By Rae Ann Kumelos, Ph.D
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, and Donner and Blitzen. But what do you know about that most famous reindeer of all?
For some, the television appearance of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer marks the true beginning of the holiday season. Written in 1964 as a Christmas promotion for the Montgomery Ward department stores, the story of Rudolph and his flying reindeer friends is the longest running special on television. But do you know that behind this beloved stop-motion animated T.V. show is a true story of flying reindeer?
It makes perfect sense that reindeer would be Santa’s animal of choice. Reindeer live exclusively in the north. Their thick coats and wide feet are perfect for the sub-zero cold of Scandinavia, Russian Europe, and Asia, where 5000 years ago, reindeer were the first large animals to be domesticated. In Greenland, Iceland, Canada, and Alaska, reindeer are wild, and more popularly known as caribou. Reindeer became extinct in Scotland in the tenth century, but somewhere in the psyche of the hearty Scots they were necessary, for they were re-introduced to that country in 1952. Laplanders use reindeer to pull sleighs, and so does the postman in Wales, Alaska.
For centuries, reindeer herding has been a way of life along the mountain forests of the Russian Mongolian border. Though threatened by economic, governmental, and cultural changes, just as their ancestors did, these northern indigenous people still raise reindeer for packing, riding, and milk. Since female reindeer are the only deer species to grow antlers, the people consider a reindeer-doe the mother of the universe, her antlers a symbol for feminine strength.
For these northern cultures, Reindeer is revered as a totem power animal, one that can fly through the world of spirit to commune with the high gods. Reindeer is the sacred animal that carries the Arctic shaman to the Otherworld. In fact, the relationship between reindeer and shaman holds special significance for Rudolph and Santa. During mid-winter ceremonies, the shamans of the far north would partake of the hallucinogenic fly agraric mushroom – the bright red mushroom with red spots that we see associated with fairy tales and Christmas decorations – to achieve an altered state that would allow the shaman to travel into otherworldly realms. In ceremonies held to honor the December 21 winter solstice, the local shaman would enter a yurt through the smoke hole at the top, bringing with him a bag of the colorful mushrooms, departing again through the smoke hole after the festivities. This entry and departure through the ceiling led people to believe the shaman could fly, and since reindeer also consider the hallucinogenic red mushroom a delicious delicacy, they were believed to fly with him.
Hmmm, a blessed man who carries a bag full of special red and white gifts down a chimney, lives in the far north, and flies with reindeer. Sound familiar?
In ancient Norse myth, Thor, the god of thunder and lightening (which in old German are donner and blitzen), also lived in the far north and was associated with the color red. Thor fought the gods of snow and ice to conquer cold and bring spring – and he did it while riding in a golden flying chariot pulled by two flying goats, Gnasher and Cracker.
During this holiday season, when you see a shiny red-nosed Rudolph adorning a lawn, store window, or parade float, remember this reindeer carries in his sleigh a legacy of Arctic shamans, flying goats, and the god of thunder and lightening; certainly reason enough he should go down in history.
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(c) 2009 Voice of the Animal – All Rights Reserved
