Monstrum

- Have you heard of the Greek Christmas monster, Kallikantzaros?

No?

Me either.

Fun fact.

My in-laws are Greek.

Like very Greek, like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" Greek.

So when the kallikantzaros came up as I researched winter monsters, surely they could enlighten me.

They had never heard of it either.

Oh, a mysterious monster?

You don't have to ask me twice.

I'm on it.

(bright music) I'm Dr. Emily Zarka, and this is "Monstrum."

Kallikantzaroi take the whole Christmas monster in a different direction, a human direction.

They're little, hairy, black monsters with red eyes, hooves, and long, black tails.

They're known to pee in your food.

So even though this once-popular Christmas monster fell into obscurity, you might want to keep a fire burning this holiday season.

Even though the folklore's origin is rooted in Greek culture, versions of the legend span cultures across the Mediterranean.

Kallikantzaros spend most of the year underground, trying to chop down the mythical tree that holds up the earth, which would bring about the collapse of the world.

But every year, just before they saw through the world tree, Christmas Day arrives, and kallikantzaroi join humans in the mortal world to wreak havoc.

During the 12 days of Christmas, from December 25th to January 6th, they roam the earth, terrorizing their human victims.

Their main targets are sinners or those who are just plain lazy, but anyone is fair game.

It's said they drain people of their life force.

So does that make kallikantzaroi a type of vampire, as some claim?

While it is vampiric draining the life force from the living, it isn't undead.

So therefore, not a true vampire.

But like a vampire, they only come out at night, scratching their victims with their long nails.

They've been known to kidnap people.

And in the extreme cases, they will feast on human flesh.

In some stories, they shapeshift.

According to one legend from the island of Naxos, a woman spotted a suspicious skin bag, and yes, I too have no idea exactly what that means.

But she recognized it as a kallikantzaros.

After making the sign of the cross, she slit the bag and ran home.

The next day, a young girl suddenly appeared in the village with a mutilated hand, and everyone presumed she was the transformed kallikantzaros.

In other stories they ride horses or roosters around villages, generally making mayhem.

Kallikantzaroi are known to be very mischievous, peeing on food or putting out hearth fires.

There's a few things known to thwart kallikantzaroi.

Exposing them to sunlight or setting them on fire will kill them.

Neither of those handy?

Just trick it into counting to three, since three is a holy number, and by pronouncing it, they will burst into flames.

Or you could leave a colander on your doorstep since kallikantzaroi are unable to resist counting the holes.

They can also be warded off by nailing a pig jaw on your door or over your chimney.

Why a pig?

There might be a connection to Greek mythology.

Pigs were associated with the goddess Demeter, who's connected to fertility, farming, and birth.

So nailing a pig jaw on your door might remind the kallikantzaros of the cyclical nature of time that would force them to return to their underground toil.

Church bells and Christmas carols drive them away, which makes sense given the monster's association with Greek Orthodoxy.

Fight monsters with religion!

In early Greek Orthodox tradition, a child born on or around Christmas Day can become a kallikantzaros.

This created a stigma around babies born during the time of Jesus' birth.

There is a way to stop the baby from becoming a monster though, with certain extreme precautions.

You could wrap the newborn in straw or garlic, or both, then hold them over a fire.

Once the toes are burned, they are safe.

It was believed that the fire permanently shortens their nails, and if you don't do that, the babies can develop fangs, hooves, a tail, and black skin.

Kallikantzaroi are thought to be part human, part animal.

Descriptions vary, but the most popular belief is that they are small in stature, have red eyes, black shaggy hair, boar-teeth, and sport a long, black tail.

They are mostly blind.

Some of them may have a hunchback, or twisted body.

They'll often sport one human foot and one hoof.

Traditionally, on January 6th, the feast day of the Epiphany, local priests would sprinkle every home with Holy Water, which was believed to drive out any lingering kallikantzaroi in a sort of pseudo-exorcism.

When they returned underground, the kallikantzaroi found that the world tree had healed itself, and the sawing began again.

So what are the origins of these odd little devils?

We have to go back to ancient Greek spiritual traditions.

The Kallikantzaroi return every year, and their cyclical nature speaks to ancient Greek conceptions of time.

They believed in two kinds of time.

There was Chronos, or measured quantitative time, and Kairos which was based more on experiencing a moment than being tied to a day, number, or moon phase.

So kallikantzaroi are a bit of both, making them integral to time itself.

I also can't help but think about other Greek monsters, like the Ancient Greek Lamiae, a woman cursed by the goddess Hera.

She was driven insane by the loss of her own children, so began to eat other people's offspring.

She became more physically monstrous as she ate each one.

There's also an older Greek boogey-man called Baboulas who is infamous for eating misbehaving children.

As the kallikantzaroi legend became more popular, parents would conceal the child's birthdate.

And in extreme cases, the child may even be murdered.

Obviously, many parents didn't want to do this, so they would pray for illness to take the baby away naturally.

That's how strong this fear was.

Kallikantzaroi mythology might have also been associated with physical disabilities.

Newborns born around this time of year who were blind or had physical abnormalities might be callously labeled a kallikantzaros.

It's no secret Ancient Greeks put extra value on strength and beauty.

Just look at their statues and heroes.

Not to mention the Olympics, where originally athletes competed in the nude.

Greek law even denoted that to legally be a citizen, you had to be a privileged man who was said to be of fit mind and body.

Eventually, kallikantzaroi superstitions changed with the times.

They became more of a fun tale to tell around Christmas, teasing children, or scaring them into behaving, especially during thee dangerously cold winter months.

(chiming music) In the mid 20th century, people would throw kallikantzaroi dolls, along with small gifts, down chimneys.

Sometimes they would hang kallikantzaroi on the front door of friends or family.

Why?

To show you loved them, of course.

'Cause nothing says Christmas cheer like a goblin suddenly appearing at your doorstep.

The other reason?

They would be used to either scare or mock people who still believed in the tradition.

The popularity of kallikantzaros faded as religious, scientific, and social opinion evolved.

But when they do appear in popular culture, they are often removed from any kind of world-destroying malevolent intentions.

In an episode of "Grimm," the kallikantzaroi serve as a metaphor for the unruly time of adolescence.

Of course, the family in the story is Greek, so it nods to its Greek roots.

I think that's the ultimate purpose they serve today, to connect the past cultural traditions to present ones.

Although I don't think my in-laws would love if I started chucking things down their chimney, regardless of the reason.