Wilder Mann – Pagan Christmastime monsters

“In 2010 the French photographer began traveling to rural farming villages in over a dozen European countries to document people, pictured mostly alone, out in the wilderness, wearing homemade costumes used in celebratory events marking the solstices, the harvest and coming of winter—calendar dates that, after millennia and the ‘civilizing’ of Pagan populations, eventually mutated into Christmas and Easter. The costumes referencing human/animal hybrids are cobbled-together, yet visually astounding.”
Traditional European Christmastime monsters photographed by Charles Fréger. Other images found here, caption from here.

Blackening the Bride

This is one way to blacken a bride. Atypical Events collected some odd wedding customs from around the world, and describes “blackening the bride” as:

“In the Scottish pre-wedding tradition of “Blackening the Bride,” The bride is taken by surprise and covered with foul substances, such as eggs, various sauces, feathers, and well you name it…

“The bride to be, officially blackened, is then paraded around town, and of course a few pubs, for all to see.”

I like the picture better without the description.