Lucia Day's Evolution From Pagan Dread to Light-Filled Ritual

Key Quotes

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"these days it's a beautiful celebration of light warmth and music but a couple hundred years ago this holiday looked a lot different less ethereal figures carrying candles and singing more trolls and witches wreaking havoc in the shadows more after this singing in swedish i guess the first thing you need to know about the holiday of lucia is sweden does not get a lot of light in winter at minimum it's getting dusky by 3 pm it's also pretty gray and cold outside snowy or rainy depending on where you live"

The speaker contrasts the modern perception of Lucia Day with its historical origins. The speaker notes that while today it is celebrated with light, warmth, and music, it was once associated with more sinister elements like trolls and witches. The speaker also provides context about Sweden's winter climate, where daylight is scarce, setting the stage for the holiday's emphasis on light.

"apart from being saint lucy's feast day december 13th also used to be the winter solstice or the darkest day of the year in sweden before it adopted the gregorian calendar and the pagan folklore attached to this day is not cozy it is creepy as heck legend had it that on december 13th supernatural forces would be at work animals could talk trolls would creep out from their hiding places it was dangerous to be out in the darkness and the figure of lucia was not a beacon of light and hope she was the architect of all this wickedness a witch whose name was not inspired by a saint but by lucifer"

This quote explains the historical pagan associations with December 13th, the date of Lucia Day, before its Christian overlay. The speaker notes that this date was once considered the winter solstice and the darkest day of the year, a time when supernatural events were believed to occur. The speaker highlights that in this pagan folklore, Lucia was not a figure of light but a witch associated with wickedness and named after Lucifer.

"but instead of banning lucia which let's be honest would only have made it more fun they made an effort to let's say put saint lucia back in lucia day they emphasized the links to light and holiness and they gave the figure of lucia herself a much bigger part in the celebration by the late 1800s official lucia processions led by beautiful women dressed in white and singing angelically were being held in stockholm by the 1930s this new version of the holiday had started to become popular nationwide"

The speaker describes how Christian authorities in Sweden adapted the pagan Lucia tradition rather than banning it. The speaker explains that they integrated the figure of Saint Lucia, emphasizing themes of light and holiness, and elevated her role in the celebration. This effort led to the development of official Lucia processions by the late 1800s, which became nationally popular by the 1930s.