Today is Lucia in Sweden and we wish family, friends and all readers a happy Lucia and a great day! By the way, what do you know about the history of the Swedish Lucia celebration? And how do you celebrate yourself?
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The Swedish Lucia tradition
Lucia is, according to Nordic Museumis both a traditional and a modern holiday. In Swedish peasant society, Lucia's night on 13 December was considered the longest of the year and according to folklore, Lucia's night was dangerous because supernatural forces were at work and animals could talk.
Originally a woman dressed in straw, in the 19th century she had one or two companions and as the custom moved into the cities she was joined by bridesmaids and star boys.
The modern Lucia celebration
The candle-adorned Lucia, who arrives with a tray in the morning, was a high society custom that originally occurred mainly in western Sweden. The first time we know for sure that Lucia was celebrated in this way was in 1764 near Skövde.
The current character of the celebration only came about in 1927, when Stockholms Dagblad organised a Lucia competition and the winning Lucia walked in a procession with electric lights in her hair. The competition then spread to other newspapers and to the public ...
Saint Lucia the saint
According to the saint's legend of St Lucia, she lived on the Syracuse in Sicily, a beautiful city that we visited during our trip to Europe. Lucia was born into a rich family and took a vow of chastity at an early age.
When she was older, her mother promised her to a man. Lucia managed to persuade her mother to return the promise, but the man in question felt offended and Lucia was arrested and martyred in 304.
How do you celebrate Lucia?
Are you celebrating Lucia and if so, how? For us, it may not be a major Lucia celebration, but we are enjoying a free Sunday in the houseboat and planning a herring and nubbe meal. Not bad when you haven't eaten herring for a year ...!
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nils-åke hansson says:
Birgitta sang for me. Today it will be as usual here we have it grey and the rain hangs in the air.
13 December 2015 - 12:13
Åsa says:
We celebrated on Friday! Not the same without darkness and cold, but gingerbread is always good....
13 December 2015 - 12:21
Lena i Wales says:
Lucia is completely unknown in Wales and the rest of the UK, so only Swedes celebrate here!
For me there will be no special celebration and I get a bit "homesick" for Sweden on such days. Maybe I can see some celebrations online, but not the same.
Enjoy the day!
13 December 2015 - 12:32
Znogge says:
A lot actually because it is part of the job! I have also visited Siracusa 😀.
Happy Lucia!
13 December 2015 - 12:36
Krisztina says:
How nice you are! Happy Lucia to you too!
13 December 2015 - 13:06
Bosse och Gerd says:
We wish you the same !
Greetings from a sunny Benidorm with 20.2 degrees in the shade today !
13 December 2015 - 14:04
Jan Svensson says:
Happy Lucia from us, from an 18 degree and sunny day Spanien☀️
13 December 2015 - 14:08
Linnea says:
We celebrate with....eh...kind of nothing 🙂 Lucia is an unknown concept here in Bavaria and the Swedish families we hosted last year have moved back again. We settle for SVT's Lucia train as feverish children mean that we have to skip the Lucia train in the Swedish church in Munich again this year. We are just as happy about that 😉.
I wish you a happy Lucia from Ingolstadt!
13 December 2015 - 14:09
AktivaDagar-Camilla says:
Thank you very much! We ourselves hardly celebrate at all. But a saffron cake would not have been wrong on the ski slope 🙂 .
13 December 2015 - 14:16
Åsa says:
Lucia hugs from Bortugal!
13 December 2015 - 14:25
BP says:
What a great picture of Peter and you! Liked sharply! We do not celebrate Lucia but will go down to Täby Centrum in a while and check the Lucia train.
By the way, it's nice to know how the Lucia celebration came about.
You are well worth a herring-and-nubber lunch/brunch/dinner!
13 December 2015 - 14:05
admin says:
Nils-Åke, but so fantastic with a little Lucia song! 🙂
Åsa, gingerbread probably tastes good in warmer climates too! 😉
Lena in Wales, I can understand that you get a little Sweden-longing in Lucia times!
Znogge, yes in the school world I understand that Lucia is a natural part!
Krisztina, thank you! 🙂
Bosse and Gerd, what fantastic heat you have this time of year! Enjoy!
BP, glad you like the picture! 🙂 Hope you will see a nice Lucia train in Täby centre!
Jan Svensson, thank you very much! What lovely warmth you have!
Linnea, Luciatåg on SVT is not bad! And then you have lussebullar!? 🙂
Camilla, a lussebulle on the ski slope sounds like a perfect Lucia celebration!
Steve, you'll be in the right mood with both the Christmas tree and Lucia on TV!
Åsa, you too!
13 December 2015 - 15:06
Steve says:
Personal and stylish Lucia costume you have, A continued happy Lucia to you!
We don't celebrate anything special, we watch Lucia on TV in the morning and we always have the Christmas tree decorated for Lucia Day.
13 December 2015 - 14:24
steel city anna says:
Celebrated with the cat and SVT. That particular custom no one understands, most other things I can get people started on, may be because the other holidays include meatballs perhaps ... Once we were on Lucia in London and it was nice but a little too much fuss with travel and hotels for a small evening, if I were to live in London I would go absolutely.
Fun picture of you! 🙂
13 December 2015 - 15:42
Ditte says:
We also wish you a happy Lucia from a fairly warm Spain with +18 degrees and bright sunshine.
I experienced the Lucia train on Friday with students from the Scandinavian school here and this morning I watched Play SVT and saw the Lucia train from Örgryte New Church. Lussekatter and gingerbread have also been made. But unfortunately I will miss the grandchildren's Lucia at the preschool tomorrow, but I hope for a picture.
Nice Santa Claus outfits but I miss Peter's cone....
We wish you a pleasant evening.
13 December 2015 - 18:33
admin says:
Steel city Anna, no Lucia is not so connected with food... except for lussebullar and gingerbread. Can't that go down well with the English...? I understand that the hassle of travelling to celebrate Lucia is not always appealing.
Ditte, thank you! 18 degrees and bright sunshine doesn't sound bad at all! Nice with Lucia celebrations too! But you can't miss Peter's cone... he HAS a cone on his head! 😉
13 December 2015 - 20:13
Maria says:
I celebrated by watching different Lucia trains and concerts on TV 🙂 My Italian boyfriend thinks it's a great tradition, even though we "stole" and modified one of their saints 😉.
13 December 2015 - 22:37
Henny says:
Up here in Norrbotten, the cold came just in time for Lucia, -18 degrees it has been a long time since we had. I was at a Christmas party in the church where the young people ended the Christmas play in a different way. Joseph and Mary fled from Herod to save their child.
In the Christmas play, they were stopped at the border with Egypt and had to go to a refugee camp to wait for a decision on whether they could stay in the country. Thought-provoking and topical. Of course there was the usual Lucia train and Santa Claus, but the escape was the strongest memory of the evening.
13 December 2015 - 23:59
Marina says:
Of course it's exciting with those old legends. And that the beautiful red ribbon he always has on his waist should symbolise the blood that was spilled when she died... Actually, it might be nicer with glitter 😉.
Hope you had a good Lucia Sunday!
14 December 2015 - 3:21
N says:
Nice picture! Happy Lucia!
14 December 2015 - 7:29
Anna i Dubai says:
Every day is a single Lucia celebration.
14 December 2015 - 10:28
Ama de casa says:
Nice Lucia train there 🙂
We don't celebrate Lucia in any special way. There are several Lucia trains organised down here, but we do not seek out any of them. Looked a bit on the web... 🙂 ...
14 December 2015 - 10:42