Weird Christmas traditions around the world

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We've all grown up with holiday traditions, and for those of us who grew up in Canada, those traditions revolved around Santa Clause and his elves, the giving of presents and for the varied religious celebrations that coincide with the season. In other areas of the world, however, the holiday season is celebrated in some different and highly unusual ways.

Krampus

(Europe) — Standing in direct contradiction to the bubbly goodness of our familiar Santa Claus, Krampus' sole purpose is to punish children who have misbehaved. Originating from pre-Christian Alpine traditions, in what is modern-day Germany and Scandinavia, Krampus takes on the appearance of a horned demon complete with cloven hooves and a lolling tongue out of a twisted mouth. He will traditionally carry a “ruten,” a birch branch used in pagan initiation rites that can be used to swat children. Legend also depicts him with a sack for stealing away misbehaving children, or more morbidly, a washtub, which he uses to drown them in.

In modern times, during the Feast of Saint Nicholas, Europe's midwinter festival, young men will often dress up as Krampus on December 5 and head out into the streets to scare people. While generally harmless, some of the Christmas beatings have become less than playful when alcohol becomes involved, causing the revival of the tradition to cause some minor controversy among the German and Austrian population.

Tió de Nadal

(Catalonia) — At first glance the tió de nedal, or Christmas log looks much like the sort of homemade, whimsical Christmas decoration that you've come across at your rustic uncle's house, but this tradition is far more than just a stationary decoration. Tio, as he is often referred to as, originally was simply a log. Nowadays families will decorate him with legs, a smiling cartoon face and a red blanket, but being a log with a face is not what puts him on this list. His more popular name is Caga tió, Catalan for “shitting log,” and his holiday function is literally to poop out presents for the family.

Beginning December 8, children are encouraged to feed Tio a small amount each night, and ensure that he stays warm so he will poop on Christmas. After caring for this anthropomorphic log, the family will than gather around and beat him with sticks while singing traditional defecation songs. Traditionally, the gifts shat out by Tio are things like candies and small trinkets, or nuts and cheese in more traditional times, as they need to fit on the inside of the log. Larger gifts are handled by the Three Wise Men in Catalonian mythology. At the conclusion of his beating/gift giving, the log will drop something unappetizing to signal the end of the tradition, with the most common ending poop being a red herring.

Belsnickel

(Germany) — Operating in the same geographic region as his sometimes-sidekick Krampus, Belsnickel is a crotchety, impish man who visits children in the weeks approaching Christmas in order to reward the nice and punish the naughty. His punishments are not nearly as harsh as Krampus', traditionally consisting of just a few lights hits with a switch, which is not nice but is better than being drowned. He also carries with him a sack of cakes and treats for the nice children, alerting kids as to how well they will be treated when Saint Nicholas comes to call.

While the tradition is still primarily focused in Germany and Austria, Belsnickel was brought overseas in the 1800's, with celebrations being practised in regions such as Newfoundland, Pennsylvania, and Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Belsnickel was also elevated to minor mainstream fame when he was portrayed by Dwight Schrute in The Office's season nine Christmas special, primarily to beat Jim with his switch.

Christmas Spider

(Ukraine) — As the European folk tale goes, a poor woman had no money with which to decorate the Christmas tree for her children. As she lamented this fact while she fell asleep, a “pavuchky” — little spider — overheard her plea and spun cobwebs over the tree while the family slept. Upon waking, the mother and her children saw the sun shining through the trees, and the newly spun cobwebs glistening sliver, giving tinsel its origin.

The folk tale itself, like so many others, has never had its origin pinpointed. It is told all over Europe but it is the Ukraine that has adopted the pavuchky as an important part of its holiday tradition. To celebrate, Christmas trees are commonly decorated not only with tinsel, but with ornamental cobwebs and spiders, which are said to provide luck to the family that they visit and making paper spiders is a popular pastime for Ukrainian children in the holiday season.

Christmas Pickle

(USA) — It's the holiday season and you're decorating your tree with your family in front of a roaring fire when you notice a shade of green that doesn't quite match the rest of the tree. You reach inside, pull it out and are greeted with a chorus of cheers from your family, for you have found the Christmas Pickle, and a year of good fortune will be yours!

Unlike the other traditions on this list, nobody has been able to definitively pinpoint exactly where it comes from. American practitioners of this light-hearted tradition initially believed it to have originated in Germany, but research discovered that few Germans had ever heard of this practice. It is known that Woolworth's began to import the glass pickles from Germany in the late 19th century, but glass-blown fruit and vegetable ornaments had been a popular — if offbeat — decoration in Europe for many years prior. It may never be known how the tradition began, but it seems to have embedded itself in American folklore and isn't leaving anytime soon.