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Dec
6
Yesterday night Saint Nicholas and his helper "Black Piet" have been walking over the rooftops of our homes and houses.
Quietly Black Piet descends through the chimney, reads the letters of the children that asked Saint Nicholas for presents, and as by miracle, Black Piet will provide the kids with the gifts they are asking for…
Yes, this Saint Nicholas looks like the well known SantaClaus, yet he arrives the 6th of December. In Spanish speaking countries you have a similar looking saint doing similar things, yet he arrives at the beginning of January…
Now if you go to Germany, you will find people dressed in bizarre straw outfits with strapped-on cowbells and furs, their faces covered with devilish masks… These traditional "Buttnmandl" runners shout and make noise to frighten people in the village of Bischofswiesen, in southern Bavaria. This pre-Christmas custom aims to protect against evil spirits in the darkest time of the year.
So in the end this again must have been a pageant feast that has been christened and lots its original value. Especially the Black Piet reminds me on the Bavarian "Buttnmandl" runners to scare of evil spirits at the end of the year. Which explains why nowadays Black Piet carries a bag to put in the children and scare the hell out of them when they misbehaved during the previous year…
As such, this originally very human friendly pageant feast turned out in a very frightening children disaster, although softened by the gifts these kids get each year…
It’s strange when people start fondling around with tradition until they don’t know anymore what they are doing…
Pictures of tulips filed under: EDUCATION, GOSSIP, HOME & GARDEN
