About Europe and Holidays in Europe by OPPS.SE

Midwinter's Eve & LUCIA *European Celebration of Midwinters The Longest Night. The longest Night of the Year also known as Winter Solstice!*

Midwinter's Eve and MidSummer's Eve in Sweden. Nordic Countries and European Holidays Midsummers Eve and midwinters eve parties and photos. About Midwinter's Eve the longest night and Midsummer's Eve the Longest Day. European History and European Culture. Winter Solstice in Europe. Nordic Countries and European Celebrations.

     The Longest Night happens when the Sun positions in the sky to where the sun is furthest in distance or like on the other side of the Equator in ways. The Equator is the line that is like an intersection for the Earths Surface. Like thinking of it as a line in the middle of the earth that divides the Northern Hemisphere from the Southern Hemisphere. Like Santa at the North Pole in ways is thought to be near the south pole but the line divides north and south parts there. grin. I made it to Sweden in time for the longest night or Midwinter's Eve in 2008. I came from the USA and was not used to so much darkness but, even the darkness here in Sweden is very beautiful to me. Some Swedish people and even Americans or anyone could become very depressed due to the long nights and lack of daylight. In the North Of Sweden they have what is like total night with no daylight at all for durations. The south of sweden does have a few hours of daylight to help them through this long dark period. Lucia also known as Lussi Night is the longest night of the year. In the History of Sweden it tells of it as St. Lucy's Day also from Swedish History of the 16th Century.

    To help Swedish people brighten up the dark times of no day light they have something similar to Christmas Carolers and could in ways be seen as what started the Christmas Traditions in the usa of Christmas Caroling ect. In Scandinavian Areas such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Estonia Lucy's Day is called Lucia. It is a beautiful Scandinavian Tradition where a girl is elected to portray Lucia while others follow all singing and holding candles to put some light into the darkness. The women and girls sing a beautiful song while they enter the room. The melody is of the song Santa Lucia. Each Scandinavian Country has the lyrics in their own languages. All of which are beautiful but the Swedish languages like a song when they speak even in ways. In learning to write and speak Swedish from English your really appreciate the sounds and vocals used in ways. Svenska is very beautiful as compared with Engelska. I was lucky enough to get to capture a bit of Lucia on Swedish TV while I was in Varberg Sweden. In Sweden the Swedish Girl they pick is a younger girl like a teen to portray St. Lucy. The Swedish Girl leading wears a decorative wreath with candles around it on her head. They wear beautiful white dresses or like a white robe.

   Lucia takes place in December. There is a folklore about a girl they called Lucia which refused to love a man that was in love with her. She could not love him back and refused his love so he became very angry and tried to burn her to death. In the story it tells that he could not burn her to death and the girl lived. Another folklore or tale is of an Italian Saint that died at the hands of Romans due to helping Christians that were hiding in the catacombs. Either way there seems to be several different versions of Lucia and stories similar that would explain the candles and celebration in ways. The Italian Story tells that she needed to have her hands free so she placed a wreath of candles to light the catacombs as she worked to help and try to keep the Christians from being harmed by the Romans. No matter what story you believe the one thing that sticks is the tradition has held in Scandinavian Countries and is a beautiful celebration that brightens the darkest days or shortest days and longest nights grin.

Also many Traditions in Sweden for Christmas are beautiful as well. Read more about European History, European Culture and my life with the beautiful people in Europe. Leigh in Sweden reporting in a very fun and different way. If you wanted Swedish News and European News you will find cool and interesting things about Europe and about Sweden on my homepage here. If you wanted usa news and usa traditions you can find the bad news of the usa on my other site for American News in the USA with a few interesting articles here.