Check out 10 of the weirdest Christmas
traditions from around the world. Christmas is a time of joy and
celebration, and many countries have weird traditions. Care to know what
those bizarre traditions are? Well, some in some countries, families
leave out beer for Santa, instead of the regular milk & cookies,
while other states are visited by Santa’s demonic evil twin, who’s named
Krampus. Find out what he does, and many more interesting yet odd
Christmas Traditions right here.
1. Krampus, Santa’s Evil Austrian Twin
As scary and bizarre as it may seem, this
tradition is actually real and you can experiment it first hand if you
plan on spending December 5th in Austria. Krampus is a demon creature
who is Santa’s evil twin.
What does this demon do you ask? His role
is to beat and punish children who have misbehaved throughout the year.
In honor of this demonic beast, on December 5th, men disguise
themselves in horrific demon-like costumes and masks, and roam around
the city streets hitting people with sticks…
See a glimpse of the festivities for Krampus in the video below:
2. Rollerblading to Church On Christmas Day – Caracas, Venezuela
Do you get enough exercise throughout the
year? Well if you don’t Christmas morning is the perfect time to go out
for a stroll on your rollerblades. And while you’re at it, take the
whole family with you. That’s how they do things in Venezuela. People
get to the morning church services on rollerblades, as a tradition, and
the roads are even specially cleaned up for the occasion.
3. Hide Brooms Away From Witches – Norway
In Norway, Christmas Eve is associated
with the arrival of witches and evil spirits. So… What do we do when it
comes to witches? Hide all the brooms! Every Christmas eve, before going
to sleep, the members of a household hide all of the brooms and go to
sleep hoping that the witches don’t find them.
4. Caga Tià – The Pooping Log
The people of Catalonia also have a very
weird tradition that starts two weeks before Christmas. On December 8th,
every family takes out a hollow log, they put it on eight wooden legs,
they cover him with a blanket to make sure he doesn’t catch a cold, and
they feed him daily till December 25th. On Christmas Day, the log is put
in the fireplace and beaten with sticks until he poops out small
candies, fruits, and nuts… Dig in boys and girls!
5. The Good Luck Spider Hidden in The Christmas Tree – Ukraine
An old Ukrainian tale says that a long
time ago, a widow was so poor, that she could not afford to buy any
Christmas ornaments for her tree. She was extremely sad that she could
not give her kids the joy of a beautiful Christmas tree and she went to
sleep crying. When she woke up, she found her tree magically ornamented
by a spider web. The little spider had made Christmas happier for the
whole family.
Based on that tale, in Ukraine it is
considered a tradition to hide a spider ornament in the tree, and who
ever finds it, will have good luck all year long.
Find out more about weird Christmas traditions on page 2.
6. Caganer The pooping Figurine – Spain, Portugal and Italy
Some parts of Spain, Portugal and Italy
also have the weirdest Christmas traditions… In every nativity scene,
they place a figurine that has his pants to the ground and who is
pooping. This lil character is placed in a remote place of the scene, in
order to give the lil person some privacy.
7. The Pickle Ornament Germany
German families also hang a rather weird
ornament in their Christmas tree… A pickle! The ornament is passed down
from generation to generation, and when the family makes the tree, they
hide it away from the kids. On Christmas morning, the kiddos search for
it, and who ever finds it first, will have a whole year of good luck.
8. Zwarte Piet – The Netherlands
Zwarte Piet, is not a Christmas
tradition, but rather a tradition of December. He’s the helper of Saint
Nicolas, and his birthday is celebrated on December the 5th. They two
arrive by steamboat in The Netherlands, coming from Spain. It is
believed that Saint Nicolas rides on the rooftops on his white horse
carrying presents for children, but it’s up to Zwarte Piet to handle the
hard part and go down the chimney and deliver the presents.
Zwarte Piet, or Dark Peter also
helps Saint Nicolas with handling the naughty children list. It was
thought that children who were not good throughout the year would be
taken by Zwarte Piet back to Spain. Dark Peter was originally thought to
be a slave, but in order to make things right, it is now considered
that he was a chimney sweeper, which would explain his dark skin.
9. Mari Lwyd – Wales
The Mari Lwyd is an ancient Welsh custom. Mari Lwyd means grey mare, and she takes the form of a decorated horse-skull on a pole operated by a man in a white sheet ; the Mari would be paraded around the district in return for refreshment as a house-visiting custom.
10. Go for a Swim on Christmas
Taking a dip in a freezing body of water
may seem weird… and to be quite honest it is… but that doesn’t stop
people from some parts of England, Ireland and France from doing it on
Christmas day. Some courageous Londoners plunge into the Serpentine on
Hyde Park, while other British representatives go to Brighton beach.
Pretty weird!
What’s your weird family tradition for Christmas?
Special thanks to user Hillie Kapitein who helped us complete the list of weird Christmas traditions!
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