Krampus: yin to St. Nick's yang?

Subject: Krampus: yin to St. Nick's yang?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Dec 19 - 11:23 PM

This article about Krampus offers an opportunity to inquire about this kind of Other seasonal activity. Do any Mudcatters participate in such events?

Krampus himself historically comes around the night of December 5, tagging along with St. Nicholas. He visits houses all night with his saintly pal. While St. Nick is on hand to put candy in the shoes of good kids and birch twigs in the shoes of the bad, Krampus' particular specialty is punishing naughty children. Legend has it that throughout the Christmas season, misbehaved kids are beaten with birch branches or can disappear, stuffed into Krampus' sack and hauled off to his lair to be tortured or eaten.

"The Krampus is the yin to St. Nick's yang," Seghers tells Smithsonian.com. "You have the saint, you have the devil. It taps into a subconscious macabre desire that a lot of people have that is the opposite of the saccharine Christmas a lot of us grew up with."

In fact, Krampus' roots have nothing to do with Christmas. Instead, they date back to pre-Germanic paganism in the region. His name originates with the German krampen, which means "claw," and tradition has it that he is the son of the Norse god of the underworld, Hel. During the 12th century, the Catholic Church attempted to banish Krampus celebrations because of his resemblance to the devil. More eradication attempts followed in 1934 at the hands of Austria's conservative Christian Social Party. But none of it held, and Krampus emerged as a much-feared and beloved holiday force.

The rest of the article can be found following the link above.

Subject: RE: Krampus: yin to St. Nick's yang?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Dec 19 - 11:24 PM

It's above the line for now because I don't know if there is a musical (song or dance) component to this kind of thing.

Subject: RE: Krampus: yin to St. Nick's yang?
From: keberoxu
Date: 06 Dec 19 - 12:15 AM

Well, it is folklore.