In Greek mythology there is said to be a rather special tree known as the World Tree of Christmas. It is thought that the roots of the tree that were all linked underground brought great happiness to everyone around this time of the year as the link between them was at its most prominent on December 25th and going straight through to January the 5th, the 12 days of Christmas. This tree was a place of worship for not only locals but from people from all over the world who gathered in hope of gaining some of the positive energy that the tree gave out during the twelve days.
With every good aspect to something there seems to be a bad one, and this comes in the form of the Kallikantzaros. These are small green goblins that live under the ground burrowing through the soil like moles desperately trying to cut the roots of the famous tree away, for the sole purpose of bringing misery to everyone who sought the opposite. It was only during the twelve days each year that these nasty goblins would appear as they worked in tandem with the winter solstice in which the sun ceases its seasonal movement.
Many speculate that these are harmless to people, with their only intention of destroying the tree, but as with the movement of time the Kallikantzaros have evolved. They not only aimed to destroy the world tree but also any Christmas tree that belongs to a family with more than three kids, as they didn't have the ability to count past three so they see anyone with kids above that number as some form of evil and their tree was the source of this power.
Their appearance differs from story to story with descriptions ranging from being green and very hairy to being red and scaly with horns on either side of their forehead to help with the digging. In Irish mythology the Kallikantzaros are very similar to the Leprechauns, in appearance and in how they are very mischievous in their ways. Another fellow related character would be the garden gnome, there is history of the gnomes coming to life at certain points of the year and wreaking havoc only to just revert back to their stone like feature and watch as the children get punished for the crime.
One last detail about the Kallikantzaros is how someone becomes one. There are two ways but they both must be done - If a family has a fourth child between the twelve days (Dec 25th - Jan 6th) and if that child dies between them dates before he reaches the age of four. If this happens then the soul of the child is trapped within the clutches of the goblin like creatures and no lore or legend has an answer of how to escape.
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