Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of I Heart Radio.

Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is The Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind focusing on mythical creatures, ideas and monsters in time.

Make no mistake, the winter holidays are a time of monsters. The uelads sneak in from the shadows, grilla hungers for the flesh of naughty children in the darkness, and sinister crampus stalks down from the snow covered peaks with chains and switches and child basket in tow.

Even Santa Claus is an immortal being who rules over elves and bioluminescent reindeer. But the creatures I want to highlight today are the Calacansari, from the legends and folklore of Greece.

They are described as giant shaggies, satyr-like creatures, not entirely unlike the crampus of alpine traditions.

But the Calacansari are subterranean creatures, they thrive in the dark, they hate the light, and above all else they hate the world tree, which supports the heavens with its lofty branches, and even connects the underworld through its vast system of roots.

The Calacansari and their tunnels, na, or saw the roots of the world tree in an attempt to fell it and bring down the universe as well, but as winter sets in, during the time between Christmas and epiphany the nights grow long and dark enough, the Calacansari can venture above ground.

So they neglect their great work of undoing and instead damage crops, kill livestock and dance, dance, dance. If they catch you alone on the road at night, they might make you dance and dance until you die of exhaustion.

Though likewise, as folklorist Carol Rose points out, in giants, monsters, and dragons, you might also defeat the Calacansari at their own game by keeping them dancing until the sun finally comes up.

But alas, it is the season of darkness. The Calacansari run wild, even human infants, born during this time, must be tested to make sure they are not actually creatures of the dark.

But after the day of epiphany, the days grow longer again and the Calacansari can no longer rule the night above ground, grumbling they return once more to the destruction of the world tree's root system, and find that during the holiday festivities, the roots have regenerated completely, and they must now begin their work all over again.

Toonin for additional installments of the monster fact or the artifact each week, as always, you can email us at contact at StefftableYourMind.com.

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