Posted on 12/27/2020 7:01:17 PM PST by nickcarraway
Around the world there are different versions of the jolly, bearded man who gives gifts to children in December or, in some countries, January. Unlike the bloated, red-coated father Christmas of the West, Russia’s Santa Claus, known as Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost), is slender with a wizard-like flowing beard and he wears a long robe that comes in different colors, such as blue and white.
He is assisted not by elves, but by his beautiful granddaughter Snegurochka (Snow Maiden). His sleigh is powered not by reindeers, but three steely horses. What really sets Russia’s Santa Claus apart from his Western counterpart is the turbulent century that he’s faced. He has survived a violent social and political revolution that saw him go from beloved to banned as a subversive element, then beloved again and hailed as a symbol of the true Russian spirit.
The trouble for Ded Moroz and his granddaughter sidekick, who originate from pagan Slavic mythology, began with the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922. Under the new communist regime, which was built on the promise of creating social equality, religion was banned as it was deemed a bourgeois instrument to repress the working class. Many clergy and some believers of the Russian Orthodox Church were sent to labor camps or killed. In 1928, Ded Moroz was banished into exile having been “unmasked as an ally of the priest and the kulak [supposedly rich peasants who the communist party considered a threat to their power],” Karen Petrone explains in her book, Life Has Become More Joyous, Comrades. Christmas day, celebrated on Jan. 7 in Russia and some Eastern European countries that follow the Julian calendar, was erased and all festive celebrations were forbidden. Anyone who broke the rules risked arrest.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Def Moroz would’ve been a great name for a 1980s big hair rock group.
Gotta admit he’s got that whole Siberian, Kung Fu mystic fantasy look down.......
Sounds like the modern MSM.
I have a Snow Maiden Plate. Have had for years. It’s lovely.
ping
Whitler did the same thing in Michigan, no?
I thought in Russia their version of Santa Claus was Babushka - an elderly woman going by their word for “Grandmother.”
Genghis Claus
John Wayne would have been perfect for the role.
Ho ho ho, pilgrim!
If Liberace was Santa. Wow!
Grandfather Frost always comes to our Nativity party at our ROCOR church.
“He has survived a violent social and political revolution that saw him go from beloved to banned as a subversive element, then beloved again and hailed as a symbol of the true Russian spirit.”
Santa Claus lives!
Didn’t Bob Mackie design an outfit like that for Cher?
Nah, unless it was pre-1980. You know how Cher was the original Madonna and loved to bare as much skin as possible.
Da helliz dat???
Transiberian Santa???
Santa’s a commie!
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