Monday, April 6, 2015

Swedish Witches and Easter

Image source: http://earthyphotography.com/easter-in-sweden/
Are you tired from the weekend's festivitites?  Well be glad that you didn't have to fly to Blåkulla (Blue Hill) on a broom like a witch and back in time for Easter! Huh, wha'?  Well in Sweden the old beliefs still intertwine with the Christian ones, in this case the belief that witches are active this time of year.  I never myself dressed up as a cute little witch to get candy from neighbors but I know many who did, and certainly American-Swedes still get a kick out of the tradition.  (The kids look so sweet in their scarves, freckles, and aprons.  Not sure how they actually ressemble witches.) But check out this video I found on YouTube for more.
Happy Spring!
What did we do for Easter?  Well we had a great big potluck party and went to church on Sunday. There was the Swedish tree (called påsk ris) with egg decorations and feathers that the cats went crazy over, and many eggs to decorate.  We had jelly bean trails and chocolate for the kids.  It was a lovely and busy weekend.  We cleaned the whole house which is similar to old Swedish traditions. Luckily one of the old traditions we don't carry on is hitting people with branches on the Friday before Easter, something they used to do in Sweden to remind people of Jesus's strife.  Now the branches just look pretty.  At least the cats and I think so. ;)
Image source: http://delishhh.com/2010/03/31/easter-traditions

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