A creepy Christmas with the Yule Cat, KFC and Krampus
Christmas traditions in the United States are pretty tame. Decorate a tree, sing some Christmas carols or sappy Christmas songs, put on some ugly Christmas sweaters, send Christmas cards, buy presents and then wait for Santa to magically arrive. Straightforward stuff we all know and feel comfortable doing.
Those traditions, of course, did not originate in America. The original, indigenous inhabitants of the land never heard of Jesus or Christmas, and had their own rituals and celebrations. The immigrants to America brought Christmas with them.
Lucky for us, they did not bring some of the more bizarre and creepy Christmas traditions and rituals from “the old country.”
There are all sorts of animals associated with Christmas, including reindeer and Snoopy the Beagle. Cats, however, are not part of the herd in America. In Iceland, it’s a different story. The Yule Cat roams the streets during Christmas. Is it a cute, cuddly, furry little cat? No. The Yule Cat is a ferocious creature that wanders around and eats anyone who hasn’t gotten new clothes to wear on Christmas Eve.
Spiders are another Christmas beast. In Ukraine, folk tales relate the story of a spider on a Christmas tree whose webs turn into gold and silver on Christmas morning. So, just in case, Ukrainians always put a spider web ornament on their trees.
Another unique Christmas ornament is the pickle. In Germany, a pickle ornament is hidden in the inner boughs of the Christmas tree. The kids search the tree for the hidden pickle on Christmas Eve and whoever finds it gets a special present on Christmas morning from St. Nick himself.
While Americans leave Santa milk and cookies to help him fuel up for his travels, in Denmark setting out sweet rice porridge is an act of self-defense. If Nisse the nasty gnome gets fed, all is good. If he goes hungry, mayhem ensues.
Japan is one nation that celebrates Christmas with a meal more familiar to Americans. Starting in the 1970s, a massive advertising campaign devised by a devious American corporation convinced millions of Japanese to celebrate Christmas with a “traditional” meal of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Yep, Kentucky for Christmas still happens in Japan.
There is a decidedly different bird dish eaten in Greenland over the holidays. The “delicacy” is called Kiviak. It’s made with a small bird called an auk, which has been preserved in the hollowed-out body of a seal, buried for several months, and then eaten once it’s decomposed.
We can also add caterpillars to the funny food list. Deep-fried caterpillars to be precise, which are a traditional Christmas snack in South Africa.
There is one aspect of the American Christmas that probably came from Italy. Besides Santa, Befana the Witch travels on Epiphany Eve (January 5th) to deliver gifts to children. If the children were good all year, their socks are filled with candy and gifts. But if they were bad? They get nothing but coal.
Speaking of witches, Norway is apparently full of them. And they come out on Christmas. So the logical response is for Norwegians to hide all their brooms to deny said witches their favored mode of transportation.
A worse fate than a sock full of coal could befall the Eastern European kids who have been bad during the year. While the “good” kids get candy and presents, the bad kids get a visit from Krampus. He’s not a nice creature. His job is to literally punish all the “bad” kids. At the very least, showing kids a drawing of Krampus could scare them into being good since Krampus is usually described as half-goat, half-demon, complete with a big set of antlers and wearing rusty chains and bells.