@Setanta,
Setanta wrote:
So, he's a fat, drugged-out, paedophile elf ? ! ? ! ?
Putting the paedophile bit to one side, and instead looking at Santa's British counterpart Father Christmas, the drugged-out bit does figure. Father Christmas is not St. Nick, but rather evolved from the Pagan Holly King/ Wodin figure. He was more of a party animal than deliverer of presents, (small presents used to be left around the house by an elf called Black Bob.)
His outfit is the same colour scheme as the fly agaric mushroom, something reindeer like to eat. And if you want to enjoy the hallucinogenic effects of the fly agaric without dying, a glass of reindeer urine does the job. People have been known to see reindeer flying after a pint or two. So we've got an old man wearing the colours of fly agaric in a state of obvious intoxication, (no milk and cookies for Father Christmas, it's a mince pie and a glass of brandy) with flying reindeer. I don't know about Santa, but Father Christmas has a lot in common with Mescalito.