‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro’ the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. – Clement C. Moore
How did the 4th century Greek bishop whose feast is celebrated today become the symbol of the spirit of Christmas in a large part of the world, and what in the world does it have to do with prostitution? The answer to both questions is the same: Nicholas of Myra (270 – December 6th, 346) was a very wealthy but very devout man with a reputation for both extreme generosity and the ability to work miracles, and one of his most famous deeds is the source of both an important part of the Santa Claus legend and Nicholas’ designation as the patron saint of prostitutes. This busy and popular saint is also the patron of archers, children, merchants, sailors, students and repentant thieves, plus Russia and a number of cities including Aberdeen, Amsterdam and Liverpool, but for the purposes of this column we’ll concentrate on his association with Christmas and harlots.
In Greece, Saint Nicholas is sometimes called Nikolaos Thaumaturgos (Nicholas the Miracle-worker) because of the many miracles legend attributes to him, which include feeding his city on a small portion of wheat during a famine and resurrecting three children murdered by a Sweeny Todd-like evil butcher. His remains are believed to exude a fragrant liquid with miraculous properties, which is drawn forth every year on this day. But his popularity and greatest fame derives not from these miracles, but from the mundane acts of kindness he was well-known for, such as dropping coins in the shoes of poor parishioners left outside to dry overnight. Obviously, this practice is the source of the legend about Saint Nicholas leaving presents in children’s shoes (later stockings), but his association with whores is related to another of his legendary traits – that of bringing presents down chimneys.
According to the story, a formerly wealthy man who had fallen on bad times had three daughters, but could not afford dowries for them. Because of this they would not be able to marry, and in the absence of other marketable skills would be forced into prostitution to support themselves. But on the night before the eldest daughter came of age, Saint Nicholas threw a purse full of gold coins through the window so she would have a dowry. He repeated the gift a year later on the night before the second daughter came of age, and the third year the father decided to lie in wait so as to thank his daughters’ unknown benefactor. But Saint Nicholas wished to remain anonymous, so he climbed upon the roof and dropped the bag down the chimney instead. Now, it seems to me that since Nicholas actually prevented the girls from becoming hookers it would be more appropriate to consider him the patron saint of those who help unwilling prostitutes to leave the trade, but I suppose Christian whores were glad to be given a patron as loveable and highly-regarded as Saint Nick so I won’t split hairs.
During the late Middle Ages, nuns of some orders honored the saint on his feast day by leaving baskets of food and clothes on the doorsteps of the poor during the night, and sailors of western Europe attended church services followed by “Nicholas fairs” at which unusual goods such as spices and oranges were sold; the sailors would buy treats for their wives and children at such fairs. By the Renaissance these observances evolved into the tradition of giving gifts to children on Saint Nicholas Day, and in the Netherlands this day (rather than Christmas) eventually became the primary occasion for gift-giving. The Dutch name for the Saint is Sinterklaas (a corruption of Sint Nikolaas) and the mythology surrounding him is a combination of legends about the historical bishop and traditions about the god Odin; like the god he is elderly and white-bearded, rides a magical horse and has omniscient knowledge of the behavior of individual mortals, but he wears a bishop’s robes and distributes largess on the eve of December 6th. These Dutch traditions spread to neighboring countries, and the French Pere Noel and English Father Christmas eventually absorbed his white beard and propensity for gift-giving (though on Christmas Eve rather than St. Nicholas Eve), largely through association with the American Santa Claus. Indeed, the name “Santa Claus” is simply an Anglicized pronunciation of the Dutch “Sinterklaas” which originated among the Dutch settlers in New York. In some parts of Germany both Christmas and Saint Nicholas’ Day are celebrated (though December 6th is of lesser importance), and this is also true of American cities with a strong German background such as Cincinnati, Cleveland and Milwaukee.
The Saint’s modern image began to take shape in New York and New England of the late 18th century from a fusion of the Dutch Sinterklaas and the English Father Christmas. In 1809 Washington Irving became the first writer to describe the combined figure (in his History of New York), and in 1823 his friend Clement Clark Moore collected many of the now-familiar traditions in his famous poem, “A Visit from Saint Nicholas”; here we see the reindeer-drawn sleigh, coming down the chimney, presents in stockings, fur-trimmed red suit, etc, though Moore still prefers the name “Saint Nicholas” to the doubly-corrupt “Santa Claus”. In the latter part of the century editorial cartoonist Thomas Nast published a number of drawings of the jolly old saint, and by the turn of the century the image and mythology we know so well today was firmly established not only in the U.S. where it had originated, but also in many other countries (where it merged with or supplanted traditional depictions of Father Christmas, Papa Noel etc).
But like all living mythologies, that surrounding Saint Nicholas (or “Santa” to use his modern name) continues to grow. Mrs. Claus appeared in the mid-19th century, the elves evolved from older traditions about Saint Nicholas’ servants such as Zwarte Piet (“Black Peter”), and the saint’s temperament has mellowed so much that nobody receives coal or switches any more despite the fact that modern children are arguably far less well-behaved than those of times past. Writers of stories, songs and television shows have added new elements to the story, and some (such as Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer) have become extremely popular. Even the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has made a contribution by tracking Santa’s Christmas Eve progress on radar every year since 1955; now the organization even has a website dedicated to the purpose.
Obviously, few modern people (and virtually no children) know that the jolly old fat man in the red suit has a warm spot in his heart for whores, and it’s probably better that way since it’s really none of their business. But every December there are a few sneaky signs such as cartoons in Playboy, silly jokes (Q: Why is Santa so jolly? A: He knows where all the bad girls live), escorts and strippers treating themselves (and Santa) to photos in his lap (guilty!), and playing of Eartha Kitt’s classic gold digger’s anthem “Santa Baby”. And I know for a fact that I’m not remotely the only member of our profession who employs some of her generous income every Yuletide season to assist Santa by donating to his helpers with their kettles outside stores and by providing toys for his chief favorites, the children, through programs like Toys for Tots.
Thank you Maggie. That was interesting and fun. I wondered what the connection between Saint Nick and prostitution would be. And I have to wonder: why him instead of Mary Madelene?
But now of course I have to get psychedelic with Santa. You mention Odin and pagan connections to the Jolly Old Elf. There are several pagan connections to modern American Christmas celebrations, as you described in Yuletide. Lately, I’ve been interested in the Siberian shamans who dressed in fur, had long beards, and were the only members of the tribe allowed to enter a hut through the chimney. Being often some of the oldest men in the tribe, they were allowed to ride in the sled while others had to walk. Sleds pulled by reindeer.
The shamans sought visions through the use of the Amanita muscaria mushroom. If you’ve ever seen illustrations of fairies sitting on mushrooms, they were almost certainly Amanita. These are the mushrooms the Smurfs lived in. They have a white stem and a red cap with white spots. They often grow underneath evergreen trees. Sometimes they would be hung on evergreen trees to dry in the sun, which concentrates the psychoactive chemical and keeps them from rotting before the Winter Solstice, a high holy day where the dried mushroom is used to connect with the divine. You know what else likes to eat the mushroom? Reindeer. They eat it and leap about a lot. Even the urine of a reindeer which has eaten Amanita muscaria can send you flying.
Some of the earliest Christmas tree ornaments were ceramic representations of the Amanita muscaria mushroom, stems and all. Some of the earliest ball-shaped ornaments look just like these mushrooms, only minus the stem.
Between the tripping shamans and the miracle-working bishop, our modern Santa Clause takes form.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_muscaria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxtg1SPyMj8&NR=1
The YouTube video is just under ten minutes.
But whatever you do, don’t confuse it with its cousin Amanita phalloides!
Yes, that would be… bad. And while these Santa Claus ‘shrooms are technically (just) legal, they aren’t regulated, and I’d be concerned about getting the real thing, or a dangerous contaminant. I’m not quite convinced that there isn’t another Christmas-tree-ornament-looking thing out there that could kill me (phalloides doesn’t have that distinctive white-spots-on-red cap, but might something else?).
I’m all talk though. I read about and talk about everything from (technically just) legal ‘shrooms to LSD, but have never done anything more than nutmeg. I’ll let you know if I ever take it further, but I think I’m a little yellow-bellied when it comes time to break on through to the Other Side.
That’s probably best. Sex is a lot better for you anyhow. 😉
But but but your donated toys, won’t they be contaminated with sexuality rays??
Thanks for the interesting read. A lot of it I knew but had no idea how the current incarnation of Saint Nick was linked back to prostitutes. That merry twinkle in his eye tells us all we need to know.
Funny about the Amanita as well, our family used to have a set of really old wooden ornaments with a couple of hand carved mushrooms painted in red and white. All these old symbols scattered around culture, with such fascinating stories to tell.
Apparently, sex rays are only dangerous when the parents know about them, and since they seem to have a disproportionate effect on children of the middle class I think poor children should be relatively safe. 😉
1. St. Nicholas was mentioned in this regard on the Fox network series “House”, in the episode “It’s a Wonderful Lie”. In that episode House guesses the occupation of his patient, based on her St. Nicholas necklace. He says: “You don’t have the skin of a seaman, the fingers of an archer, the clothes of a merchant, or the attitude of an ex-con. That just leaves one left.” She replies: “Two, actually. But I’m not a child, am I?”
2. Re: Sailor.Barsoom: Mary Madelene wasn’t a prostitute. There is nothing in the New Testament to suggest that. The speculation by a lot of feminists (neo- and retro-) is that early Church fathers didn’t like the idea of a powerful woman in the early Church and started that rumor.
Thanks, Tom! I discussed the stories about Mary Magdalene back on her feast day, July 22nd. 🙂
No she wasn’t (though actually, we can’t know that for sure either). But tradition has cast her as such, and tradition is enough to make you the patron saint of something.
But there’s something beautiful about the same saint being the patron of both those society holds as most innocent, and least.
“Every whore was a virgin once.” – William Blake
Re Toys for Tots: In several of your posts, you mentioned prostitutes with children. It would seem natural for clients getting a GFE to bring presents for her children, especially around Christmas. Do you know if this is common?
Many if not most whores with children prefer not to advertise the fact for far of turning clients off. But in the group of those who do admit to having children, I have heard of a few cases of clients bringing Christmas gifts for them. 🙂
It would be nice to provide presents for the whores themselves, too. Call it Toys For Tarts. 🙂
I’d read once that he was the Patron of Whores, but I didn’t know why, and I’d forgotten it anyway. Thank you for reminding me.
One thing that’s often overlooked about Clement Moore’s poem is that it seems to describe a tiny Santa. It refers to a ‘miniature sleigh’ pulled by ‘tiny reindeer’, refers to St Nick as an ‘elf’, and of course it has him passing through a chimney easily. Since his image was still being put together, it’s quite possible that a lot of people saw him as some type of fairy back then.
Did they really have chimneys in 4th Century Greece? I was under the impression they were a Mediaeval invention, at least in Europe. I thought older buildings just had an open hearth below a smoke-hole.
I always read the “miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer” as referring to the fact that they were far away when he saw them and so appeared small. As for the chimneys, they were indeed medieval, but people never hesitate to project anachronisms into such stories. It’s understandable when done by illiterate peasants; what’s incomprehensible is when it’s done by fringe-group “scholars”.
‘Twas the night before Christmas
And all through the moon base,
Not a creature was stirring
In the silence of Space.
The moonboots were hung by the airlock with care
In hopes that St. Nicolas soon would be there.
* * * * *
When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But a miniature sleigh and nine tiny reindeer,
And each in a hard-suit! Now, that took wit!
And I knew that their driver could be none but St. Nick.
Late, late revisit of this topic …
During my last couple of years before retirement, while I was working as an instructor in my Agency’s training arm, one of my supervisors had this ‘cute’ custom of hanging up little Christmas stockings at each of our cube-farm workstations.
I took the cutesy-candy stuff out of my stocking and replaced it with a couple of chunks of coal from a nearby power plant …
I was teaching imagery-analysis of industrial sites, and coal-fired electric power plants were part of my curriculum.
[…] traditionally received presents from the Saint, who of course later became known as Santa Claus. In my 2010 column for his day I discussed the many traditions surrounding him, and pointed out that beside archers, children, […]
Please, please apply for a job at n.pr. They desperately need extraordinary writers like yourself.
[…] St. Nicholas’ Secret Hobby […]
Reblogged this on thepageofdaniel and commented:
I had wanted to do a WP piece on St. Nick / Saint Nicholas / Santa Claus / Father Christmas / Pere Noel After my post – Halloween post about the Krampus, post – Halloween, I go looking / researching, & I find this treasure trove of St. Nicholas lore !
Being a fair, balanced, reasonably HONEST sort, anti – plagiarism, I will give credit where credit is due, & being a fairly good sport, I will HAPPILY issue Pre – Yule kudos to Ms. Maggie McNeill for this fact – filled & somewhat funny offering ! Bravo ! Early wishes for a happy holiday season, AND – Blog on !
Do you know where I can get a prayer card that says “St. Nicholas, the patron saint of prostitutes” on it?
Hi Maggie,
I stumbled onto your article doing other research, I am a former sex worker turned professional writer and think your article is terrific.
I always do lots of charity work around Christmas time and I’m especially involved with homeless LGBT youth who were forced to turn to the streets to make money and created a comedy fundraising event to help them every Christmas.
It’s wonderful to know that the patron saint of Christmas is also the patron saint of sex workers and I will be using some of your information to talk to our youth to let them know that God loves them and that they have their own saint.
Love and God bless
Jenny
[…] himself, the ur-Santa, is a controversial character himself: he’s sometimes considered the patron saint of prostitutes, because he once paid a man to not traffic his daughters. Among a long list of other things, […]
[…] himself, the ur-Santa, is a controversial character himself: he's sometimes considered the patron saint of prostitutes, because he once paid a man to not traffic his daughters. Among a long list of other things, […]