Holiday Classics Corner: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum; A Very Pagan Holiday Reading Tradition

Holiday Classics Corner: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum; A Very Pagan Holiday Reading Tradition

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Every Holiday, we all have traditions we do every year or it just doesn't seem right. There are those favorite decorations that we put up in the same places. The movie or cartoon special we watch every year even though we know the words by heart. Maybe that favorite place we go filled with lights, songs, and familiar characters that was cute when we were younger and is now a little embarrassing but by God that inner child still has fun and at least for a few minutes still believes. Well, I have favorite holiday traditions too. Favorite reading traditions. There are two books that I read every year without fail.

This is favorite Holiday Reading Tradition #1: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum. While Baum’s OZ books take the lion's share of credit for Baum's brilliant and original journeys into a fantasy world, his not-as-well known book, Life and Adventures of Santa Claus also deserves that distinction as well. (See my previous entry Forgotten Favorites: The Fairy Rebel by Lynne Reid Banks about the difficulties when one book or series by an author is so well known that their other works, which are often equal or better in quality, are overlooked.) The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus offers rich details to the Santa Claus Story but most importantly delivers a unique pantheon that hovers close to Pagan deities and concepts, so close that many Pagans have claimed this work as their Yule tradition. (It is to many Wiccans what A Charlie Brown Christmas is to many Christians. It explains Pagan beliefs in a way that is informative and engaging and shows what the Holidays are about without being too maudlin or preachy.)


The opening describes a ritual in which The Great Ak, the Master Woodsman of the World and his companion Queen Zurline, the Fairy Queen, in which they drink from the same Golden Chalice. This ritual resembles the Great Rite in which the Goddess and God drink from a Chalice to show their sexual intimacy. Not to mention the Great Ak's horned helmet, long beard, mastery over the forests, leadership of the Immortals, and home in the Forest of Burzee is intentionally similar to various Pagan gods like Cernunnos, the Celtic god of the Woods and Odin, the King of the Norse gods and God of Wisdom. The beautiful Queen Zurline guards the Fairies similar to Danu, the Celtic Mother Goddess (whose Fairies are called Tuatha de Danann, Children of Danu.) Like Odin’s wife, Frigg, Zurline influences the sterner Great Ak with a gentle reprimand. The two share a duality as leaders as many who follow Wicca honor the God and Goddess equally.


While it is uncertain how familiar Baum was with Paganism and the organized tradition of Wicca was not officially established until Gerald Gardner brought it to light in the 1930’s and ‘40’s. (It wasn't made an official religion in the U.K. until after laws against witchcraft were repealed in 1951 and then didn't enter the U.S. in large doses until the 1960’s with the Hippie and New Age movements.) Gardner claimed he learned the tradition from an older woman and many of the Celtic, Norse, Native American, and Greco-Roman myths were familiar to many, including Baum, throughout the 19th and 20th century. Many thinkers and authors such as Henry David Thoreau and the Romantic poets wrote of these legends as well as a deep connection to nature through books and poetry in ways that were reverent and almost worshipful.

Baum was also known to be a strong supporter of women's suffrage as his mother-in-law was an ardent suffragist. Keep in mind the major heroes and leaders in his OZ books are all female such as Dorothy, The Witches notably Glinda the Good, and Ozma, ruler of OZ and are proven to be strong, courageous, and capable. (While many of the male characters are often found wanting like the Wizard who starts out as a con artist or Dorothy's friends who believe they lack a heart, brain, and courage but in reality lack self-esteem and awareness they already have those things.) So it's not out of the realm of possibility for Baum to become familiar with what would later be identified as Wicca in an early form and certainly believable that he might have conceived of writing about a world that was receptive to Pagan philosophies without his being aware of it.


One of the strongest Pagan concepts the Baum book explores is the concept of pantheism, that spirits reside in all of nature. Besides the Great Ak and Queen Zurline, there is Kern, the Master Husbandman of the World who oversees grain, farmlands, and domesticated creatures, Bo, Master Mariner of the World, who cares for the Seas, the Queen of the Water Sprites, the King of the Sleep Fays, the Gnome King, King of the Sound Imps, the King of the Wind Demons, King of the Light Fays, Peter Knook, King of the Knooks, Guardians of the Animals, and the King of the Ryls, Guardians of Flowers. Each spirit has their function and aid the world in their many tasks. The equally excellent 1986 Rankin-Bass special (which incidentally was the duo's final stop motion animated holiday special) presents an indelible image during the opening when the various Immortals arrive beautifully individualized to the haunting song, “Ora e Sempre (Immortality).” The song reflects the life of an immortal, never aging or changing “'til the last trumpet sounds/On the first crack of doom.”

The link between the Immortal Spirit World and the Mortal Human World is provided by Santa Claus, who like many heroes in myths and legends is led by the Immortals who act as Spirit Guides. His connections with Immortal magic turn Claus from ordinary human to folk hero.

Baum takes the folk hero of Santa Claus and gives him a back story rich in detail and explanation.
Baum tells of the figure’s birth and abandonment in the Forest of Burzee, a magical forest filled with sentient creatures and immortal beings. The infant is found by the Great Ak but is nurtured by Necile, a lovely nymph who is bored by an immortal life of little emotion. While Necile technically breaks the Great Ak's Law that Mortal Humans Are Not Allowed to Remain in Burzee, he relents and lets Necile raise the infant. (His name Claus, short for Neclaus, means “Necile's Little One.”) A moving passage illustrates how beautiful this book is describing a magical world that is fully aware of the darkness in the real world. It shows how difficult it is for Immortals and Mortals to coexist. The Ak and Necile sadly recall how Claus’ feelings for Necile will change the older he gets and she doesn't get. Claus thinks of Necile as a mother as an infant, then a sister as a youth, then a daughter as an adult, then a granddaughter as a senior all while Necile never ages.

As a child, Claus is sheltered by Necile and the Immortals in relative peace and ignorance. However, The Great Ak is aware that Claus is not filling his potential as a mortal. So he tells him the truth and shows him the human world of poverty, illness, war, mercantilism, and eventual death.

Claus is moved particularly when he sees the faces of children prematurely aged by poverty. So he decides to settle in the Laughing Valley of Hohaho (Ho Ho Ho, get it?) and make his life’s mission to make children happy. As Joseph Campbell showed us, The Great Ak takes Claus down a Road of Trials in the Mortal World where he receives his Call to Adventure to make children happy and become the generous gift giver of Legend.

All of the details of the Santa Claus Mythos are present and are provided with imaginative explanations on how they began. The first toy Claus makes is a wooden figure based on his pet cat, Blinkie (and were colored by the Ryls, this book's answer to the Elves). After he gives the toy cat to Weekum, a little boy, he delivers toy cats to other children seeing how happy the toys made them feel. Like many budding entrepreneurs, Claus also learns to diversify his brand by creating other toys such as a doll based on Necile for Bessie Blithesome, a rich lord's daughter (proving the ideal that children are children whether they live “in a cottage or a palace”) and a baby doll for Mayrie, a nervous poor girl who accidentally breaks the toy cat Claus gave her.


Other details are given brilliant attention and explanation. The reindeer? Provided by Peter Knook who also gives Claus magic acorns to make the reindeer fly. (But only on Christmas Eve which is for the good becauses as Claus’ fame spreads to all children, desires for his toys increase as well.) The stockings? They are “hung by the chimney with care” by four children who dry their wet and cold clothes. Claus realizes what a time saver it is and the children share that secret with others. The tree? Claus sets a tree freshly decorated with candles and ornaments for a group of poor children who live in an area without trees (perhaps the city slums).

Even the name Santa Claus gets an interesting reinvention as the children believe that if Claus could magically travel to different houses in one night, then he must have the powers of a Saint. While this adheres slightly to Christianity as does the name Christmas itself, neither terms are explored much for their religious contexts. This suggests that these terms are frames of reference from a world that is familiar with them on a cultural level.

Fortunately, one piece of the Santa Mythos is left out: The Naughty and Nice List. The book explains that Claus realizes that kids are kids and will mess up and shouldn't be punished for bad behavior. It helps in this world that children's bad behavior is often influenced by the Awgwas, a group of dark Immortal creatures that cause children to bad things. The Awgwas also cause friction in Claus’ trips by stealing the gifts and kidnapping Santa Claus. The troubles between the Awgwas and Claus culminates in a battle between the Awgwas and Claus's Immortal friends. The battle is given short shrift but shows the contrast between Claus’ mortal vulnerability who is incapacitated through the battle and the Immortals such as The Great Ak and Queen Zurline who are able to carry the day with their magic and powerful weapons like the Great Ak's ax which delivers a definite strike against his enemies.

Claus also transcends his mortality as some who follow Pagan philosophies believe many heroes and legendary figures did (such as King Arthur, Gilgamesh, Hercules, and others)
As he lies dying, the Immortals bestow the “Mantle of Immortality” on him so he can continue his mission to bring happiness to children. So he continues to live on in deeds, stories, and song.
Claus is also similar to the Holly and Oak Kings of Wiccan lore. Every year the Oak King surrenders his rule to the Holly King during Winter Solstice. The Holly King does the same for the Oak King during the Summer Solstice. Some believe that the two battle each other for dominance. Others believe that they are one in the same and the one must become the other (a reincarnation.) Like them the mortal Claus must die so he can be reborn and transcend into the immortal Santa Claus.


While I explored the Pagan connection to The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus in great detail, other Readers will find something to love in this book. Christian Readers will perhaps enjoy reading about a character who exhibits the Christian principles of charity, faith, and “doing unto others what you would have done unto you.” (The Golden rule, a basic principle applied to all faiths and beliefs whether spiritual or secular.) Readers of other faiths and secular Readers will perhaps enjoy the dissection of a legend and the detailed back story that Baum gives to the legendary figure. Above all, any Reader will find it a beautiful enchanting story that will lighten up any Holiday Season.