Saint Nicholas and the Krampus

Every coin has two sides.

The obverse and its reverse. Forever connected to one another, and yet they could not be further apart. Diametrically opposed, facing away from one another forever more.

What was once just a monetary truism lends itself well to analogies about the dichotomies we see in life. Different but closely related ideas. We sometimes use the phrase to show that there is a "good" and a "bad" side to something.

Binary, oppositional concepts are integral to our understanding of how the world works, especially when we are small. We learn about "right" and "wrong", "the truth" and "the lie". These ideas are often metaphorically embodied in the characters of the stories we are taught, most clearly in the tales of God and the Devil, or Santa Claus and...

******************************************************************************

Coins are a good place to start when telling the tale of the man who became Santa Claus. The son of wealthy Greek parents, he would leave gold coins in the shoes of those who needed it. This method preserved not only the dignity of the recipient but his own modesty too.

Born in what is now Turkey, in small costal town on the coast of the Mediterranean, Nicholas' father owned a fishing fleet. After devoting his life to his religion, it was said that Nicholas developed the ability to calm even the stormiest of seas. It is for these reasons that he became the Patron Saint of all sailors.

Naval men, on returning home to their families with presents they had brought from the world's far-flung corners, would tell their children that it was a gift from Saint Nicholas (both the trinket and their fathers safe return), as a way of honouring their Saint. Thus began the annual deceit we continue to this day.

That the gifts you receive each Xmas are not from Santa is not news to you, dear reader, I realise that. Any child with an ounce of inquisitiveness could tell you that it is their own parents who sneak in the middle of night to bestow presents on those who have been well behaved that year. What the children do not know, however, is why the parents make such little effort to hide this fact. What the children don't realise is that allowing them to find that tiny bit of knowledge is enough to sate their curiosity, and stop them asking any more questions about Santa.

Only the brightest child wonders "If Santa isn't delivering presents on Christmas Eve, then what is he really doing?" The answer, of course, is too horrible for any child to know

******************************************************************************

Saint Nick is a short, stocky man. He has thick, muscular arms (from a lifetime of working with ships and sailors) and when he is deep in thought he absent-mindedly rubs his neatly cropped beard with strong, calloused fingers. His nose is badly broken, like a champion boxer's, and sits between two big, deep brown thoughtful eyes. His hair - where it remains, for he has been balding longer than he cares to remember - is thick and white, like winter itself, and in stark contrast to his warm, olive complexion.

If you were to meet the real Saint Nick, you might be surprised by the tattoos he has. It should not come as a shock, coming as he does from a naval background. The North Star on his right hand is a good luck charm, so that he will always find his way. The dagger on his left forearm is another charm, so that he will always be prepared in a fight. The anchor on his left ring finger though, is there as a tribute to his wife and home, positioned so because it was once believed to be from this finger that the Vena amoris ran straight to the heart. Even someone as tough as Santa can be sentimental sometimes.

Nicholas swore a vow to protect children after he discovered that a local butcher had slaughtered three young boys during a time of famine. It was this vow that led to him spending a lifetime and more fighting demons and murderers across the globe. It is this vow that allows him to work incessantly each and every Christmas Eve, with his Elven allies, using magic as old as the stars to protect children across the world as they sleep safe in their beds.