Perchta - Blog Posts

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Gruss vom Krampus.

jwisser:

A modern mask representing one of the Perchten, followers of Perchta, sometimes leader of the Wild Hunt.

And this is why I had a terror of masks as a child.

deluxedition:

With Santa, you get coal.  With Perchta, your guts are cut out and you’re stuffed with straw and pebbles.

Germanic parents don’t play no games.

steveoatney:

Traditional “Perchten” costumed performer at an Austrian league soccer match in Ried, Austria 11/12/08.

(REUTERS/Dominic Ebenbichler (AUSTRIA)

Perchta was known as a goddess in Southern Germanic Paganism in the Alpine countries. Her name means “the bright one.” Perchta is the goddess Holda’s southern cousin, and they share the role as a “guardian of the beasts.”

January 6, the Twelfth Night, was once her festival day, later replaced by Epiphany in Christianity.

mothtales:

Perchta:  “Masked figures from the “Wilde Jagd” Christmas folklore festivity in Salzburg, Austria. These festivities originate through the Perchtenlaufen custom, a period when the fearsome witch Perchta, who envies happily married couples, roams the villages. Processions of horribly masked figures armed with sticks and clubs meet throughout the festivity to chase the witch away.”