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History Center celebrates a creepy Christmas

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By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter

Andy Williams’ famous song, “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” is one we hear often during the holiday season. Most of us listen to the lyric, “There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of old glories of Christmases long, long ago,” without thinking much of it.

Jeff Belanger, a paranormal investigator and author of many books including “Weird Massachusetts,” challenged visitors of the Needham History Center and Museum to question those lyrics.

Belanger, also a folklorist, made a special appearance at the History Center and Museum to explain the old and lost traditions of Christmastime. With many believing Christmas has become overly commercialized, Belanger confidently stated that he believed they could save the holiday.

By breaking down the history of Christmas and looking at the various yuletide traditions around the world, Belanger hoped to strengthen the spirit of Christmas and remind his audience that the holiday shouldn’t symbolize last minute trips to the mall and credit card debt.

Sporting a Krampus sweater, paranormal investigator and folklorist Jeff Belanger chats creepy Christmas legends at the Needham History Center with the  Museum’s visitors.  Photos by Laura Drinan

Sporting a Krampus sweater, paranormal investigator and folklorist Jeff Belanger chats creepy Christmas legends at the Needham History Center with the Museum’s visitors. Photos by Laura Drinan

Belanger transported the audience back to the origins of Christmas, known as a Roman festival called Saturnalia, which honored the god Saturn during winter solstice and lasted for centuries.

“It’s six days of partying, from basically the 17 of December to the 23 of December, and the solstice is right in the middle there,” said Belanger. “This is a big, big party and it turned into this over-debaucherous kind of thing.”

In the Nordic regions, however, the people labored throughout the spring, summer, and fall to harvest food and firewood to ensure their survival of the winter. Thus, the Nordic celebrated Yule as a reward for their efforts over the course of the year. Because the coniferous trees were resilient to the cold, the Nordic viewed them as sacred, bringing one indoors for protection.

While the parties were certainly glorious, there are still the ghost stories that Andy Williams sings about.

During Yule, the Scandinavians began hearing the whistling sounds of the wind rapping at their doors and windows. With shorter days and the chill of winter upon them, a fearful atmosphere grew among the people as well. “It is really a time for fear,” said Belanger. “All they can think of is the Norse god Odin, riding with his eight-legged horse through the night, and these are the screams of vanquished spirits – angry spirits – that are trying to get in and take refuge anywhere they can.”

Belanger also spoke about the legends of Santa Claus’ evil cohorts. From Germany, Krampus, Santa’s demonic shadow, kidnaps and murders misbehaved children, allegedly snacking on his victims’ flesh. Slightly less terrifying from German culture is the Belsnickel, made famous in the United States by the sitcom, “The Office.” The Belsnickel, dressed in layers of pelts, makes home visits to naughty children early in December and hits them with a bundle of sticks so that they can behave in time for Christmas.

From Wales, the Mari Lwyd, or gray mare, rises from the grave each Christmas and begs the townspeople to let him in for food and alcohol. While the skeletal horse may seem terrifying, the tradition has become a widely celebrated one in Wales during Christmas parades.

The legend of Père Fouettard, the Whipping Father from France, has a terrifying backstory and may be one of the scary ghost stories to which Williams’ song refers. “This one is gruesome and awful and disgusting,” Belanger warned. “Père Fouettard was this homicidal, child-abducting butcher from France … Just like Belsnickel, he would go around and become the whipping figure that made it into popular French culture.”

After allegedly killing three children with plans to have them for dinner, Saint Nicholas discovers Père Fouettard’s wretched acts, resurrects the three children, and recruits the butcher as one of his cohorts to beat naughty children.

Thankfully, today’s Christmas season isn’t overrun with hell-raising figures, but it is fascinating to look at the traditions and legends that still exist in our culture.

Belanger, who had promised to save the holiday, compared the various Christmas customs from around the world to ingredients in a gumbo. Just as one can switch out and replace ingredients in a gumbo, families can incorporate all sorts of traditions in their holiday celebrations.

“The amazing thing about Christmas is that every single year, we have an opportunity to redefine it,” said Belanger, “ and to understand all of the amazing roots that come from so many different cultures that come together and create this amazing gumbo.”

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