So since there is no concert this year...here is to 12 days till Christmas....Happy Santa Lucia...
Published last year on December 13....a year later,....just a reminder that despite the darkness....we always have the light within.
For some reason, I get really really excited around Santa Lucia. The last two weeks of extreme darkness and then light and light and light and light. Ok, so we do not notice it until say March, but oh my God, this week is simply hope incarnate!!
Last Published on December 13, 2018--this is an old post--and one of the popular ones. The first ten pictures are new. From 2018's concert.
HERE WE GO---
December 13, 2018--And this needs to be published again, as it is little past 8 am, and I just returned from the concert!! Yeah, Made it..another post with new pictures (hopefully) coming soon!!
The stage is set for ladies of the light to come and sing and call in the light!
Santa Lucia herself. One girl is dressed like the saint with a crown of candles on her head. While young children wear the ones with bulbs, older ones still wear a crown with real candles. That is how it was done in the olden times.
In the middle of the singing there is a poem that is read --it describes the darkness and how it feels during this time. Recitation is alive and animated.
Snön ligger vit på taken
The Santa
Images from the concert
People leaving after the concert
Here is a MA student from Germany, who participated in the choir.
Here is B again, with lusse bullar and candles in her hand and notice the light behind her. It was pitch dark when we went in. After the concert the light is slowly coming up and it truly feels like the light has arrived. Even though it will be another two months before one notices sit.
People after the concert enjoying the treat and what do we get at this time of the year?
Lussebullar, light buns, or saffron buns, and coffee and glögg, mulled wine. Oh yes, ginger bread cookies, called Pepperkakor are a staple at the time of the year.
Light is here....at least the hint of it...and it will only grow from here...
FROM HERE FOLLOWS THE OLD BLOG.
Today, Santa Lucia. Woke up at 5:00, like usual. But today, there was another goal, to reach the auditorium before Lucia celebrations began. So early was I that I had to wait an hour before it started. In that, I stole an hour of stillness, that I never manage. It is indeed Lucia...the light has come, when we begin to be still and notice the light within.
First published on December 20, 2014, This needs to be republished. Published second time in December 13 of 2017---this is this posts third incarnation....new and improved, jag hoppas (I hope!!)
It is December 13th, 2017, and as every year, Swedes celebrated Santa Lucia. Other posts about the same are here and here and here. And a video from 2012. I so bad wanted to attend, I think I attended it two years ago, on 2015. But last year as this year, I could not make. Woke up about 4 times during the night, because I did not want to miss the celebrations, which starts at 8 am. The most beautiful part about this celebration is that you trudge through the snow, while it is still dark. At the university the doors close at 7:40 am, the auditorium is already full by then, and no one is allowed to enter after that. Beautiful maidens in white and red, with candles in their hand and on their head walk in, singing like angels. Beautiful stories are told, songs are sung. When we come out around 8:45, the day, no matter how dull, has come up. And we are served glögg (mulled wine) and pepper major *(ginger snaps) and lussekatt (saffron buns). It the most uplifting feeling, to be woken up, after having sleepily walked to the hall, by heavenly voices and then to be amidst these lovely maidens dressed in white and red with tinsel in their hair, and sometimes blown out candles in their hands. To warm up your hands on mulled wine, to let a saffron bun or an ultra fine swedish ginger cookie (they truly are ultra fine) melt in your mouth---and realize that a new day is up!! And that, you were brought into light from the darkness, through beautiful heart warming music and mouth watering snacks!!
A screen shot of Lucia Celebrations at Hagakyrkan (Haga Church) in Göteberg, Sweden 2014
Click here for a Lucia Concert From SVT, Swedish Public Television
Among many special traditions in
Sweden is Santa Lucia, usually celebrated on 13th of December. Lucia day, nearly two weeks after advent and
twelve days before the Christmas day, is a reminder that the big day is not
far. By this time Christmas decorations
are up, and many departmental Christmas parties have already been set up, menus
finalized, holidays and family visits arranged.
Advent calendars are all sold out, Santas are sitting in the malls and
there is the general holiday cheer all around.
But more than just what you see,
in Sweden, it is what you hear and eat that is also associated with Lucia. There is music, there are Lucia concerts in
every school and every church, and then there are crisp pappor kakor, and Saffron
buns (Ljus Bullar—light buns).
Santa Lucia is also described as
a traditional Neapolitan song sung in Neapolitcan language, which is originally
Italian, as is the concept of St. Lucia.
Whlie it might have been borrowed from Italy, the song is definitely
more applicable in Sweden. Mid-December
is the darkest time in Sweden, and this festival with heart warming music,
candles and anticipation for Christmas cuts through the darkness and brings
people for yet another celebration. Most
Santa Lucia concerts take place as early as 7 am. Having attended them twice I can say that
there is some rustic beauty to the whole thing.
You trudge through snow and darkness as early as 6 am to reach the
church/schools/auditoriums and find your seats.
After a concert, which can last about an hour, and includes readings of
poems, there is a small ‘fika’ –with special cookies and drinks. By the time it ends, the day is up and people
get to their work. So in a sense it feels like it Lucia who brought us light
that morning.
Although not that common in the
US anymore, Lucia many popular singers have sung the song—including Elvis (1965album Elvis for Everyone). In
Scandinavia (wiki) Lucia has been modified to incorporate the winter-light
festival of the darkest time of the year---Santa Lucia. But, come to think about it--it is celebrated in songs like '12 days to Christmas'
Strangely enough the concept is
also part of the anthem of a Thai Univeristy (Silpakorn Niyom) since its
founder was Italian.
However, my favorite part of
Santa Lucia is still the concept, the same as Hannukah, Kwanza, Christmas,
Diwali or Id—Light wins over Dark, and it is light that is worth talking about,
and that is worth celebrating.
We know that the two exist in
conjunction but may be if we focus on light, the darkness will melt away—and Light
will light our thoughts, feelings and actions.
And around this time ads and posters come up reminding us to buy things such as Julmust, PepparKakor (gingerbread cookies) and Glogg (mulled wine)!!
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