The red and white robes of Santa Claus may have come from the colors of the toxic mushroom the fly agaric. Everyone knows that some Christmas decorations and festivities are part Pagan and part Christian. I read that the northern Europeans have contributed to the color of Santa Claus' wardrobe, the Flying Reindeer, the Christmas Tree and the star that adorns the highest bough. In the north, they and their beloved reindeer would eat these toxic mushrooms which brought on hallucinogenic images. Thus, we can presume that the idea of flying reindeer might have been brought on by these hallucinogenic experiences. The particular types of trees that these mushrooms grow on are those of the evergreen species--our beloved Christmas tree! These people saw these mushrooms as fruits of these trees. In addition, the Tree was a very special plant to these people. Seeing it as a link to the underworld in its roots, to the middle earth in its trunk and to the heavens in it's ever skyward reaching branches.
The North Star was also considered sacred, since all other stars in the sky
revolved around its fixed point. They associated this "Pole Star" with the World
Tree and the central axis of the universe. The top of the World Tree touched the
North Star, and the spirit of the shaman would climb the metaphorical tree,
thereby passing into the realm of the gods. This is the true meaning of the star
on top of the modern Christmas tree, and also the reason that the super-shaman
Santa makes his home at the North Pole.
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