Lessons of der Belsnickel

It is now mid-December, and the Yuletide is coming upon us quickly. The first observance in the Deitscherei that is directly related to the Yuletide is the coming of der Belsnickel.

Typically, Belsnickel is viewed through the post-conversion lens of St. Nicholas, much like Santa Claus is. The translation of the name itself, "fur Nick" or "Nicholas in furs," reflects that image. However, is St. Nicholas really the character from whom either Belsnickel or Santa Claus comes?

The case against St. Nicholas is fairly simple. There is no reindeer in Anatolia; the North Pole, Elves, Yuletide, and the sleigh ride through the skies with "Mrs. Claus" (a.k.a. Holle) with all sorts of other spirits present (read: Wild Hunt), and numerous other references give the major clues to the true origin of both entities.As has been pointed out on other Heathen, including Urglaawe, sites, an argument can be made that the Heathen origins of Belsnickel/Krampus and Santa Claus reflect two aspects of the same deity (Wudan, Wodan, Wotan, Odin).

The classic features of der Belsnickel are still visible in some areas of the Deitscherei today, but, in most places, they have shaped him into a more innocuous figure than in prior generations. Typically, Belsnickel appeared anytime in mid-December (not just at the Church-appointed St. Nicholas Day, the date of which may be part of the reason that St. Nicholas was chosen as the saint to diminish the god). He would arrive, looking haggard, dirty, frightening, and dressed in pelts. Whether he had horns or not seemed to depend on locality; those that I remember did not, but plenty of other people in the region relate the presence of horns.

Belsnickel would ask arcane riddles, many of which actually had a simple answer. He actually allowed a fair amount of time for an answer. In fact, I remember him encouraging children to work together in order to solve certain riddles. However, each child was ultimately responsible to provide an answer for the riddles on his or her own. If the child answered incorrectly, or not at all, he or she had to vie for a horse chestnut against other children who did to answer correctly. There was always one less horse chestnut than there were children. As the children were trying to grab a chestnut, Belsnickel would take swats at their hands with a switch. Whichever child ended up with no horse chestnut took a whack on the butt from the switch.

 The other children had proven their worthiness in "battle" by winning a horse chestnut and were prepared for Santa Claus' gifts, and while the whack on the butt was certainly terrifying for the victim, it also resulted in the complete exoneration of the child from any wrongdoing, including not being able to answer the riddle. I suspect, however, that in the distant past, that the representation of the whipping had more negative implications.

Wudan, as der Belsnickel, is the shady Seeker, who rewards wisdsom and punishes ignorance. He also presents the dark side of life and teaches us to use our intelligence and skill to deal with it. Wudan, as Santa Claus, reveals His Wish-Granter aspect. Here he projects the joys of life, the concept of generosity, and the social gains to be made through gift exchange. These aspects represent a balance and an understanding of life in a variety of contexts that can help a community face the dangers of life while also recognizing and actualizing love, joy, etc.

The intense hyper-marketing of Santa Claus and the marginalization of Belsnickel remove an opportunity for life lessons to be taught at a young age. The Consumer Culture Christmas has created a bubble around children in an attempt to shield them from the realities of life. Everything has to be "perfect," and the dark side of real life is allowed only in the context of video games, where violence is simultaneously bred and undone by restarting the game. This bubble, ultimately, does the children a disservice.

Our children see acts of violence everywhere, especially in their games. The answer in those games to solving and avoiding violent issues, however, is always more violence. Using ones wit or coming together as a community for mutual benefit is, as far as I know, generally absent from computer games. On the one hand, we have a bubble shielding children from outside violence. On the other hand, we have the violence -- and a skewed way of responding to challenges -- taking a special, invitation-only place within the home.

Our ancestors were often much wiser than we think. Fairy tales and replications of deity actions often served as lessons for the children in how to deal with real life. These are lessons that are projected by Belsnickel, or the Krampus, today.

Es Allelieweziel

I have seen a lot of discussion about Halloween on various lists, and I wanted to share the importance of October 31, which we call Allelieweziel, within the old Deitsch (Pennsylvania German) culture and in Urglaawe.

A significant volume of oral lore was passed on via practitioners of Braucherei (the Elder Deitsch healing and magical practice), particularly from those who maintained a Heathen worldview when it came to their healing of the souls of the departed.

Years ago, several of my colleagues conducted oral interviews of over 80 practitioners of Braucherei, and the notes that they took from the interviewees who carried Heathen or syncretic views provided a very interesting picture of the importance of October 31.

The first interesting element is the name of the event: Allelieweziel. Christian practitioners of Braucherei did not use this term. While we can translate the term's meaning, "the goal of all love," we have not found a corresponding term in other German dialects (if anyone knows more about this, please contact me).

The observance of Allelieweziel represents the transition from the light half of the spiritual year to the dark half. Holle's departure on the Furious Host (Wild Hunt) is reflected in the death of the fertility of the soil. Allelieweziel is the death phase of the life-death-rebirth cycle.

As Holle sets off upon the Furious Host, She is followed by an entourage of the lands spirits and the souls of the recently departed. Throughout the dark half of the year, Holle hunts for stray souls. As She finds them, they join the Furious Host until She brings them to her figurative mill to "grind" them into their next life. Practitioners of Braucherei also use traditional journeying practice to help seek out stuck souls to help them cross over to the mill.

As a principally agricultural people for centuries before migrating to North America, the ancestors of the Deitsch transmitted no information about going to the hall of any deity upon death [Note: later interviews have turned up some hints of going to halls or realms]; instead, human souls follow cycles similar to that of the crops that dictated their livelihood. As such, most Urglaawer belief in a rebirth of the soul within the family stream (a concept that is also seen in the lore of the rune Othala) as opposed to Valhalla, etc.

Another aspect to the holiday is the recognition of sacrifices that males make for the good of the community. Traditionally, as winter set in, culling of herds, particularly males, helped to provide food for humans and conserve resources for the remaining herd. This recognition is underscored by the burning of the Butzemann, or activated scarecrow, by the end of Allelieweziel.

The Butzemann is created from the remnants of the prior year's crops and is ceremonially granted life on Grundsaudaag (Groundhog Day). He is charged with overseeing his "child" crops for the season. Similar traditions are featured in other cultures. Throughout the light half of the year, the Butzemann is treated like other wights. Offerings and gifts are given to him. Anytime between Erntfescht (the autumn equinox/harvest home) and Allelieweziel, the Butzemann is released from his duties and he is to be burned in order to free his soul to join the Furious Host. The "soul" of the Butzemann is not human; it is one of the crops from which he is constructed, but all living things in Braucherei tradition have souls that are part of the cycle.

It is considered very bad luck to keep an activated Butzemann after Allelieweziel. If the soul of the Butzemann were to depart on the Furious Host, his remaining shell is likely to be taken up by a baneful land spirit, who, now having physical form, would terrorize the countryside. I remember my parents telling me that if I did not get back into bed on Christmas Eve that the Butzemann would "get me." Similar stories turn up all over Deitscherei.

It is also considered bad luck to wear clothing that was on a Butzemann. People often give warnings about this a look askance; however, in the Colonial era, it appears that vagrants often walked the great distances from town to town seeking work. As their clothes began to wear down, apparently they would occasionally exchange their clothes for those on a Butzemann. For some reason that we have not yet been able to fully identify, this theft is considered to be of a higher Wurt payback than theft of food from farms, etc.

Prior to the Butzemann's burning, we are to show him some of the remaining crops from which the next Butzemann will be created. This is to thank him for his success and to ensure him that the lineage will go on. Then, as he is burned, he is to be taking with him all of the things that we wanted to banish from our spiritual lives, particularly things that were on our list of resolutions at the New Year. The pyre is to bring about the extinction of those negative aspects of our lives along with any gifts to the deities. As we watch him burn, we honor his work and reflect upon the year gone by.

The time between Allelieweziel and Yule is considered to be the darkest time: the time between death and rebirth. It is not a time to fear, but instead a time to recognize the need for change within the universe. The end of one thing is a beginning of something new.

Appropriate runes at this time are Jera, representing the cycle of life as well as the cycle of the year, and Hagalaz, for the extinction of things that impact our lives negatively. As the Hagalaz rune on the Younger Futhark is most likely the root of the six-point rosette on the traditional Deitsch hex signs, we often use that form of the rune.

The duty of each individual being, whether human, animal, or plant, is to strive to leave the world a better place for our descendants (and us in our next life!) than it was when we came into it. This is the goal of all love. This is Allelieweziel.