Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff, Lauren
Speaker 1: volebah Here as crappy holiday traditions go, Catalonia may have
Speaker 1: the rest of the world beat. That's because this northeastern
Speaker 1: outpost of Spain has some decidedly bathroom laden Christmas customs
Speaker 1: that leave many unsuspecting visitors scratching their heads, laughing, or both.
Speaker 1: Without further ado, we present you El kaghana, a statue
Speaker 1: of a person pooping placed off in a corner of
Speaker 1: the traditional nativity scene. This isn't some recent cultural development
Speaker 1: that signals the downfall of modern society. Rather, it's a
Speaker 1: tradition that dates back at least two centuries. In Catalan,
Speaker 1: a Romance language from the region of Catalonia, Spain, the
Speaker 1: word kagane translates roughly to crapper, though some sources use
Speaker 1: refer languae whig. The most popular caginet figure depicts a
Speaker 1: male peasant in a red hat, a crouched with his
Speaker 1: buttocks exposed, and an unmistakable little brown pile at his feet.
Speaker 1: At Christmas time. The khagane is sneakily hidden somewhere with
Speaker 1: then a nativity scene. A children make a game of
Speaker 1: trying to spot the figurine as he crouches in the shadows.
Speaker 1: The kaganet is never at the front of the scene,
Speaker 1: because that would be disrespectful. No one really knows what
Speaker 1: gave rise to this long lived tradition. The Nativity scene
Speaker 1: as we know it was developed through a series of
Speaker 1: early Christian stories, including one called the Infancy Gospel of
Speaker 1: Matthew from around the six hundreds, which is probably the
Speaker 1: first to mention animals being present in the stable. The
Speaker 1: practice of recreating the Nativity scene was conceived by Saint Francis,
Speaker 1: the founder of the Franciscan Order, in the early twelve hundreds,
Speaker 1: and was cemented in Catholic devotional culture by the end
Speaker 1: of that century. By the Renaissance, Nativity imagery played large
Speaker 1: in art. But so where does the poop come in?
Speaker 1: Because fecal matter has been used as fertilizer for agriculture
Speaker 1: throughout history, some say that kaggate statues are a fertility
Speaker 1: symbol of sorts. By plopping a pooper in the midst
Speaker 1: of the scene, perhaps farmers hope to find favorable conditions
Speaker 1: for crops and ultimately wind up with greater yields At
Speaker 1: harvest time. But there are a couple other theories in play.
Speaker 1: Because the Christian faith states that Jesus literally became human
Speaker 1: in order to save people from their sins, perhaps the
Speaker 1: kaganey is a reminder of humanity's common bonds. Maybe the
Speaker 1: Kaguday purposefully portrays a rather undignified private moment in conjunction
Speaker 1: with the Nativity scene to reinforce our shared vulnerability in
Speaker 1: the presence of a higher power. No one really knows,
Speaker 1: but one thing is for sure. El Khaghanet is big business.
Speaker 1: The kaganets turned toward fame came in two thousand and three,
Speaker 1: when demand for Cadalan made statues was dropping and cheap
Speaker 1: Chinese imports were cutting into the market. A company called
Speaker 1: appropriately El Kaghanet took note that it was an election
Speaker 1: year and made statuettes bearing politicians likenesses. Rather than take offense,
Speaker 1: those politicians gamely embraced the silly mockery, and consumers loved it.
Speaker 1: The irreverent statues became a huge hit, and now the
Speaker 1: company sells tens of thousands of them every year. Since then,
Speaker 1: the artists who make these figurines have been turning other
Speaker 1: celebrities into pooping icons. Each year, they monitor news headlines
Speaker 1: and pop culture, introducing new faces that they think will
Speaker 1: sell well. The workers carve likeness from plaster and construct
Speaker 1: a mold. From that mold comes hundreds or thousands of
Speaker 1: clay reproductions. Poop and all the little figures are painted
Speaker 1: by artists, which sometimes include disabled people in the local community.
Speaker 1: Their inspirations range from historical figures and popes, to artists
Speaker 1: and athletes, and even fictional characters. As of twenty twenty five,
Speaker 1: think Cleopatra, Chae Guavera, Zaron Mamdani, Darwin Einstein, Lebron James,
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of footballers, George Michael, Madonna, the singer,
Speaker 1: an alien xenomorph ash and Pikachu Yes a lu Boo Boo,
Speaker 1: and even more abstract pieces like a balloon sculptured dog
Speaker 1: squatting over a small balloon. Poop and kaganets aren't the
Speaker 1: only area tradition that involves metaphorical poop. There's also the
Speaker 1: TiO di Nadal or Christmas log, which is a log
Speaker 1: modernly depicted with a smiling face painted on one end.
Speaker 1: Children feed the log with treats during the week's leading
Speaker 1: up to Christmas, and it's kept cozy with the blanket
Speaker 1: or other covering. Parents sneakily switch out the log with
Speaker 1: larger ones to make it seem as though it's getting bigger.
Speaker 1: On the final day, the log takes a pinata form
Speaker 1: and kids beat it with a stick while singing a
Speaker 1: vulgar pooping song until the log poops out. Treats galore
Speaker 1: for the whole family. The lesson here at Christmas time
Speaker 1: in Catalonia. Poop still smells, but it also sells and
Speaker 1: brings people together. Today's episode is based on the article
Speaker 1: There's a Pooping Man in the Kadalan Nativity Scene on
Speaker 1: HowStuffWorks dot Com, written by Nathan Chandler. Brain Stuff is
Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com,
Speaker 1: and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
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