Saint Lucia

To celebrate Saint Lucy's Day (Sankta Lucia as we say in Sweden) on December 13 was one thing that I always looked forward to as a kid. Even if it's totally wrong, I just couldn't resist to draw Dionysos and the Erinyes dressed up as Lucia and her attendants, waking their "parents" Hades and Persephone early in the morning.

Saint Lucy was a Christian martyr who lived in Syracuse 283-304 CE. According to legend she refused to marry and gave her riches to the poor. However, the Scandinavian celebration of her feast day has blended together with other costumes that took place around this time of the year, so it doesn't have so very much to do with the saint. In the old Julian calender, her feast once coincided with the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year when it was believed that trolls, evil spirits, and in some accounts also the spirits of the dead, were particularly active. The tradition of lussevaka ("Lussi Watch"), to stay awake through the Lussi Night and guard oneself and the household against evil, has survived to modern times by throwing parties until daybreak.

Because of the long, dark winters in Scandinavia, Saint Lucy's Day has become a festival of light (believe me, we really need that at this time of the year when we don't get many hours of daylight). Processions are held with young women dessed in white gowns, holding candles in their hands. At the head of the procession walks Lucia, also dressed in a white gown but with a red sash (to symbolize her martyrdome) and a crown of candles on her head. Men also take part in the procession as "star boys" in cone-shaped hats and sticks with stars. Or they can be dressed as tomtenissar ("gnomes" is probably the best English translation). Lately the question has been raised if a man/boy could be Lucia and women/girls could go as gnomes or star boys if they want to. Some conservative people are very touchy about this, but if you ask me the answer is: Of course they can! Well, you can already tell that from my drawing where Dionysos is dressed as Lucia and Megaira as a star boy.

Anyway, these processions take place in schools, in churches and sometimes at home (with the children dressing up and singing for parents and relatives. When I was a kid we also visited the other houses in the neighbourhood). A national Lucia is elected, but every town also has their regional Lucia who walks in a public procession, visits working places, old people's homes and such things. They sing Lucia songs (the most famous one is "The night walks with heavy steps", the melody taken from the Neapolitan song "Santa Lucia"). The lyrics are often about how Lucia as a herald of Christmas overcomes the darkness and the cold with her light. Lots of ginger cookies and lussekatter (a special saffron bun connected to Saint Lucy's Day) are also eaten on this day.

I've taken most of the English translation of the Lucia song from this site: www.mille-soeren.dk/09_Jul/09_… .