By Zoe Rodriguez, 2028
Intro
Christmas time, a holiday that needs no introduction. Everyone not living under a mountain-sized rock is all too familiar with the American traditions surrounding the Christmas season. Even if you don’t celebrate, snow angels, Christmas trees, hot cocoa, and of course Santa Claus have made hundreds of appearances in popular movies and media shown all around the world. According to Burea Works, “Today, more than 2 billion people in over 160 countries consider Christmas to be one of the most important dates in the calendar.” And many who don’t celebrate have other similar holidays around the same time. So naturally, every culture has its own ways of celebrating. And to spotlight one of these ways, I’d like to introduce you to one of my favorite traditions (and one I personally celebrate) the Caga Tío.
What is the Caga Tío?
The Caga Tío is an unusual tradition coming from Catalonia, Spain. In this tradition a family will acquire a small log, then add a face and legs so that it resembles a person, usually also with a little Santa hat. Some families get the log themselves, but its also normal to buy it. Later you set it in your living room and feed it scraps all month, usually peels or nuts. Simply leave a small bowl next to it overnight and It will disappear the next morning.
Come Christmas Eve (Dec 24), the actual celebration begins. You invite some friends and cover most of the log in a big blanket. The kids are handed wooden spoons or sticks, and sent to another room so that the adults can prepare. When they come back, everyone gathers around the log and beats it repeatedly, while chanting a song demanding candy that goes:
Caga tió, (Pooping log)
tió de Nadal, (Log of Christmas)
no cagues arengades (Don’t poop salted herring)
que són salads (Because they are salty)
caga torrons (Poop turróns)
que són mol bons! (Because they are delicious!)
Then the blanket is lifted, and underneath the blanket there is candy. The log pooped out candy from your beating! Customarily the “poop” will be turróns (as the song says), a kind of nougat made from honey, nuts, and egg white very customary to Spain. But in reality it can be anything, even sometimes small presents. This process is repeated until the log stops giving presents.
This is probably very unusual to most here in the US. And to be honest, I don’t blame you. But there’s a sense of wild insaneness inherent in this tradition that is impossible not to find endearing. It’s fun to be a little kid and invite all your friends over, laughing at whatever the log bestows upon you, the giggling and laughter of little kids filling the air as they run from one room to another. Especially if you grew up on it. And to be honest, it isn’t much weirder than a bearded man breaking into your house to leave boxes with unidentified content for your children before leaving with a flying sleigh pulled by reindeer if you think about it.
What’s its history?
Even though the exact roots of the Caga Tío are unknown, according to the Socratic NYC, it most probably originated from “a rustic, pagan practice that most likely began in the Middle Ages in the Pyrenees.” Originally the log wasn’t the dapper gentlemen it is today, but instead a smoldering log taken from a fire that the kids would hit to make burning embers fly, before eventually evolving into what it is today. Instead of small pieces of burning coal, little kids have candy. Seems like a better idea.
