Santa Claus or Joulupukki as I know him in my own Finnish
language has been a continuing presence in my life since my birth during the
1950s in Lapland, Finland. I am a Christmas child myself who was born in a city
that resides both the Santa Claus’ Main Post Office at Napapiiri at the Arctic
Circle and the long tradition of tourist industry around Santa/Julupukki,
including the official University courses in Elf Profession. Just check here
to believe it. I am not telling you fibs.
Once in a while, or quite often actually, researchers do
tell you that Santa is a lie, check in here and if you still have doubts here it is in Finnish. Every
now and then we are also reminded that adults think too much. I mean in no
respect to demean the two articles presented here but I am convinced that
whatever we believe does construct our reality, including the metaphysical reality
of Santa. Check my previous 2010 posting here about what is the history of the
Santa tradition I believe in.
I live in Australia and find that the Christmas for me
starts with the decorations at the shopping center, because otherwise, it is
summer. The season comes as a great contradiction to my birth home of
Rovaniemi, where the winter snow falls plentiful and it is freezing cold. In Australia, in the heat and the sun, it is
quite hard for me to think about Christmas in the way I used to as a child. Now
my traditions much come from having fun with the grandchildren and imagining
with them how Santa would ride the skis from Lapland to deliver the presents
Downunder.
My
grandchildren know very well, where the line of the fairy-tale and the reality
lies. They think that it is ‘cool’ that they, for example, know exactly where
the North Pole is: that it is at Rovaniemi, Finland. And why do they know is
because they have been there themselves. My six-year old granddaughter insists
on this. “Mummu, I have actually been there twice.” There is no buts about it.
She does not think about it philosophically, or in any metaphorical way. For
her North Pole is where the Santa lives and because she knows the Santa,
Rovaniemi for her is the North Pole. It is possible for children to think about
Santa philosophically as well. At the age of five, my elder son asked me how
long I thought Santa would live and when I answered: “As long as you believe in
him”, he immediately said: “Oh, just like God!” That was also clear at one go
and the end of the discussion.
Oh no, my
granddaughter thinks about it all as a great potential for performance. She
needs the right costume, and the right music and the right atmosphere and we
are on. This will be the best Christmas ever performed. I bet it will include
the music from the movie Trolls as for her it is the best dancing soundtrack
possible to imagine.
The other
way, I get my Christmas spirit rising is through technology and internet. I
plan on talking to my family situated around the world, especially the other
granddaughter in London. We are planning on maybe decorating our Christmas
trees together, at the same time, through connecting on Skype. At least we will
build Lego Christmas decorations together in our weekly get-togethers. We will
show and tell about all the little decorations I have collected and placed in
our tree. They come with different memories of my family for generations.
Before this tree decorating used to be on the 13th of December,
because the Saint Lucia’s Day was my mother’s day. The family tradition carried
to us from Sweden through the WWII when my mother was a refugee as a child
there. We remember, I can tell it all to my grandchildren in my mother tongue,
in Finnish.
This year,
though, like last year, my grandchildren are in a hurry, and so am I. So, we
might decorate the tree during the first week of December, already. The
artificial trees that last and last make this longer season possible. The
positive part is that we can even choose the colour of the tree as we fancy.
This year it will be black. And from there on, sitting quietly, watching the
lights on that tree reminds me of the Christmases past, present and the future.
Baking cookies and the Karelian Pies with kids makes my Christmas real.
Our
Christmas or Yule/Joulu traditions as I say it in Finnish might change and
adjust into new technology, new environments and blend with new traditions. Still,
for us the message of Santa remains the same: compassion, kindness, light, fun
and caring. To me, it is no lie, it is a reality worth sharing with my family
and friends and passing on to children and grandchildren.
If the
spirit of Santa grows into a figure of a jolly old man or a strong grandma like
woman, it might not be so bad to imagine that it is the spirit of the ages, all
the good parts from Odin to St Nicolaus and many other unimaginable realities
blended together into a consideration of others and their plight. It is not
always about us. Mostly it is about the truth. So, how long does the Santa
live? I still say that wherever or whenever you are, it depends on your own
capability to imagine.
