Christmas: Krampus the Christmas Demon.

                                                       Krampus the Christmas Demon.



Krampus can be found in the folklore of many different European country's ... Austria, Bavaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, North Italy, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

His exact origin is unclear; some folklorists believe it to  have pre-Christian roots.

There are various traditional parades and events, a well known one is  the Krampuslauf (English: Krampus run), mostly young men dressed as Krampus to participate this is an annually  event  in most Alpine towns. 

 Krampus is also featured on holiday greeting cards called Krampuskarten.


By the 17th century Krampus had been incorporated into Christian winter celebrations by pairing Krampus with St. Nicholas.

Countries of the former Habsburg Empire  have largely borrowed the tradition of Krampus accompanying St. Nicholas on December  5th from Austria.


 A more  recent myth is that Krampus was the son of Hel the Norse goddess of the underworld, this myth  has been popularized on the internet, even appearing in an  articles in National Geographic and Smithsonian Magazine.

 However, this connection is likely the invention of the American fantasy artist and author Gerald Brom whose 2012 novel Krampus the Yule Lord features Krampus as the main protagonist.

The same idea also appeared shortly afterwards in two online games by the Norwegian games producer Funcom.


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Krampus, seems to the most popular holiday monster or at least one of the most well known he si described as a half-goat, half-demon, said to be hairy, usually brown or black, and has the cloven hooves  and the  horns of a goat. His long, pointed tongue hangs out, and he has fangs.

Krampus literally beats people into being nice.
He arrives with a chain  that he swings around, along with a bundle of birch sticks meant to swat ill behaved children. He carry's the bad kids down to the underworld

 Well Santa or St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children. ..Krampus is more of an anti Santa..

This yuletide demon was often seen accompanying  St. Nicholas on his Christmas journey from house to house.

However well St Nick rewarded well behaved children with sweets and toys Krampus. would beat the bad  kid's, stuff them in a sack, and take them away to his lair.

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      Celebrations...
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                                   Krampusnacht--Krampus Night and the  Krampus Run/parade

People have been dressing up like Krampus for centuries. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, devil masks were used at winter church plays.

                                                          Old wooden Krampus masks...

On Krampusnacht in modern times, men dress up in Krampus costumes made of sheepskin. Women sometimes dress up as a Nordic figure named Frau Perchta.

This time of the year there are parades and parties and a lot of them  often have a  Krampuslauf—or Krampus Run—where people run through the streets dressed as Krampus.

The day has increasingly become commercialized. Krampus has appeared on cards and ornaments over the years. He has also been  graphic novels, television shows, video games, and movies.

Krampus night  is held annually on December 5th.

The next Krampusnacht, --- Krampus Night, will be on Saturday, December 5th, 2020.

The next day December 6th is The Feast of St Nickolas ...
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                                                         St. Nickolas vs Krampus

There is also  a seasonal play that spread throughout the Alpine regions it was known as the Nikolausspiel ("Nicholas play").

Inspired by Paradise plays, which focused on Adam and Eve's encounter with a tempter, the Nicholas plays featured competition for the human souls and played on the question of morality.

In these Nicholas plays, Saint Nicholas would reward children for scholarly efforts rather than for good behavior. 

 This is a theme that grew in Alpine regions where the Roman Catholic Church  had significant influence.

There were already established pagan traditions in the Alpine regions that became intertwined with Catholicism. People would masquerade as a devilish figure known as Percht, a two-legged humanoid goat with a giraffe-like neck, wearing animal furs.

 People wore costumes and marched in processions known as Perchtenlaufs, which are regarded as any earlier form of the Krampus runs. Perchtenlaufs were looked at with suspicion by the Catholic Church and banned by some civil authorities. Due to sparse population and rugged environments within the Alpine region, the ban was not effective or easily enforced, rendering the ban useless. Eventually the Perchtenlauf, inspired by the Nicholas plays, introduced Saint Nicholas and his set of good morals. The Percht transformed into what is now known as the Krampus and was made to be subjected to Saint Nicholas' will

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Krampus has appeared in several tv shows and movies even a Christmas ep of The Venture Bothers..

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=========== VINTAGE Krampus Christmas Cards====
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This is my last post before Christmas, hope you all have a great holiday and a Happy New Year Merry Christmas!! and thank you for an awesome 2019! :)

Christmas: Yule Monsters / Christmas Monsters

 

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                                           ..... Merry Christmas everyone...

                  ...Christmas Monsters.....
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Gryla is a character of Icelandic folklore: a giantess with an appetite for the flesh of mischievous children, who she cooks in a large pot.

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Gryla the giantess
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 Gryla was originally mentioned as being a giantess  in the 13th century compilation of Norse myths and legends by Prose Edda but there are is no specific connection to Christmas until the  17th century.

The oldest poems about Gryla describe her as a beggar who would walk around asking parents to give her their disobedient children.

Her plans can be thwarted by giving her food or by chasing her away. Originally, she lived in a small cottage, but in later poems she appears to have been forced out of town and into a cave.

Modern day myths about  Gryla say that she has the ability to detect children who are misbehaving year-round.

During Christmas time, she comes from the mountains to search the nearby towns for her next gruesome meal.

According to Iclandic folklore, Gryla has been married three times. Her third husband Leppaludi is said to be living with her in their cave in the Dimmuborgir lava fields, with the big black Yule Cat and their sons. Leppaludi is lazy and mostly stays at home in their cave. Gryla supposedly has dozens of children with her previous husbands, but they are rarely mentioned nowadays

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Gryla's Sons the Yule lads
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the Yule Lads can be found in the 17th-century poem, Poem of Gryla. Gryla had appeared in older tales as a  troll but had not been linked to Christmas before. Gryla is described as a hideous being who is the mother of the gigantic Yule Lads who are a vicious menace to children.

Early on the number and description of Yule Lads varied depending on location, with each individual Lad ranging from a simple prankster's to a homicidal monster's^.

 They were used to frighten children into being good  like the boogyman..


In the late 18th century a poem mentions there being 13 of them. In the mid-19th century, author Jon Arnason  drew inspiration from the Brothers Grimm and began collecting folktales. His 1862 collection is the first mention of the names of the Yule Lads.

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---The Yule Cat---
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The Yule Cat is her pet: a huge and vicious cat who hunt's the snowy countryside during Christmas time (Yule) looking for  people too eat he usually targets people who have not received any new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve.


This odd trait is connected to the culture and traditions of the region.

Sheep husbandry was an important part of the farm life in Iceland, after the autumn shearing of sheep, all members of the family worked hard to process wool. As a rule, the work was completed just in time for Christmas time, and those who worked hard received a new item of clothing to wear
So to encourage children to there chores and work , there  parents scared them with story's of the Yule Cat .


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===La Befana======
=the Christmas Witch==
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La Befana and The Feast of the Epiphany is celebrated January 6 with a national holiday in Italy, and the tradition of La Befana are a big part of Italian Christmas celebrations. Epiphany commemorates the 12th day of Christmas when the three Wise Men arrived at the manger bearing gifts for Baby Jesus. The traditional Christmas holiday season in Italy lasts through Epiphany.

La Befana is a witch from Italian folklore: she travels on her magic broom, to every house in Italy bringing gifts. Climbing down the chimneys, she brings candy to the children that were good and black coal to the children that were naughty.

kids in Italy  look forward to the arrival of the red-suited Babbo Natale on Christmas Eve.
 She is an old witch who arrives in early January. For Italians, La Festa dell’Epifania on January 6th is as significant a holiday as Christmas Day; especially for Italian children!


According to the Italian legend, La Befana, a witch, refused to join the Wise Men on their journey to see the baby Jesus. When she regrets her decision, she sets out to bring gifts to the Child but never finds him. Instead, she leaves gifts for other children. Italian children leave out their shoes or put up stockings for the Befana to fill on January 5th, Epiphany Eve.

So according to legend every Epiphany Eve, the old, tattered and soot-covered Befana flies around the world on a broomstick and comes down chimneys to deliver candy and presents to children who have been good during the year.

However just like Santa  la Befana will leave a lumps of coal to the bad kids.  Knowing that all kids can’t be perfect year-round, some shops in Italy sell carbone or black rock candy that actually looks like pieces of coal… that way even teh naoughty kids can still have a treat on the holidays.



Unlike Santa Claus, La Befana has been an Italian tradition since the XIII century and comes from Christian legend rather than pop culture or corporate merchandising
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==Frau Perchta=========
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Frau Perchta, (Berchta) previously known as a goddess in Southern Germanic paganism in the Alpine countries. Her name means “the bright one”.

Perchta seems to have a dual nature – she is alternately described as kind or violent, and physically as wizened, old, and ugly or a tall and beautiful young woman,  white as snow and dressed in all white

The days leading up to the winter solstice, Perchta would enter homes in search for the good kids who would receive a small silver coin in their shoe; while the bad kids would have their stomachs slit open and innards pulled out and replaced with stones and straw.

In many old descriptions, Perchta had one large foot, sometimes called a goose foot or swan foot. some believe the strange foot symbolized her being a higher being who is capable of shape shift  into an animal form.

The Brother's Grimm reconted a simmilar story called Frau Holle,

They  noticed that Bertha with a strange foot exists in many languages (Middle German "Berhte mit dem fuoze", French "Berthe au grand pied", Latin "Berhta cum magno pede", Italian " Berta dai gran piè", title of a medieval epic poem of italian area): "It is apparently a swan maiden's foot, which as a mark of her higher nature she cannot lay aside...and at the same time the spinning-woman's splayfoot that worked the treadle^.

 
In the Tyrol she appears as little old woman with a very wrinkled face, bright lively eyes, and a long hooked nose; her hair is disheveled, her garments tattered and torn.

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I'll have one more post next week and that will be it for 2019, thank you to all who enjoy these posts Happy New Year and have a Merry Christmas.! :D

Christmas: Grandfather Frost and the Ice maidens

                                              Image by vukcevic 


Today we talk about Santa...Kind of...

Have you ever wondered what the jolly old elf  is like in other counter's?..

For most of us, at least in the US he is called Santa Claus in others country's Papa Noel and even  Saint Nichole's...
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But have you ever heard of Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost ) or his granddaughter  Snegurochka - The Ice Maiden ?....No?

Well your in luck this post is dedicated to this frosty family for friendly folk...Try to say that five times fast lol

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Father Frost and his granddaughter Snegurochka – the Snow Maiden.

Originated in Russia.

Each year there are  festivals in celebration of the season   people dress up like Ded Moroz and Snegurochka they join in the parades from all over the country!

                                  Christmas parade in Minsk, Belarus, on Dec 24, 2016

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Ded Moroz like Santa Claus in the West is depicted as bringing presents to good children,  but unlike Santa who  dose his traveling on Christmas Eve Ded Moroz makes his appearance on New Years Eve. and is often accompanied by his Granddaughter / helper Snegurochka the Snow maiden.
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         Ded Moroz
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Ded Moroz Grandfather Frost or Father Frost is a popular holiday figure  in modern Russia.

 The origins of the of Ded Moroz predates Christianity as a Slavic  wizard of winter.

According to some sources in Slavic mythology, Ded Moroz, was also called Morozko or Ded, A ded is a typeof  snow demon^.

  However, before the Christianization of Russia the term demon didn't have the negative connotation it dose today.

^{Though after the christinazation of the region the terms demon, spirit, fairy or anything else that could be described as such was now seen as bad or out right evil} 



Under the influence of the  Orthodox church the  traditions relating to  Grandfather Frost  were transformed.

 Ever since the late 1800's the traditions and legend of Ded Moroz have been shaped by literary influences.

The play Snegurochka by Aleksandr Ostrocsky  was largely  influential in popularizing the characters.

Following the Russian Revolution Christmas traditions were actively discouraged because they were considered to be "bourgeois and religious".

In 1928 Ded Moroz was declared "an ally of the priest and Kulak

Though the current image of Ded Moroz was created during soviet times, and would become the main symbol of the New Year's holiday Novy God  that replaced Christmas.

Some Christmas traditions were revived following the famous letter by Pavel Postyshey published in  Pravda on December 28, 1935.

Postyshev believed that the origins of the holiday, which were pre-Christian, were less important than the benefits it could bring to Soviet children.

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 In 1998, the town of Veliku Ustyug in Vologda, Oblast was declared the official home of the  Ded Moroz by Yury Luzhkov then Mayor of Moscow.

You can take  at rain ride there... it's about 500 miles northeast of Moscow in the Taiga Forest in a log cabin.

Between 2003 and 2010, the post office in Veliky Ustyug received roughly 2,000,000 letters from within Russia and from all over the world for Ded Moroz.

 On January 7, 2008, President Putin visited Ded Moroz' residence in the town of Veliky Ustyug as part of the Russian Orthodox Christmas Eve celebration.

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                                        Snegurochka
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 They saw a pretty young girl all dressed in white with flaxen hair and shining blue eyes… Painting of Snow Maiden (1899)  by Viktor M. Vasnetsov
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In 1917, after the Bolshevik Revolution, Ded Moroz  along with Christmas was banned in Russia.

However in 1935  the winter wizard and the silver haired cutie would see a resurgence in popularity with the New Year’s celebrations becoming a more  public event, ever since then Ded Moroz and Snegurochka have appear on New Year’s Eve, putting presents under the tree for good kids all over the country.

 In the late Russian Empire (Late 1800's and Early 1900's) Snegurochka was part of Christmas traditions, in the form of Christmas tree ornimants and figurine.

 In the early Soviet Union, the holiday of Christmas was banned, together with other Christian traditions., until it was reinstated as a holiday of the Russian Federation in 1991, by Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin
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Snow-Maiden-and-Father-Frost 1912 paintings of Snow Maiden and Father Frost by Nicholas Roerich.

In 1878, the composer Ludwig Minkus  and the Balletmaster Marius Petipa staged a ballet adaptation of Snegurochka    called The Daughter of the Snow for the Tsar's Imperial Ballet.

The story was also later adapted into an opera in 1880-81 by  Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov titled The Snow Maiden: A Spring Fairy Tail

Another version of  the snow maiden is about a girl who was  made of snow named Snegurka (Snezhevinochka ) it was published in 1869 by Alexander Afanasyey  in the second volume of his work The Poetic Outlook on Nature by the Slavs, where he also mentions the German analog, Schneekind ("Snow Child").  In this version, childless Russian peasants Ivan and Marya made a snow doll, which later came to life.

This version was later added to  Contes Populaires Slaves by Louis Leger in 1882^.

In the story Snegurka grows up quickly.  She later befrends a  group of girls that invite  her on a walk in the woods, after which they make a small fire and take turns jumping over it; in some variants, this is on St. Jon's Day leaping over a fire is a  St. John's Day tradition.

However when Snegurka's turn comes, she starts to jump, but only gets halfway before evaporating into a small cloud of mist.

This version of the story was called  "Snowflake" and was included in the "The  Pink Fairy Book" by Andrew Lang in 1897.

                                    Snegurochka in the forest (1925) by Boris Zvorykin.

Similar versions of these two figures can be found in other areas in the surrounding country's .

But this version is strictly Russia, so if your in the country during the holidays and you like parades and overall fun  check out some of the local  festivals !!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!! :)

Christmas Myths: Norwigian Nisse

 Nisse are believed to be spirits but some see them as a type of house elf or gnome's...

 In ancient times the Nisse  was believed to be an ancestors or spirit and are often believed to be spirite of  the farmer who originally cleared the forest to build the farm. in other words a  spirit that never leaves the farm or homestead they built in their day.


 The name Nisse may be derived from the Old Norse word “niðsi”, meaning (dear little relative)

In pre-Christian times, the original farmer / land owner was  often buried on his farm in a mound.

He was sometimes referred to as the haugkall or haugebonde, from the Old Norse haugr meaning mound.  Mounds are common places in Scandinavian folklore as the resting places for ancestral spirits .
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Other legend's describe them as a member of the Hilda Folk / hidden folk a type a fairy or gnome like creature, humanoid in appearance and small in stature usually no more then 3 feet in height....
Modern day  nisse are often associated with Christmas and the yule time.

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Nisse are believed to live in the houses and barns of the farm and secretly act as their protector.

If treated well, they will protect the family and animals from bad luck and misfortune and may even help out with the farm work and animal care.

However, they are very strong for there size and known to be short tempered, especially when they fill offended, once insulted they will usually play tricks, steal items, and may even maim or kill.  


 
Traditionally, Blots are held every solstice and a gift (never payment) is left for the nisse, for protecting the home and family.

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  A blót is a type of offering / sacrifice it could be dedicated to any of the Norse gods, the spirits of the land, or to ancestors. The sacrifice involved aspects of a sacramental meals or feast.
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And you must ALWAYS remember to put out a bowl of porridge with butter and honey  for him on Christmas Eve (Winter Solstice or Jul) to show your appreciation for his watchfulness!



 This  tradition is   similar to the way cookies and milk are put out for Santa Claus.

Just like Santa's cookies  the porridge would be gone in the morning  the nisse also brings  presents sometimes .

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                                                        .....Christmas Card from 1885....

The nisse is also known as a tomte in some area's it's seen as a small gnome like creature most commonly found on or near farms and is often associated with Christmas.

Norwegian Julenissen, Sweden  has the Jultomten, the Finish Joulutonttu and the Danish Julemanden

The nisse is also sometimes accompanied by the Yule Goat  (Julbocken).

The pair appear on Christmas Eve knocking on the doors of people's homes and handing out presents.


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19th century Swedish Christmas card by Jenny Nystrom

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In the 1840s the farm nisse became one of  the main image's of Christmas in Denmark, and was then called julenisse (Yule Nisse).

In 1881, the Swedish magazine Ny Illustrerad Tidning published Viktor Rydberg  poem "Tomten", where the tomte is alone awake in the cold Christmas night, pondering the mysteries of life and death. This poem featured the first painting by Jenny Nystrom which was later made into a Christmas Card (Picture Above)  which she depicted as a white-bearded, red-capped friendly figure and he has been associated with Christmas ever since.

Not long after this other regions started adopting this nisse as a Christmas figure along with  the emerging Father Christmas /Santa traditions ..

 the new Danish tradition, a variant of the nisse/tomte, called the jultomte in Sweden and julenisse in Norway, started bringing the Christmas presents in Sweden and Norway, instead of the traditional julbock  (Yule Goat).

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  Other appearances ...

An angry nisse is featured in the popular children's book by Swedish author Selma Lagerlof called Nils Holgerssons suderbara resa genom syerige (Nils Holgersson's Wonderful Journey Through Sweden). The angry nisse turns the naughty child Nils into a nisse in the beginning of the book, and Nils then travels across Sweden on the back of a goose.

 In The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, hobs / nisse/ house elf's ...are eyeless creatures who burn in light. They serve the Queen Mab of The Winter Court of the Sidhe.


In Njord Kane's : The Hidden Hollow the  nisse are part of nature’s hidden folk who are both helpful and manipulative.

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Have a great Christmas! and Don't forget to leave out a bowl of porridge :)

:D God Jul :D

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May not be a post next week, if i don't the week following will have two posts.... hope you all have a great weekend :)
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Merry Christmas ! 

 
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Christmas: Coca Cola and the Santa Connection

 Did you know Santa wasn't always depicted as a jolly bearded fat man ....

In fact the most well know version of Santa we have today is largely thanks to the marketing efforts of the Coca Cola Company...

Before  1931, Santa came in many different form's ranging from  a tall slender man to a very creepy -looking elf and almost everything in between....

In some area's he was seen as  Norse Huntsman in animal skins and in others he was dressed in a similar fashion to that of  a  bishop's robe.

There are regional differences in the type of suit that Santa Claus wears.

Usually in  United Kingdom  and the USA  Santa wears a red jacket and pants with white fur trim,  a broad buckled belt, a matching hat, and black boots.

 In other area's of  European  Austria for instance Santa is called Saint Nicholas  and is seen with a  long robe and a Bishop's mitre^.
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 During the American Civil War cartoonist Thomas Nast drew his version of Santa Claus for Harper's Weekly in 1862, Santa was shown as a small gnome or elf like being who supported the Union.

Nast continued to draw Santa for 30 years, changing the color of his coat from tan originally and ending with the red that we know today.

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                                  Nast Santa in red 1881

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The Coca-Cola Company first started there Christmas advertising in the 1920s with  newspaper's and magazines like on of the first was  The Saturday Evening Post.

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In 1930, artist Fred Mizen painted a department-store Santa in a crowd drinking a bottle of Coke. The ad featured the world's largest soda fountain, which was located in the department store Famous Barr Co. in St. Louis, Mo. Mizen's painting was used in print ads that Christmas season, appearing in The Saturday Evening Post in December 1930.

                                           Fred Mizen  - Santa 1930

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 In 1931 Coke began placing Coca-Cola ads in other popular magazines of the time.

Archie Lee, the D'Arcy Advertising Agency executive working with The Coca-Cola Company, wanted to show a Santa who was both realistic and symbolic.

Coca-Cola hired Haddon Sundblom to develop advertising images using Santa Claus — showing Santa himself, not a man dressed as Santa.

One of  Sundblom main source of inspiration was  Clement Clark Moore's 1822 poem  Twas the Night Before Christmas. 

Moore's description of St. Nick led to an image of a warm, friendly, pleasantly plump and human Santa. (And even though it's often said that Santa wears a red coat because red is the color of Coca-Cola, Santa appeared in a red coat before Sundblom painted him.

Sundblom’s Santa first debuted in 1931 in Coke ads in The Saturday Evening Post and appeared regularly in that magazine, as well as in Ladies Home Journal, National Geographic, The New Yorker and many others.

From 1931 to 1964, Coca-Cola showed Santa delivering toys , reading a child's christmas letter and of course enjoy a cold Coke.

 The original oil paintings Sundblom created were adapted for Coca-Cola advertising in magazines and on store displays, billboards, posters, calendars and plush dolls. Many of those items today are sot after by memorabilia collectors.
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Mr. Sundblom created his last version of Santa in 1964, Coca-Cola advertising featured his images of Santa for decades afterwords . 

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These paintings are some of the most prized pieces in the art collection in the Cola  company’s archives department and have been on exhibit around the world, in famous locations..

 Many of his Original paintings can be seen at the World of Coca Cola in Atlanta, Georgia.

Other places they have been featured ...

 The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.

The Louve in Paris, France.

 The NK Department Store in Stockholm, Sewden.

The Isetan Department Store in Tokyo, Japan.