Don’t be surprised if you see a group of people dressed as angels, demons, and a man with a long white beard and a tall red hat wandering near you on December 5th-this is the eve of St. Nicholas’ Day , Abbreviated as Mikulas in Czech. Like many European countries, the Czechs celebrate St. Nicholas’ Day as a separate holiday from Christmas and have their own traditions.

In the Czech Republic, Mikulás (St. Nicholas) usually wears a long white beard, wears a bishop's costume, usually white and red, and holds a staff member. He was accompanied by a demon, who was traditionally black, hairy, with red or black horns, and an angel, usually wearing white wings and a halo. The trio patrolled the families where the children lived. The devil gently (and sometimes severely) frightened the children there, threatening to be taken into the devil's bag and sent to hell as punishment for children who misbehaved. At the same time, Angel and Mikulas are in charge of distributing gifts. Usually children have to sing a song or recite a poem to receive their gift. Gifts are usually not big or expensive, but small desserts or trinkets for good luck.

This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, traditional celebrations will be reduced. Health Minister Adam Vojtěch advises people not to invite the angel and the devil Mikuláš into their homes, or if They must wear respirators. "I understand this is a tradition, but it represents a risk," he said at a press conference on Friday. He added that last year it has been shown that there will be a new wave of infections during the holiday season.

In some countries, especially the Netherlands, because St. Nicholas’ assistant Zwarte Piet ("Black Pete") is accused of being a racist cartoon Czech demon, some traditions of the St. Nicholas Festival have received international scrutiny and controversy. He often wears black makeup and has avoided similar controversies so far. It may be because of its low international reputation, fewer minorities in the Czech Republic, and no colonial history of slavery, or simply because the Czech demons have not shown other characteristics. Black faces such as earrings and big red lips look more like a furry monster with horns than a bard-style black Pete. Although these two characters have a tradition of carrying a bag, naughty children should be taken. Walking in.

But why did Mikuláš and his companions patrol on the night of December 5th, which is the St. Nicholas Festival on the 6th? There is an interesting historical reason for this, but it is little known. Before the transition to the so-called German mechanical time in 1547, people were not using clocks to tell the time, but by the position of the sun in the sky. So this day does not start at midnight, but at sunset. The morning begins when the sun rises, and noon is six o'clock instead of twelve o'clock. Since time is not measured mechanically, it does not matter that the time between 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock in winter is much shorter than in summer. Although people have long been accustomed to using clocks to tell the time, the tradition that Mikuláš visited on the evening of December 5th is a relic of the time when people used the sun to tell the time. Since the day started at sunset, it was already on December 6th and Mikuláš began to patrol.

Anna Fodor is a British writer with Czech and Slovak descent who came to Prague when she was 22 years old. She graduated from the University of Leeds with a major in English Language and Literature and holds a master's degree in Linguistics from University College London. She likes to write about life and society in the Czech Republic from the perspective of marginalized people.