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...
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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
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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.
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If I tell you that the name of the Krampus came from the old German for 'Claw' then that would give you an idea of what the beast is like. If I told you that he carries a heavy brass rod to beat naughty children with then you would be even better informed.
The Krampus had once been a man, though even then he was not quite like you or I. Hans Trapp had always hated both children and Christmas, and had only grown more surly about the season as he got older. On Christmas Eve one particularly harsh winter while he was living alone in his remote cabin in the Alsace, he caught the mischievous eye of the Perchten; Holda, Herodias, Diana, Richella and Abundia - Five wild pagan spirits who roam northern parts of Europe in the deep midwinter.
Those who know of them (and there are those who do, even now), believe that they are the literal embodiment of fate and the souls of the dead. This was to be the undoing of Hans Trapp that day. For reasons that even the Perchten could not explain, they decided to play a game with the mortal they had found. Singing songs and throwing snowballs outside his home until he gave chase. Deeper and deeper and deeper into the forest they went. Deeper and deeper and deeper into the snow.
By the time the Perchten had realised that they had taken their game too far it was dark, and Hans Trapp was alone (oh, it's a most terrible thing to be alone at Christmas). Thick snow clung to his long, dark hair and beard, and his raggedy clothing left him most unprepared for a night in the forest.
Watching over the events however was the ethereal witch Frau Perchta, leader of the Perchten. Her name means 'the brightest', and this is true in every sense of the word. Her skin and robes are as soft and white as the purest snow, completely unlike her flaming red hair. She carries herself with the air of someone who knows all, but isn't quite ready to share her knowledge with you... yet.
Perchta knew that the man was near death, and was sorrowful for what her sisters had done to him, but she was reluctant to give up the soul which was soon to be rightfully hers, so an agreement was made. The life of a scapegoat would be taken instead of Hans Trapp's, and in return he would serve her for as long as she saw fit.
The exchange of souls led to Hans Trapp taking on the features of the animal, particularly the horizontal pupils of goats which so unnerve those who see them. His nose became flattened and his tongue long and pointed, lolling near constantly out of the corner of his mouth. In life, he had towered over many men anyway, but the horns that now sprouted from his head further added to his height, completing his frightening appearance.
Recognising his demonic demeanour, and already aware of his hatred of youth, Perchta demanded he who would become known as the Krampus spend what remains of eternity bringing her the souls of children - the children who tease and torment others, just as her siblings had earlier tormented him. She did not want to make it easy for him though (this appealed to the witch's sense of fairness), and covered the beast in chains and bells, so that they may hear him coming.
There was one last command too, delivered with a wry, knowing smile - he could only eat once a year, and that would be on Christmas Day - so that even the great Anti-Christmas, the antithesis of goodwill to all, would be compelled to join in the feast, if not the festivities.
There in the snow-lined clearing, the bargain was made between the monster and his mistress, and the hunt would begin forever more on Christmas Eve.
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When you are as old and as powerful as Saint Nick, you have both comrades in heaven and allies in hell. The news of the bargain spread fast.
Perchta had specified only the children who tease and torment could be taken by Krampus, but what child does not rashly say an unkind word at least once a year? It is how we learn the depth and nature of others feelings, and teaches us the value of empathy. Nicholas' elven spies realised that the Krampus, with his hatred and his hunger would take the command to its most literal extreme and they (the elves being considerably kinder and wiser than the other magical races who share our world - the goblins and gremlins and gnomes) knew that Nicholas would need help in his vow
(some say that Perchta too knew the Krampus would do this, and that was her plan all along - if she had given a more specific order, to take only the very most naughty of children, then perhaps the Elves would not have been minded to help)
The Elves were not altogether altruistic. The magical races need belief for their enchantments to work, and for their species to survive (and the belief of a child works particularly well of course), but nonetheless they work tirelessly throughout the year, providing Nicholas with both the tools and the knowledge that he will need on that one night a year.
As we get nearer Christmas day, excited children everywhere often feel as though time is slowing down, and their parents will reproach them - time is time, it is as it ever was, and the young only feel otherwise because it is the night before and they just can't wait for the morning to come. As usual though, it is the children who are correct in these matters. How else do you think Saint Nick is able to protect so many homes? From dusk until the dawning light of Christmas day every child's home is, in what may seem like the blink of an eye, visited and defended.
1.6 billion times (and rising) times every Christmas Eve, this dance between the two immortal, endless foes goes on, and will go on forever until one forsakes their life's work
So sleep well little one this Christmas Eve, for while you lay sleeping and frozen in a moment you will never know about, you are loved and looked after.
