E’ festa oggi – forse meglio dire ieri... anzi no, questa notte – soprattutto per i più piccoli, o per chi ancora ha una scheggia di infanzia nel cuore, qui in Olanda. E’ Sinterklaas! Ed è più atteso che non fosse Natale… niente impegni sulle agende, tanto care agli olandesi, centinaia di bambini e non da giorni girano vestiti da giullari col volto dipinto di nero. Sono gli aiutanti di Sinterklaas, che lo aiutano a distribuire i doni a chi si è comportato bene durante l’anno, e che portano via chi tanto bene non si è comportato. Sinterklaas, coi suoi aiutanti, è arrivato pure da noi, questa mattina, col suo librone su cui erano scritti i nostri nomi ad uno ad uno. Le usanze, le tradizioni del nostro mondo, che assorbiamo fin da piccoli, ogni volta diverse, a seconda del luogo da cui veniamo, non smettono mai di sorprendere ed affascinare, anche quando non te lo aspetti, e ancora ti rendi conto di non conoscere un popolo e di non essere mai in grado di comprenderlo fino in fondo. Secondo me, è uno degli aspetti più affascinanti di ogni cultura…
Da me c’è Santa Lucia, che arriva tra una settimana. Da bambino, preparavo il piatto per l’asinello e la notte nemmeno riuscivo a dormire, tanto ero eccitato dall’idea di alzarmi presto la mattina seguente ed andare in sala a vedere cosa c’era nel piatto al posto del cibo. Poi, i piatti di Santa Lucia si sono moltiplicati, e nella notte magica della mente di bambino, io e mia sorella ci alternavamo alla nostra mamma per preparare un piattino pure noi, per i nostri genitori, aspettando nella notte che passasse la nostra Santa Lucia per diventare a nostra volta Santa Lucia. E così ancora adesso… Anche se, per quanto mi riguarda, anche Sinterklaas è passato di qui quest’oggi, ed ha lasciato un pensiero per loro, che domani andrò a recuperare a Bruxelles e rincorrere per i mercatini, prima di portarle a casa, qui a Delft. Ecco la spiegazone di Sinterklaas, così come ci è stata mandata dai nostri Zwarte Piet, via mail, che immagino pescata da qualche parte su internet – perché, ormai, anche le tradizioni restano all’avanguardia nella tecnologia…
Sinterklaas kapoentje,
Gooi wat in mijn schoentje,
Gooi wat in mijn laarsje,
Dank je Sinterklaasje!
Sinterklaasje bonne bonne bonne,
Gooi wat in mijn lege lege tonne,
Gooi wat in mijn laarsje,
Dank je Sinterklaasje!
Strictly speaking, the tradition of St. Nicholas is not synonymous with the role of Santa Claus in the U.S.. As practiced in many European countries, the celebration of St. Nicholas is separate from the Christmas holidays, and occurs during the 2 weeks prior to December 6th, which is St. Nicholas's day. Sometimes St. Nicholas Day is the main holiday for gift giving, and not Christmas. In the Netherlands, legend has it that Sinterklaas (Dutch name for St. Nicholas) arrives in the Netherlands by way of steamboat from Spain 2 weeks before his traditional birthday, December 6th, along with his helper, Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), who will help disperse the gifts and candy to all the good children. Sinterklaas, along with the zwarte piets, will go abroad at night and stride about the countryside wearing his red mantle, his mitre, and his golden crosier and sporting a long, white beard. Referring to his book that lists all the good and bad children, Sinterklaas will deliver presents to all the good children, but watch out if you've been bad! The bad children may be taken back to Spain with him. St. Nicholas was born in 271 AD and died around December 6, 342 or 343 AD near the Asia Minor (Turkey) town of Myra, where he later became Bishop. He performed many good deeds and was a friend to the poor and helpless, and upon his death, myths soon sprang up about him all around the Mediterranean Sea. He was reputed to be able to calm the raging seas, rescue desperate sailors, help the poor and downtrodden, and save children. He was soon named as the patron saint of sailors, and when Myra was overthrown, his bones were transported by sailors to Bari, a port in Italy, where a tomb was built over the grave and became the center of honor for St. Nicholas. From here the legend spread on around to the Atlantic Coast of Europe and the North Sea to become a European holiday tradition regardless of religion. The Low Countries (Belgium and Luxemburg) have basically the same traditions surrounding St. Nicholas, but not to the extent of the Netherlands. In Germany, some earlier pagan influences (Norse) were blended in with the figure of St. Nicholas, when Christianity came to Germany. After the reformation, St. Nicholas's attire began to change, maybe as a reflection of the change from the Roman church, and he started to wear a red suit with fur. His dark-skinned helper is most often known as Knecht Ruprecht. Although he still visits many homes on Dec 5th/6th and leaves candy and gifts in the children's shoes, more recently St. Nicholas has begun showing up on Christmas Eve in Germany and is called Father Christmas. Today In anticipation of St. Nicholas's nightly visits, children in several European countries put their shoes in front of the fire place. They sing traditional songs and provide a carrot or hay for the horse. At night Black Pete puts gifts and candy in the shoes. In the Netherlands, families celebrate St Nicholas's birthday the night before his feast day (December 6th). At one point during the evening, a loud knock will herald the arrival of Sinterklaas and at the same time candy may be thrown from upstairs; when the door is opened, a bag of gifts will be on the doorstep. For families with older children and adults, different twists are added to the gift giving and may include gag gifts or the drawing of gift ideas or names, and most times are accompanied by poems with a "personal touch" that poke fun at the recipient in a gentle way - or not, depending on the families. Wrapping the presents up in odd packages and planting a trail of clues is also part of the general fun, and can sometimes be pretty tricky to get to, depending on the squeamishness of the recipients.
(explanation by Anise Hollingshead)
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