To those of you who don't know about our traditions: on Easter Saturday the witches fly on their broom for a meeting on "Bluehill" (Blåkulla) - before their trip many of them go from house to house to gather some food for the trip...or actually, kids dress up as witches and hope for a treat. This year Easter reminded me more of Halloween - two male witches and four ...hmmm, not sure what to call them (picture left). Anyway, nice to get some visitors anyway, but I'm a traditionalist, and think it should be witches (in drag is ok :).
Another custom is to burn bonfires (not sure 
if it was to scare the witches away from the neighbourhood...?). It's been very windy during the past days, so there were fewer fires around than normally. Some years I've had my own bonfire (good opportunity to burn branches etc from the garden), but this year I was too lazy to make one. And I had other plans, visited a friend, who had organized the first grillparty for the year. Great to see people, even if D and I had to go home quite early.
if it was to scare the witches away from the neighbourhood...?). It's been very windy during the past days, so there were fewer fires around than normally. Some years I've had my own bonfire (good opportunity to burn branches etc from the garden), but this year I was too lazy to make one. And I had other plans, visited a friend, who had organized the first grillparty for the year. Great to see people, even if D and I had to go home quite early. 
4 kommentarer:
All right! I did not know that Påskärringar and Påskgubbar came knocking on the door on Easter Saturday in Finland! They look great!!! In Sweden they come on Skärtorsdagen. (Nice Swenglish here in my comment btw)
The bonfires most be a lovely sight! Nice with the grill party as well!!!
ja just, påskgubbar heter det - sådana syntes inte tidigare till. Kanske ett tecken på jämlikhet :). yes, brasor är fina, och är glad att grillsäsongen börjat!
We just returned from our cottage in Jalasjärvi after having spent the Easter holidays there. We go up for the traditional village bonfire and, of course, since the boys are there they go and do the trulli bit. They have dressed as witches just about every year. Soon they will be too old to do so but the local villagers enjoy having the kids come around as there aren't very many kids in the area these days. Down here in the south this happens a week before, Palm Sunday, I believe or that Saturday just before. Don't really know because no one has ever come to our home save for one time many years ago.
I have been told that in pagan times the bonfire was used to scare the witches away as it was the only time of the year that they were free to roam the Earth. The meeting place was the same, Blåkulla. Also that the ashes from these fires went up into the air and floated over the countryside landing on the fields to be planted, thereby making them fertile for the crops to come. Now days people just meet and chat, eat grilled sausages and drink juice. Sometimes there is a competition amongst the children to see who was the best dressed witch or "other" as well as raffels. Somtimes a bottle of some other "spirits" is passed around.
I enjoy when Easter comes earlier because then it is usually still dark by the time the fire is lit and the ground still frozen and not muddy. Being an American I can say that when I first experienced this tradition I thought the Finns had it backwards! It reminds me more of Halloween than of Easter. I also learned that the decorated pussywillow switches were to represent the palm leaves that obviously don't grow here and that this came from the Eastern portions of Finland mainly lost to Russia during the last war when a great number of people left their beloved homes and relocated to Ostrobothnia. How true this is I do not know.
The Easter bonfire is not known very much outside of Ostrobothnia. By the same token there isn't much for the Juhannus or Midsummer bonfire, at least not in the Jalasjärvi area, as there is here in the south.
And windy it was all the way up from Espoo to Jalasjärvi. It blew strongly for thwo days. We even had snow and hail but no rain! Oh yes, we had sunshine a few days, like the day we had to leave for home. Typical, eh?
Thanks Matt- I can count on you to know about history! Interesting! Hope you all felt relaxed after the weekend!
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