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December 2024 - Julebocken
Design notes from the artist: Chris Mackey
While researching old world Christmas and Yule celebration traditions, I ran across a wonderful tradition that I had seen evidence of, but never understood before. In Sweden and nearby lands, the tradition of Yule Celebration is accompanied by the building of Julbock, a straw goat effigy, on the first day of Advent in last week of November or first of December. I'd heard of Krampus of course, and even Frau Holle, but the Julbock was something entirely new to me. My curiosity was captured, and I immediately went down the rabbit hole!
For generations, these Julbock have been built in preparation for the 10 days of Yule celebration known as Yuletide. In Scandanavian lands, the Yule Goat (Julbock) is said to be an invisible spirit that would appear before the holiday celebrations to make sure all the preparations were being done correctly. This same friendly spirit would become known for being a gift giver and seen in the presence of jolly old elves, known as Jultomten, bringing presents to well-deserving families.
The practice of building Julbock eventually became a bit of a game with townspeople secretly sneaking small straw-built Julbock into neighbors' homes. When the receivers found these unexpected gifts, they would in turn have to get rid of them the same way, by secreting them into another friend's home. Eventually, these smaller straw Julbock would become a common decoration and eventually become common ornaments bound with ribbon that would hang on Christmas trees.
The role of visiting Julbock would also become a tradition of young children dressing in costumes and visiting neighboring houses while singing songs or performing pranks. The serenading throngs would usually include a central masked-character resembling the Yule goat, where at each home visited, they would receive candy or treats and gather yet more young ones to join in the fun. The trading of Julebukking or Julebocken continues to be practiced similar to Halloween traditions in other parts of the world.
So, if you see a small straw goat tied with ribbons and hanging on the boughs of a Christmas tree this year, you'll know the story behind the wonderful tradition of secretly leaving small gifts to be found by your friends (kinda like geocaches) during the cold winter season!
**The reverse side of this coin pays tribute to postcard artist Jenny Eugenia Nyström, who brought the wonderful traditions of the Julbock celebration to the world through her work during the late 1800s all the way up to 1946. Her work linked Santa, the Gnomes, and Tomtar of Scandinavian folklore, becoming an integral part of Christmas celebrations and legends throughout the world.