ENGLISH | MALAY (translated by Iskandaria, with help from A Jaafar) |
The
Story of Christmas and Santa
Ask any child about what happens at Christmas
and they will you about "Santa", this "Santa" is very symbolic of Christmas.
Santa Claus alias Father Christmas and Saint Nicholas appears at "Yuletide"
along with Christmas Trees and presents.
School Children are told Santa "lives" at the North Pole in Greenland. ½ Million tourists travel to Finland believing he originates from Lapland in Finland. They come in search of the Finnish Santa who they believe set up home in the little town of Rovaniemi. The city of Bari in southern Italy also claims to be the spiritual home of Santa Claus. Nicholas is lived in southern Turkey, then Asia Minor, during the first half of the fourth century, but nothing was recorded about his life until more than two hundred and fifty years after his death. Less than a hundred years after his death, he was worshipped as a saint for his legendary deeds, such as : A neighbour lost all his money becoming
destitute with his three daughters and, to prevent them having to earn
their living by prostitution, he threw them three bags of gold through
the window.
Santa meets Christianity The city of Bari in southern Italy claims
to be the spiritual home of Santa Claus, the City boasts, the final resting
place of St. Nicholas, the man the Church believes is both the essence
and the inspiration for our modern-day Santa. While the cathedral boasts
of having the holy relics of this miracle-worker, St. Nicholas never put
a foot in Italy while alive. His remains were actually seized seven hundred
years after he'd been buried. The city of Bari, and the Catholic Church,
keen to increase their power and wealth, conspired to steal the bones to
make the city a magnet for pilgrims. At the end of the eleventh century,
forty seven armed men from Bari set sail for Asia Minor. They overpowered
four monks and seized the valued relics of St. Nicholas. The Church agreed
to pay the thieves, and then their heirs, a percentage of the offerings,
but later the Church reneged on this deal, keeping all the money for itself.
Ever since, the Catholic Church has helped to promote an annual festival
to celebrate this profitable act of piracy.
In the northern European countries, modern
Scandinavia, St. Nicholas was not at first given the same warm reception.
The people here had their own pagan gods to protect them during the long,
cold winter nights. One of these god's who was a sky god and at mid-winter,
the sky god came down to earth, kissed the horizon and started off the
process for the birth of Spring, the rebirth of the new year and the animals
would be born, the fruit would start to grow, the little crops from beginning
agriculture would start to come up several months later. So this was a
really crucial moment, a pivotal moment in the turning of the year, when
the sky god coming down to the earth.
Later came the northern god Odin, who had
a character for every month of the year. His kindly December character,
Yulekatid, left money for the poor. People used to say that when the winter
clouds scudded across the sky, it was Odin flying across the sky on his
white horse, and he used to come to earth dressed in a long, hooded cloak,
with a bag of coins, bread, to give to people who were poor, in his winter
guise.
Around the same time, we had the Saxons
who gave everyone and everything, personifications. So the weather, the
elements, they all has personifications: Father Ice, King Frost, King Winter.
They were all welcomed into the halls of the Saxon thanes because they
believed that by welcoming them, they would be less harsh. The Saxons'
tradition of mid-winter gods and festivals to honour them became widely
accepted in Britain, but a clash between this pagan religion and emerging
Christianity produced new mid-winter figure: Father Christmas, character
part pagan, part Christian.
Father Christmas came from the old northern
traditions of Odin and the personification of winter, which in the Middle
Ages had come into a melting-pot together with St. Nicholas, and the parishes
in the Middle Ages used to send out a man, either an actor or someone from
outside the parish who wasn't known in the parish, and he would be dressed
in a long cloak and he would go around the houses to each family in the
parish saying 'is all well?' and leaving something for the children.
The Church, believed it needed to replace he, the misguided ways of the indigenous peoples and they went about it in a very organised manner. Pope Julius set the official date of Jesus's birth at the height of the pagan mid-winter festivals, and that just shows us how important it was to the Christian missionaries, to try to replace the Odin figure. They also came up with Bishop Nicholas, who was put forward as the figure who would represent the Christian Christmas and would replace this figure of Odin. And in fact they asked people, to dress up as St. Nicholas. In the Russian Orthodox Church, St. Nicholas was seen as a demi-god, a symbol of eternal goodness and righteousness, a figure almost as popular as Christ. Where some East European saints were seen as stern, even forbidding, St. Nicholas was recalled as a kind and generous saint, a protector of young people. He was a benefactor of children and on
his commemoration, on the sixth of December, parents and other friends
liked to give presents to children and because it was rather close to December
the twenty fifth, where they also, gave presents, and that's a pre-Christian
custom at that time of the year, because it was near to Christmas, therefore
the two things became fused and Nicholas became a kind of mix-up with the
Christmas festival of present's for children.
Despite the cult of St. Nicholas, which
led to over four hundred churches in Britain being dedicated to him, pagan
customs still had their undeniable attractions. The vast majority of people
still lived in the countryside and worked in farming, and so in country,
houses in villages and, little hamlets around the country, then the festivities
would have been very much as they'd been in the very old times, the sorts
of things that we associate with Christmas feasting, drinking, parties,
present-giving, holly, ivy, mistletoe, Christmas sorts of activities that,
that have sustained through the centuries.
Santa is Banned in Britain But in 1642, the Puritans seized power
and outlawed many act's that had no Christian or divine basis. The Puritans
realised that the the sort of things that we associate with our popular
Christmas today, which were still current then had nothing to do with Christianity
and they, tried to dissuade people from partying, from drinking, from dressing
up and giving gifts, they introduced an Act of Parliament which officially
abolished the popular Christmas customs and it was, decreed that stores
should stay open on Christmas day and that anyone found partying would
be arrested. From Canterbury to London, there were bloody riots when shops
were forced to stay open on Christmas day.
In Holland, St. Nicholas was untouched
by political uncertainties or by pagan mid-winter characters. Even today,
they celebrate the arrival of their saint in Holland and the anniversary
of his death during a month of religious festivities before Christmas.
Yet it was the Dutch who unwittingly helped to turn St. Nicholas, who they
called Sinterklaas, into an icon of commercialism, when they set out for
the New World in 1626. After St. Nicholas was transformed from Sinterklaas
to Santa Claus.
Americanisation of Santa The "Santa" Character was further developed
in 1809 when an amusing but inaccurate history of Dutch traditions was
written. Washington Irving, influenced by north European Christmas customs,
pictured St. Nicholas riding in a wagon merrily over rooftops, dropping
presents down chimneys, the first time this had been sighted.
In 1821, Clement Moore, a theology professor and an expert in European folklore, developed this character in a poem he wrote for his children, which went like this: "CLEMENT MOORE": 'Twas the night before Christmas
The stockings were hung by the chimney
with care
A bundle of toys he had flung on his
back
His cheeks were like roses
He was chubby and plump, oh a jolly
old elf
Moore saw St. Nick as an Elf dressed in
fur riding across rooftops on a sleigh with eight tiny reindeer, rather
than a wagon, a vision not witnessed in Britain by writers struggling to
popularise Christmas. Charles Dickens was one of the writers trying to
revive ancient Christmas traditions which had survived in the country but
not in the growing cities. His creation of Scrooge in 1844 captivated the
new middle class. Dickens used Scrooge to pillory misers who despised traditional
Christmas festivities.
What Dickens did was make Christmas middle-class and personal and, it wasn't merely, a repetition Christmas for Dickens was an occasion for summing up. An occasion for remembering. An occasion for calling to mind everything, the good times, fee bad times. He made Christmas an occasion for memory. Scrooge goes wrong because he fails to remember. Scrooge is encouraged to recall the benefits
of middle-class family life by the Ghost of Christmas Present - that was
Father Christmas for Dickens. The first illustrated version of A Christmas
Carol shows a Father Christmas from the Middle Ages, partly pagan and partly
Christian. About this time, the Americans were seeing an elf called St.
Nick, partly descended from tiny Nordic house-gods. Thomas Nast, one of
America's most talented cartoonists, turned the elf into a Santa. Nast
had made his name as a political cartoonist with a gift for populist imagery.
He used these characters to make political statements.
Strongly supporting President Abraham Lincoln
during the American Civil War, he looked for an image which embodied goodness
and righteousness. His first Santa Claus, for instance, was in 1863 and
it was a Santa Claus in cap, and it was a little gnome-like figure in a
starred jacket and striped trousers handing out gifts to the soldiers.
He was created to give softer and "romantic"
view of war and President Lincoln at the time was supposedly quoted as
saying that Nast was his best recruiting agent, because Nast in a way glorified
the Northern cause. Twenty years later, Nast's Santa was again Intervening
politically. Now elderly, Santa had put on weight, his elf-life appearance
had long gone.
Nast created the image of Santa Claus as we now know it and if you follow the Nast Santa Claus drawings from 1863 until the Christmas Drawings for the Human Race were published in 1889, you will see that Nast evolved his figure from the gnome-like figure that other artists had used before into a self-portrait of himself. He always portrayed himself as fat and jolly and his was his own self-portrait. Nast's popular portraits of himself as
the Santa in Twas The Night Before Christmas sold well in Europe and his
image was taken up by other artists. By the 1870s, Christmas cards started
to appear with versions of Nast's image.
At this time European Christmas traditions
had barely changed. With gift-giving, which dates back to early times.
With a Christmas tree, which first appeared in Britain about 1790. And
with a slim Santa, more in keeping with the early Father Christmas, who
was still in Europe the most popular visitor at Christmas.
The Globalisation of red and white American Santa was performed by Coca-Cola, a company struggling to sell cold drinks in the cold season, the company wanted to figure out a way to associate the product with the holiday season, and so they turned to, an illustrator named Haddon Sunblum. Sunblum concluded the spirit of the holiday was really Santa Claus, and Santa Claus had this enormous task facing him every Christmas Eve and that was to go around the world, in an evening, distributing, toys to children everywhere and obviously he would, you know, get tired and he would get thirsty and he would need some refreshment, so what better idea than to have Santa pausing in his rounds in various scenes enjoying a Coca Cola? Sunblum's Santa Claus really became American Santa Claus and in real terms the global Santa Claus, because his characterisation of Santa Claus was the one that people saw over thirty years. He came into their homes, he became a part of their lives and so, in a very real sense, here is imagery created for a commercial product that has now become a part of popular culture. In Britain, the post-war years saw Santa's final assault on the throne occupied by Father Christmas. The department stores started getting visits from Santa Claus who was very much the American image of Santa Claus with the curly white whiskers, dressed in red and white and the fat jolly appearance, and was thought to be less frightening than Father Christmas. Santa's story shows commercialisation has
never been far from Santa's grotto. The relics of St. Nicholas have brought
wealth to everyone who has possessed them. And St. Nicholas's papal protector
is perfectly happy about the revered saint being reincarnated as Santa
Claus.
THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY Historical facts reveal that Jesus did
not use the word Christianity. He and his followers used to worship in
the temple which other Israelites used. The message of Jesus was to call
people back to the religion of Abraham and Moses from which they had gone
astray. After the disappearance of Jesus, Paul declared that belief in
Jesus sufficed for salvation. The Jewish scholars of that time called the
followers of prophet Jesus the misguided sect of Nazarene or Galilaens.
In 43 C.E., when Paul and Barnabas went to Antioch to preach, they were
ridiculed and were called Christians by the masses. The ones who were called
Christians felt that if they are being given a name in reference to Jesus,
there is nothing wrong in accepting it. A present day analogy may be the
case of Muslims being called Mohammedans in the West and Muslims giving
in to the name.
PAUL ALTERED THE MESSAGE At the beginning, Paul was a staunch opponent of prophet Jesus and remained so for many years after his ascension. When he did join the followers of Jesus later on, he initiated many alterations in the teachings of Jesus in hopes of winning over the Gentiles (non-Jewish people). He championed the following concepts into Christianity: 1. the concept of Jesus as son of God;
The real followers of Jesus opposed these blatant misrepresentations of the message of Jesus. Their struggle to reject the notion of Divinity of Jesus continued for about two hundred years. Since these alterations were very appealing to the Gentiles, the true believers were unable to stop the misguidance. In 325 C.E., a council of Christian leaders met at Nicaea and officiated Paul's beliefs as their religion. Roman Empire declared Paul's religion as the religion of the State and all those books which denied these beliefs were banned. In 367 C.E., the State announced a list of books acceptable to it and fifteen years later, a council held under the presidency of Pope Damasius gave its approval to these books. At the end of the fifth century, Pope Galasius published a list of unauthorized books (Apocryphal) to further conform with Paul's religion of Christianity. |
Kisah
Krismas dan Santa
Jika seorang kanak- kanak ditanya akan apa yang berlaku semasa Hari Krismas, maka anda akan diberitahu mengenai "Santa" dan "Santa" ini merupakan lambang Krismas. Santa Claus atau dikenali sebagai Bapa Krismas dan Saint Nicholas, muncul pada musim Krismas bersama pokok Krismas dan juga hadiah- hadiah. Siapakah Santa ? Murid- murid sekolah diberitahu bahawa Santa "tinggal" di Kutub Utara di Greenland. Setengah juta pelancong mengunjungi Finland kerana percaya beliau berasal dari Lapland di Finland. Mereka mencari Santa berbangsa Finnish yang dipercayai tinggal di sebuah pekan kecil bernama Rovaniemi. Bandar Bari di Selatan Itali juga mengaku menjadi tempat tinggal Santa Claus. Nicholas tinggal di Selatan Turki, kemudian di Asia Kecil pada separuh pertama kurun ke empat, namun tiada suatu pun yang diketahui mengenai dirinya sehinggalah dua ratus lima puluh tahun selepas kematiannya. Kurang seratus tahun selepas kematiannya, dia diagungkan sebagai seorang santo kerana baktinya yang termasyhur, seperti : Seorang jiran kehilangan segala kekayaannya
dan menjadi papa kedana bersama tiga orang anak perempuannya. Untuk menghindarkan
mereka daripada mencari nafkah melalui pelacuran, Nicholas mencampakkan
tiga beg emas melalui tingkap mereka. Beliau dianggap insan contoh dari
segi kemurahan hatinya serta pembelaannya terhadap mereka yang tertindas,
kanak- kanak yang tidak mempunyai wang, dan beliau begitu menyerlah dalam
pembelaan kanak- kanak. Menurut lagenda, Saint Nicholas pernah menghidupkan
kembali tiga kanak- kanak lelaki yang dicincang seorang pengendali rumah
tumpangan yang kemudian menjeruk keratan mereka untuk dijual kepada para
pelanggan yang tidak menyedarinya.
Santa disatukan dengan Kristianiti Bandar Bari di Selatan Itali mendakwa ia adalah rumah keagamaan Santa Claus. Malah bandar tersebut mendakwa menjadi tapak persemadian St Nicholas, orang yang dianggap Gereja sebagai intisari dan inspirasi kepada Santa masa kini. Meskipun katedral tersebut mendakwa mempunyai relik insan yang bermukjizat ini, St Nicholas tidak pernah melangkah kaki ke Itali semasa hayatnya. Mayatnya dirampas tujuh ratus tahun setelah pengkebumiannya. Bandar Bari dan Gereja Katolik yang ingin meningkatkan kekayaan dan pengaruh mereka, telah berkomplot untuk mencuri tulang rangkanya dan menjadikan bandar mereka tumpuan penziarah Kristian.Pada hujung kurun ke sebelas, empat puluh tujuh lelaki bersenjata berlayar dari Bari ke Asia Kecil. Mereka berjaya mengatasi empat rahib dan merampas relik St Nicholas yang dihargai. Gereja Katolik bersetuju untuk membayar perompak- perompak itu dan kemudiannya waris- waris mereka, sebahagian daripada sumbangan- sumbangan penziarah Kristian. Namun Gereja mungkir janji dan membolot semua wang tersebut. Semenjak itu, Gereja Katolik telah membantu menggalakkan sebuah perayaan tahunan yang maraikan kegiatan mencuri yang sangat lumayan itu. Di negera- negera utara Eropah, seperti Scandinavia masa kini, St Nicholas tidak mendapat sambutan pada mulanya. Orang- orang di sini mempunyai tuhan zaman jahiliah mereka sendiri untuk melindungi mereka pada malam- malam musim sejuk. Salah satu tuhan tersebut, yang merupakan tuhan langit, akan turun ke bumi pada pertengahan musim sejuk dan mengucup kaki langit lantas memulakan proses kelahiran musim Bunga, kelahiran semula tahun baru and binatang- binatang akan dilahirkan serta buah- buahan mula membesar dan tanam- tanaman yang mula disemai akan membuahkan hasil beberapa bulan kemudian. Maka inilah masa genting, serta titik permulaan tahun, iaitu apabila tuhan langit turn ke bumi. Kemudian muncul pula tuhan bahagian utara, Odin, yang mempunyai perwatakan berbeza setiap bulan. Perwatakannya pada bulan Disember merupakan seorang yang pemurah, bernama Yulekatid, yang memberikan wang kepada si fakir. Ramai yang mengatakan, apabila awan salji merentas langit, itulah Odin terbang melintasi angkasa di atas kuda putihnya dan dia turun ke bumi, menyamar diri dengan memakai baju panjang serta hud dan membawa wang emas dan roti untuk diberikan kepada fakir miskin. Pada masa yang sama, golongan Saxon mempersonafikasikan pelbagai benda dan manusia. Maka cuaca juga mempunyai personafikasi sebagai : Bapa Ais, Raja Fros, Raja Salji. Mereka ini disanjung di rumah orang- orang Saxon kerana mereka percaya bahawa dengan meraikan tuhan- tuhan ini, cuaca yang melambangkan mereka tidak begitu perit. Tradisi tuhan- tuhan pertengahan salji kaum Saxon ini serta perayaan- perayaan menyanjungi mereka luas diterima di Britain. Namun agama jahiliah ini bercanggah dengan agama Kristian yang kian muncul. Oleh itu, timbul pula lambang- lambang pertengahan musim salji seperti : Bapa Krismas iaitu sebahagiannya jahiliah dan sebahagian lain Kristian. Bapa Krismas berasal dari Odin, satu tradisi utara yang lama dan personifikasi musim salji. Pada Zaman Pertengahan, ia bercantum dengan lagenda St Nicholas dan kariah- kariah zaman tersebut akan menghantar seorang lelaki, sama ada seorang pelakon atau seseorang yang tidak dikenali di kawasan mereka, untuk memakai baju panjang. Beliau kemudian akan pergi dari rumah ke rumah dan bertanya kepada setiap keluarga, "Adakah semuanya baik?" dan meninggalkan sesuatu untuk anak- anak mereka. Gereja Katolik percaya, mereka perlu membetulkan salah laku para penduduk setempat dan ini dilakukan dengan cara yang tersusun. Pope Julius menetapkan hari lahir Isa a.s. pada kemuncak perayaan pertengahan musim salji. Ini menunjukkan betapa pentingnya bagi mubaligh Kristian untuk cuba menggantikan watak Odin. Mereka juga menghasilkan Bishop Nicholas yang diketengahkan sebagai watak yang melambangkan Krismas untuk golongan Kristian demi menggantikan Odin. Malah mereka mengarahkan orang ramai agar berpakaian seperti St Nicholas. Dalam Gereja Ortodoks Rusia pula, St Nicholas di anggap separuh tuhan, lambang kebaikan yang abadi serta muhsin, watak yang popular seperti Isa a.s. Walaupun beberapa santos Eropah Timur dianggap tegas dan bengis, St Nicholas pula dilihat sebagai pemurah dan baik hati serta pelindung golongan muda. Beliau pelindung kanak- kanak dan pada hari memperingatinya pada enam haribulan Disember, ibu bapa serta sahabat-handai mereka sering memberikan hadiah kepada anak- anak. Dan oleh kerana ia dekat dengan 25 haribulan Disember di mana hadiah- hadiah juga diberikan dari segi tradisi sebelum muncul agama Kristian, maka kedua- dua acara itu digabungkan dan Nicholas bercampur dengan perayaan Krismas untuk memberikan hadiah kepada anak- anak. Meskipun terdapat tradisi St Nicholas sehinggakan
empat ratus gereja di seluruh Britain didedikasikan kepadanya, adat resam
jahiliah masih mempunyai tarikannya. Kebanyakan orang masih tinggal di
perkampungan dan menyara hidup sebagai petani. Maka di perkampungan serta
desa- desa merata negeri, keadaan tetap serupa seperti masa silam iaitu
sambutan yang sering dikaitkan dengan hari Krismas, iaitu berpesta, menjamu
selera, minum- minuman, memberi hadiah, daun holly, ivy dan mistletoe -
kegiatan Krismas yang bertahan selama berkurun- kurun lamanya.
Santa Diharam Di Britain Namun pada 1642, golongan Puritan merampas kuasa dan mengharamkan banyak kegiatan yang tidak berlandaskan agama Kristian atau keTuhanan. Golongan Puritan sedar bahawa kebanyakan perkara yang dikaitkan dengan budaya Krismas hari ini dan pada waktu tersebut masih dianggap terkini, tiada kena-mengena dengan agama Kristian. Oleh itu mereka tidak menggalakkan orang ramai berpesta, meminum arak, berpakaian serba baru dan memberi hadiah. Sebaliknya, mereka memperkenalkan Akta Parlimen yang mengharamkan adat resam Krismas yang popular itu dan memerintahkan agar semua kedai dibuka pada Hari Krismas dan sesiapa yang berpesta pada hari tersebut diberkas. Dari Canterbury sehingga London, terdapat rusuhan berdarah kerana kedai- kedai dipaksa buka pada Hari Krismas. Di Belanda, St Nicholas tidak sedikit pun
terjejas oleh kegenjotan politik atau watak- watak pertengahan musim sejuk
tradisi jahiliah. Sehingga hari ini pun, mereka menyambut hari lahir serta
hari kematian santo itu di Belanda dalam perayaan keagamaan, sebulan sebelum
Krismas. Namun, bangsa Belandalah yang secara tidak sengaja menyebabkan
St Nicholas yang mereka namakan Sinterklaas, menjadi sebuah lambang perniagaan,
apabila mereka menjelajah Dunia Baru pada 1626. Setelah St Nicholas ditukar
daripada Sinterklaas kepada Santa Claus.
Pengaruh Amerika ke atas Santa Watak "Santa" seterusnya diubahsuai pada 1809 apabila sebuah tulisan yang lucu dihasilkan mengenai sejarah budaya Belanda, namun ia kurang tepat. Washington Irving, yang dipengaruhi budaya Krismas dari Utara Eropah, membayangkan St Nicholas menaiki pedati di atas bumbung- bumbung rumah, serta menghulurkan hadiah- hadiah melalui serombong asap, kononnya, itulah kali pertama St Nicholas dilihat orang. Pada 1821, Clement Moore, seorang profesor teologi dan pakar lagenda Eropah, seterusnya membentuk watak ini melalui sebuah puisi untuk anak- anaknya yang berbunyi begini: "CLEMENT MOORE" Pada malam sebelum Krismas
Moore membayangkan St Nick sebagai seornag pari- pari yang memakai baju bulu dan merentas bumbung dengan menaiki lunsur salji yang ditarik lapan rusa kutub, dan bukan menaiki pedati. Ini merupakan satu visi yang tidak dilihat oleh penulis Britain yang cuba menjadikan Krismas popular. Charles Dickens antara penulis yang cuba menghidupkan kembali tradisi Krismas turun temurun dan masih bertapak di kawasan perkampungan tetapi tidak di bahagian bandar yang semakin ramai penduduk. Karyanya "Scrooge" pada 1844, begitu menarik perhatian masyarakat kelas pertengahan yang kian muncul. Dickens menggunakan Scrooge untuk mengingatkan mereka yang lokek mengenai sambutan Krismas secara tradisional. Dickens telah menjadikan Krismas sambutan peribadi bagi golongan pertengahan dan bukan sekadar sambutan tahunan. Ia merupkan masa untuk mengingati yang lain. Masa untuk mengimbas kembali segala yang telah berlaku sama ada baik atau buruk. Beliau menjadikan Krismas, satu titian memori dan Scrooge bersalah kerana tidak mengimbas kembali. Scrooge digalakkan oleh Roh Krismas Waktu Kini agar mengingati segala kesenangan sesebuah keluarga daripada golongan pertengahan. Dickens menafsirkan Roh tersebut sebagai Bapa Krismas. Lukisan pertama untuk A Christmas Carol memaparkan Bapa Krismas daripada Zaman Pertengahan iaitu separuh tradisi jahiliah dan separuh lagi tradisi Kristian. Pada sekitar masa yang sama, rakyat Amerika Syarikat pula menganggap St Nick sebagai pari- pari keturunan tuhan- tuhan Nordic yang bertubuh kecil. Thomas Nast, salah seorang pelukis kartun terkenal Amerika, merubah pari- pari itu menjadi seorang Santa. Nast telah mengukir nama sebagai pelukis kartun politik dan berkebolehan dalam menghasilkan imej- imej yang diminati ramai. Beliau menggunakan watak karyanya untuk membuat sindiran politik. Sebagai seorang penyokong teguh Presiden
Abraham Lincoln semasa Perang Saudara Amerika, dia mencari imej yang memaparkan
kebaikan serta kemuliaan. Santa Clausnya yang pertama, misalnya, dihasilkan
pada 1863, dan merupkan makhluk gnome yang memakai kep, jaket berbintang
dan seluar berjalur. Watak tersebut membahagi- bahagikan cenderamata kepada
para askar.Beliau dicipta untuk memberi gambaran yang lebih romantik terhadap
peperangan dan Presiden Lincoln dilaporkan sebagai berkata bahawa Nast
Nast mencipta imej Santa seperti yang kita melihatnya sekarang dan jika anda mengikuti lukisan Nast bagi Santa daripada 1863 hingga ‘Christmas Drawings for the Human Race’ diterbitkan pada 1889, anda akan melihat bahawa Nast menukar ciptaannya dari mahkluk berupa gnome kepada imej yang menyerupai diri Nast sendiri. Beliau sering menggambarkan dirinya sebagai gempal dan periang. Imej Santa dalam ‘Twas The Night Before
Christmas’ yang mencerminkan diri Nast itu begitu popular di Eropah. Imej
tersebut turut digunakan artis- artis lain. Menjelang tahun 1870an, kad-
kad Krismas muncul dengan imej yang
Pada masa itu, Krismas bagi kaum Eropah
tidak banyak berubah. Tradisi memberi hadiah dilakukan sejak dulu lagi
dan dengan timbulnya pokok Krismas ritain pada 1790. Santa pula dilukis
sebagai lebih kurus dan selaras dengan imej Bapa Krismas yang menjadi pengunjung
paling popular setiap kali menjelang Krismas.
Santa Amerika
diglobalisasikan
Globalisasi Santa Amerika yang berbaju mera dan putih dilakukan oleh Coca Cola, sebuah syarikat yang menghadapi masalah menjual minuman sejuk semasa musim salji. Syarikat itu cuba mencari jalan mengaitkan produk mereka dengan masa perayaan. Oleh itu mereka mendapatkan khidmat Haddon Sunblum. Beliau menggambarkan Santa Claus melambangkan semangat perayaan dan Santa Claus mempunyai tugas mencabar setiap malam Krismas. Dia perlu ke seluruh dunia dalam masa semalaman untuk memberikan mainan kepada kanak- kanak. Beliau pasti berasa penat serta haus dan inginkan juadah. Oleh itu, Santa dipaparkan sebagai berehat dalam beberapa adegan berasingan untuk menikmati minuman Coca Cola. Santa Sumblum sebenarnya adalah Santa Amerika dan ini menjadikannya Santa sejagat kerana watak inilah yang dilihat orang ramai selama tiga puluh tahun. Dia berkunjung ke rumah- rumah, menjadi sebahagian daripada kehidupan mereka. Hakikatnya, inilah imej yang dihasilkan untuk tujuan perniagaan dan kini bertapak sebagai lambang budaya yang diminati ramai. Di Britain, tahun tahun selepas perang menyaksikan pengaruh Santa yang berjaya mengatasi Bapa Krismas. Pusat- pusat membeli belah mula dikunjungi Santa yang bermisai putih, berpakaian merah dan putih dan bertubuh gempal. Beliau dianggap lebih menarik daripada imej Bapa Krismas. Sejarah Santa ini menunjukkan bahawa kegiatan
perniagaan tidak sepi dari lagenda Santa. Relik- relik St Nicholas telah
membawa kekayaan kepada mereka yang memilikinya. Dan para pelindung lagenda
St Nicholas cukup gembira bahawa santo yang diagungkan itu dihidupkan kembali
sebagai Santa Claus.
PAUL
MENGUBAH PESANAN Para pengikut Nabi Isa yang sebenarnya menentang gambaran yang salah mengenai pesanan Nabi Isa ini yang disampaikan secara terang-terangan. Perjuangan mereka menolak tanggapan Isa sebagai Tuhan berterusan selama kira-kira dua ratus tahun. Oleh kerana perubahan-perubahan ini menarik hati orang bukan Yahudi, mereka yang benar-benar percaya (akan ajaran Nabi Isa) tidak dapat menghentikan kesesatan tersebut. Pada tahun 325 Masihi, satu majlis pemimpin Kristian bertemu di Nicaea (kota purba di Asia Minor) dan secara rasmi melancarkan fahaman Paul sebagai ugama mereka. Empayar Rom mengisytiharkan agama Paul sebagai ugama Kerajaan Rom dan semua buku yang menafikan kepercayan tersebut diharamkan. Pada 367 Masihi, Kerajaan Rom mengumumkan satu senarai buku-buku yang diterima oleh Kerajaan itu dan lima belas tahun kemudiannya, sebuah majlis yang diadakan dibawah presiden Pope Damasius, memberi pernyataan setujunya ke atas buku-buku tersebut. Pada akhir abad kelima, Pope Galasius menerbitkan satu senarai buku-buku yang tidak dibenarkan (cerita-cerita yang kebenarannya diragui) bagi menuruti agama ‘Kristianiti’ yang diperjuangkan oleh Paul.
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