Description
A portion of Europe observes St. Nicholas Day on December 6. Krampus Night, also known as Krampusnacht, is the night before on the fifth of December, when the naughty hairy devil makes his appearance. Krampus is an anthropomorphic, horned character from Central and Eastern Alpine folklore in Europe who frighten misbehaving kids during the Advent season. On the evening of December 5, Saint Nicholas and Krampus, who is a helper to Santa Claus, visit children. Saint Nicholas rewards the good children with modest gifts like oranges, dried fruit, walnuts, and chocolate, while Krampus only punishes the misbehaving ones by whipping them with birch rods and dragging them to his lair.
Krampus can take many different forms, but they always have some physical traits in common. He is hairy, usually in shades of brown or black, and goat-like cloven hooves and horns. He possesses fangs and a long, pointed tongue that hangs out.
Chains, which the Christian Church interprets as a representation of the Devil’s restraint, are carried by Krampus. He violently thrashes the chains to create drama. Bells of varying sizes can sometimes be found hanging from the chains. The Rute, a bundle of birch branches that Krampus carries and uses to slap kids periodically, has more pagan origins. The Rute might have been significant in initiation rites performed by pre-Christian pagans. Some representations use a whip in place of the birch branches. Sometimes Krampus makes his appearance with a basket or bag slung to his back; this is done to carry bad children to Hell or drown them. Older versions occasionally refer to putting misbehaving kids in the bag and taking them away.
Magically speaking, this oil would be used to calm or control the bad behavior of others around you so that their negativity doesn’t affect you. Red pepper, ginger, birch, orange, juniper, and other herbs and essential oils in a base of fractionated coconut oil.
