already knew that

:shrug:

a traveling priest who would give children who were good toys (not kidding, look it up)

naughty or nice?

I read it in the National Star, so it must be true.

Like other celestial deities (Apollo, etc.), Santa travels in a flying chariot. His location at the Pole Star enables him to see the entire surface of the (flat) earth. His symbol is the tree of life or world-axis, with a representation of the Pole Star at its top.

Unfortunately, Santa's worship got tangled up several centuries back with that of a very different world-axis deity associated not with the Pole Star (as is standard in northern areas) but with the sun (as is standard in the tropics.) As a result, the undying nature of the Pole Star (which never sets) became somewhat obscured by the dying-god tendencies common to all solar deities, and people stopped taking Santa and his message of unstinting generosity as seriously as they deserve.

We could really use a revival of the cult of Santa.