Caganer: The Strangest Christmas Tradition?

[RBCal]

From Wikipedia, thus not the most reliable source. Is this for real?

In Catalonia, as well as in the rest of Spain and in most of Italy and Southern France, the traditional Christmas decoration is a large model of the city of Bethlehem, similar to the Nativity scenes of the English-speaking world, but encompassing the entire city rather than just the typical manger scene. The Catalans have added an extra character that is not found in the manger scenes of any other culture. In addition to Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the Shepherds and company, Catalans have the character known as the Caganer. This extra little character is often tucked away in some corner of the model, typically nowhere near the manger scene, where he is not easily noticed. There is a good reason for his obscure position in the display, for "caganer" translates from Catalan to English as "pooper", and that is exactly what this little statue is doing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caganer

[wanderwoman]

The Caganer, by creating feces, is fertilizing the Earth. However, this is probably an a posteriori explanation...

The part of me with a juvenile sense of humor found that phrase funny.

[tagurit]

Why can't it be for real? I like a little irreverence now and then. And just think, at the very moment Jesus was born, someone, somewhere, was bound to be pooping. Someone with a sense of humor started the trend of illustrating it. It is funny, when you think about it.

[wanderwoman]

Here is a website that sells them. Google also pulls up other sites with similar descriptions to the Wiki article..

[Amigone201]

When I opened this thread, I had an idea of what it would be already.

In some parts of the Spanish-speaking world, "Cagar" is not a nice word. "Caganer" would be something more like "shitter."

[Esprise Me]

Originally Posted by wanderwoman

The part of me with a juvenile sense of humor found that phrase funny.

I'm glad I'm not alone!