The 'Season" is closing in.

 We are coming into the Season of giving once again.

As we all reflect on the year past and prepare for the months coming there are many discussions, both for the good and for the not-so-great side of two particular names that are represented during the Holidays.

The old jolly fellow himself, Santa Claus. While many know him as a fictional being that soars through the night sky on a particular winter night in a magic sleigh with 8 magical flying reindeer and stops at all the good little children’s houses and places gifts under the tree, or by the hearth, they do forget that the legend was manufactured from actual events from years past.
Saint Nicholas was a Christian bishop from the early city of Patara in Anatolia. Although little is truly known about St Nick, it is written, many years after his death of course, that he would secretly put gold coins in the shoes of those who would leave them out for him. He was known as a generous and secretive gift giver. Among other stories he is also known as the patron saint of sailors, merchants, children, and many other things.
This is a quite compressed history so we can move along to the how and why.

So how did we get the fat man in the flashy red suit, and a long flowing white beard out of St Nick?

Santa Claus mutated from Dutch traditions referencing St Nick, and his name, well, Sinterklaas, naturally.
December 6th is the feast of Sinterklaas, which is replicated from the celebration of St Nick. It is celebrated annually as a day of gift giving.
The red suit, white beard, and of course the famous sleigh evolved over time.

So, a question myself and others have asked for years is, why are we focusing more on Santa, decorations, and trees at the time of Christmas? Is Christmas not a time of celebration for the birth of Jesus Christ?
I can insert an opinion at this point, but I will hold off.
So without quoting writings, or narrations from other researchers, both scientific and other, lets put it all together.
There is no official date for the birth of Jesus, many think it was in the springtime, possibly April 1st,  some say that he was conceived in the spring, which would allow for a December birth. Now, it is speculated that the Winter Solstice was chosen as the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, as this was already a festival period for many pagans.
How did St Nicholas and Jesus Christ become synonymous on the day of December 25th. Well, as we said earlier, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ is a merge with Winter Solstice, but St Nicholas already had his own celebration on December 6th, and Saint Nicholas Eve was December 5th, this of course is based on the Gregorian calendar.
The feast for Sinterklaasfeest was held as a time to help the poor by putting money in their shoes. Sound familiar? Although we are still wondering how the two different celebrations became ONE.

Well of course someone had to come up with a better idea from something that was working just fine for generations. “Hey, this will be better”. Let’s just say somewhere in the era of Martin Luther, a Protestant reformer in the 16th-17th Centuries, someone by the same name supposedly made the decision to change the Saint gift bringer to the Christ child, otherwise known as, Christkindle, (hmmm, I wonder if this could have derived into Kris Kringle years later) and moved the date as well.

 For a time, the celebration of Saint Nicholas was prohibited, but luckily truly never faded and of course made a come back in the 19th century.

There are many stories through the early generations of how Sinterklaas became the legend he is today, but one idea we can all rest our unsettled thoughts about is Santa does not stand for Satan, and Satan is not trying to take the focus away from the birth of Jesus Christ.
They were two different occasions at two different periods in our history that some individuals wanted to change to their liking and did.

The focus is taken away from the birth of Jesus Christ and Saint Nicholas and placed on gift buying through the media and the corporations. A sale here and a sale there. Before there were any major retailers, (names unmentioned here but you know,) people made items to gift. Hands and heart, that’s what was put into a gift before we had credit cards, and scanners. That’s when a gift truly meant something. Before the generation of expecting to get the newest gadget or electronic toy that will be obsolete in six weeks, there was that someone that would take time and make a wooden toy in a shop or bake a beautifully delicious pie, or even knit that special hat. Using an imagination to make a gift was the best.
I welcome the time we start seeing this again, as well as celebrating the birth of Christ along side of celebrating Saint Nicholas and his gift giving.
Should these two very special people have to share the same day?
There are those that do not believe in either, but at the same time cannot deny their existence in our history. If there wasn't some semblance of fact evolved from the early writings, how would we know. 

Although this article is a conglomeration of information without any references, we can just say its my opinion, and I was thinking out loud, but you can do a few searches yourself to prove me wrong.