Last night was the Czech celebration of Mikulas (name is related to Nicolas, as in St. Nicolas as in Claus [German] as in Santa Claus) which is a fun evening for Czech kids. Homes are visited by Mikulas (dressed as a Bishop), an angel and Black Peter who has devils horns. We had 3 Black Peters last night, one of them being a young Goth girl from Prague with a spiky accessories and a goats head necklace - she made a great Black Peter.
The custom is for Black Peter to chase the kids with his sack and threaten to take them to hell if they have not been good. Bishop Mikulas holds out his stick and stops Black Peter, allowing the kid to beat the punishment by either singing a song or reciting a poem. When this is completed, and Mikolas has announced the child's redemption and freedom, the angel gives the child a gift - in the form of a bag of candy and chocolates and fruit. This is repeated for each child.
Last night, as happens every year, the city is full of people dressed in these three costumes, going to visit houses that have invited them - they do not go door to door at random - they must be invited by the household.
The Czechs say this is not a religious event. But I think, if one was to scrape deep down below the surface, that there just may be some religious overtones, some deeply hidden redemptive analogies, some long buried narrative that would highlight the story of the gospel.
Naaaaaahhhhhhhh - couldn't be THAT easy!
