Real St. Nicholas: Tales of Generosity and Hope from Around the World

There really was a St. Nicholas — you may be surprised to hear. He was a fourth-century bishop in Asia Minor. Europeans have long observed December 6 as St. Nicholas Day, but the tradition never took hold in America. This charming volume presents little-known legends and tales from Russia, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Germany, Holland, France, Italy, and Armenia----to name a few of the countries represented in this book. While slimmer than jolly old Santa, the historical saint is much larger in character. Celebrated as protector of the wronged and patron saint of children, Nicholas is, in essence, a Western bodhisattva: an enlightened being who serves those in need. This book restores him as an important lost archetype of the Wise Old Man, clustering stories according to such appealing themes as rescuing, nurturing, outwitting evil, and healing.

224 pages

About the author: Louise Carus is a Jungian analyst who grew up in La Salle, Illinois and studied anthropology and psychology at the University of Chicago. Her first job was at the Orthogeneic School at the University of Chicago. She then joined the American Friends Service Committee as a relief worker in Germany. Later she studied and graduated from the C.G. Jung Institute in Zürich while teaching English at the Swiss Teachers’ Training College. She lived in the Zürich area from 1957 to 1976. With filmmaker Mark Whitney, she filmed children’s psychological reactions to the atomic bomb in Zürich, Moscow, and Hiroshima. Through this experience she became interested in rites of passage for youth and mid-life age groups. This led to editing two books on various aspects of this subject. Betwixt and Betweendeals with various rites of passage in history and in different cultures. Crossroads,her second book, focuses on contemporary aspects of adolescent transitions. Louise lives in a small town about 100 miles from Chicago, but travels extensively in researching her book material. Each summer she enjoys the Vision Quest camps that she helped to develop. Held on a remote wilderness island in Lake Temagami, Ontario, the camps provide courses in passages for both girls and adults.