It is often said that Christmas is celebrated in remembrance of the birth of Christ, but considering that most historians nowadays agree that Jesus probably was born in the summer and that Christmas (or Yule) was celebrated in Sweden long before Christianity reached these northern latitudes, there are reasons to question that. In any case, religion plays a minor role in most Swedes’ celebration of Christmas. They light a candle on Advent Sundays, they might have a Christmas crib and some angels placed somewhere in their homes and a few Swedes even go to church on Christmas Day morning. But apart from that, Christmas celebrations are about something completely else than the birth of Baby Jesus.
Already the first of December the preparations for Christmas start in most Swedish homes, by the means of the Advent Calendar starting on Swedish television and the children beginning their countdown to the big day, Christmas Eve. In Sweden, as opposed to most other countries, you should know, Christmas Eve, and not Christmas Day (when Jesus supposedly was born) is the most important day during the Christmas Holiday. Everything before that is preparations and everything after is repetitions or cooling down.
During the first twelve days of December everything is quite calm, besides the Ad-vent Calendar, a date candle, which is burnt down a little every day, and the lighting of two Advent candles, nothing much happens. After that all hell breaks loose. From the thirteenth of December the Swede forgets all about social conventions and lets out the beast within.
It all starts on Lucia Day with us dressing up our children (mostly girls) in white sheets and silvery glitter. In one of these children’s hair (almost always a girl) we put burning candles. The rest of the girls will have to settle with the risk of getting their hands burnt. If a boy, against all odds, would venture to join he is dressed in a fool’s cap, just to make sure he is really embarrassed. If you don’t want to walk around in a fool’s cap, you can dress up as a ginger cookie or an elf. In more progressive places even girls are allowed to such debauchery. Then these sheet-covered children walks around extremely slowly singing, more or less beautifully, while parents and the children who didn’t want to embarrass themselves hold their breaths and pretend they enjoy it. If the Lucia parade consists of teenagers there is however quite a chance that it will be a joyful occasion with burning hair, stumbling lads in silly cones and out of tune singing, as it is a Swedish tradition that minors are to drink themselves to a stupor the night before Lucia.
When Lucia is over and done with (to which, by the way, we have made saffron bunnies which we for some reason call cats), it’s all in. Ginger cookies are to be baked, herring is to be pickled in many different ways and Christmas gifts are to be bought at the same time as all other Swedes, as no one seems to have come up with the brilliant idea of shopping beforehand or just not buy any gifts. On top of that you need to get a fir.
In the old days the Swedes normally went out into the woods themselves to chop down a tree, which they then dragged into their homes. Nowadays most people let someone else handle the chopping and are satisfied with just the dragging into their homes. Then, as the tree is placed in a foot in the heat and its inevitable decay to a certain death has begun, it is renamed Christmas tree, and different items are hanged on its branches. Then start the sweeping of needles from the floor.
In addition to this you have to put out china elves, fabric elves and other elves and taste the glögg (a kind of mulled wine). Then you have to put up stars, glitter and
tapestries and taste the glögg. Before that you must of course clean the house from top to bottom and taste the glögg. Maybe you also need to taste the schnapps. Beyond this you need to take care of your normal job.
The closer Christmas Eve comes, the more stressed-out the grown-ups become and the more excited the children get. On Christmas Eve it all reaches climax. That will be for next issue, though.
Mats Björling-Info Express
