Do You Know the Story of the Christmas Spider?

The world is filled with folklore. Here are some holiday related folklore that you may or may not be familiar with.

Krampus

Germany, Austria:

Imagine if Santa had an evil counterpart. In a sense, that’s what the half, man half goat creature that resembles the devil is. Forget worrying about getting a lump of coal. Children that were not on their best behavior would instead be terrorized by Krampus. Some say Krampus snatches bad kids to eat them. Others say he simply drags them to hell. Maybe for eternity? Who knows?

Every December 5, what is known as Krampusnacht (Krampus Night), both Krampus and Santa make their rounds with Santa visiting well behaved children and Krampus visiting the misbehaved.

The lore of Krampus can be traced back as far as the 1600’s. The creature’s name is derived from the German word Krampen meaning “claw”.

Today, there are Christmas festivals dedicated to Krampus across Germany, Austria, and even the United States. There is one such popular event that takes place in Munich, Germany during their Christmas Market. During this time, people don devilish costumes resembling Krampus and run through Munich’s Christmas Market “terrorizing” people for some good fun.

Befana the Witch

Italy:

Maybe your first thoughts are of an evil witch that lives in a shack deep in the woods and eats little kids that dare venture close as a snack much like the one out of the fairytale, Hansel and Gretel. However, Befana the Witch isn’t evil at all but rather pleasant! I promise!

Many associate the one that gives children gifts to be Santa Claus. However, in Italian lore, that honor goes to an elderly woman known as Befana Witch. It is said that Befana the Witch goes door to door on January 5, known as Epiphany Eve, leaving gifts for young children in the hopes that one very special baby will be one of the children to receive a gift.

The story goes that Befana was one of the many few that ran into the three magi (wise men). Yes, the same wise men that followed the Star of Bethlehem to deliver gifts to the baby Jesus.

At first, Befana declined the opportunity to accompany the magi. She just had too much housework to do. However, after they continued on their way, she began to have second thoughts. She hurried off to find the three wise men but to no avail.

And this is why Befana the Witch goes door to door on the night of January 5th in hopes that the baby Jesus will get her gifts after all.

Yule Cat

Iceland:

What could be worse? A half man, half goat devil creature known as Krampus that snatches bad kids or a giant cat that terrorizes a village?

Wait. A giant terrorizing cat? Yes, this is an actual Icelandic lore I recently learned about and wanted to share.

The reason for Yule Cat’s rampage is more than a little peculiar and maybe a tad humorous. See, yule cat won’t terrorize you if you’re bad. Instead, legend has it that Yule Cat will come down off the mountain around Christmas time and terrorize the village below looking for anyone that did not receive new clothes by Christmas.

As long as you receive some clothing as simple as a pair of socks, you’re safe!

There is a less disturbing version to this lore but maybe not much better. Instead of eating people that didn’t get new clothing by Christmas, Yule Cat will eat their Christmas dinner.

The Christmas Spider

Ukraine, Germany:

When one thinks of spiders, they usually don’t associate them with Christmas. However, there is a very special spider that is honored each Christmas time.

Long ago, there lived a widow and her children. Times were tough for the widow and her children and she wanted to make her children’s Christmas pleasantly memorable. When the children were asleep, the widow found her eyes wandering over to their Christmas tree. It was a rather ordinary Christmas tree. There was no festive tinsel, ornaments, or lights because she simply could not afford it.

There was someone or something that had been closely watching the widow — a lone and seemingly very ordinary house spider. As the spider watched the woman stare sadly at her ordinary Christmas tree, it longed to do something to help make the tree a little more festive. The moment the widow went to bed, the spider along with many other spiders went right to work decorating by spinning webs around the tree.

When morning came, the widow and her children opened the windows letting the sunlight in making the web covered tree glisten and gleam.

Sources:

https://www.history.com/news/krampus-christmas-legend-origin

https://www.byerschoice.com/christmas-traditions/la-befana-italian-christmas-witch

https://www.history.co.uk/articles/a-festive-feline-meet-the-yule-cat-iceland-s-monstrous-christmas-kitty

https://www.countryliving.com/life/g5065/christmas-spider-tradition/