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| The festival of Sankta Lucia begins before dawn on the thirteenth of December. Throughout Sweden the eldest daughter in each household comes to her sleeping parents dressed in a long white gown tied with a red sash and wearing a crown of lingonberry leaves in which are set seven lighted candles. She carries a tray of steaming hot coffee and Lussekattor. Thus, together with brothers and sisters they awaken their parents and Christmas is about to begin. |
| EASTER IN SWEDEN
The Swedish translation for Happy Easter is "GLAD PASK!" In Sweden long ago, Easter was thought to be the witches time. In west Sweden they lit Easter bonfires around which people would scream and yell to frighten away the witches. On Maunday Thursday the witches were said to fly off to “Blakulla” and return again on the Saturday. Nowadays, children dress up as Easter witches on the Thursday before Easter and go from house to house and are given gifts or money - very similar to the North American Halloween. After the long fast during Lent, eggs were eaten in celebrations, often taken from the nests of the spring birds and children would play games with eggs - such as rolling the eggs. The older children in Skane would assemble at a special celebration when they would dance, play games and eat eggs. The Easter egg has a long history . In graves from B.C. in Gotland, colored clay eggs were found. They were painted in red and yellow as the eggs represented the sunrise and sunset - and even today the Swedes, like other Europeans paint their eggs at Easter. As a reminder of Christ’s suffering, young people would thrash each other with silver birch twigs on the morning of Good Friday. These silver birch branches, decorated with brightly colored feathers, were the originator of both the Lent and Easter decorated branches. Semlor are special buns that used to be associated with Lent but now seem to be sold earlier and earlier in the year. They consist of a sweet bread bun when the middle is scooped out and filled with marzipan and whipped cream. Otherwise, lamb is often eaten at Easter as well as many of the dishes eaten at the Christmas Smorgasbord. Source: Swe-Mail |
| ‘Ja, ma du leva’
This song is sung to celebrate birthdays and other special occasions. At Birka monthly birthday celebrations, we sing the Swedish version after we have sung our traditional American birthday song. Perhaps you would like to learn the Swedish words and sing along. Ask someone for help in pronunciations! Let’s all join in and sing. Swedish Version Ja, må du leva, Ja, må du leva, Ja, må du leva uti hundrade år. Ja, må du leva, Ja, må du leva, Ja, må du leva uti hundrade år. Ja, visst ska du leva, Ja, visst ska du leva, Ja, visst ska du leva uti hundrade år. Ja, visst ska du leva, Ja, visst ska du leva, Ja, visst ska du leva uti hundrade år. "Ett fyraldigt leve... leve du HURRAH, HURRAH, HURRAH, HURRAH!” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ English Translation Yes, may you live, Yes, may you live, Yes, may you live for a hundred years. Yes, may you live, Yes, may you live, Yes, may you live for a hundred years. Oh sure, you will live, Oh sure, you will live, Oh sure, you will live for a hundred years. Oh sure, you will live, Oh sure, you will live, Oh sure, you will live for a hundred years “A four fold cheer ...cheer for you. HURRAH, HURRAH, HURRAH, HURRAH!" |