Christmas traditions are usually perceived as something warm and family-oriented. In fact, there are many scary, mystical moments in them. The Cyprus Mail describes such customs in Cyprus and other European countries.
Evil trolls
Cypriot folklore tells of trolls (Cypriot kallikanzari) who live at the roots of a tree that connects our world with the underworld. The trolls spend their entire year under this tree, cutting their way into the outside world, and emerge to the surface just after Christmas. This period, 12 days from Christmas to Epiphany, is called "dodekaimero" in Greek. Evil little black creatures with rat tails, donkey ears, monkey paws and boar tusks appear on earth during this period because Christ has not yet been baptized and cannot protect humanity from evil. Thus, people are left without divine help, and this gives trolls the opportunity to carry off unbaptized babies. On the eve of Epiphany, that is, January 5, they disappear until next year.
Double St. Nicholas
From time immemorial, local residents in Austria believed that St. Nicholas has a dark double: a disgusting creature called Krampus. He wanders the streets looking for children who misbehave. During December, terrifying figures in masks and costumes can be expected to appear on the streets of Austrian cities, frightening children and adults.
Skulls and cannibals
In Wales, when hosts open their doors to guests on New Year's Eve, a creepy creature may be waiting for them on the porch - a horse's skull, wrapped in a flowing cloak. Artificial eyeballs are inserted into the eye sockets of the skull, and the mouth is slightly open. This New Year's character's name is Marie Loyd.
In Iceland, during Christmas, the land is ruled by Grýla, a giant ogress who lives in a cave and goes out hunting for children. She kidnaps them, takes them to her place and eats them. She is helped in this by the giant black cat Yolakotturinn, who amuses himself by catching children instead of mice.
All these beliefs at a certain stage began to play a pedagogical role in order to force children to be obedient and convenient for adults. However, modern psychology categorically rejects intimidation as a means of education.
Photo: cyprus-mail.com
This article was first published in the Cyprus Herald on December 26, 2022. Some information may be out of date.