This Krampus fellow, he is ugly. And as ugly as he appears, so are the reasons for his existence; truth, honesty, and honor, of course, always leave an ugly footprint for those folks who seek the easy way around things.
Half goat and half demon, Krampus bursts from German folklore as a son of Hel, the Germanic/Norse Goddess of the underworld. Alpine tradition has it that Krampus is the counter-weight of St. Nick (not Santa Claus. At this time, Santa does not exist). The day before 12/6, or Nikolaustag, the day that St. Nicholas rewards good kids with gifts, Krampus bags up all the rotten kids and takes them to his forest hide-a-way, to eat. Krampus is a figure from folklore meant to scare kids into being good kids; it worked centuries ago and still works today. So what of adults?
Grown-ups need to understand that our behavior is what makes us what we are. In short, we are our deeds. As adults, there is no Krampus figure lurking around every life corner to make himself known. As adults, we are supposed to know the difference between right an wrong. But there are those who take the delusional path of wrong to force a distorted sense of right. It is during this time that there are no absolutes, only gray senses of being that justify deviant behavior. While the law of the land may or not be swift and just, wyrd and orlog are forever. Maybe we should give Krampus a blank check to scare the hell out of all kids, always and everywhere to prevent them from going astray as adults (fear is a great motivator). But alas, the PC police will not allow that to happen. Poor Krampus......
Copyright@ 2015/2016 Terry Unger
