Some Easter traditions

With Easter fast approaching it is time to look into Grandma's old book of Finnish traditions again to see if there are any gems to be found. Today is known as Palm Sunday Eve, the day before palm Sunday which to the people of the past was the start of important Easter celebration preparations.

For the last few weeks the shops have been filling up with all sorts of Easter decorations, Easter eggs of all varieties have been appearing on the shop shelves. One of the places I always go to visit is the window of the Fazer cafe in the heart of Helsinki to enjoy the annual Easter display. As usual this year's display is not a disappointment.

Fazer cafe window, Helsinki

So what does the old traditions book tell us? In the olden days, the Saturday before Palm Sunday was thought to have been a very magical day and there were lots of superstitions and rituals which were associated with it.

For example, Children in the countryside would go out early in the morning to collect Pussy Willow branches. Once collected they would brig the branches home and decorate them with coloured bows strings, feathers and paper. The Mother would then take the branches to the cow shed where she would wave the branches and chant a spell for luck during the coming summer.

Today Children still collect and decorate willow branches and on Palm Sunday they go to peoples houses chanting a poem. The people in the houses then will give a sweet or a chocolate egg, in return for one of the decorated willow branches. Often the children are dressed as Witches, as Easter is believed to be the time when Witches roam the countryside. To American and British people, this will sound a bit like Halloween, I suppose it is in a way, except these Witches are not out to harm people but they do need rewarding for any luck they give to people's homes or farmsteads.

But a word of warning, the Witches were not welcomed by everyone, I found this little story about what happened when a Priest saw a Witch whilst out for a stroll one evening at Easter time.

 The preist saw the Witch flying overhead on her broomstick and he shouted "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy ghost!" The Witch fell from her broomstick and dissappeared, but the broomstick fell at the Preist's feet. He broke the broomstick in half and then took a knife and cut off the brush. The next church day, one of the old women from the village, hobbled into church on sticks with a broken leg, and all her hair had fallen out!

The weather was very important to the people of the past, especially in the countryside and they were always looking for any predictions and clues as to how the year will be. They would have already been hoping that tomorrow on palm Sunday would be fine and warm which would mean that there would be a warm summer. For example, if it was a bright Sunny morning they could sow the fields early. If it was a cloudy dull morning and a clear sunny afternoon, they should sow the fields late. But if it was sunny and bright all day on Palm Sunday they could sow the fields when they liked, it would not matter as the seeds would grow strong and the harvest would be a success, "even if they sowed under stone".