Upcoming PUBLIC Events

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Nicholas & Krampus

 Saturday December 7 @ 11:00 CDT/ 17:00 GMT 

Join us for our annual holiday tale of Nicholas & Krampus, 

a story about learning to be compassionate toward 

people who are different from us!

As a United States citizen, (with an Austrian mom) my siblings and I grew up polishing our shoes each December 5th with the joyful expectation that St. Nicholas and his helper Krampus, would come in the night to fill our shoes with oranges, apples, nuts and chocolates, (and always a small switch made from branches.) It was only later in life, that I first saw the legendary "Krampus run" in Austria - a mythic event involving men masked as Krampus - a wild creature with horns and long hair, surrounding the kindly St. Nicholas. Over the years, I've grown to love these two magical characters.... but they also raise many questions.

While the legend of St. Nicholas and Krampus is shrouded in history, at first glance, it looks like a classic story of good vs. bad. St. Nicholas (a Bishop,) embodies our brightest noblest values, while Krampus (his animal like servant,) fearfully embodies our darkest and most sinister ones. Their curious power dynamic and annual arrival on Dec. 5/6th has been culturally accepted in Austria (and increasingly worldwide,) for generations. For years however, I've felt that the violence and fear that accompany this story, like horrific demonic masks, postcards of Krampus carting off "bad" children, or how St. Nicholas condones the violent behavior of hooligan Krampuses to beat anyone they want with sticks, betrays that there is much more to this story than we might think.

Tragically, my research has found that at its root, there is indeed a traumatizing story of violence and oppression. It is, as Resmaa Menakem writes, a classic example of how “decontextualized trauma in people, can look like culture.” In short, I have investigated (on my blog) ample evidence to show that mainstream St. Nicholas/Krampus culture is not only a response to the traumatic Christianization and colonization in Medieval Europe, but that it now blindly serves to legitimize and perpetuate those traumas. While this is a glaring example of Resmaa’s assertion, we need only scratch the surface to find many other enduring examples of trauma that have evolved into mainstream culture. Some examples include; white systemic racism, patriarchy, United States exceptionalism, anti-Semitism and Zionism, among many others. Like traditional St. Nicholas/Krampus culture, each of these “stories” hide in plain sight, a story behind the story that once seen, can't be unseen. The anger that this brings forth is the natural and appropriate response….. But anger, ungrounded in love, humility, non-violence and compassion not only poisons the person, but destroys any hope of ending the cycles of violence. 

By starting with my own uncomfortable story behind the story, Nicholas & Krampus helps me learn to listen and grapple with what justice, compassion and peacemaking could look like. And perhaps, by doing so, I give other people permission to do the same. 

To learn more about my investigations for this "story behind the story," or to read a short synopsis, please visit my blog: www.storytablefoundation.org/blog/f/nicholas-krampus