{"id":9868,"date":"2021-12-24T07:53:23","date_gmt":"2021-12-24T12:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/?p=9868"},"modified":"2021-12-07T08:51:40","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T13:51:40","slug":"witches-and-demons-of-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2021\/12\/24\/witches-and-demons-of-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Witches and Demons of Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Krampus and boy by j4p4n<\/a>. https:\/\/openclipart.org\/detail\/320772\/krampus-and-boy. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Though there is plenty of creepiness about a man who sneaks into our houses after spying on us all year to reward behavior that he deems good, Santa is far from the only holiday spirit to take on the job of keeping us all in line.  Most of the witches and demons of Christmas time share this reward and punish vocation, but they haven\u2019t all been painted as benevolent, harmless, and rosy cheeked as our dear old Claus.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s begin with the Krampus.  Krampus has been described as a half goat – half demon, and is one of the companions of St. Nicholas.  St. Nicholas\u2019 companions vary by region, share some similar characteristics, and seem to play the part of a shadow self or the evil side of the Saint.  Where St. Nicholas rewards good girls and boys with gifts during Christmas time, the Krampus punishes naughty children by whipping them with bundled reeds, locking them in chains, and\/or carrying them away in a woven basket he wears on his back.  Krampus may be a vestige of pagan celebrations that pre-date Christianity; they have at times been forbidden by the Catholic Church.  Lately, there has been a renewed interest in the Krampus that, because of modern humor and consumerism, some worry has been diluting the dark and violent truth of this Christmas creature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Krampus is far from the only dark creature you might find during the winter holidays.  Several cultures have tales of yuletide witches that both punish and reward as deserved.  In Germany and Austria Perchta keeps an eye out for young women who do not abstain from their spinning on holidays, and those who have not yet finished their work on time.  Individuals not observing the traditional fasting are also likely to be visited by Perchta\u2019s wrath.  This punishment, dear reader, is nothing to sneeze at.  Far from simply whipping or chaining you, Perchta will disembowel you.  After she has ripped your organs from your abdomen she will replace them with sticks, rocks, and garbage before sewing you back up again.  Oddly, this punishment may have a silver lining.  If you mend your ways, as much as you can with garbage inside you, then she may return with your safe and clean innards and undo her previous work.  The lesson, in this case, is if you don\u2019t take care of it you can\u2019t have it anymore.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The midland journal.<\/em> (Rising Sun, Md.), 20 Dec. 1940. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers<\/em>. Lib. of Congress. <https:\/\/chroniclingamerica.loc.gov\/lccn\/sn89060136\/1940-12-20\/ed-1\/seq-7\/<\/a>>\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

La Befana is a much more benevolent Christmastime witch.  She travels around Italy during epiphany bringing gifts to good children.  The story goes that the three wisemen stopped by her home looking for direction to the baby Jesus.  La Befana did not know the way and neglected to join the 3 kings on their journey to Bethlehem.  Not long after she regretted her decision and attempted to catch up to the 3 travelers. La Befana now travels in search of the Christ Child and leaving gifts as she goes.  It has been hypothesized that La Befana is connected to the same ancient goddess as Perchta, Mother Holle, the Russian Baboushka, and Gryla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gryla, however, isn\u2019t known for her kindnesses.  She is an ogress, troll, or giantess, and the mother of the yule lads, seven (or thirteen) mischievous spirits who wreak havoc during Christmas time. Gryla may have multiple heads, and multiple tails, or she may simply have been an embroidered demonization of a \u2018parasitic\u2019 beggar woman.  Whatever her appearance, her raison d’\u00eatre is eating children who don\u2019t obey their mother.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, if you didn\u2019t already think Christmas time was a time of darkness and a time to fear that which lurks in the shadows outside your door, you now have a whole host of new imagery.  To me the ancient fears of demons and witches explain some of the more beautiful aspects of the holiday season, that of banding together with family and helping your neighbors. Krampus, Perchta, and Gryla may get you if you do not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Basu, Tanya (2018) Who is Krampus?  Explaining the horrific Chirstmas beast.  National Geographic online.  https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/news\/2018\/12\/131217-krampus-christmas-santa-devil\/<\/a> <\/li>
  2. Cellania, Miss (2017) 8 Legendary Monsters of Christmas.  Mental Floss.<\/em>  https:\/\/www.mentalfloss.com\/article\/54184\/8-legendary-monsters-christmas<\/a> <\/li>
  3. Icelandic Christmas Lore <\/em>(2019) Wikipedia.  CC-BY-SA.  https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Icelandic_Christmas_folklore#The_trolls_Gryla_&_Leppaludi<\/a> <\/li>
  4. Krampus<\/em> (2019) Wikipedia.  CC-BY-SA.   https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Krampus<\/a><\/li>
  5. Troop, Sarah E. (2013) The Monsters of Christmas. Atlas Obsucra.<\/em>  https:\/\/www.atlasobscura.com\/articles\/monsters-of-christmas<\/a> <\/li>
  6. Raedisch, Linda (2019) The Old Magic of Christmas:  Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year.  Llewellyn Publications:  Woodbury, Massechusets.<\/li>
  7. Ridenour, Al (2016) The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas:  Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil.  Feral House:  Port Townsend, Washington.  <\/li>
  8. Sutherland (2019) Gryla: Cannibalistic, Evil Troll And Her Sons \u2018Yule Lads\u2019 \u2013 In Icelandic Folklore.  Ancient Pages. https:\/\/www.ancientpages.com\/2019\/12\/11\/gryla-cannibalistic-evil-troll-and-her-sons-yule-lads-in-icelandic-folklore\/<\/a> <\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Though there is plenty of creepiness about a man who sneaks into our houses after spying on us all year to reward behavior that he deems good, Santa is far from the only holiday spirit to take on the job of keeping us all in line.  Most of the witches and demons of Christmas time… Continue reading Witches and Demons of Christmas<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[257,299,48,64,123,46],"class_list":["post-9868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-christmas","tag-gods-goddesses","tag-holiday","tag-krampus","tag-research","tag-witches"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3129,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2012\/12\/21\/christmas-time-is-here\/","url_meta":{"origin":9868,"position":0},"title":"Christmas time is here","author":"leems","date":"December 21, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 So, last year I posted my Christmas card Krampus.\u00a0 This year, no cards, but here's a Krampus drawing all the same with St. Nick in the lead.","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/StNickKrampus-382x600.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":612,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2011\/12\/14\/in-case-the-krampus-was-new-to-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":9868,"position":1},"title":"In case the Krampus was new to you","author":"leems","date":"December 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a parade in Austria (as far as I could figure out), I love the minor-key feel.\u00a0 Wait, does this still not explain the Krampus?\u00a0 Well, then go look it up!","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":598,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2011\/12\/04\/in-the-holiday-spirit\/","url_meta":{"origin":9868,"position":2},"title":"In the Holiday Spirit","author":"leems","date":"December 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is my Christmas card this year, inspired by Krampus cards from Victorian times.\u00a0 I'm still reeling from having a started and completed novel project for November.\u00a0 But now there are comic pages to draw, and old projects to get back to.\u00a0 I intend to make good use of my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/GrusVomKrampus2_55by8-206x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5335,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2014\/11\/01\/inktober-finale\/","url_meta":{"origin":9868,"position":3},"title":"Inktober finale","author":"leems","date":"November 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Christmas witch says 'goodbye October.'\u00a0 But far be it for me to jump from Halloween to Christmas and miss reveling in my favoritist holiday of all:\u00a0 Thanksgiving! I know the great turkey feast doesn't ring too many people's bells, but I love it.\u00a0 I always remember liking it as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmaswitch","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Christmaswitch-381x600.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8934,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2020\/04\/08\/10-movies-books-to-know-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":9868,"position":4},"title":"10 Movies\/Books to Know Me","author":"leems","date":"April 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I heard from my informants that social media has thing thing: 10 movies to know you, and I was inspired. These are the 10 movies, and then 10 books that have shaped me (in no significant order). Movies Alice in Wonderland (multiple versions, but mostly the one with Carol Channing)The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/LeE036c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9229,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2020\/10\/21\/halloween-witch-doodle\/","url_meta":{"origin":9868,"position":5},"title":"Halloween witch doodle","author":"leems","date":"October 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Witch-halloweenready.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Witch-halloweenready.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Witch-halloweenready.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Witch-halloweenready.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9868"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9875,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9868\/revisions\/9875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}