The Shaman, Amanita muscaria mushrooms, pine trees, reindeer, Saint Nicholas, Santa’s bag of goodies, the fireplace entrance and exit, Santa’s colors, the mysterious gifts under the tree, and stocking stuffers are all neatly interconnected and they are all indigenous to Siberia, Russia and the Shamanic traditions that originated there” (Ibid.). “The ethnobotanist Jonathan Ott has suggested that the idea of Santa Claus and tradition of hanging stockings over the fireplace is based centrally upon the fly agaric mushroom itself. With its generally red and white color scheme, he argues that Santa Claus’s suit is related to the mushroom. He also draws parallels with flying reindeer: reindeer had been reported to consume the mushroom and prance around in an intoxicated manner afterwards” (Wikipedia: Ibid.).
