In the United States, we have a habit of borrowing from other cultures’ holidays and mixing them into our own special ways of celebrating. This time of year, everything from an adorned Christmas tree to the wrapped-up gifts is an adaption from the religious celebrations of other countries. Some traditions are even left behind intentionally. After all, fearing that goblins will wreak havoc on your holiday food or that one might receive a beating for being naughty doesn’t fit into the holly-jolly picture of Christmas. For those of you with the bah-humbug attitude towards Christmas, we would like to introduce St Nicholas’ anti-jolly punishers.
Krampus
Originating from the Alpine region, Krampus is a nasty beast-like creature with horns. Krampus is said to visit your home on the fifth of December and decide whether children have been nice or naughty. If they have been naughty, he beats them with rusted chains and, worse yet, puts them into a basket and takes them back to his lair where he punishes them until they repent. Nowadays, people often celebrate by dressing up as the Krampus and running around scaring children on Krampus night. The idea is to scare kids into behaving. The German people seem to love this method of behavioral correction, as they’re also the ones to create the Bogeyman or, as Americans know him, the Boogie Man.
Perchta
Perchta, the belly slicer, is another being you do not want to bump into during the Christmas holidays. She is said to appear as an old, haggish woman to some but beautiful and bright to others. Perchta is a goddess from Southern Germanic paganism and her name means “The Bright One”. She may not seem harmful to some, but she is worse than the Krampus if you’ve been causing mischief. She is believed to come into your home the days of Dec. 22nd and Jan. 6th. If you’re good, she will leave a silver coin in your shoe or bucket. However, if you’ve been bad, she will gut you. That’s right - she will cut your stomach open and remove your guts. She then proceeds to stuff you with dirt and straw. A traditional dinner of fish and dumplings is held in order to honor her and she is known to be quite angered if this feast is forgotten.