The Mushroom Santa: The Fungal Folklore of Old St. Nick 🎅🎄

The tradition of Christmas and the jolly bearded man in a red and white jumpsuit shares some striking (albeit speculative) similarities with old shamanic rituals and the psychedelic Amanita muscaria m

It's December, it's cold outside, and fresh snow has just fallen as you sit by the fire on a peaceful night with your family. A jolly man in a red and white coat descends through your chimney, carrying with him a bag full of gifts.

After entering, he begins giving out brightly-colored presents, and upon receiving them, you experience overwhelming sensations of merriment, joy, and camaraderie with your family.

That's because these "colorful gifts" are dried Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) mushrooms, and the person handing them out was a Siberian shaman performing their duties on the Winter Solstice.

Why does this sound so much like our modern-day story of Santa Claus?

In this imaginative piece, we explore the theory that the story of Santa Claus was largely inspired by the psychedelic Amanita muscaria mushrooms and the practices of the Siberian Shamans who used them. All of this is completely speculative — but interesting and timely (or at least entertaining, if nothing else).

(We’ve made it clear this is all speculative, right? Cool, let’s dive in)

Similarities Between Santa & Amanita Muscaria

There are compelling similarities between Santa and the practices of ancient Siberian tribes with the Amanita mushroom. Whether they're directly responsible for our vision of Santa today is something we can't state for sure, which is kind of wild enough on it’s own.

Was Santa’s mythical North Pole a relic of the Siberian landscape?

Let’s discuss some of the similarities and you can decide for yourself:

1. Santa's Red & White Suit & the Amanita Mushroom 🍄

Santa's suit matches the color scheme of the Amanita mushroom, and (according to some) this was true of some Siberian shamans. 

While the evidence for this is limited, check out the attire worn by 7th-generation Siberian shaman Tatiana Urkachen as she explains the importance of the mushroom.

Is it possible Santa's big red suit with flecks of white throughout is calling back to the mushrooms of Siberian shamanism?

2. Santa's Flying Reindeer

Flying was a common feat shamans would claim to achieve after using Amanita mushrooms.

The "shamanistic" character of Santa is unique, however, in his reliance on the reindeer — a vital source of food and labor in Siberia — to help him fly.

And the connection with Amanita may be far more "intimate" than even that.

The raw Amanita muscaria mushroom is technically toxic to humans due to the presence of a psychoactive compound called ibotenic acid. This compound is metabolized by the liver into a safer (but still psychedelic) compound called muscimol and eliminated (intact) via the urine.

Shamans knew this and would feed their reindeer the mushrooms first. After a period of dancing, jumping, and general excitement (or, you might say, "reindeer games"), they would urinate out the muscimol which the shaman would collect.

Some have even pointed to Rudolph's red nose as a nod to shaman Santa not being able to operate without the reindeer first consuming the mushroom.

To be fair, much of this — beyond the importance of reindeer in Siberia — represents practices with debate as to how important/common they were.

4. Santa as a Representation of Odin

Santa and Odin (Norse god of war and death) share a striking resemblance, leading many to suggest a connection. Odin also traveled on a flying chariot pulled by a goat — potentially a precursor to Santa's flying sleigh and reindeer.

According to the mythology, Odin gave one of his eyes to bargain for wisdom, and some suggest there is a similar shape of the mushroom and a plucked-out eye.

It's no secret that A. muscaria was an important part of Norse mythology, so the symbology, perhaps lost over time, is possible.

Importantly, many mythical figures have traveled in vessels pulled by flying animals throughout time. Whether Odin is the specific case Santa draws from is uncertain.

5. The Chimney Connection

In the snowy tundra of Siberia, there were two entrances to people's homes: their door and the hole smoke would escape from. In the winter, snow drifts would often render the door inaccessible, leaving just the "smoke hole."

Jerry and Julie Brown's book, The Psychedelic Gospels, affirms that shaman delivering medicine (often, not always, the Amanita muscaria mushroom) in times of heavy snow would need to take this route.

Or, if you’d rather, they’d have to "come down the chimney," to enter.

According to some reports, the shaman was likely to come around the Winter Solstice (December 21), which would be around our current date for Christmas. The lunar event would likely be of importance, and the snow would likely be very deep.

This means a common sight may have been a person in a red coat going from home to home, climbing down the smoke hole to distribute brightly-colored mushrooms.

6. Christmas Trees, Decorations, & Mushrooms

Amanita mushrooms are dangerous to eat fresh, but drying them converts most of the toxic ibotenic acid into safe (and psychedelic) muscimol. So people would often hang the fresh mushrooms on trees or above the fireplace — potentially resembling the ornaments and decorations used today during Christmas. 

The use of the pine tree as the symbol for Christmas could be relevant here too. Various traditions have celebrated the solstice by bringing trees into their home, but it's interesting to note they're the kind Amanita muscarias typically grow under.

One final similarity comes from the metaphor of placing gifts under the tree itself. Unlike the vast majority of mushrooms and plants, Amanita muscaria mushrooms stand out in nature and make searching for them easy.

The brightly colored presents at the base of the tree could represent the bright, red caps on the forest floor.

A Commonsense Appeal To Mushroom Santa

The phrase "commonsense appeal" comes from Bruce David Forbes in Christmas: A Candid History. Given what we know about winter, the historical importance of astrology, and more, it makes sense Christmas traditions come from pagan holidays. 

For example, if you were living by the seasons as a hunter-gatherer, it makes sense you would bring a pine tree — the only one with greenery on it — inside to mark the Winter Solstice.

As Forbes puts it: 

All of this is not just speculation. This kind of midwinter celebration is indeed what human beings did throughout Europe, in many different cultures, before Christianity… Mulling over the commonsense appeal of midwinter celebrations… many people today are surprised to realize much of what they love about the Christmas season is not really Christmas at all.

While Forbes wasn't discussing the Amanita muscaria connection explicitly, it very much applies. There was a period before the Christianization of Siberia where the most important thing during the Christmas season was astrological, not religious.

During this time, it's likely the Amanita mushroom played an important role that has carried through today in ways we can't fully understand (or prove).

The Invention of the Christmas Holiday

For the first few hundred years after the death of Jesus, Christianity was an illegal religion, operating in the shadows. Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity and would eventually make it the state religion. 

Flipping through the Bible, early Christians happened to sympathize more with "an eye for an eye" than "turn the other cheek" once they came into power. Shortly after Constantine made Christianity the statewide religion, the holiday of "Christmas" became official as well, coinciding with (and replacing) three major Roman holidays.

Each of these seems to have left an element behind in our modern-day celebration. 

Here's a chart with brief explanations of the holidays Christmas replaced and what it may have incorporated from it: