I have recently come across compelling scientific
evidence that reindeer can travel at very high altitudes. It was all
in response to a friend who challenged my hypothesis that if you trace
erroneous science-based beliefs back far enough, you can usually find
some original grain of truth, or at least where they went wrong. His
immediate rejoinder was to ask me about the scientific fact behind Santa’s
flying reindeer. It turns out the answer is far more pharmacological
and anthropological than aerodynamic.
In northern Siberia, the reindeer developed a taste
for those colorful red and white mushrooms, fly agaric (amanita muscaria),
and would eat them till they’re higher than a kite. Anyone eating
the meat of such reindeer got equally high. The village shamen soon
figured out the connection as well as how to reduce the toxicity of
the mushrooms while increasing the potency. They claimed it helped them
fly. Folks in the far north had not yet discovered the art of fermentation,
so the fly-in visits from the shamen with his mushroom treats were much
anticipated. A further point…many shamanistic Arctic tribes such
as the Koryaks of Siberia lived in semi underground yurt-like structures,
whose only entrance was a ladder through the smoke hole. The shamen
would climb down with his sack of red and white gifts, helping to pass
the dreary Arctic winter.
Then, in 1931, a young Swedish artist named Haddon
Sundblom, obviously familiar with the tales, created a jolly round Santa
Claus as a Christmas icon for his client, Coca Cola, using the company’s
familiar red and white colors. Coke notes with pride that until that
time, St. Nick appeared in any number of guises, from a somber man in
priestly garb to a green-clad elf, and it was only after Haddon had
developed the character over several years that the jolly fat Santa,
his clothes the same color as the mushroom, became our Christmas standard-bearer.
He was shown actually drinking his first Coke in 1934.
I should point out that I have not studied
this tale of anthropological and mycological lore to the level of looking
at the original studies, so the possibility exists that this is a wonderfully
collective put-up job by several august scientific bodies and respected
universities such as the British Mycological Society and the University
of Oslo, but I doubt it. However, in doing the research on the flying
reindeer, I found almost countless web sources about Solstice traditions
and celebrations taking place in every corner of the world. It seems
we humans have an almost unlimited number of ways to celebrate the fact
that for all of us, the days will soon be getting longer and sunnier.
So, here we are sitting on a pretty blue planet, warmed
as we circle a rather typical type G star, located in a remote spiral
arm of a nice, but unexceptional galaxy, and we’ve made it round
one more time. Regardless of your perspective on who, if anyone, really
runs the show, it’s hard to find fault with Tiny Tim’ s last
hopeful, redeeming and inclusive line from Dickens’ A Christmas
Carol. "God Bless us all. Everyone."
Happy Christmas and a Somewhat Logical New Year.
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