Put down the mince pie and step away from the sherry. The real story behind Father Christmas might be a fair bit stranger—and trippier—than the Coke-can red suit implies. There is a theory doing the rounds that suggests our modern Santa isn't just a polished version of Saint Nicholas.
Instead, he might be a psychedelic echo of ancient Arctic shamans who handed out magic mushrooms and drank reindeer pee to get high.
