to my Lucia day page.

At this page I'll try to add some interesting lines about Lucia.

I'm sure that there are more pages about Lucia, but this is my own.

And I'm happy about that You find it.

Feel free to browse around for a while,

and it's always nice if You leave a note before You leave my pages.

Our Swedish tradition to celebrate Lucia day.

Do You know why we celebrate Lucia day ?

Of the 13th of December we have our Swedish Lucia tradition.

But this tradition didn't become a real popular tradition  until the end of 1920.

That's when a Swedish Newspaper arrange a contest among the people living in sweden.

There was some speciual choosen girls that compete to each other.

The winner became what we today is calling The Lucia bride.

The Lucia bride wear a long white attire and a tiara of candles in her hair.

She also wear a red belt around her waist.

Behind her 8 bridesmaid also walk two and two in a row.

The bridesmaid also wear white attires,

but instead of a red belt they have glitter around their waists and in their hair.

They also carried a candle in one hand.

In the Swedish foklore, the swedish peolpe a long time ago,

thought that the Lucia bride was ment to be the bride of Lucifer,

and therefor was seen as a witch.

Since people thought she was a witch, they also ment that she was something very bad and evil.

By that time she was painted with an animalskin on her body or a animal mask to hide her face.

During the Night to Lucia day, people was told to stay inside and not

to go out after the darkness of the night has arrived.

If they did go outdoors, they was told they was going to become bewitched and

forever owned by Lucifer himself and therefor used to do evil things.

This night to the Lucia Day was the longest night of all nights of the whole year.

People even thought that the night was so long that their animals started to

speak and understand the human language this specific  night.

In Northern Sweden people say that the Lucia bride was the first wife of Adam.

It is also told that she has got so many children that she was a shamed

when Good himself come for a visit.

When Good find out that she tried to hide her babies in the stove,

he punished her for the rest of her life with making her children invisible.

The people of Northern Sweden thought that this

was where every damned spirit originally came from.

They thought that theese invisible children has become Lucifer and other damned spirits.

A Lucia bride was always by this time seen as a false, light-footed,

easy-going, irresponsible and indecent woman.

So as You can see for Yourself,

a long time ago the task to be a Lucia bride wasn't so very popular.

In the Middle Ages people celebrate the beginning

of the Christmas fast with a big festival the 13th of December.

This festival was going on the whole night.

And since people thought there where a lot of evil things

going on outdoors in the Lucia night, You'd better be awake the whole night.

In the ending of 1800 the celebration of Lucia day become

very common in almost every family in Sweden.

At Syracusa in Sicilien people celebrate the the 13 december with

a light festival to honor the saint Sancta Lucia.

Sancta Lucia is also the patron for the people with defective vision.

The celebration ceremonies here in sweden wasn't, until the beginning of 1900,

something like the celebration nowadys.

Now it's very popular to celebrate the Lucia Day

as a day filled with hope, joy, joyful singing and a lots of light.

I'm looking forward to this years Lucia Day too. Don't You ?