St. Nicholas Day!
In America, the Christmas season may begin the day after Thanksgiving, if not earlier, but most of the actual celebration of the season falls squarely on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. In the Czech Republic, there were once smaller Advent celebrations throughout December, but only one of those has remained: Mikuláš.
Mikuláš is the sort of short-hand for the Feast of St. Nicholas (Svatý Mikuláš in Czech), whose feast day is on December 6th. On the eve of his feast day (the night of December 5th) St. Nicholas visits homes or travels to public places accompanied by two figures: an angel and a demon. These sidekicks don't have names (the demon certainly comes from the same some folklore as the Germanic Krampus, but he isn't called that), and they don't travel alone. They are always accompied by St. Nicholas, and he always travels with them--always three there are.
St. Nicholas, who was the Bishop of Turkey before he died, and centuries before he transformed into Father Christmas or Santa Claus, dresses in the traditional vestements of an Easern bishop: mitre, robes, and the shepard's staff (crosier). The angel generally dresses like, well, an angel: white robes, wings, halo--that sort of thing. The demon arguably gets to have the most fun with his costume, as there is more variance as to what the demon should look like. He should have horns and fur and preferably carry a sack and chains, but otherwise his look varies, with some demons looking more comic, and some being downright terrifying.
In large cities like Prague, the various Christmas Markets and other public spaces receive visits from this odd trio on Mikuláš. In smaller towns, the trio can go door to door, and parents can even hire them to pay a visit to their little ones. I wasn't able to grab any footage, but the video above comes from a person who did a few years ago. I did, however, see people wearing light-up devil horns, and even encountered a few groups of costumed characters on the subway. It added a nice Halloween by way of Christmas tinge to the evening commute.
So, what do they do when they encounter the little tykes? Well, traditionally, St. Nicholas used to ask children if they knew their prayers, or their Bible verses. Now, it is more common for him simply to ask the kids if they have been good, and maybe to ask them to sing a song or recite a poem to entertain him and his companions. If the child has been good, St. Nicholas gives him candy, chocolates, or small gifts--think stocking stuffers for my Anglophone readers. The demon, however, doesn't like this and will try to scare the children a little (or a lot, maybe), perhaps rattling the chains he carries and maybe even threatening to take the children back to hell with him in his sack! The angel, however, intercedes on the children's behalf, The worst any child can expect to receive is a lump of coal or perhaps a rotten potato. However, just as I don't know any kids who woke up on Christmas morning to a lump of coal in their stocking, it's unlikely that even the most professional of the St. Nicholas troupes actually carries coal and moldy potatoes with them. The goal is simply to maybe give the kids a little scare, remind them to be good, and give them a small reward to hold them over until Christmas. In recent years, especially in the larger cities, it's common for the young people who dress up to go out and have a few beers afterwards as their reward, beer being the grown-up version of candy here in Prague.
Also of note, while in many countries St. Nicholas is identified with Santa Claus, with Santa being the cheery, fat version of the holy man, here in Czechia, and in some other parts of Europe, St. Nicholas is just St. Nicholas. Santa Claus is known here only as a cultural figure from America. St. Nicholas' Day is during Advent, so his celebration becomes Christmas-y, but it's not St. Nicholas who brings the real presents come Christmas Eve (yes, Czechs open their presents on Christmas Eve). Instead, that is Ježíšek, the Baby Jesus. More on that, and other Czech Christmas traditions in the coming weeks.
Mikuláš is the sort of short-hand for the Feast of St. Nicholas (Svatý Mikuláš in Czech), whose feast day is on December 6th. On the eve of his feast day (the night of December 5th) St. Nicholas visits homes or travels to public places accompanied by two figures: an angel and a demon. These sidekicks don't have names (the demon certainly comes from the same some folklore as the Germanic Krampus, but he isn't called that), and they don't travel alone. They are always accompied by St. Nicholas, and he always travels with them--always three there are.
St. Nicholas, who was the Bishop of Turkey before he died, and centuries before he transformed into Father Christmas or Santa Claus, dresses in the traditional vestements of an Easern bishop: mitre, robes, and the shepard's staff (crosier). The angel generally dresses like, well, an angel: white robes, wings, halo--that sort of thing. The demon arguably gets to have the most fun with his costume, as there is more variance as to what the demon should look like. He should have horns and fur and preferably carry a sack and chains, but otherwise his look varies, with some demons looking more comic, and some being downright terrifying.
In large cities like Prague, the various Christmas Markets and other public spaces receive visits from this odd trio on Mikuláš. In smaller towns, the trio can go door to door, and parents can even hire them to pay a visit to their little ones. I wasn't able to grab any footage, but the video above comes from a person who did a few years ago. I did, however, see people wearing light-up devil horns, and even encountered a few groups of costumed characters on the subway. It added a nice Halloween by way of Christmas tinge to the evening commute.
So, what do they do when they encounter the little tykes? Well, traditionally, St. Nicholas used to ask children if they knew their prayers, or their Bible verses. Now, it is more common for him simply to ask the kids if they have been good, and maybe to ask them to sing a song or recite a poem to entertain him and his companions. If the child has been good, St. Nicholas gives him candy, chocolates, or small gifts--think stocking stuffers for my Anglophone readers. The demon, however, doesn't like this and will try to scare the children a little (or a lot, maybe), perhaps rattling the chains he carries and maybe even threatening to take the children back to hell with him in his sack! The angel, however, intercedes on the children's behalf, The worst any child can expect to receive is a lump of coal or perhaps a rotten potato. However, just as I don't know any kids who woke up on Christmas morning to a lump of coal in their stocking, it's unlikely that even the most professional of the St. Nicholas troupes actually carries coal and moldy potatoes with them. The goal is simply to maybe give the kids a little scare, remind them to be good, and give them a small reward to hold them over until Christmas. In recent years, especially in the larger cities, it's common for the young people who dress up to go out and have a few beers afterwards as their reward, beer being the grown-up version of candy here in Prague.
Also of note, while in many countries St. Nicholas is identified with Santa Claus, with Santa being the cheery, fat version of the holy man, here in Czechia, and in some other parts of Europe, St. Nicholas is just St. Nicholas. Santa Claus is known here only as a cultural figure from America. St. Nicholas' Day is during Advent, so his celebration becomes Christmas-y, but it's not St. Nicholas who brings the real presents come Christmas Eve (yes, Czechs open their presents on Christmas Eve). Instead, that is Ježíšek, the Baby Jesus. More on that, and other Czech Christmas traditions in the coming weeks.
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