Episode 32: Krampus, BDSM King of Christmas (& Other Observances)

CW: Single line mentions of fascism and sexual assault, police brutality, hitting children with sticks (it’s literally Krampus’ whole job), animal sacrifice

We’ll just start off right away with me correcting myself. I misremembered Dr. Jackson Crawford’s last name and called him Dr. Campbell. That’s entirely my fault for not double checking. So the video I’m citing in our episode about the story of King Haakon comes from Dr. Jackson Crawford. It’s from one of the sagas and is a very early written account of Yule. He’s an expert in his field, and it’s worth the listen.

Here’s a short article that just talks about a few different Yule celebrations through the ages.

This one talks about how you can bring older Yule traditions into modern practices. Really, you don’t have to change much, but here it all is in a nice list.

This article goes into more detail about the Roman Saturnalia festival. It’s got quotes from people who were living at the time and discussed the intricacies in the celebration.

Here in this one we’ll learn about Lohri, the Northern Indian solstice celebration. This one goes through what Lohri is and what to expect while you’re at the party.

And here’s some further information of Shab e Yalda, the Iranian celebration of the solstice.

This is a really excellent article about the history of Kwanzaa, it’s traditions, and how the Black community is experiencing Kwanzaa in the current day and age alongside other expressions of Black Power and activism like Black Lives Matter. There are links off this article to further resources and videos.

Here we have a really good breakdown of who Krampus is and the observance of Krampusnacht. There’s a really cool assortment of pictures of postcards and artwork of Krampus from the 1800s-the early 1900s and some mildly scary pictures of the modern Krampusnacht!

And finally, here’s an article going over the Welsh tradition of the Mari Lwyd. The tradition isn’t as widespread anymore, but I love it, and I hope it keeps making a come back.

And here’s just a video of the Mari Lwyd festivities going on.