- Adriaan de Groot (1914-2006) was a Dutch chess master and and one of the most important Dutch psychologist. He wrote this book because he was struck by the curious Freudian symbolic motifs of fertilization and fertility in some of the present day Dutch St. Nicholas Customs. Contents : Contents -- List of Legends -- Preface to the Original Edition -- Preface to the English Edition -- 1. The St.Nicholas Celebrations and their Origin -- A Vital Piece of Folklore -- The 'Mythological' Concept and the Fertility Motif -- Short History of the Church Cult -- Legends and Patronates -- The Development of Customs According to Meisen -- Criticism and Evaluation -- 2. Psychoanalytic Interpretation -- The Psychoanalytic Approach -- Eros and Psyche -- Images and Symbolism in Unconscious Expression: 1. Freud -- Images and Symbolism in Unconscious Expression: 2. Jung -- Multiple Meaning and Its Problems -- Differentiation and Ambiguity -- Biopsychological Prototypes -- 3. Aspects of the Nicolaus Figure -- Nicolaus and the Family -- The Symbolism of Conception and Birth in the Legends -- The Evil Will and the Good Creation -- Byzantine Backgrounds -- The Story of the Three Generals (Praxis de Stratelatis) -- Nikolaos and Artemis -- St. Nicholas and the Sailors -- The Medieval Patron -- Enduring Aspects of the Nicolaus Figure -- Appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- List of Illustrations