Before the time of Christmas, and a time before shopping malls, red suited jolly plump men, eggnog, and shitty but warm sweaters, our ancestors celebrated this time of year in several different ways.
Some of the most well known celebrations include Yule, Saturnalia, and The Solstice/Sol Invictus
During the time when Christian beliefs were spreading across Europe, they would observe the local creeds of various regions and traditions as well as their beliefs and various religions. They would lump every religion, clan, and belief that didn’t follow their Christ, as Pagan. Many of these regional religions all had some form of celebration around the same time of year.
In what is now known as modern Scandinavia, they would celebrate Yule. Yule is pretty similar to what we see today in regards to feasts, festivities, and celebrating the end of winter. They would celebrate the solstice, the longest night, and share in the yearly harvest. Their celebrations would last for weeks at a time. They would burn large logs and celebrate for as long as the logs burned. This where the term “Yule Log” comes from. It’s also worth pointing out that many of their fermented drinks were ready by this time of year. So let the wine, mead, and ale flow!
In Rome, they celebrated Saturnalia, a month long hedonistic celebration. It was in celebration of the Roman God Saturn, God of Agriculture. They too would have massive feasts, and copious drinking. Saturnalia would also coincide with Juvenalia, a feast to honor the children of Rome. Upper class Romans celebrated the birth of Mithra, the God of the Unconquerable Sun.
The solstice played a key part in many of these festivities. It was revered as a night of indulgence and celebration. “The longest night” meant that days were getting longer, the harshest of winter had passed, and the sun would return and help the crops grow. During these celebrations people would feast on the years harvest. They would share and exchange food and offerings so they all could live throughout the rest of the winter days. There are many different ways celebrated The Solstice, but these were the most common of practices.
Then there’s the church. When the churches influence was spreading from Rome and across Europe, they observed these ancient traditions of these “pagans”. Though they condemned many of the pagan people, they did enjoy and use many of those same traditions. It is believed that they used these celebrations as a way to coerce more followers to the church, and to help transition people from being “pagan” to being “Christian”.
In the early years of Christianity, they did not celebrate the birth of Jesus. Reason being, there is no date for his birth written in the Bible. It wasn’t until Pope Julius I declared that December 25th would be reserved for the celebration of their lord, and would then hold their Christ Mass. It’s worth noting that many historians and Christian scholars believe that his birth may have taken place in the spring. With the local traditions of Saturnalia and Juvenalia, they were able to absorb and blend the old traditions and the new.
As the centuries progressed, and the churches influence and control spread even further, pagan traditions were all but wiped out. However, many puritans still condemned Christmas due to its pagan roots. For many years, Christmas was forbidden in New England because of this. In fact, Christmas Day wasn’t a federally recognized holiday in the US until 1870.
Over the years this holiday has changed in many ways but at its core is still the same. We still feast, we still share, and we still celebrate. We all may not believe in the same gods or have the same beliefs. One thing we do have in common, is the need to come together, congregate, and be together to welcome the longer days, the bountiful harvest, and just have some good old fashioned fun!
Like most children growing up in central Alberta, I was exposed to a Yuletide season steeped in an over abundance of classic carols, candy canes, “Frosty” the snowman, gingerbread houses, family members I didn’t know hugging me and then asking “why are you wearing that?” repeatedly. Many of my cousins or friends clearly enjoyed the season, showing off their gifts or Christmas sweaters in hopes that we might share their joy and what we also received. My family was not well off so to speak, parents divorced when I was 4, we lived with my grandma for a few years until my mother got a place in the city, those years with grandma were the happiest years of my childhood. Truth be told I hated it all after the move, since I was probably about 8 years old the “magic of Christmas” was something I never felt anymore, part of it was just growing up into a tween but the other half was more personal.
The constant bustle of perceived warmth in the home around the holidays continued to be lost on me, it’s not for my mother’s lack of trying over the years that’s for sure but the focus of “the big day” and “baby Jesus” just never felt real to me. Everyone always trying so hard to have the best outfit, fanciest dinner, perfect gift, or be on their best behaviour for one fucking day; more than half the time stressed out and taking it out on those around us in ways we regret every single time. The true meaning of Christmas seemingly lost on most of society, do we even know why we celebrate this holiday anymore? It’s clearly not about baby Jesus, or Satan..I mean SANTA – this season was nothing but a facade of shiny distractions to ignore the coldness we constantly combat within ourselves as well as outside.
It is always hard for me to enjoy this holiday when my birthday is the 21st of December; for clarification I’m not blaming anyone (I love my mother) but I think I can count on one hand the times I had birthday parties or memorable moments that stand out in my mind as “A Happy Birthday”. There were even a few years when my birthday was completely forgotten all together or lumped in with Christmas instead out of convenience to others. Now that being said, I did not care about fancy anything or expensive items, it was always about attention and time for me (time is money!) that is genuinely meaningful. I understand it’s insanely privileged for most kids to get gifts or parties of any kind at all, I was lucky and happy to get whatever my family could provide during that time of year; however, what I hated was how I was treated as insignificant to the holiday, or how the holiday had more meaning in some way. My birthday was the butt of jokes as I got older, I got split gifts all the time from almost everyone I knew, as funny as it could be, it was like I was never worth the time in anyone’s life to make an effort for anything beyond something quick because CHRISTMAS….
Anyways moving on to why any of you might still be reading this, as my Scrooge self continued to grow up in an environment of oppressive Seventh Day Adventist Christian tyranny (mom got remarried, sigh) I further buckled down on my “hate” for the holiday all together and felt it was my mission to find “true meaning” within this season. Nothing really has meaning unless you create or provide that meaning in some way, making it impactful to oneself. The greatest gift is that of knowledge, as Satanists we all agree and know this, the journey of the self is endless and we must always seek to evolve.
I came across Krampus many years later, I was heavily into norse heathenry at the time, I was reading and studying anything I could get my hands on that was legit historical mythology and our current living practices that still existed within the framework of cultural organized religions as well as society. Now like most young heathens the concept of a wild winter Devil was absolutely glorious and exactly what my black heart needed in life, so to discover that many countries still celebrated the holiday of Krampusnacht was the best news I could have hoped for. Krampus felt to me at the time a perfect embodiment of everything I felt during that season, the wild chaos to disrupt the “perfect” world of Christmas, shaking people awake to the “true meaning” of the season.
The historical origins of Krampus as a whole are actually very mixed, many northern European cultures in mountain villages had folk practices that withstood christianization as well as evolved with it, creating an even more complex and rich history of traditions we know today.
Many have interpreted the events of Krampusnacht and its folk practices are of self-inversion invented by the villagers. Old Sardinian rituals predating over 2000 years had a presence of Mamuthones – Similar to Krampi – The Ritual of Imbovament – The Ritual of Reduction of Man into Animal; the theory and understanding suggests that beastly masqueraders are meant to enact the “exorcism” of the man-beast relation through ironic beast-man inversion” The understanding of the dependence most villages (cities) have on livestock for survival, representing the cyclical quality of life during the season. With most remote towns and mountain villages being very self sustaining, this left them free to evolve their own traditions along with the new social christian culture. Old pagan forest Gods became devils within the new christian lore but that did nothing to get rid of the old ways people of the snowy mountains enjoyed and still practiced. It just became something new, a different beast so to speak.
Horned Deities, Gods and Goddesses were not uncommon within pagan folk cultures, beliefs and practices varied from village to village but the “wild forest beast” was ever prevalent in most folk tales as well as the concept of lighting bonfires during the darkest parts of the year to drive evil spirits out and bring honour and warmth to those that share your hearth. The ritual continuation and innovation within isolated communities was a constant symbol of birth even during the darkest most hopeless times of the season, death and life are closely entwined as well as chaos and peace. The contrast is essential to the balance life requires in order for it to continue, small isolated communities understood this fact of life.
Rituals back then as well as now commonly include dance as a propitiatory rite for a good harvest, today it propitiates a good tourist season usually or however one symbolically perceives prosperity or success to carry you through the cold season and into the new year. The action of lighting a fire to drive out “evils” as well as dance in combination is to set the intention and tone of the season going forward, in addition to the symbolic costumes of becoming a beast and returning to our primal natures is quite powerful. The use of natural items as well as imitation animal parts is encouraged as it brings honour and pays respect to all things wild and untamed in nature. Part of the winter solstice season was that of bringing nature into your home and giving it a place of honour, for without a successful harvest during the rest of the year the winter could be deadly, mother nature would come knocking and it wasn’t pleasant. Gifting of items and sharing of goods was necessary for survival; without the community, without balance of nature nothing we have is possible.
One of the most common ritual practices that is still alive today is that of Mummering – or mumming, is a Christmas-time house visiting tradition practised in Newfoundland, Ireland and parts of the United Kingdom. Also known as janneying, it typically involves a group of friends or family who dress in disguise and visit homes within their community or neighbouring communities during the twelve days of Christmas. The origins of Mumming come from many if not almost all pagan folk traditions of northern Europe in some variation because of Christian conversion however the true origins are all but lost now and have evolved from a melting pot of myths & practices. Without going too off-topic but for the purposes of pagan folk traditional history, the myth & traditions of the Mari Lwyd in the UK has many similarities to that of Krampus. The Mari Lwyd traditions are less scary and chaotic (fun) than those of Krampusnacht, the origins of their mummering and visiting homes is the same.
What makes Krampusnacht unique compared to other seasonal practises that have evolved into more rosy or warm fuzzy traditions in some locations is that Krampus is arguably more popular now than ever. People are drawn to the allure of letting loose and being wild during a time of quiet and pure white perfection, the contrast and duality of the season has much to enjoy. Even more interesting is possibly why people find the ritual of Krampusnacht to be so invigorating in many ways as it allows us to confront our demons or be forced to confront them in ways we might normally not choose to but in a hopefully safe and symbolic way. While it has been common for fights to break out in the traditions of “house visits” where the battle between good vs evil is enacted sometimes too literally, social quarrels were often dealt with on this night as well.
The whole process of becoming a beast, that embodies all your wild qualities, those that society might consider to be unacceptable, covering yourself completely indistinguishable is extremely liberating as it allows one to feel free of their other identity and engage fully in the ritual. Now that Krampus has been awoken within us we light and stoke the fires, to light the darkness and drive the evil out of ourselves as well as our communities and homes. As we are lighting our fires we begin the dance, the shaking of large bells also a symbol of clearing away the old to make room for the new. Even the birch switches / bundles of sticks are symbolic in the “clearing” away of the old – like a broom commonly used in witchcraft for cleaning as much as protection. The switches themselves, often a symbol as well as useful, were more seen as a gift from primal nature more than a tool of violence. Do not fear that which we do not understand.
Under the veil of darkness the ritual begins. An old saying goes,
“Long night comes and cold it is Winter’s claws now tear the veil Between the children’s world and his Krampus! Krampus! Hail!”
“Winter passes, spring will dawn. Darkness holds us in the chill, Perchten comes with crashing drums to threaten and thrill.”
These old carols shed a bit of light on the poetic symbolism within the myth. The coldest, darkest, longest night of the year is the winter solstice, like that of Halloween it is said to be a time where the veil is very thin. A time of stillness so delicate that often children are the only ones to notice these subtleties, they are innocent and sensitive in ways adults are not. When referring to “his” Krampus one could assume that means all of us have a “Krampus” which might be true based on the history and myth, the man beast ritual of becoming makes a lot of sense. Claws tear the veil between the worlds, to rip open the balance of our protected innocence and the wild untamed nature we all are part of, that we all have within. Our truest selves.
Winter and it’s cold long nights do pass, like our own darkness and sadness it too shall pass, even when it seems as if there is no end in sight. Out of the darkness our primal nature will always rise, coming crashing through to threaten and thrill – trust your inner nature, it will guide you to your truth. As within, so without. We are just like the nature around us, we all go through periods of darkness like winter but spring inevitably always comes. No matter how hard we try to fight the darkness it is part of the balance of life. Evolving and growing ever steady even in darkness, towards whatever brings us joy & symbolic light into our lives. It is on us to bring meaning to each moment, make this time we have on earth our own – one’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
The Christian Church as well as other dominant organized religions have tried to fight human nature by creating arbitrary rules over almost everything they can think of; constantly evolving their belief structures over time to fulfill their religious oligarchy that seemingly has no end in sight. As a satanist born in the most bastardized, capitalized, holiday grotesque month of the year I have made it my life’s mission to share as much of the old history I can find, keep it alive while we still can and not let those that have tried to destroy us for hundreds of years win. Not when we have the technology, the science and the knowledge to do better.
The present time is the real present of the season, time is a gift we do not get back. When you give time, spend time, that is what has real meaning to those around you this season.
Good!!! Because we’re back and ready with a new & improved Book Club, hosted by our favourite Aunt Betty!! We will be reading Satanic Feminism by Per Faxneld.
Stay tuned for your invite to our new quarterly Book Club, launching January 2022! This gives folx time to get the book while we approach holiday season and shipping chaos.
Join us October 30th at 3am for a special Temple Service lead by one of our wonderful Canadian Ministers. This Temple Service discussions will be rooted in Halloween Practices & Traditions. What traditions do you practice? Rituals perhaps?
Click HERE to watch live! *TST TV Subscription required*
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