Why I Believe in Santa Claus

Sometimes I use a metaphor to explain to a client why relapse back to addiction doesn’t have to be a possibility. Imagine that we were both 11 years old, and I discover that Santa Claus isn’t real. I go and tell you about my discovery, and you agree with me that Father Christmas doesn’t exist. Now imagine that 10 years later you come back to me and say that you have started to believe in Santa again, and you warn me that I might one day believe in Santa again too. I would say to you “no way”, because I discovered that Santa isn’t real whereas you obviously just went along with what I was saying (maybe due to peer pressure). My point is that it is only people who don’t wake truly up to the reality of addiction (those who don’t gain insight into the lie of craving) that are at risk of falling back into it.

If a client knew me well at this point, they could object to this metaphor, “hold on, but you Do believe in Santa Claus”. I would have to admit that I do indeed believe, and I would then have to explain the danger of taking metaphor literally.

Yes, I believe in Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve, I will no doubt be noticing that special magic in the air. I’m already feeling excited about it. I usually reopen my curtains just before going to sleep to check if there is any sign of Santa in the night sky. In previous years, my son Timmy would be joining me in this anticipation of Santa’s arrival, but this year it will probably just be me. There are some things I would love to pass onto Timmy, and one of them is my belief in Santa, but teenagers need to be teenagers. He is probably not old enough yet to rediscover the magic of Christmas.

When I say that I believe in Santa Claus, I’m not saying that there is literally somebody who lives in the North Pole who delivers presents to every boy and girl. For me, Santa is an archetype for something that is undeniably real – not in a concrete way, but in a way that changes my perception. Santa is as real to me as romantic love or the love somebody else might have for a football team.

In 1985 something incredible happened in Ireland when statues of the Virgin Mary began to move. It all began in Ballinspittle, but it soon spread throughout the country. I lived Cork at the time, and one evening we went to see one of these statues. I had already pulled away from Christianity at this point, yet, as I stood there watching this statue, I couldn’t help but be carried away by the atmosphere. It all felt so magical and sacred. Then it happened, I saw the statue moving. I felt this incredible love coming from the Virgin Mary. It was as real as anything that I’d ever experienced. I thought if that is what I’m witnessing, what must it be like for the true believer? Just for a moment, I allowed myself to believe, and because of that something magical happened. I didn’t believe that the statue necessarily moved in a concrete way, but it did move in my perception, and this had a real effect on me.

To say that Santa Claus is unreal is to fall into the trap of literalism (insisting that only concrete things are real). To say that Santa is real in a concrete way is to fall into the trap of reification ( the error of treating a symbol or metaphor as a concrete thing). Santa is real in an imaginal way – this means that believing in Santa has a real impact on our perception. Santa is as real as patriotism, money, romantic love, fairness, nationalism, and pretty much everything else we believe in.

There are many people in the world today who are concerned about a loss of freedom. The truth is that the oppressor is not some dark force in society, but a type of mental slavery that we willingly participate in. It is our imagination that has become imprisoned – it is what William Blake was referring to when he talked about mind-forged manacles. In our prison, only certain types of imagination are allowed, and this has left us impoverished, soulless, despairing, and completely lost. It is the reason so many people turn to drugs and other self-destructive behaviors to escape the soulless world of our stagnated imagination. I believe in Santa Claus because it is a way of re-enchanting life.