The infamous “Build Your Own Santa Claus” video aired 36 years ago today on Edmonton, Canada community television. In the decades since, the urban legends surrounding the video have been colloquially adopted by locals as a Boxing Day wish for those who didn’t have the Christmas they were hoping for. So if you’re feeling blue today, just remember the hope expressed in this classic clip, and as they say in Edmonton, “you can always build your own Santa eh?”
Krampusnacht is most widely acknowledged around December 5th in Germany. American pagans have taken a growing liking to Krampus lore but any pagan roots associated with Krampus are obscured as he is often credited as being a demon exorcised by St. Niklaus. The idea is that Krampus serves the will of good by way of punishing bad as he follows his exorcist in gratitude, supposedly in what way a demon would think to try to be helpful to the cause.
Depending on what Krampus Festival you’re at, Krampus today may take a few different forms. Interpretations of traditional Krampus masks are traditionally hand made, demonic looking faces typically with horns and fangs. The costumes are usually fur trimmed with shoes resembling hooves. Some carry chains and are believed to be hell-beasts whereas others who carry large bells are said to represent the more fae-like “Percthen” who drive away evil spirits with those huge bells. In other areas, such as Bercthesgaden, the Krampus character known as the “Buttnmandl” is made of straw.
By the 19th century printed depictions popularized Krampus as a dark goat-like beast, usually shackled in chains and carrying switches for whipping naughty kids. He has since typically sported a long, pointy red tongue that can reach out and grab victims. Artists continue to play with these visuals. This sapphic spicy interpretation I offer references WWE superstar Rhea Ripley as a muse for a lady Krampus who is concerned with disciplining grown women whose Christmas wish is exactly this, something Santa Clause can’t give.