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Medusa is making a little comeback. Recent archaeological discoveries in Türkiye and Austria reveal unexpected images of Medusa, from a smiling ceiling carving to a finely cut gemstone cameo. These finds highlight her ancient role as a protective figure and her enduring presence in religious, civic, and personal life.
One Halloween, when I was young enough to still go trick-or-treating with my parents, a pair of boys from my school ran around my block chanting “Nazi! Nazi! Nazi!” while I stood there in my out-of-the-box Darth Vader or Spider-Man costume. When my dad was the age that I was then, he was in an extermination camp.
Krampus events experience some backlash and religious leaders claim that the alpine tradition invokes fear and is “satanic.”
Pagan Perspectives
Today’s column comes to us from The Wild Hunt’s Editor-in-Chief, Manny Tejeda-Moreno. The Wild Hunt’s weekend section is always open for submissions. Please send queries to eric@wildhunt.org. We’ve all likely heard the classic poem The Twelve Days of Christmas, which probably began as a children’s forfeit game played a couple of centuries ago near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The song commemorates the days that begin with the Feast of Stephen Protomartyr and end with the Feast of Epiphany, or Twelfth Night.