It's Time To Prepare!

It has begun!

  We have survived Black Friday when consumers, waiting for hours for stores to open, frantically fought their fellow shoppers for space and commodities! It’s that time of the year, once again. Christmas is coming. Commercials have taken the place of political ads on TV, and newspapers bulge with the latest product on sale . We have just celebrated one day of “Thanksgiving”, and now we enter a season of “Giving”. Giving to others, perhaps a spin on “gifts of The Magi” as they brought gifts to the Christ Child, long ago. It’s the Advent Season, but here in the USA, it’s time for stores to make most of their yearly profit.

Advent is a term from the Latin word adventur which means “arrival”. The advent officially begins on the    fourth Sunday after November 30th, or the fourth Sunday prior to Christmas Day. Here, in the US, this is a  quiet season of preparedness to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of The Christ Child, December 25th. We have no “bench marks” other than advent candles that are lit to mark the weeks before the event. It is a quiet, sacred time for reflective thoughts. However, commercial stores are enjoying the profits of the “Giftgivers”.

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Commercialism is slowly appearing in Scandinavia.

Christmas House in Drøbak

Drøbak CardTree

 Drøbak, a small town 20 miles south of Oslo, is famous for two things: During WWII, locals sank a Nazi war ship in the narrow harbor...and it’s Norway’s self-proclaimed capital of Christmas. Drøbak  has a reputation  for promoting Christmas, telling everyone that it is Santa’s postal code. The Julehus, a converted church, overlooks the town square. It is filled with red Christmas elves and holiday handicrafts .

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In European preparations, a highlight of the season is Santa Lucia Day. The festival celebrating the “queen of lights” is celebrated in schools, day-care centers, nursing homes and hospitals with processions led by a young Lucia in a white robe with a crown of lights on her head and a candle in her hand. Traditionally the girls bring baskets of saffron buns to hand out.

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The legend of Santa Lucia begins in the early hours of the morning of December 13th. A young woman of rich and noble parents, dressed in a white gown, with a red sash and a crown of lingonberry twigs and blazing candles would go from one farm to the next. She carried a torch to light her way, bringing baked goods to each house,  returning home by sunrise. Every village had its own Lucia..

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Santa Lucia Day celebrations were strong first in Sweden and spread from there to Norway. The origins of today’s celebration can be traced to the 4th century martyrdom of a Sicilian girl named Lucia.
Lucia symbolizes light and growth for human and beast as she emerges out of the darkness. Because her name means “light”, she  became the great patron saint for the “light of the body”, the eyes.

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Every country has their nisse, or Tomte to bring them happiness for the dark winter season, but Iceland has several Christmas “characters”  to mark their preparations.

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 In Iceland, there are 13 “Santas”called “Jolasveinar”, or “Christmas Boys” . They are sons of frightening characters Gryla and Leppaludi, who appeared in the seventeenth century. Gryla is a wicked, old trolllady who came out of the mountains to kidnap naughty children who would become dinner for Gryla and her lazy, equally wicked husband Leppaludi.   However, each  naughty child could escape the boiling kettle if they would repent and “be good”. Parents were sure to remind them what could happen if Gryla came to their house.

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 When stories about the Jolasveinar  first appeared, they were frightening creatures just like their parents, however, they also, over the years became milder, gentler and just fun characters to remind everyone of the things to do around the farm. The Icelandic Christmas boys would come one by one, and start arriving 13 days before Christmas. Each one would have their favorite mischief to enjoy.

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 The first one to arrive is the yule lad Stiff Legs.He loves to suck milk from the sheep, but his stiff legs make that very difficult. In Icelandic he’s called “Staurfotur”.
The Second to arrive is the infamous Gully Gawk, (Gully Guy) has a taste for the froth on the milk and stays close to the cows.
The third is the yule lad Shorty, small and nimble and smacks his lips over the leftovers in the cooking pans, especially if they are burnt or gone bad.
 Then there is Ladle Licker, , so thin he resembles the ladels which he licks the food from.
Others were Pot Scraper, who enjoyed scraping leftover food from the pots, reminding the cook to not forget to clean the kettles, “Door-Slammer” who woke people in the middle of the night slamming their doors, And “Sausage Snatcher”, who very skillfully stole the smoked sausages that were being smoked for the Christmas meal. They and the rest of the troll family would leave little presents for the children who have behaved. Any children who had misbehaved would receive a potato or some other reminder that good behavior is essential when the Jolasveinar come to town.

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 Every country has their traditional Christmas custom, and many customs have their origin in pre-Christian traditions. The Vikings were known to hang branches of mistletoe outside their homes as a sign of peace and a welcome to visitors. Whatever our country's custom, we all  anticipate the upcoming  joyous  season .

It’s time to prepare!