Kallikantzaros

 


 The kallikantzaros are small demons or goblins from modern Greek folklore. They’re associated with the Christmas season, which is when they appear and cause mischief in people’s lives. The kallikantzaros look like small, hairy, demons. They have small horns, fur covering their bodies, split hooves, and donkey like ears and tails. Their size varies from child sized to insect sized, but they’re always smaller than an adult human.


In Greek Orthodox Christianity the twelve days of Christmas come after Christmas Day, and represent the time between Jesus’s birth and his baptism. During this time spirits and malevolent forces are able to run amok on Earth. While this is happening people must be especially religiously observant or they will fall prey to the various evil forces. It’s during this time the kallikantzaros come to Earth.


For most of the year the kallikantzaros spend their time in Hell. They busy themselves trying to saw through the world tree that holds Earth up, with the intent of making the whole world fall into Hell. During the twelve days of Christmas the kallikantzaros are able to come to Earth. With the prospect of causing mischief to humanity directly they immediately forget about sawing down the world tree.


While on Earth they cause all manner of minor pranks and bad luck. They tangle people’s hair, cause baking sweets to burn, tatter clothing, misplace objects, wake people in the night. They also jump on anyone outside at night and ride on their shoulders until the person is exhausted. They way to ward off the kallikantzaros is to leave out objects for them to count, beans, sand, a colander with many holes. They will obsess over counting these things until the sun rises, at which point the sun light burns and kills them.


After the twelve days are over the kallikantzaros return to Hell, only to find that in that time the world tree has completely healed and all their work trying to cut it was wasted. This, together with the ineffective and small scale of their annoying pranks is meant to show that evil is weak and pointless against the power of the Holy Spirit. The kallikantzaros are seen more as humorous and pathetic rather than an actual threat.



Sources


https://www.greekboston.com/christmas/kalikantzaroi/

https://www.greece-is.com/watch-out-the-kallikantzaroi-are-about/

https://www.thegreekvibe.com/kallikantzari-the-greek-trolls-of-christmas/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kallikantzaros


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