It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but what does Christmas even look like? In America, most people are familiar with Santa Claus, stockings, mistletoe and holly, but how many have heard of Kanakaloka, Hawaii’s Santa who rides a canoe pulled by dolphins? Or the Christmas carp in the Czech Republic, a live carp kept in the bathtub until it’s cooked for Christmas Eve dinner? What about the caganer, a figurine of a person (often a celebrity) squatted down while pooping, and placed behind the manger in nativity scenes in Catalonia? Christmases around the world are full of unique and delightfully strange traditions; this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Caganers aren’t the only poop-related Catalan Christmas tradition (somehow). There are also pooping logs called Caga Tió. Starting on Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, children are given a log with a smiley face and red hat, and must take care of it until Christmas. Kids put the Tió by the fireplace, and wrap it in a blanket to keep it warm. Each day, they feed it nuts, fruits or candy. On Christmas Eve, after the Tió has been “fattened up,” families gather around the log with sticks and start singing the Caga Tió song, commanding the log to poop while beating it like a piñata. Finally, they lift the blanket to reveal the presents that it “produced,” typically toys or turrón, a Spanish candy.
In Iceland, rather than Santa delivering presents, 13 trolls called the Yule Lads visit kids in the 13 days leading up to Christmas. Children set their shoes on the windowsill at night for one of the lads to leave a small gift in if the kid was good, or a rotten potato if the kid was bad. However, the punishment for being naughty goes far beyond just rotten potatoes: Grýla, the Yule Lads’ mother, kidnaps bad kids and brings them back to her cave where she cooks them to make her stew. Grýla’s pet, the Yule Cat, is a gigantic black cat that hunts for anyone who hasn’t received new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve, encouraging people to finish their knitting and give presents to each other.
The Mari Lwyd (maw-ree loo-id) from Wales is a ghostly horse that goes door to door during the 12 days of Christmas forcing people into “rap battles.” A traditional Mari Lwyd is a horse skull on a pole wearing a white cloak that hides the person carrying it. A small group travels with the Mari, leading it by reins attached to the skull. They knock at houses, beginning a tradition called pwnco (pun-ko), in which the group sings a verse asking for entry and the home owner must answer with an excuse that rhymes, or else the party can come in. Once inside, the Mari Lwyd prances around while the group sings Welsh folk songs and exchanges food and gifts with the family. Most people tend to let the Mari Lwyd in, as it’s considered good luck to be visited by it.
Nalujuk Night is an Inuit (indigenous Canadian) festival celebrated on Jan. 6, the 12th day of Christmas, in Nunatsiavut. At night, Nalujuit “zombies” from Greenland cross the sea ice to Canada to cast judgement on the Inuit children. Adults dress as the Nalujuit, wearing fur coats and seal skin masks that look like skulls. They march into towns carrying large sticks, and what follows is basically a Christmas version of The Purge. The Nalujuit chase naughty children around, beating them with their sticks. They barge into homes and demand that the children sing; if the song is good, they leave a gift and move on; otherwise, more beating ensues. The adults don’t actually try to hurt the kids, though. Nalujuit Night is just meant to be a playful way to convince children to behave throughout the year.
From the off-putting to the downright evil, Christmas traditions from all over the world can look vastly different from one another, but they all share a common theme: giving gifts.
