Sunday, November 4, 2007

"Santa" already spotted in Second Life

In Europe we know "Saint Nicholas", who's feast day is on December 6th, the day he died, and which means that all children get some toys, if they were good over the past year, if not "Black Pete" will come to punish them. But as you know, there are no bad kids. They all are good, and thus they all receive toys from the good old Saint.
In the Netherlands and Belgium, St. Nicholas arrived on a steamship from Spain to ride a white horse on his gift-giving rounds. December 6th is still the main day for gift giving and merrymaking in much of Europe. Children leave carrots and hay or sugar in their shoes for the saint's horse, hoping St. Nicholas will exchange them for small gifts.
What has "Sinterklaas" to do with "Santa Claus"?
The name "Santa Claus" is an American accented version of the Dutch "Sinterklaas." St. Nicholas and Santa Claus are the same person, but many people don't realize that. They are one in the same, but they look different because they are at different points in his posthumous evolution. We don't know when the idea was carried from Northern Europe to New Amsterdam, now Manhattan. It's safe to say he came with early settlers as a fake memory and was then dormant in North America until the late 18th century.
In the 1820s he began to acquire the recognizable trappings: reindeer, sleigh, bells. They are simply the actual bearings in the world from which he emerged. At that time, sleighs were how you got about Manhattan.

Now, more than one month before December 6th, "Sinterklaas" has been spotted in Second Life already. And that is way too early.....did he already arrived in his steamship? I don't know, but I intend to find out. And yet, will we receive some gifts too? I thought Second Life was supposed to be only for adults? Did he missed from grid? Perhaps his intentions were to be on the teen grid, and accidentally got somewhere the wrong way?
I need to ask my friend EagleWolf, he knows much more about these things than I do.;))

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I have been a good girl... :-)

Looker Lumet said...

If I see "Sinterklaas" I will tell him..., but I am sure he already knows.;)

Anonymous said...

Forget Santa... just tell Eagle I've been on my best the whole year, lolololol

Looker Lumet said...

You have only met him once, Sand, but you seem to know him very well, lol.