Christmas Mysteries

"...Christmas all hail! - without the wild storm,

Within, good fires, good fare, shall keep us warm:

And the huge log, within chimney blazing bright,

Make joyous sparkle through the merry night;

While mysterious tales are told around the hearth,

Where mingle sacred thoughts with those of earth.."

Excerpt from "Recollections of old Christmas".

Good will to all men? Love and make merry? Kisses under the mistletoe? All traditions associated with Christmas. But is there another side to this open and joyous festival? A mysterious side? Even a dark side?

Legends and myths about Christmas go back a very long way. In pre- Christian times the celebrations would have taken place around the solstice. Even today there is still a mystique and mystery that surrounds Christmas as the following tales will show.

The saint who has inspired the Father Christmas legend may well be buried in Ireland. It is believed that the saint's remains were brought back to Ireland by some Crusaders about 800 years ago. The location of the grave is thought to be at Jerpoint Abbey in County Kilkenny, where a large stone slab marks the site.

St Nicholas of Myra lived during the 4th century. His reputation grew when it was discovered that he anonymously left gifts for poor people. He was eventually canonised and received a sainthood for his work. It is thought that St. Nicholas died in the year 346 AD.

St Nicholas was the Bishop of Lycia - now Turkey. After his death he was buried in a church in Myra. The site was visited by many pilgrims and historians claim that early crusaders removed his remains back to Ireland. The family responsible for this were called the de Frainets - many of the family were involved in the crusade campaigns. It was after the family had settled in Ireland that Nicholas de Frainet founded a Cistercian Abbey in 1200 at Jerpoint. He then had the remains of St. Nicholas placed in a tomb within the abbey. The mystery is why the family should have taken the trouble to move the Saint's remains to Ireland? Was there a specific reason for doing so? As yet these questions remain a mystery.

St. Nicholas As Father Christmas: - One story that many people believe accounts for the origins of St. Nicholas being transformed into Father Christmas concerns a very poor man with three daughters. The father was very distressed at not being able to supply dowries for his daughers and despaired that they would never be able to marry. However, on the night that each in turn became of marriageable age, bags of gold were found to have been thrown through windows or down the chimney and landed in some shoes by the hearth. This story is said to have inspired the idea of children leaving stockings out on Christmas Eve.

We are all familiar with the happy and kind Father Christmas whose cherubic face is plastered everywhere in the run up to Christmas. Generally this icon gives a feeling of warmth and being positive. But there are legends that give a very different slant on this jolly red man. In folklore there is thought to have been bad Santas and evil Santa helpers.

The idea of a bad santa may just come from the same kind of traditions we have today - children know that they should behave in order to be rewarded with presents. The folklore tales are possibly just the same kind of thing only taken to an extreme.

Jouluppukki - the Yule Goat

This is a supernatural entity from the folklore of Finland and it didn't bring gifts - it demanded them! It is said to resemble a gnome. It was reported to ride on some form of beast and would arrive from the north demanding gifts from people. It wasn't wise to refuse as havoc and ill luck would strike the whole household.

Related to this from the folklore of Iceland comes the Yule Lads. This was a family of 13 going by the name of Jolasveinair. Each of the the 'lads' had a distinct personality but in one trait they all shared - if they did not like the gift offered they were known to devour children! It is thought by some that the Yule Lads have become transformed into a Santa-like figure or that they have been transformed into Santa's cute little elves.

In other traditions the elves were always thought to be malign rather than benign. In some folklore legends they are described as having a stick or rod with which they would beat children who misbehaved. In addition they also carried a small sack over one shoulder. This sack would be used to kidnapp children who behaved particularly bad.

These malignant Santa 'aids' have been called several names depending on culture or country. The names include Knecht Ruprecht/Servent Ruprecht and also Krampus. In some traditions young men would dress up as these festive entities in the weeks leading up to Christmas in order to scare people - almost like a Christmas equivalent of Halloween. In Flanders and the Netherlands this evil companion to Santa goes by the name of Zwarte Piet and also carries a stick to beat misbehaving children.

Krampus -mentioned previously - is also referred to not only as a helper to Santa, but as a demon and more specifically an incubus. Not only would this evil henchman beat unruly children, but adults as well who were thought to deserve it. As Santa would dish out presents to the good folks and children, Krampus would be lurking just behind him to pounce on those that had been bad.

It does seem like these entities are being used to ensure obedience and good behaviour from children - and lets face it, who would dare to be naughty when these malign ogres were known to be lurking around waiting to beat you!

One of the weirdest incidents I've come across - not just at the festive season - but at any time, is one that happened to an ordinary married couple called the Cumpstons.

In December 1873 just prior to Christmas the couple decided to take a short holiday. Their chosen destination was Bristol. They booked into the Victoria Hotel and settled in to begin their short vacation. The incident that occurred to them later that day would frighten them so much that they would be arrested for disorderly conduct.

Not long after unpacking, the couple began to hear banging and thumping noises that grew louder and more frequent. They reported the noise to the Landlady who basically shrugged it off and didn't seem to want to hear anything about it. However, just as suddenly as the noises had commenced they stopped. Relieved the couple got ready for bed and went to sleep quite quickly.

At 3.00am that same morning the couple were woken up to a terrifying cresendo of thumping and banging that seemed to come mostly from the floor. On jumping out of bed they had the distressing sensation that their floor was about ready to give way underneath them. Suddenly, Mr Cumpston felt the floor open up and the sensation of being sucked down! The couple screamed for help. Their voices soundrd odd, seeming to echoe vibrantly. Then they distinctly heard other voices also calling, as if mimicking their cries. Mrs Cumpston grabbed at her husband and managed to pull him clear. The couple fled out of the room by the window and ran to the nearest train station.

They were panick stricken and incoherent and shouting that they believed that criminals had tried to kidnapp them. It was here that the police arrested the couple and they appeared in court later on that same day charged with disorderly conduct. The landlady did testify that she had heard some unusual noises but had not really thought that much about them and would not give any further details. When police searched the room where the Cumpstons had stayed, they found all their belongings there and still neatly packed away. The floor boards were also intact with no sign either above or below them of any tools being recently used. The floor was solid and in very good order. The court decided that the couple had suffered an hallucination together and let them go.

To this day there is still no explantion of who or what was responsible for the noises, the voices or the sensations that this married couple had experienced. This is indeed a very curious Christmas Mystery.

As fascinating as modern poltergeist stories are, some of the best documented come from the past. One family who owned a farm was plagued by a particularly nasty outbreak of poltergeist activity. The account comes from a letter written at Christmas in 1812. The author is Robert Roberts the tenant farmer of the afflicted property of Bodeugan, in Wales. The letter relates, after giving an apology to the landowner for the late delivery of a Christmas Goose, the terrifying incidents that had occurred in their home. Robert refers to the house as being 'bewitched' but the signs of poltergeist activity are classic.

The first incident occurred on the night of December 1st Robert relates how stones and pieces of coal were thrown at the windows of the house. No one was found either near the house or in the surrounding land. The activity started again the following day, when it was reported that the milk pots, used for churning milk, had been thrown causing them to break into very small pieces. Not only that but other kitchen utensils were also thrown and scattered around the property. The terrified family then had many objects thrown at them - these also included kitchen utensils, some quite heavy. The next day the women of the farm had stones, bricks and dung thrown at them. The poltergeist was so violent that they could not milk the cows because of the number of missiles being fired. The activity became so severe on this day that the women of the house fled in terror and spent the night at a neighbours house.

The family seemes to have had a full day of peace but this was short lived. On the following day Robert reports that water was the next weapon to be used. The distressed farmer reported that glasses were thrown at them and so much water that the family were drenched. He also reported that many other items were constantly being moved.

Then a complete silence took over the house for a full ten days. The family thankfull that they would have a Christmas of peace. However, on Christmas Eve the poltergeist returned and with a vengeance. This time the attacks were personal physical attacks on the family and the household servants. The servants in particular were frequently Pinched, kicked and punched and with such violence that scratches and bruises appeared on their skin. Their bedclothes were also repeatedly ripped from the bed and thrown on the floor. Robert then reports that the activity had become so severe that his wife became ill and had to take to her bed through sheer terror. As is the case with most poltergeists activity suddenly stopped as mysteriously as it had began and no further reference was made to the Christmas Poltergeist.