Santa Shrine greeting cards

$1 each; buy 10 get one free; buy 20 get 3 free; buy 30 get 5 free
$1 shipping/handling for any number of cards (within the USA)
Contact me for international shipping rates.


Cards--front and back

Card front

The front of the card features a picture of my sculpture Santa Shrine; the center is blank; the back includes the text from the pedestal of the sculpture.  Santa Shrine is one of a series of sculptures reflecting contemporary American culture through objects that appear to be from foreign or primitive cultures.  The sculptures are presented like an exhibit in a natural history museum, complete with text describing the objects.

Text on the back of the card:
This statue depicts a minor deity the Americans call Santa. Similar devotional objects are found in homes and public places near the time of the winter solstice. Adults do not worship Santa; but they teach their children to worship him through outlandish stories and dramatic impersonations. The stories and songs describe Santa's ability to monitor the actions of all children at all times to determine if they are good or evil. A few nights after the solstice Santa purportedly gets into in a conveyance pulled by a team of flying horned animals and flies to every dwelling in the world. Small offerings are left for him. He is said to leave gifts for all of the good children and worthless objects for the evil children. The fact that adults do not worship Santa, but they place so much emphasis on these rituals suggests that Santa may serve as a rudimentary means of religious indoctrination. The reward of material goods for their belief may encourage children in a way of thinking which prepares them to understand the stories that surround the adult gods.