FREGER'S "WILDER MANN"

Cerbul (Stag), Corlata, Romania
(Click to enlarge)

Photographer Charles Fréger has a keen interest in pagan rituals and customs. In the winters of 2010 and 2011, he travelled to several countries to photograph pagan rituals connected to the onset of Winter, which he published in his book Wilder Mann.

"I found myself in front of something very radical, with no face," Fréger told Slate of his experience. "It was more of a character with a mask and a focus where the body is more important than the face itself."

It's like they are representing everything which is from outside of reality," Fréger explained to Interview.

In Sardinia, men dress as goats and boars. Austrians don the costume of Krampus, Santa Claus' Satanic shadow. Others resemble snowmen, scarecrows, or overgrown Christmas trees.

Wilder, Telfs, Austria /// Chaushi, Razlog, Bulgaria

Certi, Nedašov, Czech Republic /// Juantramposo, Alsasua, Basque Country, Spain

It is obvious that Christianity has always been a poor fit for the soul of European man, and has never fully satisfied our internal "Wilder Mann." Fréger's book can be bought here.