Recently, one of my internet friends notified me about an interesting letter that is apparently making its way around the World Wide Web this holiday season. Unfortunately I had yet to see a copy of this mass e-mail – most likely because of the excellent spam filter I recently installed on my lap-top. However, I was able to convince one of my “puter pals” to forward it to me, and thus I was able to take a look at it for myself:
Dear Friends:
I am centuries old. I am known around the world, and by many different names – Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Papa Noel.
Recently my elves have begun telling me that there is no Virginia.. that there is nobody who still believes in me, or still believes in the special magick of Christmas. Even Mrs. Claus, who has always been a most steady and stalwart supporter of the concept of Virginia, has begun to have her doubts.
I figured the best way to find out was to do what the current tech-savvy world is doing these days – send out an email over the internet and see what sort of response I get.
So please tell me the truth: is there a Virginia?
Santa Claus
The North Pole
Hmmm…interesting inquiry indeed! I was curious to see what kind of responses one might get to such a question, so I sent out my own e-mail to some of my friends to see how they would answer.
I didn’t get a whole lot of responses, which in itself leaves me wondering a little. Has Virginia indeed disappeared? Do people no longer believe in her, or in what she represents? Has the magic truly gone out of Christmas and the holiday season? Is there no more love and laughter?
Maybe I’m just being a cynic. After all, people are busy with their own plans and schedules and whathaveyou. And this isn’t such a simple question with a simple answer. I’m sure many of them do believe. After all, I did get some responses, which does suggest there is still something (or someone) out there…
* “Yes Santa…there is a Virginia. And she is a true Goddess indeed!”
Ahhh… so Virginia is a goddess. Of course, this begs the question – Goddess of what?
Here’s another one:
* Dear Santa,
Yes indeed there is a Virginia, and I don’t mean the State. How to describe Virginia….obviously this is a very complex question to address, as you well know being Santa course.
She is the one of the constellations in the night sky. Not one of the more obvious ones; but one of the more mysterious ones…which despite a thousand lights around her continues to let her own light be seen, and somehow through cloud cover or calm seas, twilight and moonlight, manages to make herself known and be a guiding star to those who look for her.
True to the nature of many stars, she prevails through a chaos of storms which most of us can’t even conceive, and yet somehow still retains her position in the heavens. Waxing and waning, she moves throughout our lives and yet it is always a joy to have her there either in full or in part. That, Sir, is Virginia.
So Virginia is a constellation, a shining star, a silvery moon. Such a beautiful analogy. Obviously Virginia is quite meaningful to some of the folks who have met her. But I still can’t help wondering if she still exists down here on terra firma, surviving the daily drudgery of the real world.
Maybe this next response will help me locate her…
* Dear Santa;
Funny you should ask if there is a Virginia…Virginia often wonders if there is a you.
In the folk story of the little girl, people tell her that ‘Santa’ isn’t necessarily a person – he’s a symbol of kindness, love and the glory of being a part of this often brutal world. Santa is an energy – a glow – a feeling that reminds us we are all connected to something greater than ourselves.
It’s not a coincidence that the state of Virginia is ‘…for lovers…’. Nor is it a coincidence that Virginia contains the word Virgin – a symbol of pure love and innocence.
Virginia isn’t a person. Virginia isn’t a place. Virginia is – for you – what Santa is for her. A reminder that you need to carry a message to those who have forgotten: Santa doesn’t belong to any one religion or people.
Santa doesn’t belong in picture books as a jolly fat man. He is the Green Man (it’s not a coincidence that Green and Red are the color of Christmas) and he is a tribute to the days of old when community supported each other to survive. Even a ‘lump of coal’ meant much to those who needed fuel.
Help us, Santa. Don’t let yourself be used by those who would bastardize what you really mean.
Sooo…Virginia can’t be found at Macy’s, or purchased at Neiman-Marcus. Now I get it. Virginia isn’t a “thing.” She’s a thought, a feeling, a concept. She’s a warm fuzzy.
But isn’t there a personification of Virginia? Can’t we embody all of those thoughts and feelings and concepts in a living being?
Wouldn’t the world indeed be dreary if there were no Virginias?
The above responses certainly imply that without the Virginias of the universe, we would definitely be missing something.
This sculpture shows the sign for "connect"...and that is what Deaf Pagan Crossroads is all about - making connections. Connections between Deafhood and Paganism, connections between the Deaf Community and the Hearing Community, connections between myself as the writer and you as the reader. I hope you will take the time to read my various posts, some of which are listed below. Welcome to the Crossroads, and I hope you make some connections here!
Here is a story I’ve told before, on my personal journal. But Christmas-Yule-Saturnalia is a time for retelling tales:
Like most children, I eventually grew out of a belief in any literally existing “Santa” (though, actually, his name is Claus — calling him Santa’s like calling him “Mister”). But when I was grown up, I came to believe in him again:
I was twenty-three, and a junior in college — one of two mobility-impaired students on campus. The dorms we lived in were converted apartment buildings from the 1920s: two storeys, with a flight of stairs leading to the second floor right inside the door. … I never went up the stairs.
So “Secret Santa” week rolls around, and our socks got tacked up to a wall in the common room, with our names above each. We each pull a name out of a hat. The name I pull belongs to someone who always went right up the stairs when she came in from class, and hardly ever came into the common lounge to hang out — I wasn’t even sure what her face looked like.
As I use a wheelchair, and don’t drive, the only access I had for presents was the campus bookstore — and the cafeteria. Unsure of what to get my mysterious “santee,” that first day, I snagged an orange from the fruit bar, because that’s at least traditional for a stocking stuffer. But it wouldn’t be in keeping with the spirit of the game if I left it at that. So I went into the bookstore and perused the shelves of cute, deliberately made, Christmas gifts, which were alongside the boxed convenience foods that could be made on a hot plate or microwave, in the dorm room…
My hand to the Powers, I swear I heard a voice whisper in my ear: “Get the chicken soup.” So I do.
Then I hurry back and put my gifts in her stocking, and duck out of the common room before anyone can see me. I was putting the key in my dorm room door when I heard someone come in, and head for the “Stocking Wall.” The next thing I hear:
“An Orange! And Chicken Soup! Just what I needed — I’m coming down with a cold!”
—
Now, I ask you: Who else But the Claus would know that?! So I am a believer forever: whether a spirit or corporeal being (or both, if the circumstances require), I believe Furry Nicholas is the Muse of Generosity — the one who inspires us to find the perfect gift for the perfect moment, even if it is our name signed on the gift tag.
Io, Saturnalia! and Glad Yule!
.
Beautiful story Ann – gave me chills.
Thank you, Elaine. Gives me the chills — the happy kind — when I remember it.
I guess the moral of the story (if there’s a moral to be had) is that the “true spirit of The Season is to be receptive to the Muses and spirits, and then act accordingly — rather than to just give “Things” for appearances or prestige.
Yes, it’s a nice story.
But my question is…why are you posting it here?
It almost comes across as if you are trying to steal Ocean’s thunder and using her blog as an opportunity to piggyback your own story.
Of course, Ocean (who’s real name happens to be Virginia, by the way) would be too nice of a person to say anything.
But I’m not.
Sorry Ann…but I think your story belongs on YOUR blog. Respect that this is Ocean’s space, and comments should focus on HER writing, not yours.
Disagree a bit Hawk-Ocean’s writings are inspiring and it’s very cool for me to see how others read and respond to our Dear Author.
Maybe a link to her own blog would have been more sophisticated, but this is kind of more organic to me.
Thanks Ocean for another wonderful blog. It inspired me to write a sort of pagan version of santa… Which I may post later today.
Okay….I think maybe it’s time for me to make an appearance and share some of my own thoughts here – this is my blog, after all.
Ann, my friend…thank you for sharing your story. It is a nice one, and it does remind us of the magick of the season. I do have to admit that I did puzzle a bit as to why it was being posted here, and I confess that there was a part of me that was feeling a bit…”overshadowed” perhaps.
Hawk, my dear one…I can always count on you to look out for me, can’t I? You’ve always had a knack for being able to figure out what I might be thinking or feeling, and expressing such in a way that perhaps I couldn’t do at the time. That can be a good thing…and sometimes a not-so-good thing as well.
Coyote…thank you for speaking up. You’ve offered up another view that I think is well worth considering. In these days when it seems that most people would rather (re)circulate some boring, silly meme on Facebook instead of expressing their thoughts in the commentary section of a blog, we should be thankful that anyone takes time to respond and say anything!
That people read my blogs and take inspiration from them, and use them as an opportunity to share their own thoughts and feelings is very encouraging. As we come to the end of what has – for myself and I suspect for others as well – been a difficult year…
if my writings and my words offer up a sense of peace, hope, and encouragement for a better day, then it’s a good thing.
Blessings to all, and warmest wishes for a wondrous holiday season.