My family is Swedish and on this day, the Swedes celebrate Santa Lucia Day. This Swedish festival of lights helps to brighten up the long winter nights and celebrates the life of Santa Lucia, known for her kindness and love. On the morning of December 13th, girls in Sweden dress up as Santa Lucia wearing a white dress and crown of candles. Boys wear white pyjamas and pointed hats with gold stars and carry a star wand. They creep into their parents’ bedroom singing Santa Lucia’s traditional song and serve warm lussekater (saffron buns). What child is allowed to light a match or bake on their own, or willingly gets up for school without being poked and prodded, I don’t know? But, this is the practice. Every year, I am reminded of the time in Grade 3 that along with a friend with Danish heritage, we wrote our own play for the school Christmas concert called “A Scandinavian Christmas.” Pretty ambitious, don’t you think?! OK, yes we were geeks. We cast our friend, Candice, as Santa Lucia as she looked the part with blue eyes and blond hair that she wore in two long braids every day. I don’t know what the rest of us were doing, but Candice successfully wore the crown of candles without setting fire to her beautiful locks… or the school. If you want a better visual of what I’m talking about, rent the Christmas movie “The Ref” starring Dennis Leary. I swear I was the only one in the theatre laughing.
December 13, 2007
Lights, camera, action
My family is Swedish and on this day, the Swedes celebrate Santa Lucia Day. This Swedish festival of lights helps to brighten up the long winter nights and celebrates the life of Santa Lucia, known for her kindness and love. On the morning of December 13th, girls in Sweden dress up as Santa Lucia wearing a white dress and crown of candles. Boys wear white pyjamas and pointed hats with gold stars and carry a star wand. They creep into their parents’ bedroom singing Santa Lucia’s traditional song and serve warm lussekater (saffron buns). What child is allowed to light a match or bake on their own, or willingly gets up for school without being poked and prodded, I don’t know? But, this is the practice. Every year, I am reminded of the time in Grade 3 that along with a friend with Danish heritage, we wrote our own play for the school Christmas concert called “A Scandinavian Christmas.” Pretty ambitious, don’t you think?! OK, yes we were geeks. We cast our friend, Candice, as Santa Lucia as she looked the part with blue eyes and blond hair that she wore in two long braids every day. I don’t know what the rest of us were doing, but Candice successfully wore the crown of candles without setting fire to her beautiful locks… or the school. If you want a better visual of what I’m talking about, rent the Christmas movie “The Ref” starring Dennis Leary. I swear I was the only one in the theatre laughing.
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I have not channeled my inner Lucia, but I can relate......having twirled a mean fire baton, know how scary it is to have fire that close to your head....the secret is to never wear hairspray....and not to make faces when the fire does get close to your head, as I found out the hard way that everyone can see them.
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