He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake,
He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness’ sake!

Shanti Claus is not like Santa Claus. Shanti Claus is not a peeping Tom, or a stalker; he’s just sort of omniscient… and he's chill. Even if you’ve been really, really bad, he’ll hold space for you to be better. Shanti Claus doesn’t bring presents; he brings Presence. He understands that the only good reason to be good is for the sake of goodness.

He’s making a list; he’s checking it twice,
He’s gonna find out who’s naughty and nice…

Operative word here is 'and.' We are all naughty AND nice. Shanti Claus is not judging us; he is loving us. He doesn’t need to make a list. Even if you are crying or pouting, Shanti Claus won't hold it against you. He'll hold you in his heart.

When I made the first pen and ink drawing of this card many years ago, I was trying for a mashup of the Santa Claus character, who represents secular Christmas, with a grounded spirituality that crosses religious boundaries to arrive at a definition of GOD as LOVE. I used to refer to this card as 'ShalOMerry.' Now I call it Shanti Claus.

Shanti Claus, in his new full-color manifestation (since 2020), is brown. He used to be as white as the paper he was printed on, but now, thanks to the miracle of digital printing, I can make him any color I want. And I want him to be brown. I want him to be brown because he is a World Spirit who represents humanity. I have a feeling that if you took all the people in the world and mixed up their colors like paint, the result would be a lovely shade of brown.

Even though the words Om and Shanti and Namasté are from Sanskrit, and Shalom is Hebrew, Shanti Claus has no ethnicity or nationality. Shanti Claus is a cosmic guru (as well as a right jolly old elf).

The message of Shanti Claus is that what is divine in human experience is interconnectedness and love. God is One and God is Love... not some old white guy who looks like Santa Claus in his nightgown.

In 2020, a customer sent me an email reminding me that I had said I would reprint the Shanti Claus holiday card, which had been out of print for a while. So last year I made a new full-color version and offered it for pre-sale. I wanted to make sure I would get enough orders to make it worthwhile before going ahead with the printing.

It was worthwhile. I sold out the whole printing. And although I am basically done with systems that require me to buy large quantities of things that I have to pack up and send out, in the case of holiday cards it’s the only way I can offer cards that are affordable in multiples.

I’m doing it again, at least for one more year, and I am again asking you to pre-order. If I get enough orders before going to print, I may get a larger run than I did last year.

If the image/message on this holiday card speaks to you—if it's a message you would like to share with others—please consider using this card as a holiday greeting to send to family and friends. In this day of constant electronic communication, actual physical objects that you can touch and hold, that someone wrote on, that come in the mail with a stamp on the envelope, are precious. They are a gift.

I am offering these cards for pre-sale (domestic orders only) in quantities of 25, 50, and 100 cards and envelopes, for $45, $75, and $125 respectively. Shipping is free. If, for some reason, I decide not to go ahead with the printing, I will refund your money. To order Shanti Claus cards, go to lamblionstudio.com.

I have been crying wolf for years now, saying that I am closing out my old stock without ever actually doing it completely. The time has come. One of my projects this fall is to dispose of ALL my notecards, through selling and/or donating them. What used to be my shipping room is now my entranceway/mudroom and I need the shipping room aspects to disappear.

Below are a few of the available cards. To see them all, and to purchase, please visit Lamb & Lion Studio notecards, etc.

This is Part 1 of a two-part letter. I will send out Part 2 soon to let you know that the Shanti Claus card is a go and to tell you about my new projects.

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If you’ve read this far, thank you, my friends. I am grateful.

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