Sunday, December 12, 2010

St. Lucia Day

Tom and I are both partially of Swedish and Norwegian descent, but our families never really carried out the old customs or traditional celebrations. As we got older, and especially after visiting Norway and Sweden, we have embraced more of our heritage. It has made our holiday season richer. One of our new traditions is hosting a small dinner party on St. Lucia Day, on December 13th, which is tomorrow. In Sweden, the Lucia celebration is done in the morning, when a young girl wears a lighted candle crown and a flowing white gown and brings coffee and sun-colored saffron buns to her parents. This kicks off a week-to-ten day season of Jul, a midwinter eating and drinking festival celebrating the turn of the season, and the return of the sun at the winter solstice. While we go easy on the "drinking" part, the eating is certainly something we partake of during the holidays, and we certainly celebrate the fact that after December 21, the days begin to get longer! So on Monday, December 13th, our guests will arrive to a house full of candle light and good food, and we will kick off jul in style. God Jul, everyone. Let the celebrating begin!
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11 comments:

  1. Great Grandma LinDecember 12, 2010 at 9:07 PM

    my son was born on St. Lucia day which made his Swedish father happy. He was due on Christmas day so I was happy he came sooner. God Jul!

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  2. AnonymousDecember 12, 2010 at 10:07 PM

    It all sounds delightful. Enjoy the party. Will you be taking photos of the spread and the guests?

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  3. DJanDecember 13, 2010 at 5:57 AM

    Gigi, of COURSE she will be taking pictures and sharing them with us! Linda, I didn't know about this festival, so thank you for sharing it. I think I'll go read up on it. Festivals at this time of year really help with the Winter Doldrums!

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  4. AnonymousDecember 13, 2010 at 7:14 AM

    Tack för Dina hälsningar på min blogg.I morgon ska jag se på bilder, som jag vet att Du kommer att dela med dig av (share with us).Kommer ditt söta lilla barnbarn att vara Lucia ? Love from Inga-Britt.

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  5. Linda ReederDecember 13, 2010 at 8:00 AM

    Inga-Britt is my cousin in Sweden. She has a blog where she posts her beautiful needle work.
    No, Inga-Britt, my grandchildren will not be here for this celebration. We will be joining them in Colorado on the 21st, Solstice!

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  6. Martha ZDecember 13, 2010 at 9:20 AM

    A friend of Swedish decent was born on December 13, he gets double the celebration!

    God Jul

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  7. The Retired OneDecember 13, 2010 at 4:50 PM

    How fun! I am part Finnish and Swedish, but don't do any traditions except for baking Finnish Prune Tarts, which we will be doing tomorrow!

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  8. KathyADecember 14, 2010 at 6:59 AM

    How wonderful that you now have additional reasons to celebrate! I hope you and your guests have a memorable Jul.

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  9. AnonymousDecember 14, 2010 at 9:09 PM

    I was not aware of any of these traditions...but I think as we get to our age is when we really start to think about the past...

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  10. Jerez SherryDecember 19, 2010 at 8:23 AM

    God Jul Linda!

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  11. KayDecember 20, 2010 at 1:08 PM

    God Jul to you, Linda and Tom!

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