Santa’s Unconditional Love
Updated November 2021. Originally posted December 2014.
Summary: Santa is a Pagan God, so wants to make everyone happy and give them gifts. Being Pagan, His idea of happiness includes material abundance. His unconditional, magical love helps create the transformative power of the Yule season. Below is a simple, quick ritual to let in His love, that it might lift your spirits, grant you bounty, and help you overcome challenges. His love is constant, so you can use this ritual any time of year.
Santa is a Pagan God
While documentation demonstrating the Pagan roots of Santa Claus exists, lack of acquaintance with this history does not keep some individuals from the certainty that Santa is a Pagan God or from understanding Pagan Santa quite well.
There are different types of knowledge and different routes to them, to suit different people. The personal revelation of Santa as a Pagan God was more powerful to me than an academic exposition on the topic would have been; my imagination, common sense, and otherworldly experiences of Santa imbue my cells—as opposed to just my mind—with the awareness of this loving, kind, generous God’s actual presence in my life.
If you’ve posted a blog outlining the historical roots of Santa Claus as a Pagan myth, do post the URL in the comment field below. Thank you.
Pagan Santa Claus
Let’s look at a bit of my Gnosis regarding Santa. (For our purposes here, we can define Gnosis as knowledge of the Divine acquired through personal experience of it.) Here’s an example of where otherworldly experience (as well as imagination and common sense) led me: the following is a vision I had. It is not just words on the page but was my experience.
Lest you be confused by my mentioning later in this post my having made snowflakes: in the vision, the snowflakes are not ones I’ve made, but ones Santa made Himself.
A Vision of Unconditional Love
and Enthusiastic Generosity
In winter darkness, comes the bright snow,
every snowflake a mandala,
every snowflake made unique
because God Santa is endlessly enthusiastic
in His ceaseless generosity.
Such abundance—thousands of mandalas pouring down,
kissing you, blessing you.
Santa is not a God who withholds from you,
Santa is a God willing to bless you
and bless you and bless you,
thousands of snowflakes,
each a mandala filling you
with wisdom,
or filling you with joy, or granting you fortitude,
or giving you trust in magic.
Giving you trust in your own magic.
Every snowflake a mandala of goodness and hope,
such abundance!
Endless love.
Santa’s bag is never empty,
though he never stops emptying it, gift-giving
while chuckling in delight.
The above vision and my other experiences show me that Santa wants us to be happy and gives us presents all year. His love is unconditional and constant.
I find Him to truly be a jolly old elf, to borrow the phrase from The Night Before Christmas. He’s always looking for ways to bring me happiness, and not just on Yule, but the whole Yule season and the whole year.
Common Sense and Mystic Revelations
Plain ol’ common sense can cause a revelation. Too many people think revelation has to be airy, ungrounded, so high up in the sky that it is unreachable—unachievable for all but a few lofty, superior beings. Ick! Here’s an example of common sense leading to revelation: Santa’s jolliness, His gift-giving to all, His elvish smile—that adds up to being utterly Pagan!
What Is Yule?
Yule is one of eight annual Pagan festivals—also called Sabbats. These are days during which great magical power comes forward every year.
Yule is another name for the winter solstice. It occurs in late December, on whichever date is the longest night of the year. Next morning, the rising solstice sun embodies the birth of the Sun King, a solar Deity. He matures and grows stronger as the days become longer and warmer, while the Winter King, who rules in the year’s darkest months, wanes.
The Transformative Power of the Yule Season
I don’t just celebrate the one day of Yule. I cherish the whole winter season.
For one thing, it is filled with magic. An example: if I surrender to the dark of the weather, I feel a stillness—a safe darkness, like being tucked into bed at night by a loving mother, a safe darkness underlying all the moments of a winter day, an underlying safe, joyful darkness, an underlying safe, joyful, peaceful darkness. I rest in it to be rejuvenated and empowered.
That’s only one winter magic I adore. The transformative and other enchantments of the Yule season are many.
Santa’s magic helps create this transformative power and other wintry magics. Here’s a simple, quick ritual to let in His unconditional love, that it might lift your spirits, grant you bounty, and help you overcome challenges.
Knowing just the wee bit of information in the next three paragraphs will add magic to the rite:
You might be one of Santa’s elves if you spread happiness, hope, and peace during the holiday season. Every elf has their own way of doing it.
In 2013, one of my jobs as a Yule elf was making snow. I had a blast painting about one-hundred unique snowflakes. (Click here, if you want more info about that job, but it’s not necessary for the ritual.)
My painting that kicks off this post portrays my receiving Santa’s love, sent to me through some of the snowflakes I made: He imbued the snowflakes with His unconditional love as a way to send it to me in a snowfall. He does this with all snowflakes, and not just for His elves, but for everyone. And with that, here’s the rite.
Unconditional Love Ritual
Spend about 60 seconds (or far longer if you want) with your head raised to the sky, whether it’s snowing or not, while God’s love tumbles down and kisses you.
If lifting your head skyward is problematic, instead take deep breaths for 60 seconds, during which God’s love will tumble down and kiss you. No fancy breathing needed, just deep, natural breaths.
Try doing the ritual three times a week for a few weeks, as an experiment to see how you and your life change.
His love is constant, so you can do this ritual any time of the year.
Instead of this ritual, or in addition to it, you can invite unconditional love in by meditating on my painting for 60 seconds (or far longer if you want).
Santa Magic Is Powerful
Once, after experiencing Santa in a ritual, I felt so yummy that I understood why Yule elves wear curly-toed shoes. It’s because Santa’s energy is so good that it just curls your toes. My feet almost felt tickled. And they woke up from some deadening caused by a medical problem—winter magic is powerful indeed.
You Are Invited to Free Yule Rituals.
There will be two rites to choose from, or attend both. Both will draw on the transformative power and other magics of the Yule season. One ceremony will be in my new home in San Francisco. The other will meet via teleseminar aka group phone call.
Further details will be in my newsletter. Click the banner below to subscribe.
Hi Francesca,
Thank you for gift wrapping me in all the E.I.P (Elfin’ Inspiring Presents/Presence) treatment!
I wouldn’t have known about some of those other postings..and the idea of leaving cookies out with milk is so entirely sweet!
I can’t wait for a book like this….it will add a lot of magic and help those who get down or want more info on how to bring that hope of childlike faith back again as well as playful fun!
That makes sense how Santa’s appearance can alter depending upon how you see him or perhaps the mood you are in or what you may be requesting. Santa can come in many shapes….more traditional or non. I agree with how and whom Santa is.
Thank you so much Francesca!!!
Hi Lisa, You’re very welcome! Blessings on your yule season.
Francesca, I LOVE this!!!!
I actually have had on my mind for a few days a question about Santa as a Pagan God and also ways to have fun with helping.
The reason being I got your “Be A Teen Goddess” book and one of the exercises in there/spells is a money ritual. You mentioned how one friend calls on Santa Claus the entire year round and another friend has a fun ritual where each person ( I believe it was on Yule) go around asking Santa for what they wanted most.
I had a question…funny thing is that when I went to my local dollar tree I noticed two identical cute mini Elf on the Shelf notebooks each with Santa. The Elf on the Shelf was tacking his list of goodies on Santa’s beard (or it looks that way) and he’s happy. For some reason even though I don’t NEED the book I had to have it. There was like a magic spark when off inside me as I felt when I was a kid…perhaps my inner child as they call it or childlike wonderment and awe.
The reason being your friend that calls on Santa Claus’ help year round does she have an altar and statue of him as well as make offerings? I wanted to get one where is dressed in all green/Celtic one (I’m part Irish ancestry and also with honoring the traditional green for prosperity, growth, earth, etc. I was thinking of doing that or perhaps making my own statue or little altar/shrine to him.
I’m very to new this and was wondering if you haven’t already is there anyway you could make a Yule Tip Book and exercises, rituals, prayers, and charms to honor Santa and be a Yule elf and if you are one and also a blog post to give us a few tidbits we can do to connecting with his energy, etc.
Thanks!
Hiya,
Yes, Santa keeps the magical childlike part of me awake! He helps me continue to hope and trust and believe in beauty.
I make altars to him, but only do it if you think it would be fun. I leave cookies on the altar.
I hope someday to write that book, I’ve wanted to do it for a long time.
Here are some of my blogs, to help you out:
I came up with the idea of making a wish using a Christmas stocking: https://www.outlawbunny.com/2010/12/17/what-do-elves-do-on-their-day-off/
These two blogs have more of what I’ve conceptualized about Pagan Santa and Yule elves:
http://stardrenched.com/2014/12/17/pagan-santas-elf/
https://www.outlawbunny.com/2010/12/12/santa-is-in-my-pantheon/
The second of those two blogs also has a very earthy painting I did of Santa, which you might enjoy. I see my Santa as both an elf and a god, very tuned into nature, so sometimes I see him dressed in red but other times in earthy colors.
And here is my Make-A-Wish to Pagan Santa page (I’ve not put a 2015 update on it yet, but it doesn’t matter, you can make a wish now): https://www.outlawbunny.com/2013/12/04/yule-magic-wishes/
Enjoy! Thanks so much for your comment!!!
That reminded me of something that I think you’d be quite the person to appreciate.
My late-life son was eight this year, and we felt that after this Yule, he would be best served by not being the last kid in his cohort to “believe in Santa Claus.” We were already stretching it by telling him that all the Pagan kids got special treatment from Santa by getting their presents early, on the actual Solstice.
So I explained to him that Santa was not a specific person, but the egregore of all our seasonal feelings of fellowship, love, and hope. And the way I explained it started out “You are now old enough to be initiated into the society of people who make Santa Claus real. We do this for the joy of seeing kids younger than you open their presents. Santa is me, your Mom, all the people who are old enough to understand the joy of giving as well as receiving, and now …. YOU.”
He acted like I had given him a hundred Yules and ten birthdays all at once.
He’s autistic. Don’t anyone tell me about autistic people being “detached.”
Agape, and blessings on your way.
—
— Freeman
— Fra. Ophis, CHS (Rector, Far Harran Encampment)
— Blog/book reviews: http://freemanpresson.wordpress.com
“…to affirm and participate in the pursuit of a deliberately Ordered Kosmos as a Questing Magical Knight” — V. H. Fra. Osiris
OMGoddess, that is an amazing story. Thank you for giving me this glimpse into your remarkable parenting skills. And it is lovely to get to know you a little bit better through the story.
…Hmm, I keep thinking about how many parents could benefit from your solution to the dilemma of what to tell older children about Santa: tell them the real truth, not only about Santa, but about the joy of serving others! And do it in a way that empowers the child utterly!
I want you to know that I was so moved by your story that I cried happy tears. I read the comment to a friend: Her eyes started watering, too!
Ok, I may sound over the top, but I can’t say enough good things about your comment, because in addition to your whole Santa thing, you make a vital point about autism. It’s important to me, because my autistic 12 year old friend, who is like a granddaughter to me, is a sensitive, deep young woman. I love your post so much, thanks again.
Autistic people can seem distant because they are very sensitive, and strong emotions overwhelm them. My wife is relentlessly logical because that’s how she learned to cope.
Here’s a paper that explains this in terms of two phases of empathy, affective and cognitive:
http://www.autismresearchcentre.com/project_1_empathy
Exactly! My autistic “granddaughter” is so sensitive and deep that she gets overwhelmed and withdraws. Thank you. Big hugs to you and your family.
This makes me smile so much Freeman. My son is high functioning on the spectrum. It has never, ever been a case of him not being able to feel, but that he feels so much and has trouble processing it that causes him to act out. I could see how the idea of being initiated into a group of folks dedicated to bring wonder and joy to others would be one of the most awesome things ever to a similar child.
Thanks Francesca, Happy Yule, Merry Christmas!! I plan on using your ritual many times !!! Thanks so much for sharing it. Thank You for all the wonderful work you do for all of us every year! I hope you have a very magical holiday . Your friend Cindy
I am so happy you like the ritual! That means a lot to me, as do all your kind words. It is funny, because I was in a bit of self-pity yesterday and feeling like nobody appreciated my work, then somebody called to say how much it had helped her, and now you post such kind praise. Thank you muchly! May you and yours have a wonderful holiday. I am glad you’re in my life!