St. Nicholas' not so well known helpers...

Today, Dec. 6th, is the Feast of St Nicholas across the face of the planet Earth. In America, when we think of jolly ole St. Nick, we often think of those lil' people that help him out, whom we call elves. However, in other ethnic traditions there is a bit of a different understanding. A friend of mine recently reminded me of the tradition, found in Germanic countries but especially in Austria, known as "the Krampus." Where we see jolly lil folks who load up Santa's sleigh, the Germanic people came up with a little different idea.
The Krampus are a group of demon-like figures that go around swatting little boys and girls who have been naughty during the year. The idea being that the on the Feast of St. Nicholas these guys show up on your doorstep and let the kids know that they have until Christmas to clean their act up - otherwise they will be back to dish out some justice, North Pole Style. You can read about them in the link above, but I think this is such an interesting idea.

Certainly, one can see A LOT of room for abuse with this tradition, but I think it sure beats the entitlement mentality that is promoted in America because of the tradition of buying each other presents, mainly promoted after World War II. When I was young we used to be told that we would get a lump of coal in our stockings if we were bad, but nowadays, judging from TV, one would think kids are supposed to expect their gifts regardless of their behavior.

One of the Krampus is called Knecht Ruprecht, which translated means "Servant Rupert." In particular, he seems to be one of the more scarier things that help St. Nick carry his toys around. This guy is meant to be at the service of St. Nicholas to help the kids shape up. And while having a demon-like figure may be a bit extreme to our American tastes, I do think that the notion of reminding our children that their behavior helps them to gain rewards is definitely a good concept to help them appreciate.

On the other hand, we remember that Christ came to us as a free gift to mankind. Thus, it is probably best to integrate these two ideas. Reminding children that our behavior will affect the rewards we receive can help them to think about the end of their life when they will go before their Judge - Christ our Lord. Everlasting life is a free gift given by Jesus, nevertheless, our actions will affect whether we recieve Heaven or not!

Remember, the idea of the Krampus is that they are helpers of St. Nicholas. He is after all a Saint, but these guys help to dish out the justice which sinful actions deserve - a swat, apparently. So if a child is trying to live their life in virtue and not in sin than presumably the Krampus are going to be on your side. They support the friends of St. Nick, who are living for Christ. Its one of those "parent mind-control tools" that are not such a bad thing in the end. Not because we want to control our kids minds for evil, but more importantly that we help them to see the right and wrong things we ought to do or not do, respectively, in this life.

The Krampus serve to remind us that, as sweet and wholesome as Christmas is, we must never forget the very real effects of our good and bad decisions. I wish we had something like this in America, or at least here in Colorado. Maybe I can come up with something yet.... rabid squirrel? Half-man, half-elk? who knows? In the mean time, here are some more lovely pictures of these "bad dudes" from the North: