Why do Scandinavians Celebrate an Italian Saint?

One of the most popular holidays in Sweden during the Holiday season i "Lucia" or St. Lucy's Day. And its history & meaning is quite strange and confusing.
WATCH ANGELA'S VIDEO HERE: • Is Christmas a Midwint...
#lucia #christmas #scandinavia

[@LetsTalkReligion]

Watch Angela's Companion Video Here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/noPMk3tog6ioY5o

[@StoneHerne]

😃 It's very useful! 😃

[@razielfall]

In Finnish elementary and middle schools, being selected as the year's Lucia for the Lucia mass was and is still something similar to being prom queen in US. Usually the most popular and pretty blonde girl won the title.

[@jonirischx8925]

A Finn here, and can confirm this. Can also confirm that no one has any idea of the history of Lucia's day. It's just a thing that schools do.

[@lemokemo5752]

Same in Sweden

[@Cross-Carrier]

Yes, well we Northern Europens do like our girls pretty and blond. It's the same in Scotland. Although we don't have this particular tradition. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🤝🏽🇫🇮

[@danielmalinen6337]

In Jyväskylä, Finland, we were taught in basic school that Lucia's day is an old remnant of the time when it was celebrated as the midwinter solstice, but when the calendars were reformed, the celebration moved away from its original place. But Lucia's day is not as messed up as Nordic Christmas, which was originally a harvest festival celebrated in autumn, for example the Finnish kekri festival, before it was moved to midwinter.

[@rasmussrensen2029]

That was litteraly the thing that happened in my class here in Denmark 😅

[@drangelapuca]

Always lovely collaborating with you, Filip! Keep up the great work 🤓

[@LetsTalkReligion]

A pleasure, as always!

[@ElyseBordelon]

I was born in raised in very Cajun household in st martinville, Louisiana (the town was named for a catholic saint) and the church, St Martin De Tours still celebrates and observes St Lucy’s feast day every year on December 13th with the “saint Lucy’s Festival of Lights” and there are glowing angels handing from the trees and the entirety of the church grounds are lit with warm hued Christmas lights.

[@BlackReaper0]

'Rituals are performed first and explained secondly.' That's a nice phrase.

[@markusmiekk-oja3717]

Although this mostly holds, there are actually some examples that have gone the other way around in religion - I am pretty sure the Jewish tu bishvat seder was derived from mystical teachings and then instituted, rather than vice versa.

[@danielt1337]

I love that you, Religion for breakfast, esoterica, and Angela work together and support each other. All four of you have a different role in communicating religious studies and it is great.

[@EvelinaNinudottir]

In Norway, we sometimes call this Lussinatt - where the vette known as Lussi travels around and checks in on everyone's preparations for jol. Not sure about the chonology of which version came first, but vette is a creature from older Nordic folk beliefs.

[@alicelund147]

The old tradition in Sweden was also Lusse not Lucia.

[@riccardozeta1470]

Since forever, on St. Lucy's day my mother says "Santa Lucia, il giorno più corto che ci sia" (in italian: Saint Lucy's, the shortest day ever), and today I've learnt why. Ty! (Also, she insists that we pray to St. Lucy, because everyone in the family wears glasses and she's supposed to protect the eyes...)

[@SPscorevideos]

As an Italian, I can add that S. Lucia is not even a very common "holyday" here. I'd say it's a day of celebration only in Sicily, but definitely almost ignored in the mainland, except maybe for single cities (Venice, for example, because it's where's Lucia's body currently is). It's still interesting to know that in Sweden something happens that I would expect from Southern Italy - although it doesn't look like you spend that day eating fried things like they do here. :D

[@francescoazzoni3445]

In bergamo, it's her that brings gifts rather than baby jesus/santa

[@brumella]

Same in Spain. It's celebrated locally in different parts but not widely as a national holiday. My grandma's name was Lucía and the patron saint of her village was Santa Lucía. There it is celebrated with a religious parade by boat. The statue of the saint is placed on a fisherman boat and paraded alongside the coastline 😐

[@gorillaguerillaDK]

Not only Sweden, all over Scandinavia, and as I recall it, Finland as well!

[@Lori-PAX]

We celebrate St Lucia in Tuscany.

[@lacrimassenzio]

I'm from Vicenza. I still remember my grandma giving me present from Santa Lucia the 13th Dec, and from the Befana tin January, while on the 2th Dec she will just give us some candies and fresh fruit.

[@svijetlanradov8235]

It's also celebrated in Croatia. Lovely video, as always!

[@tomasjakovac7950]

Idk if all Croatians do this, but in my family it's tradition to make Božićna Pšenica on St. Lucy's Day. For those who don't know, Pšenica is a traditional ornamental wheat grass that's grown in a small vessel during the holiday season, and is sometimes wrapped in a ribbon or has a candle placed in the middle.

[@tomasvrabec1845]

It's actually completely celebrated in Croatia, Slovakia, Czechia and Poland. Not sure why he mentioned that it's almost only in Scandinavia and Italy. The worship likely differs and the west Slavs (snow about you croats) celebrate her as a replacement for an old pagan witch ghost that sweeps evil and bad spirits out of people's homes.

[@SuperHorseSense]

I think the connection to the winter solstice explains why it is more popular in Nordic countries. Whatever the pre-Christian tradition it replaced was also probably always considered more important the more north you go, as the effect of the solstice gets more extreme.

[@LandELiberation]

I'm reminded of the persistence of candlemass in the church of England, I have vivid memories of being handed an orange, wrapped in a ribbon, with a candle in it and processing down to the Abbey on a midwinter evening and being entranced by the luminous oddness of it all

[@michaeldillon3113]

I think this is Christingle as practised in my Anglican church also . The candle 🕯️ standing for Jesus as the light of the world , the orange as the world , the red ribbon as the love of god for the world through the sacrifice of Jesus , 4 cocktail sticks the 4 seasons/corners of the world , and the dried fruits as the Creation 🕊️

[@georgem7502]

Candlemas is the 2nd February in the Western calendar, and Christingle services are usually held before Christmas day, aren't they?

[@LandELiberation]

@@georgem7502 you're quite right, i have no idea why the parish I grew up in used the names interchangeably

[@christopheradolph3616]

I am from the Caribbean Island of St. Lucia 🇱🇨. It is said the Island was discovered on the 13th of December. We have a celebration called the festival of light's, it is held on the night of the 12th of December. It is a festival of home made lanterns

[@markusmiekk-oja3717]

I figure the celebration on the night of the 12th is because traditionally, sunset has been seen as the point when the day changes.

[@LysSylva]

Loved Lucia day since I studied Nordistics in the 90s, Every year the Swedish Institut invited in the dark morning hours to the procession and Glögg and Lussekatter. It was truly an enchanting experience, sitting in the dark and hearing the faint, but approaching voices and to see the rapidly nearing bright light from all the (mostly dripping) candles and suddenly - boom! there was light! And all the special smells ,,,,.. - loved it, and so did my kids .Remarkable experience, won´t miss it. And thanks to IKEA the custom is spreading 😀

[@chendaforest]

Awesome!! I love Nordic culture

[@andreajanota6258]

The story I was told was that Saint Lucia appeared to some Norwegian sailors during a time of peril and they adopted her as a saint in Scandinavia after that.

[@Artemis101full]

When I was in 1st grade, my teacher decided to make the holidays the perfect time to learn about other cultures and how they celebrate. I got to dress up as Mary and sang spanish songs we sing in Puerto Rico. A few talked about Hanukkah and Kwanza. One kid talked about how Cambodia celebrated it. But the one to stand out was St. Lucy’s day. We loved seeing our friend dressed as her and give cookies out. I’m 31 now but I still remember this

[@censusgary]

Since Lucy’s name means “light,” it seems natural to celebrate her day with lights (which, until recently, meant candles). Lucy/Lucia is also the patron saint of eyesight, I suppose because her martyrdom supposedly included having her eyes plucked out. Medieval statues of her often shows her holding a plate on which there are two eyes.

[@jackpayne4658]

I highly recommend a reading of John Donne's poem, 'A Nocturnal upon St Lucie's Day' .

[@juliemulie1805]

In Rockford Illinois, a very Swedish and Italian immigrant town in the 50s and 60s we celebrated St Lucia's day with the candle parade and young girl in the crown of candles at our Swedish Covenant church. That was after a crazy night of 'kidnap caroling' where we went house to house after midnight, singing Christmas carols until they let us in, fed us, and then joined us for the next victims. I think the normal Swedish reserve demeanor needed some celebrations and rituals to keep from going mad...especially in the dark.

[@Mattdewit]

Recently it was also 'the feast of the Imaculate Conception' here in Italy which is not celebrated in all Catholic countries.

[@MarathonMann]

I think it makes perfect sense that she is one of our most popular saints considering how little light we get, especially in pre-industrial times when there weren't lamps everywhere

[@charlenewallmark1187]

This was beautiful. Thank you!!

[@notwwwe]

For those of you worrying about the fire hazard of a candle crown, When i was a Lucia my music teacher was sitting a few meters away from me with a water bucket in case i fainted. I have heard siminar stories from other people.

[@chriskirschten203]

My parents hosted a Lucia Party, in Louisville Kentucky, in the late 60’s/early 70’s. A pre dawn breakfast feast with a young girl from the neighborhood chosen to wear the crown of candles.

[@gabork5055]

Also a thing in Hungary. But the Pagan origins of this holiday are well understood here. Lucia's or Luca's persona is more similar to Christmas's Krampus or the Slavic Baba Yaga so more like a hag and some of the songs which used to be sung in the countryside were also pretty vulgar for Christian sensibilities. When we celebrated this in school it was quite tame compared to it. :D There's an emphasis on the Luca's stool and the wheat prepared for the holiday and sometimes celebrated similarly as in the Scandinavian countries but without all the goofy gingerbread and Santa stuff. We also celebrate Martinstag like mentioned from countries also celebrating this, we had these huge pyres one time and i remember it was raining that day. It was memorable. Not sure if the latter is universal or celebrated only in towns with Danube Swabian traditions. Kids will probably always think of it as the day they have to go through the chore making the lanterns with the pressure of getting bad grades if you don't. :)

[@juancasinisterra]

What a wonderful video. I love taking a peek behind the curtain to see how layered and complex and OLD some of our traditions are. Your videos always leave me in a good mood like that. Keep it up!

[@dubsar]

The saint is also important in Portugal and in Brazil (Santa Luzia).

[@hermanessences]

Indeed, we celebrate her every year in Norway! Really beautiful ritual and song Interesting to see the pagan syncretism; might indeed be the explanation for it.

[@sweetchayos6857]

I live in Wisconsin and I went to an elementary school that taught us about cultures around the world, and we celebrated Lucia day! one girl was picked to be Lucia and we all sang around the school. It was fun

[@Venefica82]

I am gearing up to celebrate Lucia tomorrow. I am from Norway.

[@ratgirl1]

We are looking really looking forward to lucia! Nice that you made a video about it! All children learn about it in school but not many might remember it!

[@runwiththewind3281]

2 of 3 of my daughters were lucia in the procession in folke skol. 🇩🇰

[@pedrod854]

Hopefully the one who wasn’t Lucia didn’t get too sad about it. Greetings from Brazil 🇧🇷

[@runwiththewind3281]

@@pedrod854 no. Each year one girl was randomly chosen. The procession was through the school hallways. All pupils had costumes and sang the St lucia song. I can remember the soliminity of the moment. I would leave work just to watch. obrigado

[@StoneHerne]

😃 Lovely and very interesting! Have a merry winter season, Filip! 😃

[@pauet989]

St Lucy is also quite celebrated in Catalonia, where she is called Santa Llúcia and is also considered the patron of sight. The 13th December was the traditional date when nativity scenes were set up (to stand until February 2nd). Now all the Christmas decorations are usually set up earlier (and set down earlier too), but still the Christmas market in Barcelona (Fira de Santa Llúcia) is dedicated to her. Also, in the town of Gelida it is customary to cook a big soup and share it to the people after the mass, in remembrance of the saint's assistance to the poor. I had no idea, though, of the Swedish tradition, which looks really beatiful. Thanks for this great video!

[@valmarsiglia]

An ex of mine was of Swedish origin and grew up in Minnesota, and her family did the whole St Lucia Day thing, crown of candles and all.

[@-zorkaz-5493]

I adore strange little tidbits of culture like this, absurdities hidden in plain sight. Speaking of Italian islands, have you considered dedicating a video to the religion in Malta? I've just been, and the language alone is fascinating! P.S. I still have a logo concept I could share with you, if you're interested!

[@dharmabum1111]

I have known about St Lucia for a long time tho have never celebrated. Have also personally long known of Scandinavian love for Italians, my Danish Grandfather loved my Italian Grandmother. 💚Winter is really about celebrating the return of the light, candles lit here in California. Thanks for this beautiful video, heaing over to Angel's page now.

[@elizabethdavis1696]

My church was Lutheran and remember a celebration like this in my church they was also a a lot of cinnamon buns served and I remember the song refrain

[@Greg.Enterprises]

I live in california, but I went to an odd elementery and middle school, my 2nd-4th grade teacher was of Swedish descent, and so every year we would did Saint Lucia's day celebrations with the candle crown and everything, it was really fun

[@RodrigoOswego]

I remember singing every Christmas in Denmark when i was a kid. Nobody really put any thought into the origin as it was just another part of the holiday tradition.

[@ShaggyPWN]

Fun fact! The small town in Michigan that I grew up in actually celebrates Lucia, I believe some Swedish exchange students brought it over in the 50's and we've celebrated it ever sense. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYWvhpSbba51qtk

[@howwewitch]

I think part of why it's still so popular is because while it can be a really beautiful performance if done by professionals, it's also a really child-friendly tradition. As you mentioned, schools do it and even younger kids (my 3 year old is having lucia at daycare today -they've been practicing the songs for weeks). Children think it's fun with the dressing up and singing... And most of us have nice memories of doing it as kids, so we want our own kids to have that experience too, and we like to watch our kids doing it because it's cute, and so keeping the tradition going. Traditions that kids hate tend to not survive as well nowadays (my personal non-scholarly observation) because if you hated it as a kid and now with maybe less social pressure than in the past you have the choice to not do it, you probably won't do it 😅

[@OndrejSvinciak-qr7uc]

its also celebrated in slovakia , i havent watched the video trough yet, but i tought i should tell you , thank you for the amazing vidoes by the way, its really a treat to have somebody as curious and capable as you bring theese concepts and historical happenings to perspective , Thank you 😁

[@francescoazzoni3445]

Maybe it's the fact that when i was a child it was her and not santa/baby jesus that brought me gifts but it's definitely my favourite saint.

[@rcwhite364]

I attended a Lutheran church while growing up in the US. We would celebrate "Santa Lucia" every December. It was, by that point, just "one of the things we do". The local chapter had been started by a small group that included people with both Swedish and German roots.

[@twinkle231979]

St Lucia day is apparently also widely celebrated in Slavic countries, where she is relied upon to protect people from witches and malicious supernatural beings

[@user-fd1tv8fv5y]

It was an important day in Croatia as well, it disappeared in the 1990s when Croatia was taken over by the customs and culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Dalmatia. Otherwise, pumpkins were decorated on Saint Lucia, Halloween was not celebrated.

[@BigBiLeft]

I hadn't heard of this before, what was the naški/croatian name for it? I'd like to check this out and even revive it with my family.

[@jeremy1350]

Hello from Montreal. When I was a boy, there was a particular cartoon that played on tv, in the U.S. (Tom and Jerry cartoon) where the character sings the Santa Lucia song. Hearing the song now, it brought back that memory to me.

[@CancelledPhilosopher]

Fascinating. 😎

[@chrispecora6223]

I love learning brother tyvm

[@frida507]

About the boys dressed as "star-boys" (stjärngossar) with cones on their heads, some dressed as little Santas and gingerbread men - as I've heard they were included when schools and kinder gartens started to celebrate Lucia and teachers had to invent roles for the boys. And then some songs and traditions from old Saint Stephens traditions, that were more "boys songs" were incorporated in the Lucia celebration, together with Christmas songs. For example a medieval folk- song about "Steven stable boy", which mostly is about his different horses. Maybe because in a mainly agricultural society horses was something people would relate to? Maybe more so than the biblical stories, which in those medieval times most people couldn't read about.

[@MicaiahBaron]

I live in Illinois and went to an Evangelical college; it didn't allow dancing, except at Junior Senior and the Santa Lucia dance. The dance was loved by most people, except the ones who hated it because they knew it was Catholic.

[@oswaldmargoni]

I am from Slovakia and we also celebrate the feast of St. Lucia. It is celebrated primarily in kindergartens and elementary schools. There is a rumor that girls named Lucia will become witches in the future (that's why it was a very unpopular name in the past, nobody wanted a witch at home). During this holiday, girls dress up in white dresses and do various witch rituals as the prominent name of witches is celebrated. Above all, the name of future grooms and brides is divined. From St. Lucia's net to Christmas, there are various rituals associated with spider webs and other things I can't remember.

[@arpo71]

I’ve hear on Swedish radio P1 once that “Lusse” is an old Swedish word for midvinterblot that was what was celebrated on the 13th in the old calendar. My guess is that people continue celebrating it.

[@DesignateVoid]

In Poulsbo, WA - little Norway - we celebrate it as well. Seeing someone with candles in their hair was really weird at first

[@actthree7810]

Thanks for these insights into this Swedish holiday, Filip. 🙂 What are those pointy white hats about I saw toward the end of the video? Looked like boys wear them as part of the larger ritual??

[@anders4881]

Thank you for another fascinating video. I’ve always considered Saint Lucy as the Christianised version of the Roman Goddess Juno Lucina, whose name clearly links the associations with light, childbirth etc. Were any of the Norse Goddesses similarly linked with these themes and celebrated around this time of year, prior to being Christianised as this saint?

[@jannetteberends8730]

The story of sint lucia has some similarities with sint Nicolas. He is also very popular in a, what used to be, Protestant country.

[@hamodalbatal464]

Thank you

[@hungryfatkid93]

Could there be a connection between Lucia being a prominent festival in Scandinavia and Sicily, and the Norman conquests?

[@TheUndergoundMan]

In my country (Croatia) we also consider St. Lucy's day as a religious holiday due to Italian influence.

[@gorillaguerillaDK]

I think you left out Finland - as I recall it, they celebrate Lucia as well! Another Saint we still celebrate is Saint Martin, with a feast the evening before Saint Martins Day - which also just happens to be in the end of the harvest season and overlapping with All Hallows’ Eve, and the Pagan celebrations there undoubtedly where part of life before Christianity….

[@gorgioarmanioso151]

Findland was longly colonized by Sweden, ... Swedes brought christianity to finland ... I think he knows all that ..

[@markusmiekk-oja3717]

Lucia in Finland is a bit odd, since ... well, the traditional understanding I was taught, as a Swedish-speaking Finn in the 90s, was that this was something only Swedish-speaking people in Finland do. This is my experience later in life as well - most Finnish-speaking acquaintances have no idea what it is. This unfamiliarity reached a very interesting extreme in the early 2000s, when Folkhälsan r.f. (a non-profit association that works with a variety of things - teaching kids to swim, charity, retirement homes, but also organized until recently at least the biggest Lucia event in Finland every year) patented Lucia and the accompanying celebrations. Apparently, the patent handler had never heard of it before, and so figured it was a new thing and granted their patent. Looking in this comment section, though, it seems people all over the country are celebrating it nowadays, so maybe it's spread into Finnish Finland as well since I was a kid?

[@gorillaguerillaDK]

@@markusmiekk-oja3717 Thank you for your response. I had a Karate Instructor who was from Finland, and judging by how awful her Swedish was when we went on camps and at tournaments in Sweden, I highly doubt she was from the Swedish speaking part - as I recall it she were from somewhere in the Northernmost Eastern part, but I don't know how many speak Swedish or have Swedish ancestry there. But this was back in the 90's and she had been Lucia several times as a kid, I remember we joked a lot about it, because back when I was a kid in Denmark it was very often the pretty tall blonde girl who ended up being the Lucia, but my instructor were definitely not a tall blonde, (but she was still pretty, very smart, and really really funny). She's probably in her late 60's today, so it must have been used in at least some parts of Finland, aside from the Swedish speaking parts? But it might have been in a few smaller communities - and it might very well have been due to some level of Swedish or Norwegian influence I guess... But anyway, thank you so much for taking your time to respond - the part about taking a patent really made me laugh... I needed that!

[@SoftBunnyMommy]

Grew up Catholic, was very important when I was growing up to contemplate on the saint whose feast you were born on. Her feast is my bday

[@BenSpectre-oh3ws]

I had only heard of "Star Boys" instead of having the boys dress as Santa or gingerbread men.

[@-catholic]

St. Lucia pray for me 🙏🏻

[@vilmaalencar9085]

Where I come from in Brazil we would put candles on the windows on Saint Lucy day, there we call her Santa Luzia, but also the name Lúcia/Lúcio is a very common name in Brazil, but not commonly associated with the Saint.

[@Shantari]

Lucia happens to be my birthday, so I have of course a bit of a special interest in the topic. I was hoping there might be some more about St Stephan and how his song in the celebration adds a horse connection that apparently didn't exist in biblical canon and may have some pre christian roots. In different versions of his song "Staffan var en stalledräng", he has something of a protector role. He goes out to kill a wolf, and then the song ends with everybody having their christmas needs of porridge, pig and candles met. His connection to Christmas is also based on legend rather than canon, as he originally was active something like 35 AD, but legend has him tell king Herod that the savior has been born.

[@marshalldarcy7423]

I have heard that in some viking traditions it was thought that killing a young virgin as a sacrifice would bring back the sun that was going away in the winter, much like the throwing into a volcano a young virgin would appease the volcano gods.

[@str.77]

The claim that 13th December was the shortest day of the year under the Julian calendar for a very short while. The winter solstice moved backwards by roughly a day per century until Pope Gregory reset the calendar to as it was in the 4th century. So the argument that S. Lucia was celebrated for this reason assumes that the holiday was introduced around the 12th century.

[@patricioferreira5495]

First protestants were a radicalization of catholicism, not a rupture. Then many catholic structures are retained among first protestants. Hard ruptures came after with later protestants, like calvinists and anabaptist derivatives. But judaic (C)Hanukkah is also celebrated around this date, maybe it is a very basal folkloric celebration, related with solstice and perihelion.

[@simontcm]

“Lucia” comes from the Latin “lux, lucis (f): light”. See the connection?

[@user-yi4bi2he1c]

Great celebration at Old Swede Church in Philly, with is Episcopal.

[@Mort-lf3gx]

I like these kind of things that, at this point, are primarally a "idk we've always done this" kinda celebration. Its interesting too try and see where it might be from

[@hugodesrosiers-plaisance3156]

To me, "Santa Lucia" is a song you sing before being attacked by an American Werewolf in London" 😅

[@fighttheevilrobots3417]

Lucia is one of my daughter's middle names. She is named after Lucia Gonzales Parsons, otherwise known as the anarchist organizer Lucy Parsons.

[@briantaylor4808]

Love St Lucia! We orthodox Christians venerate and love her as well!

[@tomhalla426]

One of my grandfathers was half Swedish, but this is the first I ever heard of this holiday.

[@danijeljovic4971]

Do you happen to be American?

[@tomhalla426]

@@danijeljovic4971 Yes. None of my great grandparents married a person of the same ethnic backround, so I am a bit of a mix.

[@gorgioarmanioso151]

Nothing wrong not knowing about it I grew up in Sweden and most swedes do not care about it, people celebrate it just because it looks cute and children can sing in school christmas songs ...Mostly one " song " called Sankta Lucia ... Most swedes do not even know what Sankta is as it comes from latin the more common swedish word is Helig -- i.e. heliga As it is a woman ....

[@diethylether9218]

My favorite saint

[@Davlavi]

Came from Angelas video.

[@willbeutner628]

Please do an episode on the Orthodox Church

[@themomentpodcast]

Reminds me also regarding the witch and her followers, of the earlier Holda and the Wild Hunt. Holda and her southern cousin Perchta in the traditions are also both connected to a witch figure and a benevolent figure. Connected to winter and the winter solstice, next to rituals of holding candles, lamps or other sources of light. The northern version, linked to Scandinavia according to Marija Gimbutas is Frigg and Frejya. Looking at the similarities in ritual that survives in other regions in Germany, and then also at 6:00 the reference made to Lussi and her followers. Make me suspect that there could be a connection here with this. But that is then more of a speculation. What we do know about Holda is that there is a witch figure also connected to her, that normally roams around and steals cattle, or otherwise brings harm to the community. Where her other side as Holda that is benevolent is connected to the carrying of light. We can see this also with Perchta. Another cousin of Holda. Having similar rituals connected to light, and a duality of character. Benevolent and potentially dangerous in a witch form. I happen to be somewhat of an expert on Holda and Wotan, and other linked Proto-Indo-European traditions. In the more Southern variants of this pagan tradition there is first the light ritual, followed by the perchtenlaufen ritual, connected to fertility and the shooing away of the spirits that can cause harm. I happen to also know people personally who practice the rituals linked to Perchta, and this aligns well with what you said about Lucia and Lussi.

[@YrjoPuska777]

Interesting. I did not know that Lucia was not a thing outside of Nordic countries, at least Finland besides Sweden. I always thought it was normal christian or at least Lutheran thing around the world.

[@thomas35835]

I wish you had touched upon the story of Santa Lucia song as well. It adds yet another curious layer on top of this already slighly confusing syncretic background. How did a Neopolitan song describing the beautiful local seascape become adopted and rewritten as the main theme song of Scandinavian Lucia celebrations? As the song itself is from 1800s and the earliest mentions of the celebrations of Lucia's day date from that time period as well I am pretty sure at least modern Lucia celebrations are not older than that. I believe that most likely they are kind of "re-invented" history probably based on the historical catholic calendar entry of Lucia's day.

[@sandrairen1988]

Some places in Norway people go Lussi from house to house, singing carols and getting candy.

[@agucci]

Why did you spell it "Solstace" instead of "Solstice" at 5:25? Is this an archaic spelling?

[@TheFryedIScream]

it is seen as part of the wider Christmas season bc the Advent season starts late Nov/early Dec

[@danhworth100]

Is Angela’s video about Christmas and Christianity out?

[@gilgamesh.....]

You know, I don't think I have any kinds of rituals or traditions in my life.

[@chiron14pl]

The video clip you used showed the boys dressed in white robes with tall conical hats. Were these the "gingerbread men"? In US those conical caps are not associated with gingerbread men, but perhaps in Scandinavia they are. As a descendant of Swedes from Skane I enjoyed learning more about Lucia Day

[@notwwwe]

No, they are the " star boys" ( stjärn gossar ). They were followers of lucia

[@chiron14pl]

@@notwwwe That makes more sense given their costumes

[@pnkcnlng228]

In Northern Italy, traditionally christmas gifts where actually given on Saint Lucia day, but now we are loosing this tradition. The standard present for Saint Lucia day (so the christmas present) where Mandarins or Oranges, and they weren't brought by Santa, but by Il Bambin Gesù (The little Jesus)

[@Lalalala22537]

A video on brihadaranyaka upanishad ?

[@dennissmith1435]

Who is the dark figure coming in the window in the black and white image tableau of St Lucia?

[@davidcope5736]

I wouldn't want to argue, I apologise a thousand times if I sound disrespectful, I only comment because I want to understand and I'm probably just missing something. But from this video the grounding of this custom in pre-Christian practise seems pretty thin. The tradition celebrated with a woman wearing candles was said here to be early 19c, and yet an appeal was still made to explain it in earlier light associated Goddess worship. Is there any evidence of a continued practice evolving from pre-Christian times with which we can solidly establish a link with the current tradition, none seemed to given in the video, and if not then why are we seeking it's origins in a past far distant from when it appeared?

[@Amedee360]

Celebrated in Rochester Washington.

[@theeleventhdoctor2043]

This is a very good video, but it should be clarified that the Lutheran Churches of Scandinavia actually kept many of the saints days that the Catholic Church had, so it’s not that odd in that light.

[@WattisWatts]

I have not read all the comments, and my ADD night have missed anything about it in the presentation, but has anyone heard the story of Lucy losing her eyes? Word was that a suitor always commented on how lovely her eyes were. But the pious religious St. Lucy voluntary removed them to dispel the sin of pride . Did anyone hear of this take on St. Lucy?

[@anothermouth7077]

The story I heard was St Lucy's eyes were so beautiful that men used to fall for her and fight for her. St Lucy the gauge out her own eyes so that her devotion to lord does not waiver.

[@Lightning_Dust]

I heard they were gouged out after her burning (which failed). I also have ADD (misdiagnosed as ADHD lol), so I might have also missed something. I've heard her eyes were miraculously restored to her, also. :)

[@shotgunridersweden]

After visiting cyracusa i saw that the oldest depictions of st:lucias traditional attributes were her eyes around the neck, a dagger in one hand and a palm in the other. I suggested for my sons school in sweden we go for this more traditional interpretation ofst:lucia this year. But apparently human eyes around your neck and daggers are not welcome in Swedish schools anymore. kränkt!!!

[@edoardoputzu2804]

"Cyracusa"? In italian in Siracusa, in English is Syracuse, why then "Cyracusa"?😅

[@shotgunridersweden]

@@edoardoputzu2804 achsually achsually achsually

[@musamusashi]

Interestingly in Italy, Santa Lucia is the patron saint of the blind.

[@elisedah1]

Åhhh visste inte att du är svensk!!😍🇸🇪

[@meesalikeu]

filip i enjoyed this as always, but if you dont mind with a couple hesitations. first the easy one, i don’t think you mentioned why the candles on the head and plate of cookies? second is more serious, why always the ‘prettiest blond’ girl? seems kind of racis. and what about in italy, it would be harder to find blonds. just wondering more about this holiday thx. 👍🏽