We wish you a Merry Krampus.

[Richard_D]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjyGgc47_jU[/youtube]

[Richard_D]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IREVE3G6Yg[/youtube]

[Sunshine Meadows]

yIKES  >yikes< >run< that video is too creepy for me  >hatandscarf<

[Richard_D]

Would you like me to find a less creepy one to replace it?

[Sunshine Meadows]

No need to replace it and yes I will probably be able to watch a less creepy Krampus just not ones that look like creepy clowns  >yikes<

:-)

Is Krampus a German or Netherlands character?

[AndMac]

From what I remember off the top of my head, Krampus is Austrian, and really creepy. Red face and huge devil horns. The absolute stuff of nightmares.

There's something remarkably similar to Krampus in Japan, a figure that goes round doors 'collecting' naughty children in winter, in some regions. Parents cough up some booze to bribe the said figure...

In the Netherlands and some parts of Germany, St Nicholas has his assistant, Schwarzer Peter, Black Peter. My Latvian Dad had a Dutch East Indian friend who he referred to as 'Black Piet', back in the 1970s.
Even then I shuddered at the political incorrectness of this, but when I went to live in Germany, the penny dropped.

I can remember going to a Christmas party with my then toddler daughter in the German village where we lived, Black Peter and St Nicholas put in an appearance.

[Richard_D]

From what I have read Krampus has roots in Pre-Germanic paganism. Krampus (Old High German for claw) is said to be the son of the Norse Goddess Hel. She is the ruler of the realm of the dead (Helhiem) and daughter of Loki. So if someone says to you 'go to Hell' you can say that you are friends with her and laugh.  >devil<

Maybe Krampus is what Santa becomes after one too many drinks and mince pies. That must be why there are no reindeer in any of the pictures of Krampus as they are in hiding away from the darker alter-ego of the rosey cheeked jolly old fellow. Maybe Santa and Krampus are two sides of the same supernatural entity?

[Sunshine Meadows]

Red face and huge devil horns. The absolute stuff of nightmares.

 >yikes< >run<

Parents cough up some booze to bribe the said figure...

 I have two brothers and two sisters so that might explain the huge amount of booze that Dad got in every year.

It does annoy me when political correctness misinterprets traditional blacking up. It is even worse when the far right join in  hmmmfff https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/12/black-pete-christmas-zwarte-piet-dutch/

Thank you for the explanation of Krampus  >thumbsup<

Maybe Santa and Krampus are two sides of the same supernatural entity?

or just a alcoholic who drinks to much and goes beyond being a happy drunk to being an angry monster. Sorry that is depressing, so anyway are the any independent female figures that appear at Christmas or during Yule Tide?

[oldtone27]

No I can't think of any significant Christmas women apart from Mary and she only features out of biological necessity.

Given that the Christian church is largely patriarchal, particularly over most of its history, its hardly surprising that women seem to feature mainly for procreation or temptation.

IMO that says more about male hubris than female aptitude.

[Richard_D]

There are European Pre-Christian traditions that are connected to either Alpine areas or Winter Solstice.

The Bethen is a triad of female spirits of German origin which is linked to the changing of the seasons of nature and the 3 faces of women. The youthful Maiden becomes a Mother who uses her life force to give of herself until she becomes an old Crone.

http://www.crystalinks.com/triplegoddess.html

The Norse Goddess Frigga is connected to the Winter Solstice.

Frigga and the Mistletoe (A Norse Myth).

http://www.uexpress.com/tell-me-a-story/2004/12/19/frigga-and-the-mistletoe-a-norse

[Sunshine Meadows]

Old Tone good point  >doh< I did not think of Mary I guess because I was thinking of traditional characters like Santa. Tis interesting I dont think of religious icons as traditional. It gets complicated when I consider the three Kings.

DD,

Thank you I looked through both links and Loki is such a  >bleep<