An old German Christmas card showing Santa in his sleigh with Krampus in the sidecar. Santa and Krampus were often depicted working together.
Ho, Ho, Uh-Oh!
First of Two Parts -
'Tis the season of good cheer! Even as adults, we still experience some of the excitement and anticipation that we felt as children. We can argue, as we do each year, about whether Christmas has gotten too commercial, but the fact remains that Christmas is basically fun. And the threat level is low.
But it was not always thus.
Since the days of Clement Moore and Thomas Nast, we have focused on Jolly Old Saint Nick and his sack of toys for all the good little girl and boys. But remember, he's makin' his list - he's gonna find out who's nice - and who's Naughty.
As Christmas got more commercial and gift-centric, we forgot about the Naughty warning. We tend to assume that he'll give us a pass. We forgot that Santa has a bunch of sidekicks, and not all of them are Nice.
As Christianity took over Europe and the Americas, it officially replaced the religious traditions that went before. But belief is emotional more than intellectual, and people hold on hard to the traditions they were raised with. So although the central religious focus of Christmas - the Nativity - is pretty consistent, the more secular parts still retain a large percentage of the pagan. Even the date - mid-December - reflects the timing of ancient Roman and Norse festivals.
Even good old Saint Nick, the 4th-century Bishop of Myra in Greece, who was a real person, retains traces of an earlier age. The secret gift-giving seems to have originated in an incident in his life, where he threw three bags of gold under cover of darkness, into a destitute man's home to prevent him from selling his three daughters into prostitution. But the sleigh and reindeer, as well as the Yule log, the boar's head, and so forth go back to Odin and the Wild Hunt.
And in much of Europe, Santa was accompanied by a truly scary character known as Krampus (AKA Servant Rupert, Belsnickel, and other regional names). If you were nice, you got gifts from Santa; if you were naughty, Krampus would snatch you up, stuff you in his basket, and carry you off to be beaten.
And make no mistake - these guys worked together. Santa and Krampus are often depicted in tandem. And who do you think gave Krampus the Naughty list??
In Italy, there was the Christmas witch, La Befana, an old woman with a broom. Her broom could be used for sweeping your house clean, and with it all the sorrow and bad luck of the previous year. Or it could be used to give you the good thumping you deserve. The story goes that Befana was visited by the Wise Men on their way to Bethlehem, but she did not have time to go with them because she needed to finish sweeping her house. (Anyone reading this who has at least one Italian grandmother knows this person. I know I do.) As a result, Befana got there late, so she now rides her broom to distribute the gifts that she was not able to give Jesus to good children in honor of his birth.
So, you would expect that as the early settlers came over from England to the new colonies, they brought their rich and colorful Christmas traditions with them. But you would be wrong. Christmas in colonial New England was nothing like traditional Christmas in Olde England....
Next week - Banned in Boston!
Krampus and Santa were often depicted as mirror-images. Here they are, makin' their lists - so you'd better watch out!
