I don't mean Mrs. Claus, but Kris Kringle's retribution doppelganger. In many cultures, the seasonal gift-giver is accompanied by a less benevolent sidekick whose metier is to punish the naughty.
With the modern world's predilection for saccrification and innocuousness, the dark side of the holiday has waned. This "Pollyanna" effect, has removed some of the more interesting Christmas figures. Here's a short list of my favorites:
Krampus - with goat horns and cloven hoofs, this counterpart to St. Nicolas bears more than a slight resemblance to Satan. His demonic mien and rattling rusty chains frighten bad children into contrition. In modern Austria, Krampus celebrations have a feeling of Mardi Gras with costumes and drinking. The party hearkens back to Roman Saturnalia which also occurred in late December.
Black Peter - in German, Zwarte Piet, he assists St. Nicolas. Resembling a wild man clad in fur, he goes down the chimney, ergo his black, sooty appearance. Peter delivers candy and treats in good children's shoes and leaves only soot for the bad ones.
Belsnickel - Santa Claus brings candy and gifts to the good children. For the naughty ones, Belsnickel leaves lumps of coal and switches for the parents to whip the mischievous ones into better behaviour. In France, he is known as Le Pere Fouettard, the Whipping Father.
Rather than focus on the yin of rewarding good behavior and the yang of punishment for bad behavior, we should stress caring and giving for this season and throughout the year. Although, it couldn't hurt to carry a switch to smite those little mischief makers . The writer assumes no responsibility for ensuing legal action - as ever - BB
"If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, than we are a sorry lot indeed." - Albert Einstein
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