Santa Claus...is that you? 🙀

Hello dear readers! I wish you a great mood! Today I want to tell you to read a little bit scary article! Weakly nervous - be careful! This will shock you, just like me lol

Today is my next article on a free theme.    This is a reflection on life, different situations and the like.

In comments to my articles you can ask questions, as well as give your opinion on the subject of this article.

The New Year holidays are still going on. And once again I want to touch upon a New Year's theme: New Year's mythology. I think you will be interested to know😉 something about the New Year, or rather about Santa Claus and his different companions. And before I begin this article, I want to thank my sponsors.

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Everyone loves New Year's Eve, but we don't like Halloween. Even though the two holidays are closely related! 

Halloween comes from Samhain, a Celtic fertility festival. Where does New Year's Eve come from?

Different peoples at different times celebrated the coming of the new year at different times of the year. Most often in the spring or fall. In the fall, nature seems to "fall asleep" - the year ends. In the spring it "wakes up" and the year begins. 

In the autumn, people thanked the nature and the gods, which worshipped them, for the harvest, and in the spring they asked for a new harvest... This was the holiday of the Irish Samhain, which later became Halloween. 

In warm countries, agricultural work lasts a very long time, nature here "falls asleep" rather late. Therefore, in Italy, in ancient Rome, the Harvest Festival - Saturnalia was celebrated as late as the end of December! Very close to our current New Year.

Why is it scary?

Ancient fertility festivals were often accompanied by sacrifices. Also, unbridled behavior. The Romans harvested grapes, pressed the young wine and the village went for a party... What a horror it was! 

But most importantly, these holidays were a meeting of life and death. After all, "falling asleep" nature - "dies". And what if the next spring will not come? And what if it's the last time we eat enough?

That is why we had to either encourage or, on the contrary, to scare away evil spirits, which are just waiting to do harm to a man ...

That's why the New Year was "enriched" with all kinds of sinister characters like Krampus and Joelupukka... What about Krampus!    Our beloved Santa Claus was also considered an evil spirit. Not without reason his name contains the root "pestilence" - "death".

Our Santa Claus is one of the incarnations of the East Slavic pagan deity Veles - a werewolf, a man-wolf, who had to be asked for kutya (festive sweet porridge), gifts and carols.  I have already told you about kutya porridge in my New Year's articles.

Therefore, it was not Santa Claus who gave New Year's gifts to children, but Saint Nicholas (whose day is celebrated on Christmas Eve).

But Nicholas is a Christian saint. And who will give New Year's greetings to Tatar children (they are Muslims) or to Kalmyk and Buryat children (they are Buddhists)? Not to mention the atheists who don't believe in any saints at all... 

So they came up with the idea of letting Santa Claus give presents to all the children, but not an evil one, but a kind one.

Our Father Frost is accompanied everywhere by his cheerful and kind granddaughter, the Snow Maiden. And in other countries? I will try to tell you briefly about the most unusual companions of Santa Claus, and you decide who you like best...

Snow Maiden in Dutch. The scoundrel

For starters, welcome to Holland! By the way, the local children do not say "Santa Claus" but "Sinterklaas". However, in this case we are more interested in Sinterklaas' faithful helper, Zwarte Pete, aka Black Peter.

Sinterklaas, together with Zwarte Pete, live all year long far south, in Spain, in a deep cave! They only come to Holland for New Year's and Christmas. 

Throughout the year, Zwarte Piet is engaged in a very important task - he magically learns about the deeds of all Dutch children and writes those deeds down in a special journal. And when it comes to the party itself, Zwarte Pete pulls out this thick book and starts tattling to Sinterklaas, I mean, reporting on who has behaved, who has studied, and so on.

In the end, only those children who behaved very well all year get presents. Those children who did not behave very well receive a lump of coal or a birch birch rod. And those who have behaved very badly, Zwarte Pete puts them in a sack and takes them with him to Spain. There, he locks them in his cave, teaches them to behave properly for a year, and only returns them to their parents after a year.

The Snow Maiden in Austrian. The Scarecrow.

And now let's go to Austria. The local Snow Maidens are called "Perchts": and they are not one, but many at once, as many as twenty-four pieces!!! Half of them are beautiful young girls in white clothes, and the other half are ugly monsters with iron teeth and goat or sheep horns.

The procession of Perkhts down the street - first come the beautiful Perkhts, who are supposed to bring wealth and prosperity to the locals in the new year. They are followed by ugly perkhts, who use their flags and ponytails to frighten away evil spirits - otherwise the village or town will remain at the mercy of the forces of evil for the whole year. 

According to an ancient legend, on the night before Epiphany the pearl maiden comes to every home, and to those children who have worked hard all year round and haven't been naughty she puts a silver coin in their slipper, and to those who have been lazy and behaved badly, she cuts open their belly and stuffs it with straw and stones! Look at the pictures - how the ugly Perhts walk down the street. They're just so cute, don't you think? As you see - you feel a New Year mood at once...😂

The Snow Maiden in Italian. Witch

This is a very, very real, one might even say "classic" witch. An elderly but not quite old good-natured woman, she wears a pointy hat and flies on a broomstick. Throughout the year, she does the usual witchy things, and on New Year's Eve, she grabs a bag of toys on her back, sits on a broom and climbs into houses through stovepipes. For Befana, Italian children hang stockings on the fireplace in which she places presents. 

However, Befana only puts presents for obedient children! If the child was not very good and lazy, Befana puts a lump of coal into his stocking.

The Snow Maiden in German. The devil with horns. Krampus.

Krampus holds a sack and a whip (or a bundle of lashes). In this case, the good and obedient children are given presents by Santa Claus from his sack, while the bad and naughty children are put into the sack and punished by Krampus with the whip. 

It's quite a New Year's Eve, isn't it? You go to the Christmas tree and they remember that you got a 'F' in math without telling your parents, and they don't just give you a present, they put you in a sack and whip you for it! 

Have you already understood how happy the boys are when a cheerful and cheerful Snow Maiden comes to visit them?

Snow Maiden in Finnish. Goat.

In Finland, children call Santa Claus by the funny word "Joelupukki. Joelupukki looks like the most ordinary Santa - a kindly grandfather in a red coat, with a white beard and gifts in a bag. Only for some reason he is accompanied by a goat. Why? 

Because the word "yooolu" in Finnish means "yol", meaning "Christmas," and "pukki" means "goat. Yes, believe it or not - but in Finland one of the traditional ancient symbols of Christmas and New Year is a goat, and not just any goat, but a goat-turned-goat!!!!

You may see a tall man with the head of a goat or with goat horns. In one hand he had a bag with presents for those who behaved well; in the other hand he had a birch to punish naughty Finnish children. And the worst sloths and disobedient children, the old Joelupukki would put them in a sack and take them to Lapland, where he boiled them in a cauldron and ate them, so-so !!!!!🙀

In the modern tradition, of course, this character has become more likeable and divided. Separately there is the good Santa Claus, and separately - just a goat. Santa's indispensable companion...

In fact, in every joke there is some truth. All of the traditional New Year's and Christmas characters described above are folkloric characters that are an integral part of their country's culture. What seems bizarre, ugly, or sinister to us, to some, on the other hand, is simply fun play and celebration. You should see German children laughing and running away from the tailed Krampus with the whip (not the real one, but the actor's, of course)... Anyway, tradition is tradition.

Our Snow Maiden, Snezhevinochka. Slavic folklore.

On holidays acts as an intermediary between children and Santa Claus. Sometimes portrayed as a little girl, sometimes as a beautiful winter girl. But still.

As you like, but our Snow Maiden (ice beauty, kind) I like the best for some reason!!!♥️ And you?

She does not punish anyone for a bad behavior, is a relative of Santa Claus, namely the granddaughter. She is the cousin of Santa Claus, the only one of her kindred spells, she makes friends with the forest animals and also gives presents like Santa Claus!

Happy New Year! My dear readers read.cаsh.❄

Whoever is still single, let him find a partner in life! And may he be kind!

I hope you enjoyed these fabulous helpers of Santa Claus? Just kidding. Tell me about it in the comments to this article. I'd also like to know what Santa Claus' companion is in your country? Would you like to celebrate the New Year with Santa's companions that I told you about in this article?

Image sources: instapik.ru crosti.ru aminoapps.com facebook.com zen.yandex.ru neobychno.com tkaner.com. And edited by me.

I thank God for his help in writing this article, and you, dear readers, praise him if your reading has been helpful to you.

I want to know your opinion.

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