TRASCRIZIONE 🔗
WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.100
Today, I want to share with you the very real
2
00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:05.530
and very dark stories behind some of our most beloved
3
00:00:05.639 --> 00:00:08.570
Christmas characters. For instance, did you know that St. Nick
4
00:00:08.750 --> 00:00:10.929
used to send naughty kids to the pits of hell?
5
00:00:11.410 --> 00:00:13.630
Or that he gets a lot of inspiration from a
6
00:00:13.710 --> 00:00:17.410
Christmas witch that would cut naughty children into pieces? This
7
00:00:17.469 --> 00:00:20.589
beloved holiday is actually about as dark as a brother's
8
00:00:20.789 --> 00:00:24.089
grim fairy tale. Welcome back to Heart Starts Pounding. I'm
9
00:00:24.109 --> 00:00:26.890
your host, Kayla Moore, and today I'm It feels great
10
00:00:26.929 --> 00:00:29.629
to be cozied up here in the Rogue Detecting Society headquarters.
11
00:00:30.030 --> 00:00:31.890
I love this time of year. And as you know,
12
00:00:31.969 --> 00:00:33.969
if you're a regular, one of our favorite things to
13
00:00:34.009 --> 00:00:37.140
do is talk about folklore. We've talked about terrifying tales
14
00:00:37.179 --> 00:00:41.009
from Appalachia, some of the origins of gothic horror. and
15
00:00:41.210 --> 00:00:43.890
even holidays like Halloween. But today we're going to be
16
00:00:43.929 --> 00:00:47.469
talking about Christmas. Specifically, I want to get into some
17
00:00:47.509 --> 00:00:51.340
of the darker pagan folklore and traditions that worked their
18
00:00:51.380 --> 00:00:53.679
way into what the Catholic Church had intended to be
19
00:00:53.700 --> 00:00:57.000
a celebration of the birth of Christ. There's actually quite
20
00:00:57.020 --> 00:00:59.179
a bit of dark folklore hiding around this holiday if
21
00:00:59.219 --> 00:01:01.759
you know where to look. And just a reminder, if
22
00:01:01.799 --> 00:01:04.060
you like true crime cases that read like gothic horror,
23
00:01:04.140 --> 00:01:06.609
mysteries that will keep you up at night, and let
24
00:01:06.629 --> 00:01:09.879
me check my notes here, tales of witches that pull
25
00:01:09.980 --> 00:01:13.260
out children's organs like in today's story, well, you're in
26
00:01:13.299 --> 00:01:16.569
the right place. You are just like me. Wherever you are,
27
00:01:16.629 --> 00:01:19.390
make sure that you follow along, subscribe, leave a comment,
28
00:01:19.670 --> 00:01:22.030
all of that good stuff. And quickly before we dive in,
29
00:01:22.109 --> 00:01:23.450
I do want to say a big thank you to
30
00:01:23.530 --> 00:01:25.969
everyone who listens to the ad-supported version of this show
31
00:01:26.170 --> 00:01:28.359
and to all of our sponsors that make it possible
32
00:01:28.439 --> 00:01:30.909
to do all of the research and editing that it
33
00:01:30.969 --> 00:01:33.810
takes to make this show this year. I think we
34
00:01:33.829 --> 00:01:36.739
put out 56 free episodes of heart starts pounding. That's
35
00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:39.280
the most we've ever done in history. And this month
36
00:01:39.299 --> 00:01:41.079
we're going to be donating a portion of the ad
37
00:01:41.140 --> 00:01:45.700
revenue to feeding America, a network of food banks where
38
00:01:45.700 --> 00:01:48.480
98% of donations go directly to programs and services that
39
00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:52.530
help people facing hunger. So thank you to everyone listening
40
00:01:52.689 --> 00:01:55.530
for making that possible. Okay. Let's get into it. And
41
00:01:55.549 --> 00:01:58.200
to start, I want to tell you about a pagan
42
00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:07.340
holiday witch that predates St. Nicholas. It's when your heart
43
00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:13.090
starts pounding. Before we had Santa Claus, we had a
44
00:02:13.189 --> 00:02:17.129
Christmas witch known as Frau Perchte. She hails from Southern
45
00:02:17.169 --> 00:02:20.789
Germanic folklore, the same place that gave us the Brothers Grimm. However,
46
00:02:21.310 --> 00:02:24.539
she would have made even Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm clutch
47
00:02:24.580 --> 00:02:28.039
their pearls in horror. Because even though Frau Perchte shares
48
00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:31.439
some similarities with the modern-day Santa Claus, like wanting to
49
00:02:31.500 --> 00:02:34.300
know if children had been bad or good, she is
50
00:02:34.500 --> 00:02:38.490
far more macabre and violent than Santa. In her legend,
51
00:02:38.889 --> 00:02:42.330
she would visit children's homes on the eve of winter solstice.
52
00:02:42.430 --> 00:02:45.310
When children are good, she would bring them nothing. But
53
00:02:45.349 --> 00:02:49.409
if they were bad, well, they were about to find out.
54
00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:52.780
It was the eve of the winter solstice many, many
55
00:02:52.819 --> 00:02:55.710
years ago. A young girl named Lena played with her
56
00:02:55.750 --> 00:02:58.669
doll by the fire in her family's small home in Austria.
57
00:02:59.069 --> 00:03:01.830
Across the room, Lena's mother spun flax on her loom
58
00:03:01.849 --> 00:03:04.689
to make linen. She stopped, realizing that it was time
59
00:03:04.729 --> 00:03:07.370
to make the porridge for dinner. She asked Lena if
60
00:03:07.409 --> 00:03:10.330
she would continue to spin the flax, but Lena just
61
00:03:10.370 --> 00:03:13.710
wanted to keep playing. Her mother's face grew serious as
62
00:03:13.750 --> 00:03:16.830
she grabbed Lena by the shoulders, explaining to her that
63
00:03:17.229 --> 00:03:22.189
tonight of all nights, she needed to obey. Because tonight
64
00:03:22.550 --> 00:03:27.030
was the Wild Hunt. The Wild Hunt is a band
65
00:03:27.129 --> 00:03:30.990
of evil creatures led by the goddess Perchta, Frau Perchta,
66
00:03:31.090 --> 00:03:33.569
as she's called by those who fear her. Lena's mother
67
00:03:33.629 --> 00:03:37.710
explained that Frau Perchta had skin made of iron. She
68
00:03:37.750 --> 00:03:41.389
had a long crooked nose covered in metal warts. She
Load full transcript
69
00:03:41.430 --> 00:03:45.629
wears only rags as to hide her single large clawed foot.
70
00:03:46.379 --> 00:03:48.900
When she arrives, the goddess looks around the house to
71
00:03:48.939 --> 00:03:51.939
see if you've completed your chores. If you haven't, then
72
00:03:51.979 --> 00:03:54.620
she'll shred your pillow and toss the soot from the
73
00:03:54.659 --> 00:03:58.080
fire all over the floor. If you've left unspun flax,
74
00:03:58.419 --> 00:04:01.580
she'll smear it with her own excrement, leaving your family
75
00:04:01.620 --> 00:04:05.219
without anything to make linen. You'll be cold and miserable
76
00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:07.759
the rest of the winter. But none of that compares
77
00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:11.030
to what she'll do if you don't leave her some porridge.
78
00:04:11.550 --> 00:04:13.949
If you're selfish and you eat all of the porridge
79
00:04:13.969 --> 00:04:16.850
for yourself on the night that Perchta comes, She'll take
80
00:04:16.939 --> 00:04:20.769
out her long iron scissors and cut open your stomach.
81
00:04:21.250 --> 00:04:24.350
She'll get her porridge, even if she has to cut
82
00:04:24.389 --> 00:04:27.009
it out of you. Before Lena could ask if this
83
00:04:27.050 --> 00:04:29.649
was all true, there was a sound at the door.
84
00:04:30.379 --> 00:04:33.779
The door to the hut flew open. A bitter wind
85
00:04:33.860 --> 00:04:37.120
carrying ice and snow filled the room and nearly extinguished
86
00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:40.819
the fire. For a moment, Lena feared that Frau Perchta
87
00:04:40.860 --> 00:04:43.980
had arrived. But it was not a goddess. It was
88
00:04:44.019 --> 00:04:45.839
her father, who was coming in from the cold with
89
00:04:45.899 --> 00:04:48.839
extra firewood. She ran forward to give him a big hug.
90
00:04:49.100 --> 00:04:51.259
The family settled down for the night and focused on
91
00:04:51.300 --> 00:04:54.660
their meal. Lina noticed that her father and mother only
92
00:04:54.740 --> 00:04:57.850
ate half of their porridge. Before she could take another bite,
93
00:04:58.110 --> 00:05:01.050
her father reached over and took her own bowl from her.
94
00:05:01.610 --> 00:05:04.529
She was hungry. She wanted to finish her porridge. But
95
00:05:04.569 --> 00:05:07.389
her father shook his head. He stood up and carried
96
00:05:07.449 --> 00:05:10.610
his bowl and Lina's over to the fire, placing them
97
00:05:10.689 --> 00:05:13.519
at the hearth. Her mother followed behind her with her
98
00:05:13.620 --> 00:05:17.019
own bowl. They reminded her that Frau Perchte was coming
99
00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:19.819
that night, and they needed to leave some porridge for
100
00:05:19.879 --> 00:05:23.279
her and her Perchten, the spirits that followed her in
101
00:05:23.319 --> 00:05:25.600
the wild hunt. It was time for bed, but her
102
00:05:25.660 --> 00:05:28.180
mother warned her to be a good girl and finished
103
00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:31.279
spinning the flax before
she went to sleep. Her parents
104
00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:33.199
then went to bed on the far side of the hut,
105
00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:36.879
pulling animal skin curtains shut all around them for privacy.
106
00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:40.360
Lena was left alone now, wondering what to do next.
107
00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:43.610
She was tired, and she was still hungry. She looked
108
00:05:43.670 --> 00:05:46.129
between the bowls sitting at the hearth, the loom in
109
00:05:46.149 --> 00:05:48.930
the corner, and the curtain where her parents were sleeping.
110
00:05:49.550 --> 00:05:52.910
She moved towards the hearth, picking her bowl back up
111
00:05:53.089 --> 00:05:57.379
and swallowing big mouthfuls of porridge. One bowl wasn't enough.
112
00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:00.860
She wolfed down her mother's bowl and her father's bowl
113
00:06:00.899 --> 00:06:03.439
as well. By the time she was done, she was
114
00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:07.110
so full that she could hardly move. She was sleepier
115
00:06:07.170 --> 00:06:10.810
than ever. The fire was warm and her chores seemed
116
00:06:10.910 --> 00:06:14.529
impossible to do now. So she laid down and her
117
00:06:14.709 --> 00:06:19.920
eyelids closed. Outside, the night grew colder and darker. The
118
00:06:19.959 --> 00:06:24.220
wind picked up and then a blast like a trumpet
119
00:06:24.339 --> 00:06:27.259
woke Lena from her sleep. The fire blew out. It
120
00:06:27.300 --> 00:06:29.980
was pitch black in the hut. Lena called out for
121
00:06:30.019 --> 00:06:34.009
her parents, but she got no answer. She couldn't see anything.
122
00:06:34.370 --> 00:06:36.829
She could only hear the wind blowing and then a
123
00:06:37.290 --> 00:06:43.290
cacophony of sounds, hooves clopping, horses neighing, bells jingling, shrill,
124
00:06:43.569 --> 00:06:47.550
high-pitched laughter in the distance, and above it all, a
125
00:06:47.629 --> 00:06:52.480
voice that was both beautiful and horrible, singing a strange
126
00:06:52.740 --> 00:06:56.579
song that went like this. So you shall not escape,
127
00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:00.519
my old broomstick, the whips, the rod, with which I'll
128
00:07:00.620 --> 00:07:04.019
beat you until you're red with blood. Your hands and
129
00:07:04.100 --> 00:07:07.339
feet I'll bind and throw you into the mire. Set
130
00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:10.120
fire to your braids and hair, scratch your face and
131
00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:13.649
cut your nose, and rough you up quite well. All
132
00:07:13.709 --> 00:07:17.089
your dolls I'll toss and burn and shred your finest
133
00:07:17.310 --> 00:07:20.649
Sunday dress. When I find you snoring late in bed,
134
00:07:21.060 --> 00:07:24.819
I'll reel your intestines out from your belly. and fill
135
00:07:24.870 --> 00:07:27.629
the hole with wood shavings. The door to the hut
136
00:07:27.689 --> 00:07:31.110
then flew open, unleashing a freezing wind a hundred times
137
00:07:31.189 --> 00:07:34.189
worse than the wind from
before. It coated the inside
138
00:07:34.250 --> 00:07:37.970
of the hut, turning every surface to ice. She turned
139
00:07:37.990 --> 00:07:41.629
around in horror, looking to her parents' bed. Her eyes
140
00:07:41.769 --> 00:07:45.009
were wide as she saw their curtain had been blown away,
141
00:07:45.589 --> 00:07:48.779
and they were lying completely still, their eyes open in shock,
142
00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:52.790
their skin torn, pale and white as the moon, icicles
143
00:07:52.889 --> 00:07:56.470
hung from their noses and chins. They had been frozen
144
00:07:56.529 --> 00:07:59.050
to death. A cackling noise from the direction of the
145
00:07:59.089 --> 00:08:02.449
door drew Lena's attention back around. She turned in time
146
00:08:02.509 --> 00:08:06.500
to see several horrible shapes enter the room. They were monsters,
147
00:08:06.980 --> 00:08:10.740
covered in hair with terrible horns protruding from all directions.
148
00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:14.740
Their faces were covered with twisted, hateful wooden masks, and
149
00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:18.480
their long, forked tongues licked the air, searching for prey.
150
00:08:19.160 --> 00:08:23.769
These were the perched in, twisted servants of the goddess.
151
00:08:24.189 --> 00:08:27.610
They held Lena down, who screamed in protest, but this
152
00:08:27.889 --> 00:08:31.720
only made them laugh more. Lena trembled from head to
153
00:08:31.779 --> 00:08:35.279
toe as the icy wind chilled her all over. Her
154
00:08:35.340 --> 00:08:38.419
stomach sank and her skin turned to goose flesh as
155
00:08:38.500 --> 00:08:42.779
a new figure arrived at the door. The hulking crone
156
00:08:43.139 --> 00:08:46.649
was bathed in moonlight and covered in ice. Her long,
157
00:08:46.690 --> 00:08:50.240
crooked nose was sharp iron, just as Lena's mother described.
158
00:08:50.750 --> 00:08:55.580
What the story hadn't mentioned, though, were Perchta's hateful yellow eyes,
159
00:08:55.740 --> 00:09:00.539
which were horrible pinpricks in the darkness. As she glided
160
00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:03.779
forward without a sound, she produced a crooked pair of
161
00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:08.750
shears from beneath her robes. Frau Perchta had come to collect.
162
00:09:09.250 --> 00:09:14.029
She lowered the scissors toward Lena's body, and then she
163
00:09:14.070 --> 00:09:18.549
began to cut. and the other monsters cackled with glee
164
00:09:18.710 --> 00:09:23.429
as they surged forward, ready to have their solstice feast. Now,
165
00:09:23.470 --> 00:09:25.450
this story might sound like a dark fairy tale, but
166
00:09:25.470 --> 00:09:29.169
it was something that ancient Europeans really believed in. People
167
00:09:29.210 --> 00:09:31.620
would really leave their porridge bowls half full on the
168
00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:34.500
eve of the winter solstice to leave it out for Perchta.
169
00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:39.090
And this is a very ancient, much less tasty version
170
00:09:39.210 --> 00:09:41.730
of leaving cookies and milk out for Santa. How the
171
00:09:41.750 --> 00:09:44.789
porridge looked in the morning also predicted your luck for
172
00:09:44.809 --> 00:09:47.549
the next year. If you heard perched a slurping in
173
00:09:47.570 --> 00:09:50.210
the night, you knew that your house was blessed. If
174
00:09:50.250 --> 00:09:51.730
you went back to look at the bowl in the
175
00:09:51.769 --> 00:09:54.090
morning and you found the spoon had moved, you were
176
00:09:54.190 --> 00:09:56.289
cursed and you were going to have bad luck all
177
00:09:56.330 --> 00:09:59.230
that next year. But worst of all, if your spoon
178
00:09:59.269 --> 00:10:02.399
had completely fallen into the bowl, then you were doomed
179
00:10:02.580 --> 00:10:05.590
to die later that year. Most hoped that a blessed
180
00:10:05.649 --> 00:10:08.269
household meant that they would soon be having children because
181
00:10:08.669 --> 00:10:10.889
children meant that there were more hands around the house
182
00:10:10.929 --> 00:10:14.110
for help. And once children reached working age, perch dough
183
00:10:14.129 --> 00:10:16.210
was a useful tool for keeping them in line. If
184
00:10:16.230 --> 00:10:18.750
a child didn't do their chores in these ancient times,
185
00:10:19.009 --> 00:10:22.059
it could have serious consequences for the family, like animals
186
00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:26.000
not getting milked, flax not getting spun, crops not getting harvested.
187
00:10:26.259 --> 00:10:29.059
That all meant that the family could potentially starve or
188
00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:32.279
freeze in the winter months. So by telling the children
189
00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:34.700
that perch dough would destroy their homes if they didn't
190
00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:38.250
do their chores, they had this illustrative way of conveying
191
00:10:38.259 --> 00:10:41.769
the importance of housework and the dangers of winter. Perchta
192
00:10:41.789 --> 00:10:45.250
was also evoked to keep children safe, though. Wandering off
193
00:10:45.409 --> 00:10:48.370
into the woods could have deadly consequences. You could get lost,
194
00:10:48.470 --> 00:10:50.700
you could get eaten by wolves, you could get kidnapped.
195
00:10:50.889 --> 00:10:53.259
So parents would tell children that Perchta was in the
196
00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:57.169
woods to keep them from the real danger. So... Perchta was,
197
00:10:57.370 --> 00:11:01.470
in a few ways, this kind of eerie, dark female Santa.
198
00:11:01.830 --> 00:11:03.889
But you might be surprised to learn that she was
199
00:11:04.049 --> 00:11:07.029
also the first trick-or-treater. This is just like a fun
200
00:11:07.070 --> 00:11:09.389
fact I found while we were researching this episode. But
201
00:11:09.429 --> 00:11:12.649
Halloween and Christmas were once essentially the same holiday. In
202
00:11:12.750 --> 00:11:16.029
ancient times, pagan communities harvested their crops and slaughtered their
203
00:11:16.129 --> 00:11:19.330
animals around late October or early November to get ready
204
00:11:19.350 --> 00:11:22.590
for winter. They would celebrate the season and make offerings
205
00:11:22.669 --> 00:11:26.350
to gods like Perchta They believed that spirits such as
206
00:11:26.409 --> 00:11:29.000
her would be walking the earth that night. And they
207
00:11:29.009 --> 00:11:31.259
thought that this was why their days were growing shorter
208
00:11:31.419 --> 00:11:34.659
and colder. Young men in these communities would act out
209
00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:37.480
this belief by dressing up in creepy costumes meant to
210
00:11:37.539 --> 00:11:40.600
look like Perchta and her minions. They would smear their
211
00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:43.240
faces with animal grease. They would tie hay around their
212
00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:46.419
waists and wear animal pelts. Or they would even create
213
00:11:46.460 --> 00:11:49.590
these elaborate horned masks. And then they would knock on
214
00:11:49.649 --> 00:11:53.960
doors and say something like, children or bacon or I
215
00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:56.980
won't go away. And this was to mimic Perchta either
216
00:11:57.320 --> 00:12:00.440
taking your child or getting her food offering. It was
217
00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:03.960
kind of like trick or treat. But as the pagans
218
00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:07.500
got better at farming and animal husbandry, they could harvest
219
00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:11.210
later and later in the year, sometimes waiting until December.
220
00:12:11.690 --> 00:12:14.490
So depending on the area and the community, the harvest
221
00:12:14.570 --> 00:12:17.870
might be celebrated at two different times, once in late
222
00:12:17.970 --> 00:12:22.440
October and then again in December. And when Christian missionaries
223
00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:25.659
started to visit these communities to convert them, they would
224
00:12:25.980 --> 00:12:28.320
try to pull them away from their pagan beliefs by
225
00:12:28.460 --> 00:12:32.320
replacing pagan holidays with different Christian ones. And that, at
226
00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:35.000
least in part, is how the late October, early November
227
00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:38.740
festivals became All Saints Day. But the pagans still celebrated
228
00:12:38.980 --> 00:12:42.340
another harvest celebration in December, and the Christians needed to
229
00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:45.240
transform that one into a Christian one as well. And
230
00:12:45.259 --> 00:12:47.299
so maybe you see where I'm going with all of this.
231
00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:52.820
So slowly over time, Perchta transformed into Santa, which is
232
00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:58.610
why early Santa and St. Nick folklore is absolutely terrifying,
233
00:12:58.710 --> 00:13:03.850
which I want to tell you about now. So if
234
00:13:03.950 --> 00:13:06.789
Perchta was a predecessor to Santa, you might be wondering
235
00:13:06.870 --> 00:13:09.909
how she went from a child-eating death goddess to the
236
00:13:10.090 --> 00:13:13.679
Santa that we have today. Well, there's actually an important
237
00:13:13.820 --> 00:13:17.629
figure who helped this transformation happen. You've probably heard of
238
00:13:17.690 --> 00:13:21.330
Santa being referred to as Saint Nick, an official saint
239
00:13:21.409 --> 00:13:24.450
of the Catholic church who they believed performed miracles. But
240
00:13:24.470 --> 00:13:27.370
what you might not know is that he wasn't originally
241
00:13:27.450 --> 00:13:31.389
this jolly Austrian man with a white beard. We haven't
242
00:13:31.429 --> 00:13:34.309
quite made it to that version just yet in our
243
00:13:34.389 --> 00:13:38.909
tour of dark holiday folklore. Saint Nicholas was originally Greek
244
00:13:39.129 --> 00:13:41.450
and he lived in the Mediterranean and his beard was
245
00:13:41.509 --> 00:13:46.450
probably much darker in color. Saint Nick did travel down chimneys,
246
00:13:46.659 --> 00:13:52.309
but not to deliver presents, for reasons that are honestly upsetting,
247
00:13:52.649 --> 00:13:57.549
and his miracles were disturbing, to say the least. It
248
00:13:57.590 --> 00:14:01.840
was a cool, clear night in Byzantium, or Turkey today.
249
00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:06.279
Nicholas was a wandering priest searching for three young boys
250
00:14:06.340 --> 00:14:09.570
who recently went missing in the area. Their parents were
251
00:14:09.899 --> 00:14:12.929
horribly worried. And to make the situation even worse, it
252
00:14:12.970 --> 00:14:15.750
was soon going to be Christmas. The thought of this
253
00:14:15.889 --> 00:14:19.149
drove him onward, eager to reunite the boys with their parents.
254
00:14:19.669 --> 00:14:23.529
But eventually, the chilly winter air got the better of Nicholas,
255
00:14:23.769 --> 00:14:25.769
and he admitted to himself that he needed to seek
256
00:14:25.850 --> 00:14:28.429
shelter and resume his search for the boys in the morning.
257
00:14:29.009 --> 00:14:31.669
So he stopped by a small inn on the side
258
00:14:31.690 --> 00:14:34.190
of the road. The lights were all off, and he
259
00:14:34.230 --> 00:14:37.429
knocked on the door, half expecting no answer. But after
260
00:14:37.470 --> 00:14:40.269
a few moments, he heard some rustling and a latch
261
00:14:40.309 --> 00:14:44.629
being undone. The door creaked open inward, exposing a sinister
262
00:14:44.769 --> 00:14:48.539
figure lit only by candlelight. The very sight of the
263
00:14:48.580 --> 00:14:50.419
man on the other side of the door filled Nicholas
264
00:14:50.460 --> 00:14:54.539
with dread. His face was covered in strange blotches. He
265
00:14:54.600 --> 00:14:57.320
had only one good eye glaring out from beneath a
266
00:14:57.419 --> 00:15:00.559
single bushy eyebrow. When he opened his mouth to speak,
267
00:15:00.860 --> 00:15:04.639
he had these rotten brown teeth framed by a greasy
268
00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:08.080
black mustache. Nicholas showed
some coins he had and said
269
00:15:08.100 --> 00:15:09.799
that he was looking for a place to spend the night.
270
00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:13.480
The innkeeper glared at Nicholas and let out a huff,
271
00:15:13.899 --> 00:15:16.120
but he took the coins and he waved him inside.
272
00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:21.059
As Nicholas surveyed the inn, he found something unsettling. At
273
00:15:21.100 --> 00:15:24.340
the center of the room, situated over a massive hearth,
274
00:15:24.759 --> 00:15:28.740
sat a large black kettle simmering with some unknown dinner.
275
00:15:29.240 --> 00:15:32.860
The smell was enough to nearly chase Nicholas back outside.
276
00:15:32.940 --> 00:15:36.879
It smelled horrible. But something urged him back on. He
277
00:15:36.940 --> 00:15:40.590
wanted to see what was inside the pot. He slowly
278
00:15:40.649 --> 00:15:44.029
walked forward, lifting the lid on the kettle. His eyes
279
00:15:44.230 --> 00:15:46.549
stung and he pinched his nose to protect from the
280
00:15:46.649 --> 00:15:50.450
assault on his senses. The stew was even more foul
281
00:15:50.529 --> 00:15:54.980
up close. His eyes stopped stinging just long enough for
282
00:15:55.009 --> 00:15:58.240
him to get a good look at the contents. And there,
283
00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:02.879
simmering amongst the potatoes and turnips of the stew... were
284
00:16:03.100 --> 00:16:07.159
several sets of small human hands and feet. And then
285
00:16:07.419 --> 00:16:10.759
a portion of a face bubbled to the surface and
286
00:16:10.820 --> 00:16:15.590
he recognized it immediately. Nicholas realized that he had found
287
00:16:15.789 --> 00:16:19.649
the three missing boys. Before the innkeeper could even react,
288
00:16:19.830 --> 00:16:22.690
Nicholas pushed him to the ground. And then turning back
289
00:16:22.730 --> 00:16:25.450
to the pot, he placed his hand above the contents.
290
00:16:25.669 --> 00:16:27.950
He refused to accept that this was the end that
291
00:16:27.970 --> 00:16:31.009
the children had come to. Not like this, not so
292
00:16:31.090 --> 00:16:34.669
close to Christmas. Channeling his faith deeper than he ever
293
00:16:34.710 --> 00:16:38.370
had before, he reached out into the cosmos, beseeching the
294
00:16:38.429 --> 00:16:41.549
Holy Spirit to aid him. Without thinking and without knowing
295
00:16:41.590 --> 00:16:45.409
what he was about to say, he issued one solemn command.
296
00:16:46.029 --> 00:16:51.059
Rise up, children. This unnatural light filled the room. The
297
00:16:51.139 --> 00:16:55.000
innkeeper was instantly blinded, and Nicholas didn't look away for
298
00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:58.200
an instant. He watched as the light fell upon the
299
00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:02.059
kettle before him, lifting all the contents out from the pot.
300
00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:05.240
And then the body parts of the slain boys glimmered
301
00:17:05.259 --> 00:17:08.980
with this angelic light as they slowly churned in the
302
00:17:09.029 --> 00:17:13.769
pot and came back together. And soon the dismembered corpses
303
00:17:13.849 --> 00:17:16.829
were made whole, lowering to the floor of the inn.
304
00:17:17.329 --> 00:17:20.190
As the light dimmed, the children's eyes shot open and
305
00:17:20.230 --> 00:17:22.779
they jumped to their feet. When they saw the innkeeper
306
00:17:22.839 --> 00:17:25.779
struggling blind on the ground, they all screamed, but Nicholas
307
00:17:25.859 --> 00:17:29.759
promised that they were now safe. Leaving the innkeeper, Nicholas
308
00:17:29.819 --> 00:17:32.859
guided the children home, and this was considered by the
309
00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:36.140
church to be one of his many miracles. A few
310
00:17:36.180 --> 00:17:39.259
days later, Nicholas resumed his travels, making his way to
311
00:17:39.299 --> 00:17:42.500
a large town on the coast. At first, he wasn't
312
00:17:42.539 --> 00:17:44.720
sure why God had brought him to this place, but
313
00:17:44.740 --> 00:17:46.579
he followed his instincts and he was led to a
314
00:17:46.619 --> 00:17:49.339
home at the center of town. It was a two-story
315
00:17:49.390 --> 00:17:52.900
structure with this really large chimney. And as Nicholas looked
316
00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:56.009
it up and down, a passing old woman noticed him
317
00:17:56.210 --> 00:17:58.750
and she shook her head. She told him a very
318
00:17:58.829 --> 00:18:02.599
sad story. The owner of the house had gone completely bankrupt.
319
00:18:03.109 --> 00:18:05.849
He had three daughters, but with no money, he could
320
00:18:05.910 --> 00:18:08.309
not pay their dowry. And with no dowry, he had
321
00:18:08.369 --> 00:18:11.349
no choice, he felt, but to sell his daughters to
322
00:18:11.470 --> 00:18:14.549
traveling sailors. And this transaction was going to take place
323
00:18:14.630 --> 00:18:17.509
the following day at a local brothel. But the man
324
00:18:17.549 --> 00:18:19.690
decided that it was worth it so that he could
325
00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:23.240
have some money. Nicholas was obviously disturbed by the story
326
00:18:23.259 --> 00:18:24.920
when he heard it, and he decided that he had
327
00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:28.339
to do whatever he could to save these girls. Now, Nicholas,
328
00:18:28.420 --> 00:18:30.720
being a very saintly man, had given away most of
329
00:18:30.779 --> 00:18:34.380
his money to charity. But he realized that his family
330
00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:37.640
still had a small portion of money at a local bank.
331
00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:40.079
So he took it upon himself to make a full
332
00:18:40.140 --> 00:18:43.180
withdrawal of what his family had left, and he filled
333
00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:45.680
a sack that he had with him with this gold.
334
00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:49.339
That night, he wrapped himself in a shawl tightly around
335
00:18:49.380 --> 00:18:52.180
his body and climbed up the side of the merchant's
336
00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:55.579
townhouse
with his bag of gold slung over his shoulder.
337
00:18:56.119 --> 00:18:59.019
Not wanting to be detected, he saw no other option
338
00:18:59.079 --> 00:19:03.000
than to enter the house through the chimney. He carefully
339
00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:06.519
lowered himself down through the narrow space, trying his hardest
340
00:19:06.940 --> 00:19:09.140
not to sneeze at all the soot. And when he
341
00:19:09.180 --> 00:19:11.920
got out of the chimney, he bumped into something soft
342
00:19:12.019 --> 00:19:15.380
and wet. Squinting in the moonlight, he saw that the
343
00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:19.029
merchant's three daughters had hung their stockings to dry above
344
00:19:19.109 --> 00:19:22.210
the fireplace. Now, Nicholas knew that a father who was
345
00:19:22.269 --> 00:19:25.430
so proud he would rather sell his daughters to sailors
346
00:19:25.490 --> 00:19:30.109
than admit bankruptcy... would never accept charity from the church.
347
00:19:30.390 --> 00:19:33.509
He knew that he must perform a miracle, or rather
348
00:19:33.549 --> 00:19:35.460
he had to make his gift look like a miracle.
349
00:19:36.039 --> 00:19:38.440
So he took the gold from his bag and he
350
00:19:38.539 --> 00:19:42.339
filled each stocking to the top. Once his bag was empty,
351
00:19:42.519 --> 00:19:46.170
he climbed back up the chimney. The next morning, Nicholas
352
00:19:46.309 --> 00:19:49.789
once again waited outside of the house, watching. A smile
353
00:19:49.809 --> 00:19:52.339
crackled across his face when he heard the sounds of
354
00:19:52.420 --> 00:19:56.539
rejoicing from inside. The daughters had been spared from being
355
00:19:56.680 --> 00:20:01.180
sold off at the brothel because of his miracle. Suddenly,
356
00:20:01.220 --> 00:20:04.079
the front door flew open and the father stumbled to
357
00:20:04.099 --> 00:20:07.019
the street, his arms full of gold. He gave thanks
358
00:20:07.099 --> 00:20:10.490
to God, convinced that a miracle had occurred, not knowing
359
00:20:10.509 --> 00:20:13.930
that it was actually the generosity of Nicholas. Now, the
360
00:20:14.049 --> 00:20:17.190
actual historical figure we know as Saint Nicholas lived and
361
00:20:17.230 --> 00:20:22.579
died between 270 and 343 AD. And clearly his legend
362
00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:26.039
has changed a ton since then. But now when you
363
00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:28.779
see a Christmas movie of Santa carrying a sack of
364
00:20:28.839 --> 00:20:31.859
presents down a chimney for children, you'll know what he
365
00:20:31.900 --> 00:20:36.339
was actually doing all of those years ago. In the 1100s,
366
00:20:36.380 --> 00:20:39.509
when Catholic missionaries were trying to convert Europe, These were
367
00:20:39.549 --> 00:20:41.750
the types of stories that they were telling in places
368
00:20:41.829 --> 00:20:46.069
like Austria. And soon, the pagan Austrians who believed in
369
00:20:46.130 --> 00:20:50.569
Perchten and Frau Perchte were blending their myths
and legends
370
00:20:50.910 --> 00:20:54.369
into the Catholic ones. And I guess leaving behind some
371
00:20:54.410 --> 00:20:59.720
of the child mutilation parts. Now, this would not be
372
00:20:59.740 --> 00:21:04.480
a horror podcast or a horror holiday folklore episode without
373
00:21:04.819 --> 00:21:09.359
talking about Krampus. Once the Catholic Church arrived in pagan
374
00:21:09.460 --> 00:21:12.559
Europe and began converting the population, they started to portray
375
00:21:12.579 --> 00:21:15.740
the pagan deities as weak and subservient to the Christian
376
00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:18.759
God and saints. Folk spirits like the Perchton could no
377
00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:22.589
longer be worshipped as forces of nature, both good and evil.
378
00:21:22.789 --> 00:21:25.450
They had to be looked at as exclusively evil. This
379
00:21:25.529 --> 00:21:28.230
is according to the church. And they also had to
380
00:21:28.309 --> 00:21:31.890
be subservient to Saint Nicholas, who was now being looked
381
00:21:31.970 --> 00:21:35.730
at as kind of the saint of Christmas. By the 1500s,
382
00:21:35.789 --> 00:21:41.259
these pagan creatures came to resemble Christian demons, basically. Instead
383
00:21:41.339 --> 00:21:44.079
of long fur and wooden masks that they used to
384
00:21:44.119 --> 00:21:48.309
have in the stories, they now had short hair, hooved feet, claws,
385
00:21:48.690 --> 00:21:53.069
and angry little pinched faces. The word perched in literally
386
00:21:53.109 --> 00:21:56.869
translates to bright one. And over time, that word was
387
00:21:56.950 --> 00:22:02.900
changed to a different word. Krampus. Krampus means claw. Because,
388
00:22:03.180 --> 00:22:06.420
according to the church, that's what they do. They claw
389
00:22:06.579 --> 00:22:09.440
at your door to get in. Now you've heard the name,
390
00:22:09.609 --> 00:22:12.289
maybe you've even seen the movie, but the legend has
391
00:22:12.369 --> 00:22:15.490
changed over time. Nowadays, people think of Krampus as a
392
00:22:15.529 --> 00:22:19.930
sort of singular, demonic anti-Santa. But originally, Krampus was not
393
00:22:20.049 --> 00:22:25.130
one creature, but many. Krampuses. And they didn't work against Santa,
394
00:22:25.269 --> 00:22:29.240
they actually worked with him. Artwork from throughout history shows
395
00:22:29.289 --> 00:22:32.289
Krampuses covered in chains that are held by St. Nicholas.
396
00:22:32.569 --> 00:22:35.410
You can see the chains of Christianity. And the church
397
00:22:35.450 --> 00:22:39.950
would sponsor morality plays in different villages showcasing this dynamic.
398
00:22:40.230 --> 00:22:42.650
An actor would be dressed up as St. Nicholas holding
399
00:22:42.690 --> 00:22:45.210
the chains that were attached to the Krampuses, and he
400
00:22:45.230 --> 00:22:48.829
would judge the children as bad or good. If they
401
00:22:48.849 --> 00:22:52.509
were good in this era, they received presents. But if
402
00:22:52.569 --> 00:22:56.490
they were bad, well, that's where the legend of Perchta
403
00:22:56.630 --> 00:22:59.910
still kind of reared its head. Because if they were bad,
404
00:23:00.289 --> 00:23:04.390
things could still get very deadly for them. It was St.
405
00:23:04.450 --> 00:23:09.009
Nicholas's Day, December 6th, 1572, in a town in Austria.
406
00:23:09.569 --> 00:23:12.579
A young boy named Andreas was watching the annual parade
407
00:23:12.619 --> 00:23:16.180
through his town. It was a frightening display. All of
408
00:23:16.259 --> 00:23:19.720
the local men were dressed in Krampus costumes, which included
409
00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:23.839
big fur suits and terrifying horned masks. They carried whips
410
00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:26.460
and switches and smacked anyone in the crowd who wandered
411
00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:29.349
too close to them. Some of the women would actually
412
00:23:29.509 --> 00:23:32.049
offer up their bottoms to be smacked, and this made
413
00:23:32.150 --> 00:23:34.950
Andreas blush. Some of the younger boys offered up their
414
00:23:35.029 --> 00:23:37.450
own bottoms just to show that they weren't afraid of
415
00:23:37.490 --> 00:23:42.529
the Krampuses. But Andreas was afraid. Very afraid. No matter
416
00:23:42.589 --> 00:23:44.930
how many times his parents told him that the Krampuses
417
00:23:44.990 --> 00:23:48.190
weren't real, he just didn't believe them. Sometimes when he
418
00:23:48.210 --> 00:23:50.690
was out chopping wood behind the house, he felt like
419
00:23:50.730 --> 00:23:53.960
something in the woods was watching him. Sometimes he swore
420
00:23:54.059 --> 00:23:57.460
he heard giggling and hissing coming from between the trees.
421
00:23:57.900 --> 00:24:00.240
He was sure that it was the Krampuses waiting to
422
00:24:00.279 --> 00:24:03.599
drag him to hell. The night of the festivities wound
423
00:24:03.660 --> 00:24:06.599
down and the men in town removed their Krampus suits
424
00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:09.519
Andreas finally felt like he could calm down enough to
425
00:24:09.559 --> 00:24:11.660
go to bed. He snuggled under the covers in his
426
00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:14.519
small bedroom beneath the stairs of his family's home. He
427
00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:16.849
watched the glow from the fireplace in the living room
428
00:24:16.930 --> 00:24:20.410
cast shadows through the door and across his wall. The
429
00:24:20.450 --> 00:24:24.609
light calmed him, easing his fears about the Krampuses. But
430
00:24:24.670 --> 00:24:26.740
just as he was about to drift off to sleep,
431
00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:30.859
he noticed something strange. the light from the living room
432
00:24:31.160 --> 00:24:34.490
was getting brighter. It was no longer the soft glow
433
00:24:34.609 --> 00:24:39.450
of a fireplace, but the bright, golden glow of something otherworldly.
434
00:24:40.009 --> 00:24:43.869
The light grew until it was practically blinding. Andreas jumped
435
00:24:43.910 --> 00:24:46.220
from his bed and he ran out into the living room.
436
00:24:46.759 --> 00:24:49.900
And there, in front of the fireplace, an old man
437
00:24:49.940 --> 00:24:52.960
with a long white beard and bright red robe appeared.
438
00:24:53.420 --> 00:24:56.240
He had a large, open book in one hand and
439
00:24:56.279 --> 00:25:00.380
a staff with a cross in the other. Andreas instantly
440
00:25:00.430 --> 00:25:04.599
recognized him as none other than Saint Nicholas. He realized
441
00:25:04.740 --> 00:25:08.420
that he had come to give him presents. Andreas ran forward,
442
00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:12.319
but Saint Nicholas held up a hand to stop him. First,
443
00:25:12.619 --> 00:25:15.259
he needed to read from his book to determine what
444
00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:19.059
sins and what good deeds Andreas had committed throughout the year.
445
00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:22.019
If he had done more good than bad, he would
446
00:25:22.039 --> 00:25:27.400
get presents. But if not, Andreas turned, hearing a sudden
447
00:25:27.480 --> 00:25:30.609
scratching at the door. Long shadows were cast by the
448
00:25:30.650 --> 00:25:34.089
moonlight through the windows, creating silhouettes of the one thing
449
00:25:34.230 --> 00:25:39.160
Andreas feared above all. But before he could scream, Nicholas
450
00:25:39.420 --> 00:25:44.059
started to sing. God's greetings all within the house. I'm
451
00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:47.220
friend to all, Saint Nicholas. Have no fear, just look
452
00:25:47.259 --> 00:25:50.500
at me. No wild stranger here you see. My coming
453
00:25:50.539 --> 00:25:54.619
marks the year's near end. This forest man my basket tends.
454
00:25:55.109 --> 00:25:58.569
deeds good and bad we must review. With ringing bells
455
00:25:58.670 --> 00:26:03.559
comes Krampus too. What brings him joy brings terror to you.
456
00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:09.859
And then the door burst open. Two actual live Krampuses
457
00:26:09.960 --> 00:26:12.460
stood in the doorway, more horrible than Andreas could have
458
00:26:12.519 --> 00:26:15.720
ever imagined. They weren't anything like the fake ones from
459
00:26:15.740 --> 00:26:19.000
the parade. Their faces weren't covered by masks. They had
460
00:26:19.019 --> 00:26:23.190
these big, Black eyes with glowing red irises. Long, sharp
461
00:26:23.299 --> 00:26:26.519
noses pointed downwards from the center of their faces. And
462
00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:30.039
worst of all, they had massive, wide mouths like some
463
00:26:30.119 --> 00:26:35.519
kind of unholy clowns. Mouths lined with sharp yellow teeth. Writhing,
464
00:26:35.619 --> 00:26:39.339
forked tongues slithered from between these teeth, anxious to get
465
00:26:39.400 --> 00:26:42.700
a taste of Andreas. And above all, they had short,
466
00:26:43.160 --> 00:26:46.829
stubby horns. Nothing like the majestic animal horns from the
467
00:26:46.869 --> 00:26:50.529
costumes at the parade. Their bodies were covered in bristling
468
00:26:50.589 --> 00:26:54.130
black hair like a bull's. Their muscular arms ended in
469
00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:58.420
twitching hands with thick, sharp black claws at the end
470
00:26:58.460 --> 00:27:02.309
of each fingertip. And they had legs like goats, bent
471
00:27:02.390 --> 00:27:06.049
backwards at the knee, ending in charcoal black hooves. The
472
00:27:06.069 --> 00:27:09.430
Krampuses raced towards Andreas. He tried to duck underneath his
473
00:27:09.470 --> 00:27:12.309
coffee table, but each one grabbed him by an ankle
474
00:27:12.410 --> 00:27:16.170
and dragged him screaming out in front of his fireplace. St.
475
00:27:16.210 --> 00:27:20.289
Nicholas stood firm, reading from his book. He read Andreas's
476
00:27:20.349 --> 00:27:23.589
good deeds, how he helped his father out around his shop,
477
00:27:23.950 --> 00:27:26.309
how he cleaned his room, how he was kind to
478
00:27:26.349 --> 00:27:30.000
his friends. But St. Nicholas also read about his sins
479
00:27:30.200 --> 00:27:32.740
from the year. The time he stole a candy bar
480
00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:36.319
from a market stall. The time he cursed after stubbing
481
00:27:36.380 --> 00:27:39.980
his toe. The time when, just earlier today, he looked
482
00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:43.690
at a maiden with lust in his heart. The Krampuses
483
00:27:43.769 --> 00:27:47.210
were overjoyed to hear all this. They dragged him further
484
00:27:47.250 --> 00:27:50.069
towards the fireplace, so close that Andreas could feel the
485
00:27:50.170 --> 00:27:53.089
flames on his skin. They hoisted him to his knees
486
00:27:53.210 --> 00:27:56.109
and held his face right next to the fire. The
487
00:27:56.190 --> 00:28:00.460
flame's filled his field of view. Andreas stared into them
488
00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:05.039
and found his mind transported across space and time. Within
489
00:28:05.099 --> 00:28:09.579
that small fireplace, he caught a glimpse of infinite suffering
490
00:28:09.680 --> 00:28:12.420
in a dimension separate from our own. It was a
491
00:28:12.509 --> 00:28:16.170
portal to hell now, and the Krampuses could not wait
492
00:28:16.349 --> 00:28:19.789
to throw him in it. But then, Andreas heard the
493
00:28:19.890 --> 00:28:22.779
shrill sound of a whistle. He was pulled away from
494
00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:25.539
the fire, only to find St. Nicholas was the one
495
00:28:25.640 --> 00:28:28.119
with the whistle held to his lips. It was a
496
00:28:28.440 --> 00:28:32.420
pleasant and melodic sound, but the Krampuses immediately stopped and
497
00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:35.859
covered their ears. They quickly ran to St. Nicholas' side,
498
00:28:35.980 --> 00:28:39.019
cowering and quivering at the foot of his robes. St.
499
00:28:39.059 --> 00:28:43.150
Nicholas had weighed Andreas' deeds, both good and bad, and
500
00:28:43.230 --> 00:28:48.240
found him worthy. It was time for his presence. Andreas
501
00:28:48.299 --> 00:28:52.569
trembled as he
accepted the gifts, some chocolates, some dried fruit, socks.
502
00:28:53.250 --> 00:28:56.549
He could hardly believe how quickly his luck had changed.
503
00:28:57.190 --> 00:29:00.420
But as St. Nicholas and his companions faded from view,
504
00:29:00.920 --> 00:29:05.140
the evil creatures waved mischievously. There was always next year.
505
00:29:05.720 --> 00:29:08.619
So Andreas vowed right then and there, for the next
506
00:29:08.619 --> 00:29:13.880
365 days, he would be a good boy. Ever since
507
00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:17.160
the ancient Europeans gave up the worship of Perchta and
508
00:29:17.220 --> 00:29:21.240
her Perchton, they have instead observed a tradition wherein locals
509
00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:24.480
dress up as Krampuses in service of St. Nicholas. And
510
00:29:24.599 --> 00:29:28.369
this even continues to this very day. In Austria, the
511
00:29:28.589 --> 00:29:31.769
house visit is an important part of this tradition. After
512
00:29:31.829 --> 00:29:35.009
parading through the streets, Krampuses are invited along with St.
513
00:29:35.049 --> 00:29:38.630
Nicholas to visit homes and weigh children's good deeds versus
514
00:29:38.670 --> 00:29:41.670
their bad deeds. They can also be accompanied by female
515
00:29:41.789 --> 00:29:44.930
angels and and a woodsman who does the actual passing
516
00:29:44.990 --> 00:29:47.750
out of gifts. Sometimes St. Nick will recite good and
517
00:29:47.769 --> 00:29:50.630
bad deeds from the child whispered to them by their parents,
518
00:29:50.869 --> 00:29:52.490
but more often than not, the child just has to
519
00:29:52.509 --> 00:29:54.170
sing a song or recite a poem and then they
520
00:29:54.210 --> 00:29:56.430
get a gift. But then just as St. Nick gets
521
00:29:56.490 --> 00:29:59.690
ready to leave, the Krampuses attack, jumping all around the house,
522
00:29:59.769 --> 00:30:02.809
pretending like they're about to knock over whatever piece of
523
00:30:02.849 --> 00:30:06.450
furniture the kid is hiding behind. And then St. Nick
524
00:30:06.470 --> 00:30:10.309
blows his whistle and the assistants step in, stopping the Krampuses.
525
00:30:10.990 --> 00:30:13.289
In the 21st century, many people all over the world
526
00:30:13.329 --> 00:30:16.619
have learned about these strange traditions through the internet. That's
527
00:30:16.859 --> 00:30:19.200
how we over here learned about them. And a whole
528
00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:21.900
new wave of Krampus mania has swept over the globe,
529
00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:26.480
kind of reinvigorating the character for a new century. Commercial
530
00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:30.180
Krampus events have multiplied in recent years to attract tourists.
531
00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:33.660
And the virality of Krampus even led to a movie
532
00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:36.420
that was released in 2015 that I quite enjoy, if
533
00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:40.599
I'm being honest. But though Krampus might seem horrible to us,
534
00:30:41.000
--> 00:30:43.740
and some of these traditions seem to border on child
535
00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:46.359
abuse a little bit, they hearken all the way back
536
00:30:46.500 --> 00:30:50.460
to the ancient identities of different European ethnic groups. Austrians
537
00:30:50.500 --> 00:30:53.900
in particular are a very proud people who survived the
538
00:30:53.940 --> 00:30:58.809
conversion to Catholicism, centuries of medieval warfare, and an invasion
539
00:30:58.910 --> 00:31:01.250
in both World War I and World War II. Krampus
540
00:31:01.289 --> 00:31:03.990
events are a way for them to reassert their cultural
541
00:31:04.089 --> 00:31:08.359
identity after the Years of outside influences trying to force
542
00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:12.039
them to change. And much of today's dark holiday folklore
543
00:31:12.299 --> 00:31:15.319
might seem like the antithesis of the Christmas spirit to us.
544
00:31:15.579 --> 00:31:18.250
But for many Europeans, it's nostalgic. And it makes them
545
00:31:18.289 --> 00:31:20.450
think of all the wonderful traditions that have been passed
546
00:31:20.490 --> 00:31:24.130
down from generation to generation over hundreds and hundreds of years.
547
00:31:24.599 --> 00:31:27.759
And that... is why I love learning about dark history.
548
00:31:27.940 --> 00:31:30.880
It's not just the dark origins of Christmas. It's the
549
00:31:30.940 --> 00:31:34.200
preservation of folklore and tradition. And you get to see
550
00:31:34.279 --> 00:31:37.440
how much of it has changed and warped over time
551
00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:42.490
so that these pagan beliefs could remain embedded in Christmas traditions.
552
00:31:43.069 --> 00:31:46.049
And for parents everywhere, it teaches their children to be
553
00:31:46.089 --> 00:31:49.269
good unless they want to be gutted or dragged to
554
00:31:49.289 --> 00:31:52.420
the pits of hell. But What about you guys? What
555
00:31:52.539 --> 00:31:55.579
is your favorite holiday tradition? No matter what holiday it is,
556
00:31:55.599 --> 00:31:58.339
I love diving into the dark history of these. So
557
00:31:58.380 --> 00:32:00.839
maybe I'll do another episode on that in the future.
558
00:32:01.289 --> 00:32:03.509
And that is all I have for you for this
559
00:32:03.549 --> 00:32:05.390
week's episode. Thank you so much for joining me. I
560
00:32:05.470 --> 00:32:07.630
hope you learned something as we got into the dark
561
00:32:07.670 --> 00:32:10.430
history of Christmas. I learned so much doing this episode.
562
00:32:10.910 --> 00:32:13.630
I really, really, really love episodes like this. You can
563
00:32:13.690 --> 00:32:15.630
always suggest me other types of folklore that you want
564
00:32:15.650 --> 00:32:17.319
to hear on this show. I love hearing from the
565
00:32:17.359 --> 00:32:19.900
community on this. Next week, I'm going to be diving
566
00:32:19.980 --> 00:32:24.690
into We'll call it two kind of cozy Christmas mysteries
567
00:32:24.730 --> 00:32:27.019
that I want to tell you about. So please join
568
00:32:27.039 --> 00:32:30.880
me here for that. And until next time, stay curious
569
00:32:31.279 --> 00:32:38.039
and leave out some porridge for Perchta. Heart Starts Pounding
570
00:32:38.099 --> 00:32:40.000
is written and produced by me, Kayla Moore. Heart Starts
571
00:32:40.019 --> 00:32:42.500
Pounding is also produced by Matt Brown. Additional research and
572
00:32:42.519 --> 00:32:46.200
writing by Greg Castro. Sound design and mix by Peachtree Sound.
573
00:32:46.579 --> 00:32:49.410
Special thanks to Travis Dunlap, Grayson Jernigan, the team at WME,
574
00:32:49.490 --> 00:32:52.130
and Ben Jaffe. Have a heart-pounding story or a case request?
575
00:32:52.369 --> 00:32:54.079
Check out heartstartspounding.com.