Today is Lucia, a day that holds a special place in most Swedish hearts. Until 1753 when the Julian calendar was used in Sweden the night between the 12-13th of December was called Midwinter and considered the longest night of the year.
Strange things could happend and it was important to feed the cattle a bit extra to make sure they didn’t starve during this particularly long night. Extra protection against darkness and evil was also important and it was custom to prepare a meal and eat it under candle lights, which was called “att Lussa”. Though we no longer believe that the night is extra long, dark and evil, or that extra food is needed, the tradition to “lussa” is still very strong in Sweden.
I’ve got fond memories from my childhood getting up in the pitch black morning. Candles would be lit in the kitchen and if we were lucky there would be snow on the ground on our way to nursery and later on school where the yearly Lucia procession would take place. We would get dressed in “lusseskrud”, the special white gown worn at Lucia, have our electrical little candles and sing “lussesånger”. The parents and older kids would be there watching and we would drink hot chocolate and eat “lussekatter” and “pepparkakor”.
Today Lucia celebrations are taking place throughout Sweden, in the early morning and in the evening. It’s one of the strongest Christmas traditions we have.This year’s official Lucia broadcast can be watched on SVT Play and there’s more about Lucia on Wikipedia
Enjoy and Glad Lucia (Happy Lucia).
