My Swedish Christmas

The 13th
Today is the 3rd of Advent and Lucia

Lucia was really only celebrated locally around Gothenburg until around 1925 when a Stockholm paper got the idea of a Stockholm Lucia. The tradition spread very fast everywhere in Sweden, at home, in the schools, in the hospitals, offices. Also the other Scandinavian countries took over.
The Swedish Lutheran church started to have Lucia services and consert.
Here is a video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIOBB48OKq0

Saint Lucia is celebrated in Germany as well - no, I'm not referring to the Lucia-light ceremonies in the Danish-speaking part of Germany but to Bavaria: the St. Lucia festival of light in Fürstenfeldbruck.



This traditional St Lucia festival of light transforms the river into a sea of light every year on 13th December from 18 h in Fürstenfeldbruck.

This pre-Christmas custom dates back to a flood that threatened the town back in the 18th century. On the festival of St Lucia the children of Fürstenfeldbruck crafted models of the houses of the town, set them on rafts, put little candles inside them to light them up and floated them down the river Amper.



With some snow, it looks even nicer



Lo and behold, the fold waters receded and the town was spared. From that day to this the feats of St Lucia has become a very special day for all the people of Fürstenfeldbruck as well as for visitors far and wide. After a short service in St Leonhard’s church some 200 lovingly crafted rafts are set afloat on the river Amper and spread their light as they float downstream.

What lovely and beautiful tradition

If this tradition started in th 18th century on Saint Lucia Day how come it is then pre Christian? Or is the tradition with the candles on the river even longer?

By the way the first time Lucia was celebrated in Denmark was the 13th December 1944 to bring in light in a very dark and evil time

The reason why it is done since the 18th century is the flooding of the river.
It is known (according to written sources from 1628) at least since the beginning of the 17th century.

I like traditions like that.

Me, pretty ignorant on all this, think of St. Lucia as itaian,

You are absolutely correct.
We Swedes celebrate the Italian martyr Lucia
Lucia of Syracuse (283–304), also known as Saint Lucy, or Saint Lucia (Italian: Santa Lucia), was a young Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Orthodox Churches. She is one of eight women, who along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. Her feast day, known as Saint Lucy's Day, is celebrated in the West on 13 December. St. Lucia of Syracuse was honored in the Middle Ages and remained a well-known saint in early modern England.
And here is even more
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucy

The 14th
Today is the day to polish copper and brass. Of course silver if you had any.

In the Swedish citz of Säffle there were not enough young people to join the Lucia so ladies age 87 96 from the old people´s home joined in in the signing

I find it really touching

Andrea Bocelli's Santa Lucia:




The Three Tenors, Santa Lucia luntana

The 15th


Time to put up julkärve whatever the word is in English. It can be prooved that julkärve tradetion goes back to aroud 1700 but it probablz is even older.

I don't know the English (or German) word for it neither.
It's for feeding birds, though. Historically a kind of fertility rite. (Similar, regarding the origin, it's with the German custom of the "Barbarzweig" [Barbara branch]: on St. Barbra's day, 4th of december, a cherry branch or other cutting is placed in water and kept in a warm room. If all goes well, on Christmas day the twig will display blossoms. If it blooms precisely on December 25th, this is regarded as a particularly good sign for the future.)

In Sweden it was in hope that the birds would leave the harvest alone in the coming zear. The church thought it was a kind of suprstition and forbid it.
Unfortunately there was no information about if it was before or after the Reformation.
Personallz I have never heard about it, but somewhere I read it was to feed Tor´s goats.

The 16th
Flowers for Christmas


. At the end of 1820 introduced Joel Roberts Poinsett the flower poinsetta in USA and from there it later got to Europe.
Hyasinths we like too at Christmastime for its lovely smell.


Red tullips also belongs to Christmas.

My bridal buquette was only lilly of the valley. The next day we went to the cementry and put the buquette on my mother´s grave.

The 17th
Tomte
A tomte, tomtenisse is a mythological creature from Scandinavian folklore. It is generally described as being no taller than three feet, having a long white beard, and wearing a conical or knit cap in red or some other bright color.

The tomte was in ancient times believed to be the "soul" of the first inhabitor of the farm; he who cleared the tomt (house lot). He had his dwellings in the burial mounds on the farm, hence the now somewhat archaic Swedish names tomtenisse and tomtekarl, Thus, the tradition of giving porridge to the tomte at Christmas is a remainder of ancestral worship.


The tomte was not always a popular figure, particularly during and after the Christianization of Scandinavia.
A hustomte is a verznice person who likes to help and care for zour home.

The belief in a tomte's tendency to bring riches to the farm by his unseen work could also be dragged into the conflicts between neighbours. If one farmer was doing far better for himself than the others, someone might say that it was because of him having a tomte on the farm, doing "ungodly" work and stealing from the neighbours. These rumours could be very damaging for the farmer who found himself accused, much like accusations of witchcraft during the Inquisitions.

Back tomorrow, I'm sleepy now.

Had to look it up: it's the same as the Danish Nisse.(That's what I knew)

We get "Wights" (Wichtel) here. Wichteln is quite popular, especially in teams, when you want to make presents with your co-workers. (Wichteln is what a "Wichtel", a wight, does, a good deed, kind of "Secret Santa".)

You are korrekt that the Danish word is nisse. Julenisse is more Sancta Claus
and then there are kravle nisser which crawl over the house at Christmas as decoration. I would never think of them as elves.
They are young and not very good looking...