Three fun views on Santa Claus 🎅🎅🎅

I like to run a process where I take something totally absurd like “Santa is real” and look for ways I can wholeheartedly agree. This ends up giving me endless empathy and the power to bridge seemingly totally disparate world views. Here are three fun takes on our holiday example: Santa is “real” not in the mythical sense, but as a true shaper of our collective experience.

1. Santa as an archetype of generosity—but with boundaries!

Santa inspires the spirit of generosity around the world during Christmas, and teaches children it’s cool to give. Yes, they get to receive, but that’s a footnote in the stories of Santa, the elves, and the reindeer. The big event, and the big man, is the one who freely gives to everyone. 

But! He has boundaries: You can’t be too naughty! (And most of the stories have provisions for repentance, which I think connects to the original Saint Nicholas)

2. Santa as an egregore

I think of archetypes as collective symbols that help us understand universal human experiences—like generosity, the hero's journey, or redemption. An egregore, by contrast, is a semi-autonomous ideology that acts through individuals and communities. Considering Santa through this lens shows how Santa stories, traditions, and rituals across cultures have created something that seems to take on a life of its own, inspiring generation after generation to participate in this grand celebration of giving. The tradition perpetuates itself, evolving while maintaining its essential spirit.

3. Santa as a golden shadow of materialism 

“What you value most I will give freely” — For a society that values the accumulation of material goods, Santa is kinda of a “Golden Shadow” of non-attachment. Another way to say it: Imagine being so wealthy that you stop acquiring things, and now all you do is give things away. A friend of mine recently shared this quote: People who say money can’t buy happiness haven’t given enough away.

With love, Jordan