mikulas - st. nicholas day

well here is an official description... There was a HUGE celebration in Old Town Square, contests for the best Mikulas, Devil and Angel.. lots of prizes for all the kiddies.. Lots of crying tots, scared by devils threatening to take them off to hell!! And the adults that dress up and go door to door, get a shot at every home (usually Slivovitz or Bechorvka, a sweet hebal liquor) so they are shitfaced by the end of the day!!... Most of the costumed folks were teenagers.. it's very very common here for kids in their teens to look after other kids.. the family stucture is very tight.. and the children in general are very well behaved.. spoiled in some ways, but very polite and respectful of adults.

The constest was really fun to watch,even if it meant stading in 0 degree weather for 90 minutes.. and listening to Christmas songs in Czech, which was cool. The Czechs LOVE to sing.. and the tree lighting was great!!! they have ONE big tree that's about 50 feet tall.. not a bunch of trees all cobbled together!!! It was cool they turned out all the lights in the square and did a 5-4-3-2-1 countdown..

lovely lovely lovely

Saint Nicholas Tradition (Mikuláš)

The charming tradition of St. Nicholas falls on the eve of St. Nicholas Day, December 5th. If you find yourself walking the streets on that evening, you may run into a group of strange characters: St. Nicholas (Mikuláš), the Angel (anděl) who represents the Good, and the Devil (čert) representing the Evil. All are wearing costumes - Mikuláš looks a bit like Santa Claus whose origin was supposedly inspired by St. Nicholas. They visit the homes of the people they know and ask the children if they behaved themselves in the past year. Most kids say yes and sing a song or recite a short poem. They are then rewarded with sweets, candy or other treats, which are handed out by the Angel. Bad kids would be put in the Devil's sack and taken to hell, or would only get a sack of potatoes or coal instead of candy - of course this does not really happen!

Children also receive St. Nicholas presents from their parents and possibly other relatives. The gift, e.g. sweets and chocolates, can be put into a stocking and hidden somewhere in the child's room.

The St. Nicholas tradition is supposedly based on a 4th century Greek bishop named Nicholas who is said to have left a gift of money on the windowsill of three poor girls to enable them to get married.


Comments

Anonymous said…
The whole leaving money at Christmas, sounds a bit like the Salvation Army Christmas traditions, only instead of money its food, clothes and toys!

All of which may KILL ME before Dec 20th (Distribution day is Dec. 18th!)

Toodles, WINDA OF WEE
December 7, 2004 at 9:16:00 AM GMT+1
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