About toadstools and Christmas

Today (December 21st) marks the Winter Solstice, a turning point between the dark part of the year and the return of light. This means that soon the days will start to lengthen, and the dark part of the day will recede. But on this day, we rarely have time to notice or enjoy it, as we all dive into the pre-holiday frenzy. So, I invite you to sit for a few minutes under the decorated Christmas tree and listen to a slightly different Christmas tale, one that includes mushrooms, shamans, and a Christmas tree with reindeer.

A Different Christmas Story 

For a good month now, many of us have been living in a festive, elevated mood; everything becomes a little more magical and mysterious. Children write letters to Santa Claus, who will secretly slip down the chimney on Christmas Eve and leave presents under the tree or in stockings hung on the stove. In my childhood, I also believed in the fairy tale of this red-and-white-clad gentleman, bringing gifts in a sleigh pulled by reindeer. Later, that belief simply turned into a game, where each of us secretly left gifts for our family members under the tree, and in the morning we would joyfully exclaim, "Oh, look what Santa left!" I'm not saying that a little bit of fairy tale and magic isn't needed in our pragmatic lives. But I'm curious to explore a slightly different Christmas story.

Every year, Harvard Professor Donald Pfister tells his students a slightly different story about Santa Claus. This is not a story about how Santa Claus originated from the generous St. Nicholas, who once distributed gifts to the needy, nor about how the modernized character of Santa Claus was created in 1822 by C. C. Moore in his poem "The Night Before Christmas," and certainly not about another version of this character's origin from a Coca-Cola advertising campaign.

The main character of the professor's mischievously smiling Christmas tale is the familiar FLY AGARIC (Latin: Amanita muscaria)! And the jolly Santa Claus in this story is the equivalent of the shamans who operated among the peoples living in the North several centuries ago. Crazy? Absolutely! And this is not just the Christmas story version of one, seemingly mad, professor – many scientists, historians, and anthropologists (such as ecologist Dr. Andy Taylor, ethnomycologist Robert Gordon Wasson, anthropologist John A. Rush) tell similar stories, whose research has found numerous connections between the fly agaric, shamans, and Santa Claus.

Let's start by noting that in various cultures, long before Christianity imposed its version of Christmas celebrations, people around December 21st celebrated festivals associated with the winter solstice. This is the longest night of the year, after which the days begin to lengthen. For example, Germanic peoples had a midwinter festival (Yule), and the Romans had the Saturnalia festival dedicated to the god Saturn. In Finland, the time before the solstice was called Jako-aika, and it was the darkest and most dangerous time, when the sun rarely appeared, and various spirits, the dead, and other not-so-pleasant beings from the otherworldly realm roamed undisturbed among the living. People usually stayed indoors at this time, burning many candles and torches.

The Sami, tribes living in the northernmost territories of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, believe that during the dark period, much darkness accumulates in the human soul, which, when the sun appears, can flourish. Therefore, during the winter solstice, people would bring precious gifts to their shaman – or more likely, female shaman – as an offering, asking for help to purify their souls and prepare for the return of light. Thus, the female shaman would descend into the Dark World, carrying the sullied souls of the people.

Flying Reindeer and the Shamanesses' Gifts 

Of course, you couldn't just travel to the Dark World in a sleigh; you needed to use special plants or mushrooms that open the gates of consciousness. Often, this was the sacred fly agaric. As is known, this mushroom contains hallucinogenic substances, but it is poisonous, though not deadly. Eating it causes quite unpleasant toxic effects (vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, or even seizures). But locals discovered how to avoid this effect, and good reindeer helped here! Many northern peoples raised and herded reindeer. It seems that reindeer love fly agaric mushrooms! When they eat them, their urine becomes an extremely potent fly agaric concentrate, as after filtering toxic substances through their digestive system, they urinate a hallucinogenic elixir, which, when consumed by humans, can create a feeling of flight. By the way, in some accounts, it is mentioned that shamanesses would even dress in red garments for such rituals to honor the magical fly agaric. So, here you have a shamaness, carried by reindeer, embarking on a journey into darkness, from which she will return with gifts – clean, light human souls! Do you already see the similarities? :)

The Sacred Tree

Some sources also mention a sacred tree, which was either set up in the shamaness's yurt or where the ritual took place. It is believed that this magical tree could have been a spruce! Because magical fly agaric mushrooms often grow under spruce trees. Doesn't that remind you of anything? A spruce tree, under which fly agaric mushrooms shimmer like brightly wrapped gifts. And if we also put the North Star, which served as a landmark for traveling through the northern expanses, on the spruce! Another interesting point is that if the shamaness wanted to visit people in their yurts during this deep midwinter, she often had to climb through the "chimney" – an opening left at the top of the yurt for smoke, as the usual entrance would be covered in snow.

So, this is the shamanic Christmas tale adorned with magical fly agaric mushrooms, which indeed shares quite a few recurring symbols and ideas with today's Christmas narratives. I appreciate the ability of ancient peoples to listen to nature, their use of it, and their symbolic preparation to be reborn, to greet the light and sun with a soul purified of darkness. And the idea of gifts as help to prepare for this transformation, the idea of accompaniment and blessing brought by a female shaman. It sounds like a refreshing alternative to our "materialized" gifts. Of course, we are talking about stories (often unwritten), legends that are difficult to prove scientifically. So, there are all sorts of discussions about this among scientists. But reading about the Sami, ancient Finnish deities, shamanic rituals, and the celebration of the winter solstice, this story doesn't seem unrealistic to me, and I certainly prefer it much more than the character of the rosy-cheeked uncle – Santa Claus, who overwhelms everyone with piles of things. So, to all, a peaceful waiting for light and rebirth.

So, to all, a peaceful waiting for light and rebirth. And until the light returns to our days, each of us can create that light for ourselves and for others. 🙏