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Daddy's Little Ninja
My husband penned this over the weekend looking at our little girls. The oldest is 2 3/4 years old. this is her sister's first Christmas.

In a game world where we talk about spirts manifesting and all. it is hard not to agree at once with his point.


Here we are in late December and images of Father Christmas decorate lawns and malls. Signs on the road invite you to have a visit from Santa at a certain place and time.

The thought becomes this is all for the small children who believe and not for those of us who ‘know better’ but I find myself asking why would you not believe? This is a time of miracles and wonder.

OK the idea of a 2000 year old Turkish bishop living at the North Pole with toy making elves able to visit every home in a single night is far fetched to the point that talking heads on TV “prove” how fast someone would have to travel to do that.

But why is this supposed to be so? Why do we think little children need to ‘grow up’ to learn the ‘truth?’ Look at a small child meeting Santa and the joy and wonder in her face. That is real. The cynicism isn’t real. It is a thought because we do not understand. We have a need to know WHY and lose the ability to just accept IS. And as we cannot understand the WHY to our pitiful brains’ satisfaction we just said ‘ISN’T’ and feel smug and secure in our ignorance fueled stupidity. But look at that child. She understands that it just is.

A flesh and blood man living millennia. OK a bit far fetched but is that all Santa is? When you think of the good that is “Santa” you do not think of someone in a faux fur suit, maybe with false whiskers. You think of the joy and happiness he brings or at least is the embodiment of.

Look at charities. At what happens at lunches or dinners for the poor or for children in hospitals, or at a church gathering or just the neighborhood. The man in the red suit is probably a local policeman or sports figure or a neighbor or dad and they know this most likely, but for those moments when he wears the suit and walks the walk, he is Santa and all that means. the joy and the spirit it moves through him. At an office party or soldiers overseas someone puts on a red hat and says “I’ll be Santa” and while everyone knows it’s still really ‘Mike” and people laugh at it, they laugh. Someone goes to sing Christmas carols and puts on a Santa hat to look ‘seasonal.’ They smile and they know it’s just kidding but while that is going on they are feeling joy and the silliness the age allows.

So how is that not real? Maybe there isn’t some senior citizen living at the North Pole, but how do you say there isn’t a spirit of the holiday? It takes the form of an elderly man in a red suit with a white beard. Its appearance brings joy and a sense of mirth that we do not have but wish we did all the year long. Not just a sense that we get but we give. We are moved to share with those who have less, to make their plight a little better, not because we get a tax break but because we want to help someone else.

That is the Christmas Spirit and it is real. When else could you even consider getting together with a group of complete strangers and sing songs just because you wanted to? That joy and generosity is shared and those who do not partake we look on with pity for ‘not getting it.’ This is the Christmas spirit we all feel or want to feel, from high to low, whether living at home with family or on some far frontier posting. If we don’t feel it we want to and beloved TV “‘specials” focus on Grinches or misers or round headed little boys who want to find it or don’t understand it.

It is real and when it manifests it does so as a jolly man we call “Santa Claus” or “Father Christmas” or “Kris Kringle” or “Pere Noel” a host of other names but all of which are at once recognized by adults and children alike. “Not real?” “Know better?” How can you say that? Clearly he is real and the truly wise among us do not question ‘how’ or ‘why’ but accept ‘is.’

As was written by a truly wise man in New York more than a century ago: “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”

And me? More than a century after a little girl was told that if you could read it in the Sun it was so,

I believe.
Daddy's Little Ninja
And for the record, I believe.
Neraph
**WARNING: "Debatable" Beliefs in Spoilers!! Don't look if you can't handle it!!**
[ Spoiler ]


That being said, in Shadowrun (the proper thing to talk about on these forums), it is entirely possible that Saint Nicholas was actually a Spike Magician who's spirit became a Free Spirit upon death, with the Wealth power and a slew of Fey Free Spirits under his command. Of course, he would only deliver toys to those who have stayed true to his teachings (and been "good" all year round), dramatically reducing the number of people in a dystopic 2072 setting who recieve his presents.

However, many people the world over are considerably confused as to where all the coal in their socks or shoes is coming from...
Sixgun_Sage
Oh joy, now I have to make stats for a Santa free spirit and a Krampus one as well....

pbangarth
QUOTE (Daddy's Little Ninja @ Dec 22 2009, 10:35 AM) *
And for the record, I believe.


You know, if Buddha and Christ and Mohammed sat down to tea, they would get along marvelously. Certainly they would agree that the spirit of goodness manifested in this red-suited guy was something to foster and spread throughout the year.

Here's something else marvelous: Outside my window, there are streetlights. It's just before noon, so daylight keeps the lights off. But the ravens here feel a bit chilly (it's about -20 Celsius and snowing). So they are congregating on top of the streetlights. Their black bodies shade the sensors on top enough to cause the lights to turn on... and warm up. They must think we love them. We put out food for them in easy to open plastic bins and bags, and we give them warm places to perch while they wait for the next course.
Draco18s
QUOTE (pbangarth @ Dec 22 2009, 01:51 PM) *
They must think we love them. We put out food for them in easy to open plastic bins and bags, and we give them warm places to perch while they wait for the next course.


Ravens are brilliant birds. Its not well known, but they can fabricate and make their own tools,* I'm not surprised they figured out how to turn the street lamps on and that they provided some ambient heat.

*So do some other animals, and its starting to blur the line between what makes humans human. I think we're down to "keeping tools for later use."
Snow_Fox
You forgot that Raven is a clever trickster?

To keep this in SR terms because the spirit may arrise in different people I think it less likely that it's a free spirit than a totem. In a world where things tend to be all so dark and nasty, he stands out to try an improve things without looking at the 'bottom line' of a corp ledger.

As for the rest in the eloquent writings of DLN's husband (damned English) , I believe.
Draco18s
QUOTE (Snow_Fox @ Dec 22 2009, 06:26 PM) *
You forgot that Raven is a clever trickster?


I had not, no.
Da9iel
I always leaned toward Named Horror.
Draco18s
QUOTE (Da9iel @ Dec 22 2009, 09:54 PM) *
I always leaned toward Named Horror.


Oh, santa rebranding. Interesting.
WyldKnight
I think a Christmas themed run is in order. Maybe the PCs are trying to save Christmas by recovering and protecting an ancient copy of the spirit formula that belongs to this Krin Kringle like apparition. Or perhaps a bunch of preasents meant to go to some orphans get stolen by mistake, actually probably something more valuable like donated medical supplies/cyber or something of that ilk, and their hired by an anonymous Samaritan to get them back. If they do extra well they find in their homes the night after especially valuable gifts all wrapped up with thank you cards from their mysterious Johnson. Odd ideas I know but hey its Christmas, time to get in the mood and all that jazz.
Tyro
I sent a link to the post and a copy/paste of the first post to various members of my family, immediate and extended. I hope this is all right - I made sure to credit the OP.

Neraph: I would remind you that Christmas is, at its core, the hijacked Yule holiday - a bunch of Scandinavian and North German families realizing that if they were going to be snowed in together for a week and a half (the "twelve days of Christmas"), they might as well party. The spirit of Christmas appeals to us all, whatever our religious or ethnic background. It transcends differences to bring us together as people, not as labels. I would ask you not to claim the holiday soley for your god, but rather acknowledge that the Christian part of the holiday is but one part of a larger whole. The Christian tradition has become an integral part of the holiday, but does not hold claim to its origin. The same is true of Chanukah, Kwanza, and the Invisible Pink Unicorn. We all celebrate together.

Wolcum Yule
-Tyro
Draco18s
QUOTE (Tyro @ Dec 23 2009, 01:50 AM) *
Kwanza


Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday.

"Kwanzaa is a weeklong celebration held in the United States honoring universal African heritage and culture."

It's a cultural day and was created in 1966 to celebrate African decent.
Tyro
QUOTE (Draco18s @ Dec 23 2009, 12:00 AM) *
Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday.

"Kwanzaa is a weeklong celebration held in the United States honoring universal African heritage and culture."

It's a cultural day and was created in 1966 to celebrate African decent.

I'm quite aware of this. It's no coincidence, however, that Kwanzaa begins on 25 December. Yule is arguably also not a religious holiday, or not just a religious holiday - certainly not in the sense that most people think of religious holidays. It's more about appreciating what you have, kind of like a larger-scale Thanksgiving. The Invisible Pink Unicorn is the atheist semi-parody of Santa Claus and/or God(dess). My point is that the spirit of Christmas transcends cultural and religious boundaries - that includes transcending religion entirely re: the secular parts of the holiday and its celebration by atheists, agnostics and nonpracticing religious types.
Draco18s
QUOTE (Tyro @ Dec 23 2009, 02:05 AM) *
I'm quite aware of this. It's no coincidence, however, that Kwanzaa begins on 25 December.


Its an alternative observance to Christmas (and Chanakkah), originally (today Christian African Americans observe both Kwanzaa and Christmas). I can't speak for the religious origins (or lack of) for Yule, as I am not that well versed.

Anyway, as I heard someone say:

"I like how Futurama put it: 'What are you giving out, Kwanzaabot?' 'Same thing I do every year, the book, "What the heck is Kwanzaa?"'"
Tyro
In any case, to all concerned: I agree wholeheartedly with the OP's core message. The point I'm trying to get across is that as different as we all are, we all have something in common: the spirit of giving.
Zormal
Well said, Tyro.

Here in Finland, the word for Christmas is still 'joulu' (Yule). I guess we never bothered to change the name when Christianity took over nyahnyah.gif Winter solstice is a wonderful thing to celebrate, in itself; fertility, light's victory over darkness and all that.

Did you know that the original Santa Claus in Finland wondered from house to house drinking alcohol and demanding gifts instead of giving them out? biggrin.gif
Daddy's Little Ninja
Sounds like my older brothers.

We usually do a Christmas themed run. Finding the gift, orphans, giving, fighting corruption etc. Once it was an astral quest like in Harlequin's Back, to get the new engine to the North Pole before Christmas eve.This year got a little weird with a run to find lost space agency details from CROSS that somehow ares did not sweep up. Leading to an infiltration of a Christmas Eve ball in Quebec and ultimately a signal to a satilite that got deflected by something around 11:59PM.

It led to a quote from one of the techs "I do not believe it." To which our face/shaman said "I do."
Snow_Fox
QUOTE (Tyro @ Dec 23 2009, 02:23 AM) *
In any case, to all concerned: I agree wholeheartedly with the OP's core message. The point I'm trying to get across is that as different as we all are, we all have something in common: the spirit of giving.

Yup, the Christian voice is just the latest one to carry the message. That's why I say it's more of a totme than a free spirit. differnet people may have differnet names or images but at it's core the word is all the same.
Armiger
Totem: Festivus
Bonuses: +2 to Intimidation Tests (must declare as "Airing of Grievances"), +2 to Feats of Strength
Drawback: Must succeed at a Composure (3) test upon seeing any traditional winter holiday decorations or enter a tirade on commercialization, lasting (10-Willpower) minutes.

grinbig.gif
Tyro
QUOTE (Armiger @ Dec 24 2009, 09:21 PM) *
Totem: Festivus
Bonuses: +2 to Intimidation Tests (must declare as "Airing of Grievances"), +2 to Feats of Strength
Drawback: Must succeed at a Composure (3) test upon seeing any traditional winter holiday decorations or enter a tirade on commercialization, lasting (10-Willpower) minutes.

grinbig.gif

QFT. SO QFT.
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