Was just thinking last night, as my brother threatened his child that he’d tell Santa if he didn’t behave, that there has to be way more children who fear, respect, or are aware of Santa and his power than Jesus.

He dwells in an inaccessible place associated with height and the furthest reaches of the north

This is an interesting point, as Yahweh is sometimes associated with a sacred mountain in the north (both the mountain and the Hebrew word for north are zaphon).

As for the tree:

It seems tree symbolism for Asherah likely influenced the tree of knowledge in Genesis, which in turn led to the “passion tree” found in a medieval morality play about Adam & Eve, which was performed on their feast day (Dec 24) and ended with a promise of the coming savior. This tree moves from the stage to the him as the plays are suppressed by the church in the 15th century, and around that time it absorbs some elements from Weihnachtspyramide (Christmas pyramids) in the Rhineland to become something like the modern Christmas tree.

But this doesn’t mean the presents are offerings to Santa left under an Asherah tree. That’s just a very confused sentence. The presents aren’t for Santa so they aren’t votive offerings, and we know of no practice of leaving votive offerings beneath the Asherah pole anyway.