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Twenty-First Century Schmutzli
November 30, 2016
— 5 Comments
Krampus
I am a big fan of both Schmutzli and his Austrian cousin, Krampus. These characters are Christmas symbols that teach children the value of obedience to parents. They appear on 6 December, St Nicholas Day, to deliver small gifts like oranges and nuts. They also scare the devil out of all the kids by giving each one an accurate description of their discipline problems. The list of behavior to correct is provided by the parents ahead of time. In the past the home visit might include placing the child in a bag to kidnap him for infractions on the list. My Swiss friends had this happen in their youth, and reported that it was truly scary. Santa gets drunk as he travels from home to home because he is offered some spirits along the way. One of my friends was at the end of the route in her small village. She said Santa was always drunk by the time he came to her house, and she was always afraid of him.
How does this differ from our department store Santa that asks kids what they want? Well, first of all, they only ask the parents what they want out of the situation. The threat of Schmutzli’s terror is intended to root out all that bad behavior before 25 December. On Christmas Eve the baby Jesus is supposed to fly through the child’s window and leave gifts. Baby Jesus gets through all the windows just like our Santa gets down all the chimneys, no questions asked. Kids who reform themselves in those 24 days they have to redeem themselves will be rewarded by Jesus.
I think it is a practical system. Now that Schmutzli has been calmed down for modern times, he just represents winter. In Austria I don’t think Krampus will ever be diluted. He is more adored than St Nick. He is still a horned pagan kind of archetype. He jumps out at you on the street in Vienna to scare you just for fun. Have you met either one of these guys?
Krampus
Trickster Timeline for December
December 3, 2013
When our parents told us about Santa they may have introduced the trickster archetype. They meant to transcend stuffy conventional behavior by using a character who rides in a reindeer sleigh. They created a fairy tale about being good little girls and boys in order to influence us. They fooled us, some more, some less. I remember finding the matching Ginny doll ( she was before Barbie, and younger with flat feet) dress my mother was sewing hidden in a drawer before Christmas. I knew it was going to become a surprise from Santa, and I instantly activated my own trickster archetype in order to make my parents keep up the heavy duty gifting. The double tricking, which was probably known to all, lasted until I felt the need to tell them I had busted them and was no longer in need of a Santa Claus.
Kids in other cultures are taught different stories about Christmas. Traditional celebrations frequently predate Christianity, but have blended now with church practices. Krampus, aka Shmutzli, is the dark, scary-hairy dude who travels with St. Nicholas on Dec 6. They have the job of scaring all the children into good behavior for the following three weeks. Only the well behaved kids will be gifted by the baby Jesus on the night before Christmas when he flies around and enters their windows with presents. Advent is typically a big deal in Europe, as is Three Kings Day. They spread it out over a longer period, not so much focus on 25 Dec and buying all the goods in the world. December 6th is officially Krampus Day in Austria, which they enjoy with much costuming and scary monster gear, like torches. I was once in Vienna on Krampus Day and came upon one in the night..they jump out and shock the bejezuz out of you. Krampus is much more popular in Austria than Santa, I think because he is more exciting. He is often seen hanging from rear view mirrors in December in Austria.
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