On December 13th, all over Sweden, the day of Sankta Lucia (Saint Lucia) is celebrated. There are costumes, candles, lights, buns, drinks, and singing.
So who is Sankta Lucia?
Along with the celebration of midsummer, the celebration of Sankta Lucia is very popular cultural tradition here in Sweden. The idea behind this mythical character is that she has the role of bearing light in the long, cold, dark, winters. Sankta Lucia was originally a young Christian lady betrothed to a pagan gentleman. She cut off their engagement, and he was not too happy, so he made the Roman authorities aware she was a Christian. Consequently she was sentenced to death and became a martyr, and the saint of light.
How to celebrate Sankta Lucia
Lucia is a big thing in Sweden and if you have kids in daycare or school, it is almost a guarantee that there will be celebrations that you will somewhat be part of:-) So here is a bit of preparation for how to celebrate Lucia, either with your kids or for yourself.
Dress up
The children are dressed in white gowns, with red sashes, and a wreath of candles is placed upon their heads. There is often great competition for the role of St.Lucia, and whilst a lot of costumes will now involve electric candles, the main St.Lucia of the celebration is still known to have real candles on her head in most places. She is accompanied by her handmaidens (tärnor) who wear white gowns and have tinsel in their hair. She is also accompanied by star boys (stjärngossar), who wear white robes, cone shaped hats, and carry golden stars on sticks. The processions now often include tomtar (santa like elves) and gingerbread people. My double trouble are going to be tomtar this year.
Food
No celebration would be truly Swedish without having a special bun or cake made for the occasion! On this day you eat lussekatter. They are made with saffron, so have a peculiar flavour to them, but are very tasty. Also on offer are the pepparkakor (small thin ginger biscuits), all swallowed down with some glögg! Or if you are a child, the incredibly sweet drink of Julmust, or maybe just a coffee if you are driving.
Sankta Lucia songs
Most of these songs have a similar theme about the dark and about candles, but singing is a big part of the celebration.
We will be enjoying a little Sankta Lucia celebration in my twins class one evening around this time as they sing us some songs. They are going to be a couple of tomtar 🙂 Comment and let me know your thoughts on this Swedish tradition and if you’ve enjoyed reading about it below.
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