Sweden is far north, cold and secular. Yet, every year on the 13 December an Italian girl who became a canonised saint of the Catholic Church is celebrated at parties across Swedish society. Candles in the hair, St Stephen, shepherds and Christmas gnomes: a hotchpotch of cultural references that have accumulated around the Catholic saint. The tradition is now an established part of the Swedish calendar. But how did it come about? And why does it remain such a powerful cultural event?
The 13 December was traditionally the winter solstice, according to the Julian calendar. In Sweden, the shift to the Gregorian calendar came late, in the 18th century, meaning that the winter solstice now takes place on the 22 December. The feast of St Lucy had been celebrated on the winter solstice since the Middle Ages and unlike other celebrations has held its traditional date.
As it represents the darkest night of the year, the day is marked by candlelight, with a procession led by young girls representing St Lucy herself with candles in their hair. They are followed by a train of acolytes holding candles in their hands. According to ancient nordic folklore, the 13th was seen as a dangerous night with preternatural forces at play. The warmth and brightness of the candles was seen as a counter to these forces of darkness.
The mix between pagan superstition and Catholic symbolism is a telling metaphor for Sweden. The country was Christianised in the early mediaeval period, but the pagan culture at the heart of society had deep roots that arguably remain to this day. Swedes love the forest, speak of mythic creatures such as “trolls” that live there, and maintain strong cultural traditions dating back to pagan times, such as the summer solstice known as Midsummer. On the other hand, Sweden is also one of the most secular countries in the world.
It may seem hard to marry these two poles: a society pervaded by semi-religious traditions that also declares strong disbelief in any form of deity. When one thinks a little more carefully, the reason for this paradox is not too difficult to grasp: the need to seek the transcendent is innate. So argued Immanuel Kant, the 18th-century Prussian philosopher who had considerable influence in Sweden, claiming that God is a necessary postulate of reason. By this, he meant that the world only makes sense if we know that God, or the transcendent, stands beyond the horizon, and yet our reason is limited and cannot grasp this transcendent reality of its own. Here myth, traditions, and symbolism step in to play a role in bringing the “beyond” to light without ever having to say anything definite about it.
St Lucy’s day commemorates a Catholic saint who was martyred in the 4th century. Few Swedes today will recall the story of the young girl’s martyrdom, dying for the faith she proclaimed. Nevertheless, the festivities serve as a reminder that the transcendent retains a grip on the human imagination and heart. If it was merely a ceremony, any religious trappings may well have been done away with, and there has certainly been some risk of this. And still, to this day we see celebrations held in honour of the saint retaining Christian symbols. Faith always depends on the rituals that sustain it, even if the lines between culture and religion have become blurred over time.
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