Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, as the holidays close in, parents inevitably
Speaker 1: remind unruly children that Santa Claus is watching them. But
Speaker 1: there's another lurker out there in the long dark night,
Speaker 1: and he's watching too, a thing of fur and horns
Speaker 1: and cloven hoof. Yes, Virginia, there is a Crampus. And
Speaker 1: for naughty kids, this demonic beast man brings chains and
Speaker 1: switches instead of toys. Every December five, the Crumpus knocked
Speaker 1: eve of the Feast of St. Nicholas. Legend has it
Speaker 1: that he descends from the mountain wilds to terrorize children
Speaker 1: and drag the worst of their lot away in a
Speaker 1: foul wicker basket. While he's not the only Yule Tide
Speaker 1: boogeyman in Western tradition, Crampus has clawed his way to
Speaker 1: the front of that frightening pack, not only surviving within
Speaker 1: his native dramatic alpine traditions, but also managing to achieve
Speaker 1: international notoriety. Before we explore the history and psychology of Crampus,
Speaker 1: you're probably wondering why Yule tide boogeymen even exist. Surely,
Speaker 1: holidays are a time of light and childlike wonder, not monsters, kidnappers. Ah.
Speaker 1: But the holidays, at least in northern latitudes, have always
Speaker 1: been a time of darkness. As sure, we light trees,
Speaker 1: sing carols, and feast upon the spoils of hunt and harvest,
Speaker 1: But the wintertime future is uncertain. Well, spring thar our
Speaker 1: frozen world, while our crops grow again, will our larder
Speaker 1: be enough to make it through the winter. That's one
Speaker 1: reason why if you venture through world mythology, you'll pass
Speaker 1: countless devils, satyrs, and horned spirits who all resemble good
Speaker 1: old Crampus. In Greek mythology, for instance, you'll find Hades
Speaker 1: abduction of Persephone, the daughter of the harvest goddess Demeter.
Speaker 1: It's a tense piece of drama that explains the Earth's seasons.
Speaker 1: Winter arrives when Persephone must enter captivity in Hades, and
Speaker 1: spring returns when she emerges again. Each year. The tale
Speaker 1: serves as an iconic reminder that winter is an inherently
Speaker 1: apocalyptic time, pitting the forces of light and life against
Speaker 1: darkness and death. These motifs permeate many early religions, and
Speaker 1: when Christianity spread throughout Europe. These old gods and spirits
Speaker 1: never quite died out. Rather, people wove them into the
Speaker 1: new religious tapestry. Early Christians transplanted the birth of their savior,
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ to December twenty five, as this was a
Speaker 1: date associated with older celebrations of the new Sun, that
Speaker 1: resurgent celestial force destined to defeat the long winter, and
Speaker 1: so Crampus ties into a rich legacy of winter darkness,
Speaker 1: seasonal fear, and pre Christian traditions involving harvest, spirits and
Speaker 1: wild men. But Crampus's exact origins are just as uncharted
Speaker 1: as the uncivilized wilds from which he emerges every December five.
Speaker 1: Saint Nicholas, that solemn Catholic precursor to Jolly Santa Claus,
Speaker 1: first gained popularity among German speaking people during the eleventh century.
Speaker 1: Crampus became part of the festivities over the centuries to follow,
Speaker 1: but he undoubtedly dated back to pre Christian customs surrounding
Speaker 1: the pagan goddess Prictha and her consort of frightening and
Speaker 1: unruly shall perchten. These customs never vanished and eventually rebounded
Speaker 1: by the sixteenth century. Pagan schell Brichton processions became a
Speaker 1: frequent part of winter festivities in Salzburg, Austria, despite centuries
Speaker 1: of Christian traditions. Catholic attempts to ban these festivals in
Speaker 1: the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries proved feudal, so a demonic
Speaker 1: key goat earned his tenure in Alpine holiday traditions. In
Speaker 1: Alpine celebrations, Crampus and st Nick come to life through
Speaker 1: the use of costumes and wooden masks. But maybe you
Speaker 1: can guess which role is more popular for clad goatmen
Speaker 1: tend to parade through the streets unmass every Crumpus knocked
Speaker 1: yes to this day. They rattle their chains, brandished torches,
Speaker 1: and leap about with wild and indiscriminate energy. As with
Speaker 1: many masked rituals and celebrations around the world, the rights
Speaker 1: of Crumpus knocked are transformative. They allow participants to abandon
Speaker 1: the conventions of daily life and indulge in a wilder
Speaker 1: and perhaps darker aspect of their personality. As such, it's
Speaker 1: easy for things to get a little out of hand.
Speaker 1: Many processions limit the costume participants to keep everyone from
Speaker 1: crossing that thin line between good natured holiday horror and
Speaker 1: emotional abuse. Back in two thousand six, concerned parents, along
Speaker 1: with Austrian child psychologist Max Friedrich, spoke out against the
Speaker 1: demon's violent influence, as well as what Friedrick called childhood
Speaker 1: Crampus trauma. Somewhere along the line, Santa had been banned
Speaker 1: from visiting kindergartens in Vienna, but Crampus apparently still had
Speaker 1: access in Tift. Amid the massive influx of Syrian and
Speaker 1: Iraqi refugees into rural Austria, community representatives made special efforts
Speaker 1: to prepare newcomers, especially children, for their frighteningly fun holiday festivities.
Speaker 1: In the past, Crampus detractors have even outlawed the demon outright.
Speaker 1: Before Nazi Germany's ninety eight invasion of Austria, Catholic austrofascists
Speaker 1: briefly held power, and, as reported in a nineteen forty
Speaker 1: five New York Times article, they saw Crampus as a demonic,
Speaker 1: unruly and potentially communist usurper of Christian tradition. Crampus postcards
Speaker 1: and candies have always been popular, but around that time
Speaker 1: Crampus had virtually usurped the role of prime gift giver.
Speaker 1: It was this demon, not St Nick who made rounds
Speaker 1: with sweets and gifts. The Austro fascists ordered anyone in
Speaker 1: a Crampus costume arrested on site. They also required that
Speaker 1: all St. Nick's be licensed by the state and monitored.
Speaker 1: Despite the continuing war on Crampus and any misgivings we
Speaker 1: might have about scaring good behavior into children with a
Speaker 1: threat of inhuman kidnapping, the tradition not only indoors but flourishes.
Speaker 1: Internet culture and the rejection of homogenized holiday traditions have
Speaker 1: led to a full blown international Crampus revolution. If you're
Speaker 1: listening to this episode as it comes out, you've missed
Speaker 1: this year's Crumpus Knocked, but it's never too early to
Speaker 1: start planning for next year. Today's episode was written by
Speaker 1: Robert Lamb and produced by Tyler Clang. If you're looking
Speaker 1: for gifts for those on either your naughty or nice list,
Speaker 1: check out our online shop at t public dot com
Speaker 1: slash brain Stuff. Every purchase supports us, and of course,
Speaker 1: for more on this and lots of other festive topics,
Speaker 1: visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com. M