Twelfth Night Archives - Bone and Sickle

Christmas is Carnival: Carols and Calendars

December 18, 2025 boneandsickle A Season of Madness, calendar, Carnival, Carol of the Bells, carols, Catholicism, Christmas, EPISODE, folk customs, history, holidays, Kalends, Krampus, Perchten, Slavs, Twelfth Night, Twelve Days of Christmas

Historically, the celebration of Christmas and Carnival could overlap, and there is some reason to believe that customs associated with[…]

Read more

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[…]

Read more

Frau Perchta, the Belly-Slitter

December 9, 2019 boneandsickle Austria, Christmas, EPISODE, folk tales, folklore, Germanic, Germany, Grimm, history, holidays, Krampus, legends, Middle Ages, mumming, mythology, pagan, paganism, Perchta, Twelfth Night, witchcraft, witches

Frau Perchta, sometimes known as “the Belly-Slitter” for the trademark punishment she’s said to inflict on disobedient or lazy children,[…]

Read more