The Christmas Season is a festive time for people throughout the world. Little children, with their bright eyes and hopeful smiles, eagerly look forward to this feast day. It is not so much because of the festively decorated Christmas tree or glasses of spiced eggnog but rather for the gifts of toys Santa Claus traditionally brings them on the morning of December 25th.
Most young children believe that these toys are fashioned by cute little elves dressed in green and red, with pointed ears and silver bells on the tips of their curved shoes. Santa himself, who delivers these gifts, is sometimes described as a “big elf.”
Greece has unique Christmas traditions and folklore which are quite different from those of Western Christians. For instance, until recent years, most Greeks did not put up and decorate Christmas trees. Nor did Greeks exchange presents or gifts on December 25th but rather waited to do so, on the Feast of St. Basil on January 1st.
For the Hellenes, the little creatures associated with Christmas are anything but cute and cuddly. They are terrifying. They are not called elves but Kallikantzaroi. In Greek folklore these are mischievous creatures, half-animal and half-human. Hideous, smelly and hairy with horns, these strange monkey-like beings were believed to be active from Christmas Eve until Epiphany. During the day they had to remain hidden, but at night they emerged to cause mischief and mayhem. The Kallikantzaroi loved to break into homes and overturn furniture, devour the Christmas feast, and pollute the waters.
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To ward off these repellant creatures people in Greece marked the doorway of their homes with a black cross, burned incense and invoked the Holy Trinity. This reflected the belief that the Kallikantzaroi could not count past three. If these creatures counted three, the sacred number of the Holy Trinity, they would be destroyed. Others burned a log in the fireplace, much like Westerner Christians burned a yule log. Yet for Greeks, the fire was not meant as part of a celebration, but to keep the crafty Kallikantzaroi from sneaking into the house through the chimney. There was also a superstitious belief that children born during the 12 days of Christmas were in danger of being transformed into a Kallikantzaroi.
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Some scholars believe that belief in the Kallikantzaroi, these half-human creatures of the night, goes back to remote antiquity. The ancient, pagan Greeks used to honor Dionysios, the god of wine, with boisterous masquerades and drunken all night-time festivities. Certain creatures and animals, such as centaurs, satyrs and bulls were associated in the carnival-like worship of this Olympian deity. It’s interesting to note that the word Kallikanzaroi may be derived from the Greek words “Kalos” and Kentauri (Good Centaurs), a vague reminder of these pagan rites.
Christianity, through the missionary efforts of St. Paul, was introduced into Greece during the first century A.D. Gradually the worship of the Olympian Gods ceased as the Hellenes embraced the True Faith. Yet certain aspects of paganism persisted and evolved, passing into the shadowy realm of folklore. Such was the case with the Kallikanzaroi, a curious relic of an ancient, pre-Christian superstition.
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