New Year Archives - Bone and Sickle

Christmas Superstitions

December 15, 2023 boneandsickle Christmas, EPISODE, folklore, mumming, New Year, Twelfth Night, Twelve Days of Christmas

The Christmas season is rich in superstitions. The whole period from the beginning of Advent, through the day itself, and[…]

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Christmas Devils and the Feast of Fools

December 12, 2022 boneandsickle Boy bishop, Catholicism, Christmas, Devil, EPISODE, Feast of Fools, folk theater, folklore, history, holidays, manuscripts, New Year, Nicholas Plays, Satan, St. Nicholas, Twelve Days of Christmas

From St. Nicholas Day through Christmas, the Devil figured prominently in medieval plays, embodying a subversive seasonal element also celebrated[…]

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America and the Old, Dark Christmas

December 4, 2021 boneandsickle America, American lore, Belsnickel, Christmas, EPISODE, folklore, Germany, history, holidays, New Year, Santa Claus, Twelve Days of Christmas

In earlier centuries, Americans partook in many of the same dark Christmas traditions that gave birth to Europe’s Krampus. This[…]

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