In the Dark, She Comes with Light

With candles in her hair, dressed in white with a bright red sash, Lucia comes to bring warmth, light, and goodies in the dark Swedish winter.

Celebrating Lucia at Koberg in Västergötland, 1848, watercolor by Fritz von Dardel, Nordiska Museet

The story I always heard growing up is that Lucia is the Patron Saint of Light, and she comes on (what used to be) the darkest day of the year, today, December 13th. She is based on St. Lucy, who, in the 3rd century, brought food and aid to hiding and persecuted Christians in the catacombs. She wore candles on her head so that she could see in the dark while carrying food, and her red sash is said to represent the blood from when she was slain. Her martyrdom lead to Sainthood, but this all happened it Italy, so how did she become the figure of a Nordic holiday? It might have to do with witches. Yup, another Swedish holiday with witch connections...)

     Based on folk tales collected at Nordiska Museet, the darkest day of the year was a dangerous night, where evil spirits came out. They could be both male and female, the devil or an old witch, called Lussi. Strange things could happen. Animals could talk to each other. So you had to protect yourself by putting a knife in the barn wall, say. The Lussi might chase you, so it was best to stay home, in the quiet. There are also traditions that say that Lussi would only come and punish those that who haven’t finished their work. Some descriptions have Lucia night similar to the Wassailing and Saturnalia traditions, where young people would dress up in old clothes and with their faces painted black, going from farm to farm asking for alcohol. 
     The Lucia festivities as we know them today came from a holiday primarily for men. Before Christmas, the work would be done and you could start celebrating the coming yule festivities. Starting in the 1760s, there were descriptions of women on farms in western Sweden dressed in white as part of the celebration. The very slow incorporation of Christian traditions into Swedish folk customs could have brought Lucia from a more pagan tradition of the witch visiting, to the woman in white, serving the men who had dutifully finished their work. 
    From western Sweden, the tradition spread across the country during the 1800s. In 1892, Skansen celebrated their first Lucia. The open-air museum in Stockholm was designed as a place where Swedes could celebrate their heritage, where farm-buildings and dwellings were brought from all over the country, and you could see Swedish traditions - from folk costumes to midsummer festivities to Lucia. Choosing a Lucia for Skansen cemented it into Swedish culture. 

Lucia at Skansen, 1896, Nordiska Museet

Skansens Lucia, 1898, Nordiska Museet

Lucia at Skansen, 1899, Nordiska Museet

Anna and Gerda Johansson, around 1901, Vänersborgs museum

Lucia-party in a private-school in Gothenburg, 1906, Nordiska Museet

Lucias in front of the camera, between 1906-1912, Värmlands Museum

Lucia with two maids, 1914, Hallands kulturhistoriska museum

The first Lucia in Västerås, 1914, Nordiska Museet

      Lucia was generally celebrated in the home or at school. Even though there was the fact that she is Saint Lucia, that is in name only. She wasn't seen as a Christian tradition, and unlike today, they didn't have a procession with songs in church. ​
     In the 1920s, a newspaper in Stockholm started a beauty contest to decide who would be Stockholm's Lucia. The national coverage of the contest spread the festivity throughout the country, and only one girl would be selected to wear the crowns, the others would serve as her maids, walking behind her with garland in their hair. The beauty contest aspect started a tradition that I remember my mom commenting on: in a school class or group, the prettiest, blondest girl would be selected as Lucia. 

Lucia-party in the old Tranebergs-cabin, 1920, Nordiska Museet

    “[Lucia is] constantly being imbued with new meaning,” says Lena Kättström Höök, ethnologist and curator for celebrations and Holidays at the Nordiska Museet, and author of Lucia I Nytt Ljus, or Lucia in a New Light. From the beauty contest where the blondest, prettiest girl got to be Lucia, the influx of immigrants and refugees has in some cases made Lucia symbolic of the plight of refugees and those looking for light in a new home. Lucia no longer has to be blonde, she doesn't even really have to be a female (although there was some outrage earlier this December when a boy with darker complexion was depicted as Lucia in an ad for a department store...). But no matter who you are or where you are, drink some mulled wine, eat some gingerbread cookies, throw a white gown on, and have yourself a little Lucia party. 

Lucia is probably Anni Wallin, nanny to the Thermaenius family, 1920, Örebro Läns Museum

Lucia-party at the Sala Hospital, 1921, Nordiska Museet