Sunday, March 27, 2005
Easter Witches
Hi Everyone,
I promised to tell you about Finland’s Easter witches. It all started when I began to see little witches everywhere – florist shops, stores, the doll show we went to, on greeting cards, everywhere! At first I thought they were a version of our kitchen witch. But they had appeared so suddenly and were so pervasive I knew they had to be something special.
One day on a flea market sortie with Marja-Liisa, I stumbled across a table runner decorated with Easter bunnies, eggs, chicks, spring flowers, and – yup – witches! “Why witches,” I asked.
“You mean you don’t have Easter witches?” she replied.
I allowed as how witches were probably the last thing I’d think of in connection with Easter. She shrugged. “We’ve always had witches,” she said. “The kids dress up as witches and when they come to the house on Palm Sunday we give them candy.”
WHOA! Halloween on Palm Sunday???
So off to my local internet I scurried, googling madly to find answers to my latest Finnish conundrum. And you, Dear Readers, are the fortunate recipients of my new wealth of knowledge…
It seems that in Finland, as in most cultures, folk, pagan and Christian traditions have converged over the centuries to produce modern day practices that are taken for granted. Like most early peoples, the Finns of yore were deeply superstitious, and believed that when Christ was in the tomb between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, evil in the form of witches flew through the land. Not so long ago, people hid from Good Friday until Easter, not even cooking or heating their homes for fear that witches would see the smoke and be attracted to the house. However, they often set huge bonfires on the Saturday before Easter to scare off the witches. Go figure…
Coupled with the Christian tradition was a longing for spring after a long, long winter. With the literal rebirth of the earth and Christ’s resurrection, it was time for a blessing and wish for prosperity in the coming months. Thus, people would cut willow branches, force the early blooming of catkins, decorate the twigs with streamers and feathers, and playfully switch at their neighbors to wish them good health. They would give these decorated willow twigs to their friends to save until the cattle were driven to the summer pastures. If the herder used the decorated switches, the cattle were also given a blessing.
OK, put all this in the cultural Cuisinart, whir for a few centuries, and here’s what modern Finnish children do to prepare for Easter:
About 2 weeks before Easter, they cut willow branches and put them in water to force catkins. At this time they also plant Easter grass where the Easter bunny will hide eggs and candy. Yes, it’s real grass, sold in all the stores in seed packets decorated with chicks and bunnies! We had to try it, of course, with great results! Much more fun than the plastic confetti stuff we put in Easter baskets in the States!
They also plan their witch costumes during this time and learn a verse to “bless” their neighbors. A day or 2 before Palm Sunday, they use bits of tissue paper, feathers, and streamers to decorate the willow twigs which by this time have turned into pussy willows. These decorated switches are called virpovitsa.
On Palm Sunday (Palmusunnuntai), starting at about 10:30 a.m. and continuing all day, kids dressed as witches come to the door and follow a ritual called virpominen that must date back centuries. They wave the willow twigs (the modern version of switching their neighbors) and recite the following verse:
Virvon, varvon,
turceks’ terveeks
tulevaks’ vuodeks!
vitsa sullepalkka mulle!
Rauhallista Pääsiäistä
For fresh, for health
for the coming year!
The branch for you,
the treat for me!
Have a Peaceful Easter.
Then they give the branch to the neighbor, and collect their reward. We read that people give candy or coins. Roy never takes change with him, and empties his pockets as soon as he comes home, so we had an abundance of change for our witches, though we saw that most people had given candy. We couldn’t tell if the coins were a treat or a disappointment, although one pair of witches stopped outside after they left to count their money, and we got a picture of them through the kitchen window.
When we asked (in English, of course) if we could take their pictures and waved the camera at them, all were obliging, and a few of the older children even said, “Thank you” and “Bye” to us in English. But I’m sure they thought it weird that grown-ups would want to record this “run-of-the-mill” holiday for posterity.
We had only 2 “warlocks” come to the door. I suppose pre-schoolers all dress up as witches, but as boys grow older they just steal their sisters’ loot when they come home. I don’t think it has dawned on them that there is such a thing as warlocks that they could become to get treats!
There appears to be a standard “witchy-poo” look for the celebrants. Most had bright spots of rouge and scarves tied for a “Babouska” effect, and all sported aprons and a sprinkling of drawn-on freckles. Only one had a standard issue witch hat like witches in the U.S. wear.
However, teenagers seem to have updated the witch tradition. We saw 2 girls at our grocery store waiting for a ride to a Palm Sunday witches’ party. Both had affected a Goth look in black leather, with stylized black eyeshadow and lots of silver chains. Come to think of it, maybe they were just headed downtown for the movies…
The days of Easter Week have special names and customs that most modern Finns may not even know about. For example,
If sheep are sheared on Easter Monday (Malkamaanantai), the wool will be abundant for the next shearing. If girls cut their hair, it will grow faster.
On Easter Tuesday (Tikkutiistai) people carve sticks to burn for good luck in their fires.
On Easter Wednesday (Kellokeskiviikko) bells are put on the cattle to protect them from the Easter witches.
Easter Thursday (Kiirastorstai) is cleaning day, and if you make a lot of noise while cleaning, the witches will stay away. If the weather is good on Kiirastorstai summer fishing will be good.
Friday and Saturday (Pitkäperjantai, Lankalauantai) are the worst days of the year. Evil abounds, and in days of yore you could not visit even the closest neighbors. As I mentioned before, no fires were lit, and it was forbidden to eat milk and cream.
Easter Sunday (Pääsiäissununtai) brings with it omens for the coming year. For example, people receive the personality of the first animal they see on Easter morning for the coming year. If you see a cow, you will be lazy. If a horse comes into view first, you will be strong. It is also believed that the sun dances on Easter morning at dawn in celebration of the resurrection and the coming of spring. Since we’re "springing ahead" with Finnish daylight savings time that morning, we decided to skip the sunrise dance...
We heard there would be a bonfire on the Saturday evening before Easter sponsored by the local Lions Club (!), so of course we had to go with our friends Marja-Liisa and Markku to help them chase the witches away. The bonfire was on an island near city center, and when we arrived we saw that expert fire setters had built a tower of saplings and branches some 14 feet tall.
The Lions Club was selling coffee, homemade tea cakes, and sausages the Finns eat without buns and which taste like our hotdogs. Loud speakers played children’s songs, and we recognized the tunes of both “Ten Little Indians” and the “Hokey Pokey” although the words were decidedly different! A platform had been set up where they were staging a contest for little witches before the bonfire. Each little girl had an interview with the emcee and had to perform a song or poem for the appreciative crowd.
Finally the fire was lit, and rose rapidly until flames, ash and sparks towered at least 50 feet in the air. We all crowded closer to the fire than was probably wise, since the heat and light were welcome in the falling temperatures of the evening.
Easter morning dawned grey and cold. But after reveling in the goodies the bunny had left, we dressed up for only the second time since coming to Finland and headed to the Easter service at the Lutheran cathedral downtown.
First, let me describe the cathedral itself. Built in the late 1800’s, it is painted yellow with white trim, and has the classic shape of a cross. The interior is both elegant and austere in its simplicity. The floors are unvarnished oak planks, and the grey painted pews are “gated” at the ends of the row and designed to instill wakeful attention in the congregants. The uncushioned seats are very narrow, while the seat backs require you to remain bolt upright throughout the service. Beautiful chandeliers and a lovely handmade sailing ship hang on long cords from the 3 story ceiling. Since Oulu residents have made their living from the sea for centuries, the ship at once serves as a reminder of bygone days and inspires a special concern and blessing.
The back of the cathedral has clear windows, but stained glass surrounds the altar. The walls are quite plain, with pictures of various scenes from the life of Jesus. The arch over the altar is especially lovely. Against a deep blue background, salmon fingers of daybreak are depicted in the east with a simple cross in the center and the stars of night in the west. A single lily plant on the altar was the only Easter decoration in the sanctuary.
What really amazed us, however, was the attendance at the service. At the main Sunday service where a very fine choir sang, three ministers presided, and communion was served, there were less than 200 people in a sanctuary that would seat 800. Somehow we had expected a turnout like we had experienced in Oxford at Christchurch Cathedral where we literally had to have tickets to attend the Christmas Eve service, but obviously this is not the case in Finland. People were not particularly dressed up, and there was not an Easter bonnet to be found! The congregation appeared to be older, and there was only a handful of young couples with babies and toddlers.
The service itself was quite formal, with the minister even singing part of the liturgy for communion and making the sign of the cross over the bread and wine. The sermon was read with little inflection and few gestures. The offering was taken with velvet pouches attached to long sticks which were proffered into the aisles. An old man sitting on a bench near us was reminded to give with a nudge of the offering pouch by an usher.
In fact, the only signs of Easter we could find were the lily on the altar and an anthem proclaiming “Alleluia” at the end of the service. We concluded that although Finland is perhaps the most ethical country we have ever lived in, it may not be a particularly religious country. Our other conclusion was that Garrison Keillor might be accurate in his assessment of the “somber” Lutherans…
Easter afternoon we took a walk to the Baltic Sea, which is only about a mile from our house. The walking path was slushy since the temperature has been above freezing all week, but the ice was still thick enough on the bay to support all manner of winter sports. It will be fun to see the change spring brings to the beach and the bay.
In keeping with Finnish tradition, we had lamb and mämmi for supper. Mämmi is a dark brown porridge, served cold with sugar and cream. These days mämmi is offered at the grocery store in a cardboard box decorated like birch bark – the fast food version of the traditional birch bark baskets mämmi was originally cooked in. Mämmi tastes like a thick, grainy pudding made with blackstrap molasses although there isn't any molasses in the recipe. Mämmi has a decidedly odd, old-fashioned taste but we both liked it! To see a recipe for mämmi, click here.
What a wonderful adventure we’re having!
Our best wishes to you for a springtime filled with virpovitsas, green grass, chocolate eggs, and a few little witches!
Sarah
