| -> | | | | Halland saw this fable take iconic life in a tradition of |
| The coming of light is often cause for celebration ... | | | | young girls in white robes who traversed the snow |
| In Sweden, that's why there's joy and frivolity every 13 | | | | and ice, torches in hand, carrying baked goods and |
| December. It's Luciafest --- the Festival of Lights --- | | | | warm greetings to homesteads throughout the |
| that marks the unofficial beginning of their Christmas | | | | countryside during the darkness of each 13 December. |
| season. | | | | Other provinces took note and adopted the practice. |
| Luciafest --- also known as 'St Lucia Day' or, simply, | | | | Ultimately, these girls became festooned with crowns |
| 'Lucia' --- didn't have its origins in the Christian tradition, | | | | of lingonberry leaves and candles to further symbolize |
| but like a number of unique Christian festivals in Europe, | | | | the coming of light. Somewhere else along the way, a |
| it was used to 'meld' their religious message into the | | | | red sash was added as an adornment, and the full |
| lore of a revered pagan legend for the purpose of | | | | costume of the 'Lucia bride' was complete. |
| increasing its own popularity. Easter, for example, | | | | Christianity first came to Sweden during the final |
| arose from the Germanic fertility rituals of each year's | | | | throes of the Viking era in the eleventh century. As |
| new Spring season --- ergo, the Easter Bunny and | | | | generations passed, the saintly image of Lucia became |
| Easter eggs --- and their calendaric proximity to the | | | | intertwined into the Swedish fable and further ebbed |
| Resurrection. Christian missionaries were very clever | | | | into their wintry custom. The local churches had noted |
| at utilizing this tactic for the purpose of assimilating their | | | | the legend's popularity and welcomed its theme of |
| faith into regional cultures and, as we see today, the | | | | giving which underscored the Lucia celebration. They |
| results were most effective. In this instance, nobody | | | | ultimately incorporated it into their annual rota, which in |
| remembers pagan rights of Spring anymore; Easter | | | | turn increased their recognition and acceptance by |
| has totally overtaken the occasion. | | | | more and more local souls. Finally, in 1927, Luciafest |
| Meanwhile, back in the north, long arctic nights in | | | | was acknowledged in the royal halls of Stockholm and |
| pre-Viking times coaxed fireside tales from elders of | | | | a national tradition was cemented. |
| even harsher times before, when famine spread | | | | Today, electric lights have replaced candles in the |
| throughout south central Sweden. It is said that, as the | | | | maiden's crown and entourages of younger |
| darkest day of the year personnified the foreboding | | | | handmaidens (taernor) and starboys (stjaerngossar) |
| fate of mass starvation, a glow grew on the horizon | | | | now assist her. Each home may have its own Lucia |
| of the great Lake Vaettern. Rays of light pierced the | | | | celebration, but the event's highlight is when each |
| darkness as precursors of hope, eventually revealing a | | | | village and city neighborhood 'elects' a Lucia, who then |
| longship, laden with foodstuffs and guided by a blonde | | | | leads her procession to a common service, |
| maiden in a flowing white gown. This spirit of mercy | | | | accompanied by song and a buffet of pastries. These |
| arrived not a moment too soon, and frigid devastation | | | | include the traditional 'lussekatter' --- saffron-flavored |
| gave way to enlightened renewal. | | | | buns shaped like curled-up cats, with raisins for eyes |
| Before the Julian calendar was replaced by the | | | | --- and pepparkakor (ginger snaps) which are |
| Gregorian calendar in the 1300s, the longest night | | | | accompanied by refreshments such as 'gloegg' --- a |
| shortest day of the year was 13 December. Thus, this | | | | hot spiced wine --- or coffee. |
| Maiden of Mercy became symbolic for the gradual | | | | Needless to say, Luciafest remains as a uniquely |
| lengthening of daylight that followed each successive | | | | Swedish national holiday. The household celebration |
| new dawn. | | | | takes place before dawn, the civic galas and church |
| Coincidentally, a similar legend was told in the Sicilian | | | | services occupy the abbreviated daylight hours, and |
| city of Syracuse. There, during the sixth century, forlorn | | | | for those who want to make the most of the |
| locals gathered in their cathedral for prayers to St | | | | occasion, the 'Lucia wake' takes the most party-hardy |
| Lucia --- a nun who was martyred in 304 AD and | | | | of souls well into the long Swedish night. |
| whose very name meant 'light' --- when a miracle | | | | It's quite possible that, during the latter part of that |
| occurred in the form of a ship entering their harbor, | | | | program, another Swedish spirit may appear. This is a |
| carrying a cargo of food. Some scholars believe that | | | | high-octane grain- or potato-based libation that can well |
| the Goths --- forerunners to the Vikings who originated | | | | and truly addle a mind, even to the point where |
| in western Sweden --- imparted that tale to southern | | | | vestiges of other pagan-era Lucia apparitions may be |
| Europe, where the local folk put a 'Christian' spin on it | | | | conjured. As late as the Middle Ages, a prevalent |
| to accommodate their beliefs. However it happened, | | | | belief was that Lucia Night hosted the ravages of |
| another melding of pagan lore and Christian ritual had | | | | ghosts and goblins, with animals becoming enchanted |
| begun its germination. | | | | so as to speak to them. |
| Meanwhile, back in Sweden, the western province of | | | | |