Do you teach about Krampus?

[Guest monsnoleedra]

Now that the Christmas holiday season is upon us I am reminded of the other side of the Christmas story.  Everyone knows how the Jolly old Elf Santa Claus has his list of good and bad children and how the bad ones get coal in their stockings while the good children get presents.  Yet you seldom hear of Krampus the dark creature that punishes bad children and used to be the counter side to Santa Claus' good influence.

 

While he appears to be more Nordic / Teutonic in origin he is found in some Slavic lore as well.  Explaining the goat looking demon that was occasionally seen on earlier Christmas cards or adds in papers and magazines years ago.

 

At this time I do not teach my grandchildren about Krampus as I think they are to young and still need a little magic to believe in.  Yet as they get older I may introduce them to the history of Krampus and how he punished the bad children.

[hawkwind 16]

I have never heard of Krampus please do tell!

[Horne 65]

I just explained some of the pre-christian lore tied to St Nicholas (December 6) to a friend of mine, and though we don't know Krampus in the Netherlands, there is a similar character called Black Peter (Zwarte Piet) and in fact the companion of St Nicholas is known in large parts of Europe in many guises and known by many different names. I do think it's important that people learn about the background of these traditions and the function they have (or once had) in stimulating children to behave, but I agree it is better to wait teaching children about all this until they are older, so they can experience the festivities unspoiled by facts they are too young to really appreciate.

[RoseRed 263]

I taught my daughter about him when she was older.

[Raineylane 151]

Just learned about Krampus myself last year.  Never of heard of him before that.  Very interesting though.  For some reason he reminds me of Hogfather.  Not the same I know.

[Mountain Witch 192]

Timely...this article popped up in my feed this morning:

 

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/12/krampus-christmas-demon/

[Raineylane 151]

Timely...this article popped up in my feed this morning:

 

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/12/krampus-christmas-demon/

 

 

 

 

From the above article:  While Santa gives the good ones gifts and joy, Krampus gives the bad ones beatings with a whip (made from birch sticks and horsehair) and nightmares.

 

 

 

Interesting, when I was a kid I never heard about the lump of coal (from Santa) until I was much older.  But I was told that I would get a bag of switches if I was bad.  Hmmm, makes me wonder if the idea of the switches came from the Krampus story.

[RachelLizLear 55]

I was also told that I would get switches if I was naughty, and that if I did that meant that I needed a whipping. Sounds similar.

[RedKowalski 4]

That gives me an idea of making a besom of birch and horse hair for decoration over the festive season. 

Although... I wonder if it could be applied to a spell in some way...  :twisted_witch:

[emrsy 3]

Haha. So glad I came upon this. Growing up in Germany and Finland, Krampus and krampusnacht was part of our dec 5th evening and most of december. We grew up expecting him to whip us into good behavior if we were naughty with some of the scarier stories stating he'd take us away forever. My grandpa and his friends would get dressed up in some wonderful krampus costumes and visit us for a scare...then proceed to get drunk at the nearest pub. Ay, good times.

[Yex 15]

This last Christmas season, I taught my daughter (who was 3 at the time; she turned 4 yester-day) about Krampus. I think she was pretty scared of him, especially after some warnings that if she didn't behave he would come for her, so we ultimately had to tone it down a bit and assure her that she wouldn't get taken into his sack, because she's a good person, et cetera. 

 

On Christmas Eve, she helped me leave a glass of brandy for him on the porch. 

[Phoenixxx 0]

You bet I told all my kids! And I had a blast doing it! I feel it's important to let kids know they aren't entitled to stuff. You must earn it. :-)

[Holdasown 46]

My son has autism so we don't really do Santa or anything. We keep it low key, small gifts, homemade stuff and he knows his gifts were given by someone not someone he doesn't know. This year I joked about Krampus but he wouldn't get it more than Santa. I am considering a tree topper though for next year. There were some cool one's this year and I didn't get one. 

[SabinaLea 12]

I taught my kids about Krampus a year or two after Santa wore off.  Explained different cultures have different ways they navigate and celebrate the holidays.  My daughter actually found this intriguing and started learning more about the Krampus, including watching YouTube videos about how the germanic countries celebrate the Krampus currently.  I was glad that I waited, and that they could find interest in something "scary" to others.

[Onyx 802]

Known about Krampus for years and threatened my children with him, With two boys, by the way, one Autistic, I needed all the help I could get. Krampus works well.

[Sagefire 251]

Hell yes.  Krampus holds an important part in our decorating scheme.  I began collecting Krampus goodies when I was a teenager.  At first it was rebellion, later it became a real interest.  My grandson was scared at first, but now at 4 years old, he swings his 'sword' around slaying Krampus.

[Onyx 802]

I can just imagine him, yes, Krampus looks pretty scary with his long tongue hanging out and his horns. Nowadays, there is only the creepy little "Elf on the Shelf" who is just a little snitch!

[Michele 1,461]

I never really taught about holidays - I did the secular holidays but taught my child there is no Santa, that I work hard to earn money (some of which will get spent on gifts at Christmas if I have any left over after paying the bills, lol). 

[woodwitchofthewest 191]

I am not really interested in Krampus at all.  But I do have a fair number of "green man" type "Santa" figures that I've collected over the years that generally go up around the holidays.