{"id":4519,"date":"2017-12-17T23:09:44","date_gmt":"2017-12-18T04:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=4519"},"modified":"2017-12-27T07:56:01","modified_gmt":"2017-12-27T12:56:01","slug":"krampus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2017\/12\/17\/krampus\/","title":{"rendered":"Partying With The Krampus Society of New England\u2019s Favorite Christmas Demon"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Krampus Society of New England hosted their 2017 Krampus Ball<\/a>\u2014in celebration of their favorite Christmas demon\u2014at Providence\u2019s Mediator Stage on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a group of friendly, like minded people from around the New England area who all enjoy the lore and history of Krampus and to clear up the misconceptions that surround him,\u201d the event organizers write.<\/p>\n

Krampus are half-goat, half-demon creatures that traditionally roam European alpine communities during the Christmas season\u2014especially around Austria, Germany, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and northern Italy. They often accompany Saint Nicholas in public processions. While the saint brings good cheer and gifts, the Krampus scare children alleged to have misbehaved and whip folks who end up in the wrong place at the wrong time (basically anywhere Krampus are). Sometimes they stuff kids into bags and make off with them.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Krampus Society of New England’s Krampus Ball in Providence, Dec. 16, 2017. (Thomas Dragone)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s easy for Americans to see Krampus as Christian devils or demons. But they likely predate Christianity, connecting back to pre-Germanic paganism. The name is said to originate in the German word \u201ckrampen\u201d or \u201cclaw.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some say Krampus is a son of the Norse god of the underworld, Hel. Whether that’s accurate or not, Krampus is surely another example of how goats continue to haunt the West. Goats are hardy starter animals for herding societies\u2014they\u2019re aren\u2019t picky eaters and they provide wool (mohair, cashmere), milk and meat. Krampus\u2014like the randy ancient Greek deity Pan and the magical goats that pull the Norse god Thor\u2019s chariot and the Christian Devil\u2014is a manifestation of the persistent resonance of goats in cultures that arose through herding.<\/p>\n

The Krampus Society of New England\u2019s Krampus Ball was scheduled to offer \u201cBYOB, costume contest, guest speakers, photo ops, spankings for the naughty, cleavage contest, dancing, Krampus Karaoke, much Krampus merriment.\u201d Mobley, a rescued goat who does service work, put in an appearance, I\u2019m told. And organizers say the event raised money for the U.S Marine Corps Reserve Toys 4 Tots program and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.<\/p>\n

Photos by Thomas Dragone and his wife Connie.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Krampus Society of New England’s Krampus Ball in Providence, Dec. 16, 2017. (Thomas Dragone)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Krampus Society of New England’s Krampus Ball in Providence, Dec. 16, 2017. (Thomas Dragone)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Krampus Society of New England’s Krampus Ball in Providence, Dec. 16, 2017. (Thomas Dragone)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Krampus Society of New England’s Krampus Ball in Providence, Dec. 16, 2017. (Thomas Dragone)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Krampus Society of New England’s Krampus Ball in Providence, Dec. 16, 2017. (Thomas Dragone)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Krampus Society of New England’s Krampus Ball in Providence, Dec. 16, 2017. (Thomas Dragone)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Krampus Society of New England’s Krampus Ball in Providence, Dec. 16, 2017. (Thomas Dragone)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Krampus Society of New England’s Krampus Ball in Providence, Dec. 16, 2017. (Thomas Dragone)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Krampus Society of New England’s Krampus Ball in Providence, Dec. 16, 2017. (Thomas Dragone)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Krampus Society of New England’s Krampus Ball in Providence, Dec. 16, 2017. (Thomas Dragone)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Krampus Society of New England hosted their 2017 Krampus Ball\u2014in celebration of their favorite Christmas demon\u2014at Providence\u2019s Mediator Stage on Saturday night. \u201cWe are a group of friendly, like minded people from around the New England area who all enjoy the lore and history of Krampus and to clear up the misconceptions that surround […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,119],"tags":[138,24,143,168,72,167],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4519"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4538,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4519\/revisions\/4538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}