Nightmare Before Christmas Cookies

 

With Christmas here,

these cookies are perfect.

Welcome to The Darker Side Of Christmas

Christmas isn't all jingle bells and jolly old St. Nick. 

There are darker and creepier figures we need to mention, and they don't come from the North Pole.

Many of these scary figures hail from pre-Christian traditions and folklore and have become enveloped in Christmas over time. 

Where Santa is about rewarding well-behaved children, some of these entities are focused on the naughty list. 

If threatening your kids about Santa won't get them to behave, perhaps a story about an ogre coming to cook them in a stew will.

Of course, not all these horrific holiday figures are evil. 

Some are more mischievous and benevolent, despite their more-appropriate-for-Halloween appearances. 

Still, if your kid cries upon meeting Santa, maybe don't tell them about the Krampus.

1. Belsnickel. "Bels" roughly translates as "fur" in German and nickel here refers to jolly old St. Nikolas, so Belsnickel is St. Nick in furs or pelts. And this figure from German folklore does indeed dole out the occasional gift like Santa Claus. 

He even carries a sack filled with candy and nuts for good little children. 

That, however, is where the similarities end. Instead of a nice coat, Belsnickel's furs are grimy, or sometimes just outright dirty. 

And while St. Nick will just leave a lump of coal for naughty children, Belsnickel will whip them on their backs with a switch.

2. La Befana. Just because someone is scary-looking doesn't mean they always are. 

La Befana may look like a hag, but this Italian witch is not a creature of Halloween. 

She is actually associated with the Epiphany, a post-Christmas observance that celebrates the arrival of the three wise men in Bethlehem. 

Legend has it that the Befana was asked by the wise men to join them, but she declined as she had too much work to do. Realizing her mistake, she tried to catch up to them, but she was unable to do so. 

Exhausted on the eve of their arrival in Bethlehem, she threw herself under a tree and a branch from that tree became a magical broomstick that allowed her to fly, looking for the baby Jesus. 

Today, the Befana appears during and just before Epiphany events, giving treats and small gifts to good children, or leaving the gifts at their houses, much like Santa Claus.

3. Grýla. Of course, not all witches that appear at this time of year are good witches. Grýla hails from Icelandic folklore and is more interested in eating children than giving them things to eat. 

Come Christmas time, Grýla is said to come down from her mountain and seek out naughty children. 

She gathers them up in a sack and carries them back to her mountain in order to make them into a stew. 

While the Befana is often a kind-looking witch, Grýla is truly a hideous-looking one, with horns on her head, many tails and a very large, wart-covered nose. This is one Christmastime visitor you don't want to see.

4. Krampus. Perhaps the best known of scary Christmas figures is the Krampus. This creature hails from central European traditions. 

Though the exact origins are muddled, scholars agree Krampus dates back to a pre-Christian time. 

The name derives from the German word "krampen," which means "claw." 

An appropriate name given that Krampus is often a demonic-looking figure with claws, horns and a very long tongue. Like Grýla, the Krampus hauls off naughty children in a sack to use later as food.

People celebrate Krampus with festivals before Christmas, dressing up as scary figures as a way to balance the now very sweet traditions of Christmas. 

"The Krampus is the yin to St. Nick's yang," Jeremy Seghers, organizer of the first Krampusnacht festival in Orlando, Florida, told Smithsonian Magazine in 2015.

"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."

5. Yule Cat. Known as the jólakötturinn in its native Iceland, the yule cat is a very fashion-conscious Christmas monster. 

This not-so-festive feline towers over houses, peeking in to see if children have gotten new clothes since last Christmas or for the holiday this year. 

If they did, it was safe and the cat would move on to the next house. 

If not, the child would be gobbled up (provided Grýla didn't get there first, we suppose). So the next time you're bummed about getting socks for Christmas, just think that they helped to protect you from the yule cat.

6. Mari Lwyd. As if you weren't scared enough, here comes a Welsh skeletal horse spirit. Mari Lwyd, or Y Fari Lwyd in Welsh, is a custom in which revelers will visit your home while carrying a horse skull that's been decked during the holidays with ribbon, bells and a sheet to give the whole affair a ghostly appearance. 

The Mari Lwyd troupe will engage the owner in a battle of verses and insults. 

If the troupe has the cleverest rhymes, they're allowed in for drinks and food while Mari Lwyd will scare away anything unwanted from the year. (Even if the owner wins the verse battle, they still let in the troupe for this reason.) 

Like many of the creatures on the list, Mari Lwyd's origins are lost, though there's a long history of white horses in British folklore, with horses themselves representing power.

Christmas and Mrs. Claus

 

Marks and Spencer in 2016 offered up this holiday campaign, directed by King's Speech director Tom Hooper. 

The story featured new character - Mrs Claus, the wife of Santa. It's fun, interesting and something different.

Krampus and Christmas

In Central European folklore, Krampus is a horned character described as "half-goat, half-demon", who, during the Christmas season, punishes children who have misbehaved, in contrast with Saint Nicholas, who rewards the well-behaved children with gifts. 

The Philippines Christmas Parol

 

We post this every year and we want to share it with you yet again.

Do you know which country celebrates Christmas the longest? 

If you guess the Philippines, you are correct. 

Christmas is celebrated early in the Philippines, we’re talking early November.

You can hear Christmas carols being played, the streets starting to be decorated with Christmas decorations.

These decorations include the traditional parol, a five point star-shaped Christmas lantern (something like a Pentagram) which has been a time-honoured Christmas symbol in the Philippines. 

 

You see parols hanging in every street and road of towns and cities, outside almost every Filipino homes, in schools and office buildings, shopping malls, and even churches during the entire Christmas season which usually starts as early as November. 

There is no other Christmas symbol in the Philippines that shows more warmth than these Christmas lanterns called parol. 

These Christmas lanterns are very unique to the Philippines. 

Parol-making is a traditional folk craft of Filipinos. 

It is even taught to school children. 

Schools hold lantern parades every year to showcase the artwork of these students. 

Happy Merry Christmas Holidays

 
This is a post we ran before, it’s worth re-posting because the situation remains the same year after year.

How strange it is, how we greet each other during the month of December.

People now offer their greetings as some sort of secret code and not as a real, sincere greeting.

More time is spent trying to figure out if someone is a a Christian or non-believing heathen.

There are those who feel that we generalize the Christmas season with "Happy Holidays" because of the connection between Christ and Christmas.  

One our Christian friends told us "Happy Holidays" appeals only to the heathen minority and insults the rightful majority.  

We were also scolded that Paganism is socialism, and socialism is where Christianity isn't permitted.

So, saying  "Happy Holidays" is the first step in destroying Christian beliefs from our society.

There was even an attack on Starbucks a few years ago because their coffee cups weren't Christmassy enough.

 

Regardless of whether you wish others a “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” this time of year, the true nature of the season is to be kind to one another and enjoy friends and family. So Happy Yule, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Winter Solstice, and Happy... anything else we may have missed!

 

 

 

Christmas, A Pagan Tradition

Below, a 1920 news clipping:

From the Witch Way Blog, we have this:

THE CHRISTMAS TREE

In pagan tradition, namely the Germanic paths which celebrate Jul or Jol (pronounced like Yule or Yole), trees were seen as being inhabited by the gods. 

Because of this, they often brought a tree into their home during the winter season to keep their god(s) warm and protected. 

This tradition spread with immigration throughout time. 

It actually wasn’t until the turn of the century that Christmas trees began to take root as a holiday tradition due to vast popularity.

HOLLY, IVY, EVERGREEN, PINE, & MISTLETOE

There are many myths surrounding these winter plants in paganism. 

In Norse mythology, Frigga’s son Baldur is poisoned by mistletoe (thanks to the mischievous Loki), but then resurrected by Odin. 

Frigga then declares mistletoe a symbol of love (not death). In other myths, namely British and Celtic, the Holly and Oak King battle during the winter and the Holly King is defeated (then rises again at Beltane). Holly and ivy were also widely used during the Roman Saturnalia celebrations as well. There are many more, but you get the gist!

LIGHTS & YULE LOG

Pagans cannot rightly lay a claim on “lights” or “candles,” but candles have certainly played their part in winter rituals for thousands of years. 

Many religions place value on light in darkness during this cold time of year. 

Because our ancestors heavily depended on the sun to grow their crops, the fear of darkness and the long dark days certainly held great weight to them.

Yule logs are a massively popular symbol among several pagan paths. 

It stems back to the whole “Christmas tree” as being a tree inhabited by the gods. 

Largely, the Yule log is recognized as being derived from Germanic pagan traditions, but it’s widely practiced these days. 

The burning of the Yule log symbolizes the return of the Sun God.

Various Christmas traditions have pagan origins to them.

GIFTS & SANTA CLAUS

Gift giving during this time is a very pagan rooted tradition. 

In many paths, there are gods whom travel around gifting children with candies or presents during this time. Many historians suspect Santa Claus is a mixture of Saint Nicholas (Christian bishop in 4th century Turkey) and the Norse god, Odin, and his mighty horse, Sleipnir (sound suspiciously like a reindeer).

It’s Yule Time

Christmas - That Pagan Hoilday

Because of its known pagan origin, Christmas was banned by the Puritans and its observance was illegal in Massachusetts between 1659 and 1681.  But somehow, Christmas was and still is celebrated by most Christians.

And even though the Christmas tree is Pagan, there seems to be some confusion.

Wassail, A Yule Favorite