The Lowdown: Lucia

There are plenty of odd bits as well (as if there aren't in nearly every religious tale). For starters, Lucia's mom was cured of a serious illness and, touched by her recovery, she gave away all her money (including Lucia's dowery) which caused Lucia's fiance to report them as Christians to the authorities. So Lucia poked out her own eyes. But then god gave Lucia her eyes back. The local authority tried to send her to a brothel, but the "1000 men and several oxen" couldn't pull her there. Then the local authority decided to try to burn her, but the fire didn't burn her. They poured boiling oil on her, but she was still unharmed. Then the local executioner cut her with a knife and she died.

So now -- to commemorate this saint -- kids dress up as Lucia, one of her bride's maids (not sure what wedding that referes to), or a star boy (representing the three wise men, but with a wardrobe that looks like a cross between the Pope and Klu Klux Klan), or a mini-Santa, or a giant gingerbread cookie.

Also, the main song they sing is about Lucia bringing the light during the dark winter (although the original song, from Italy, is really about an Italian fishing village of the same name) and another popular song is about the the pitter patter of santa's elves' feet and yet another song is about another saint (Staffan Stalledrang) who had nothing to do with St Lucia, but was the guy who saw the star that signified Jesus' birth. (When Staffan told King Herrod about it, Herrod said the birth of the King of the Jew was about as likely as the cooked rooster on his plate coming back to life, which it reportedly did -- and the rooster stood up and reportedly exclaimed "christ is born")

In otherwords, it seems to be a hodgepodge of convenient Christmas stuff that has been fused with lucia and staffan lore that has developed over the years. (In Smaland, many years ago the Lucia holiday was a big drinking day that included cows running around with Lucia crowns on. Some people would cross dress as well. Some even thought Lucia sounded like Lucifer, and were thus too suspicious of the day to work.)

So go and take pictures of your kids parading around as cookies or santas or Lucias and listen to the songs and have a good time. Most Swedes can take off work early to watch their kids, so enjoy the time off.