Easter in Sweden: traditions and curiosities

Do you know when Easter is celebrated in Sweden? “What a rhetorical question!” someone might say. And rightly so.

But the answer is not so obvious: Swedish Easter is celebrated on the eve. Or rather: the church holds its regular services on Sunday, but popular tradition prefers to move the celebrations to Saturday. Why is that?

The reason is not certain. It is believed that this happens because the same also happens at Christmas: in that case, the most important day is December 24th rather than the 25th. This custom goes back a long way, to a time when mechanical clocks did not yet exist and the new day was considered to begin at sunset, not at midnight as we are used to today.

Conventions about timekeeping have therefore changed. But traditions have not.

However, in Sweden, the days leading up to Easter Saturday are also quite special.

Påskkärring.

On Maundy Thursday, in much of the country, it is the day of the påskkärring: the “Easter witch”. An ancient popular belief told of witches travelling on their broomsticks to the mythical Blåkulla to celebrate the sabbath with the Devil. The journey there took place on Maundy Thursday, while the return journey—after feasting and revelry—took place on Saturday.

Some traces of this legend remain. The first involves children: dressed as witches or old men (and sometimes cats or dogs), on Maundy Thursday evening (or, depending on the region, on other days before Easter), children go around their neighbourhood, knock on doors, wish people a Happy Easter, and—in exchange for a handmade Easter drawing—receive sweets, money, or small gifts.

The second trace can be seen in the bonfires that are still lit in several regions of Sweden on Easter Eve to “scare away the witches during their return journey from Blåkulla”. The theme of fire is also present during Walpurgis Night.

Långfredag.

Good Friday here is called långfredag, the “long Friday”. Why?

Until not many decades ago, the Friday before Easter was devoted entirely to silence, prayer, austerity, and frugal meals. Television and radio dedicated their entire programming to religious Easter themes (psalm readings and similar content), shops were closed, and even children had to respect the observance: playing was strictly forbidden. A boring Friday that seemed never to end—a very long Friday indeed.

Today this is no longer the case. Långfredagen is a public holiday and, for most people, a day off.

Påskris.

With the gradual distancing of Swedish society from religious traditions, other customs have also changed and modernised. But not all of them: one example is the “Easter twigs”. Although their function has changed significantly over time.

This tradition also originates from the fusion of pagan rituals and religious meanings: the Easter twigs are nothing more than bundles of birch branches or similar, still without leaves or buds. In the past, they were used to lightly “whip” one another. This practice, in a pagan sense, was believed to bring good luck, while in a religious sense it recalled the flagellation of Jesus Christ.

Over time, this “whipping”—which somewhat resembles a practice still used in some sauna traditions—became a game also allowed for children. Today it is no longer very common, especially in urban areas. The birch branches are now used as decoration: they are placed in a vase of water, decorated with colourful feathers, small painted wooden eggs, and other small wooden ornaments (chicks, roosters, hens, and other animals), and left to bloom.

Other traditions.

In Sweden there are no chocolate Easter eggs in the Italian sense. Instead, alongside painted boiled eggs, cardboard eggs are very common (decorated with Easter-themed designs), which are filled with sweets, candy, and chocolate. The Easter meal—quite similar to the Christmas one—includes herring, salmon, boiled eggs, possibly some meat (usually lamb), bread, cheese, and dessert.

As for drinks, in addition to wine, there is Easter beer (a special beer brewed for the occasion) and Påskmust, a kind of cola sold only during the Easter period (which is actually the same drink as Julmust, the Christmas soda).