Lucas and I have been learning about different cultures and traditions. This week we are we studying Sweden and the Scandinavian tradition of celebrating Santa Lucia. One story is that St. Lucy was a Christian martyr who died in 304 CE because she had a different way of living out her faith. I believe her actions, of taking food into the catacombs for people who were hiding out and starving, were a very Christian thing to do, but of course I was not part of the power structure of ancient Rome. She became a saint and even though you can hear great Italian opera singing the praise of Santa Lucia, it seems to be mostly celebrated in Sweden. Santa Lucia Day is December 13th., early Scandinavians thought the thirteenth was the shortest day of the year. They were close.
In the Scandinavian tradition, one young girl dresses in a white robe with a red sash and walks around with a crown of lit candles on her head. If she has brothers, they dress in white and carry a star and follow her around, they are called Star Boys. The best part is that the children serve their parents breakfast in bed, the yummy Santa Lucia buns made with saffron and citron. We were going to make them but we don’t have any saffron (which is just an excuse because you can use yellow food coloring). Youtube was quick to point out that battery operated candles are used these days to protect the innocent who would love to walk around with fire on their heads. This is a celebration of light against the darkness, like the solstice festivals.
Before St. Lucia was the center of the celebration, people believed that the darkest day of the year held many dangers; animals spoke, evil spirits loomed so they had to bring light to stand against the darkness. Think of that when you’re singing Silent Night and holding a candle, or watching someone on Youtube sing Silent Night, which will be much safer this year.
Nature, the seasons, has much to teach us, as it did to our ancestors throughout time.
“When we pay attention to the rhythm of the seasons, we learn a great deal about the rise and fall of life, about emptiness and fullness. Spring invites us to blossom forth; summer calls us to our own ripening; autumn demands that we release and let go; and winter quietly whispers to us to rest, to sink into the dark fertile space of unknowing, to relate the demands of productivity and calendars and to-do lists, and simply to be.” Christine Valters Paintner from Earth, Our Original Monastery.
Do you celebrate the darkness or the coming of the light? Do you hibernate when the snow falls or go out and shovel up a storm? Do you let the nature of the season carry you into new ways of knowing, or are you too caught up in the chaos around you? Just some questions for us all to think about. Have a wonderful winter solstice, enjoy the end of Hanukah, Christmas and Kwanza and celebrate life.