Spiritual Notes from Robert
about
Sinterklaas
Saint
Nicolas
at
Home2b.nl
Sinterklaas
Saint Nicolas
When in the Netherlands, in
Belgium, France
and Germany Saint Nicolas
arrives on the second Saturday
of November millions of kids
are at the start of
a very exiting time.
Their shoes have to be placed
next to the chimney
(wherever that is in a modern
apartment)
with a carrot, an apple, some
hay and a bit of water.
The traditional songs have to
be sung next to the chimney.
The believers are convinced
that the assistents,
called Black Peters (Zwarte
Piet) are reporting
every event, also the singing
and the waiting shoe.
The reward will be little
presents the next morning,
and for sure the big Saint
Nicolas presents,
on the Saint Nicolas morning at December 5.
Many of those presents are
wrapped together with
the Saint Nicolas rhymes
which have to be read out loud
before unwrapping.
Driebergen
Delft
Almere
Saint Nicolas or
Sinterklaas rides the rooftops
on his white horse accompanied by his black
faced assistants.
The assistants
are the eyes and ears of the Saint.
These assistants have no
background of serfdom,
the assistants and Saint
Nicolas belong together as a symbioses.
Saint Nicolas is
the friend and protector of children,
traditionally bringing fruits
and sugar candy.
Saint Nicolas
also weighs the value of human life.
The big book of Saint Nicolas
is filled with good and evil deeds
of all humans, out of which Saint Nicolas will read the verdict:
reward or punishment.
Saint Nicolas is
also the protector of the sailors
far away on the oceans.
This can be seen on the
backside of his suit:
Saint Nicolas arrives
traditionally
standing on the bow of his
ship.
The arrival is live on
national television.
This traditional folklore is
very ancient.
Hundreds of church buildings,
many of them
from medieval times, have the
name of Saint Nicolas.
Even cities got his name, like
Sint Niklaas in Belgium.
Saint Nicolas is the official
Saint of Amsterdam.
Although Saint
Nicolas is himself disguised in
some kind of
Christian outfit, it is clear that
Saint Nicolas is
the living representative of the ancient religion.
Centuries of Christian
pressure
could not take away the common
faith
in this protector of sailors
and children,
the God with the eternal verdict
of good and evil.
The outfit of Saint Nicolas
proves that a holy symbol,
like a cross (the wheel of the
sun?)
is somehow connected to Saint Nicolas.
In the legend are references
explicitly to the Full Moon,
to heavy wind, but not
thunderstorm.
Which ancient God is this
Saint Nicolas?
There are elements of the
German Donar,
also elements of the Greek
Neptune.
who are both not the answer to
this question.
In my opinion
this is Jannus.
All pictures CopyrightŠ2005
Robert Home2b.nl
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Updated December 26,
2006
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by Robert and Susan