Merry Scary Christmas!
“Oh, monsters are scared. That's why they're monsters.”
―Lettie in “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” by Neil Gaiman.
Hello everyone! I have to say, I feel pretty lucky that my first “Christmas Post” actually lands on Christmas Day! I know today is all about happiness and joy and giving, but I hope you don’t mind if I take us on a bit of a different direction. I don’t want to say dark, yet it is something I’ve always been curious about—Christmas Monsters!
As it turns out, for the past few years now, Krampus has become more and more popular, so I thought, “If there’s one Christmas monster, there has to be more!” And the search was on! Well Lo and behold, I found quite a few! So today I’d like to share with you three of the ones I found most interesting.
Let’s start in Greece with The Kallinkatzaroi—Good luck pronouncing that! =D. They are said to be a group of daemons who spend all year underground sawing at the tree of life. Right when they’re about to finish, the 12 days of Christmas compels them to come above ground for some chaos and mischief, as well as recruitment! At the end of the 12 days, when they go back underground, the Tree of Life has healed and regenerated, and so they have to start over.
They seek to steal any babies born over the 12 days of Christmas to turn them into more Kallinkatzaroi! To protect them, the babies are to be bound in straw and garlic to keep the daemons at bay. One could also stop them from entering your home by the use of some “Holey Protection”, hehe! A colander needs to be placed outside the door, and the mischievous little daemons are then compelled to count the holes. The problem lies in that the number three is holy in Greek, so they fail to count that number and have to start over. This keeps them busy until daybreak and the home is then safe until darkness comes again. So if you’re ever in Greece around Christmas time and you see colanders outside homes, you will know why. You’re Welcome! =D
Now we travel to Austria to meet Frau Perchta. She used to be an Alpine Goddess and her celebrated rituals coincided with the Twelfth Night of Christmas. As new religions emerged, she was transformed into a daemonic witch who stalks and punishes anyone that displeases her. Her appearance depends on whether you are faithful and obedient to her. If so, Perchta appears to you as a beautiful and divine woman.
However, if you anger her and not obey her bidding, she’ll appear as a daemonic, horned monster with insatiable bloodlust. And on the twelfth night, for those who have fallen out of her favor, it will be their last. She will sneak into your room whilst you sleep, slit your belly open and replace your insides with pebbles and straw! The following day, whoever discovers your corpse will just assume you simply died in your sleep…
And to close us off, Krampus! He comes to us from central Europe across the German-speaking Alpine region. He is a humanoid daemonic goat figure who punishes mischievous children. Some are beaten with birch branches, while others he carries on his back to eat later as a Christmas meal.
December 5th is Krampusnacht. This is the night Krampus roams free and goes hunting. For those who manage to survive the evening, they get to live through another Christmas full of joy and of course, presents!
Hope you enjoyed learning a different side of Christmas from around the world. I had quite a bit of fun researching and rummaging through my things to better illustrate these not-so-well-known anti-Christmas protagonists.
As always, thank you for stopping by. Your time is precious and I appreciate you spending it here. If you haven’t already, make sure you don’t miss any new posts by signing up below. Take care of yourselves, may you have the happiest of holidays, and see you back here in two weeks!