The horned beast is back to punish all those who have misbehaved this past year.
Krampus, also known as the Horned God of Witches, has an official “Day of Punishment” on December 5th. But this year, Krampus has decided to stick around for the entire holiday season. He will be punishing all those (adults, children, other beings) who have been bad, naughty, evil, annoying, and down-right nasty until January 6th.
Many believe that Krampus was originally introduced to the world by the Austrians in the early 17th century. According to Austrian folklore, Saint Nicholas would give out presents, gifts and good tidings to all those who behaved themselves throughout the previous year, but Krampus would punish those who were bad. Some believe that Krampus derives from a pagan supernatural associated with the Christian devil.
Others believe that that the Krampus is the son of Hel, Norse goddess of the underworld. Even though a majority of people in Norway believe this
KRAMPUS, THE LEGEND
Krampus has grown in popularity over the years and in some parts of the United States, Krampus is as popular as Santa Claus. “It’s nice to get presents for doing good things, but when you’re bad, getting coal in your stocking is just not enough,” said Jenny Jacks, a longtime follower of Krampus. “Some of us need to be punished every year, and some of us want to be punished every year.”
This year, Krampus will be traveling the world until January 6th, making sure everyone that needs to be punished is properly punished. “It’s a big job, but a lot of people are glad there’s someone out there doing it,” said Fr. Culkin, a priest at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. “We believe in punishment and then forgiveness. So we’ll let Krampus give his season’s beatings and we’ll come in after with the forgiveness. It’s a good system.”
Many children lined up to see Krampus, thinking he was part of a haunted house attraction. Unfortunately, when they entered a room outside Boston, they found out the truth. They were bad, and Krampus was going to punish them. Many who lined up were excited to see Krampus, but when they left, they weren’t as thrilled.
Many others have become full-on Krampus fans. “Krampus is the biggest part of our holiday traditions now,” said Hector Ronzalba from Tampa Bay. “The whole family can’t wait for him to come to town, so we can find out just how bad (or good) we were the previous year.” Apparently, Krampus is even better than Santa at keeping a list and checking it twice.
So, look for Krampus. He may be knocking on your door in the next couple of weeks.
