St. Lucia's Day in Sweden is notably a Christian religious holiday. It has many similarities of the globally celebrated Winter Solstice Holiday, but St. Lucia has many distinguishable observable symbols that are highly significant: candles, eyes, and "Lucia Cats." St. Lucia's Day is a patterned religious ritual that occurs every year on December 13th which makes the belief real for those who celebrate (Turner & Turner 1982). There are many key patterned elements to the celebration. These include the garments the children wear, lighting of candles, waking up parents and serving breakfast, singing of religious hymns, and lighted torch parades at sundown. Religion in itself is social, public, and systematic (Turner & Turner 1982) which is evident through the involvement of family and community during the St. Lucia's celebration.
St. Lucia 's Day has a relevant meaning for those who practice Christianity in Sweden. During the winter months there is not much light during the day due to Sweden laying near the Artic Circle. On St. Lucia 's Day, Swedes continually light candles and young girls wear a crown of lights to help promote the return of the sun at the darkest time of the year (Thompson 1998). This is truly a “…magical rite intended to encourage and assist the sun” (Pike 196). Although this is a Christian holiday, there are many pagan practices that coincide within the celebration. This syncretism of beliefs occurs because Saint Lucia herself was involved in a pagan relationship, but she then showed her love and devotion for God when she refused to stay involved with a man who had no association with religion. The two strongest elements within St. Lucia 's Day celebration that are symbolic of Christianity are the white gowns and the lingonberry crowns with light bulbs. “For Christians, white symbolizes purity, innocence, holiness, and glory. White also emphasizes the joy of spiritual rebirth, remission of sin, and incorporation into Christ through the baptismal rite” (Smithsonian Institution 1982). The light bulbs are “…symbols for God, who is the light of the world” (Smithsonian Institution 1982).
The story of Saint Lucia displays ones passionate zeal to sacrifice their body for God's love. As the legend goes, Saint Lucy was a young, beautiful woman who lived in first century Rome (M. Hos-McGrane 1999). She was known for carrying food and drink to the hungry folk of her district (Spicer 1937). Saint Lucia began a relationship with a pagan nobleman, but she cut out her own eyes to end the affair. God soon restored them as a reward for her endearing sacrifice. St. Lucy's pagan lover was upset with her and began trying to force her into performing a pagan sacrifice instead, but St. Lucy refused, for she was a Christian. Shortly after, she was thrown into jail by pagan soldiers who also tried to persuade her to perform the sacrifice, but she still did not accept their demands. The soldiers then stabbed her in the neck and lit the floor on fire by order of the Roman Emperor, Diocletian (M. Hos-McGrane 1999). Not only is Saint Lucy honored for her enduring actions to refuse the practice of any other religious ritual for another god, but she is today the patron saint for protection of throat infections (Thompson 1998). Stories of Saint Lucia's courage were brought to Sweden through missionary work where she began to be referred to as the Lucia Bride.
Symbolically speaking, those who practice on St. Lucia 's Day have come to recognize that St. Lucia 's eyes characterize “her divine light and wisdom” (Thompson 1998). Often, Lucia is pictured carrying her eyes on a platter (although there is no actual support for this in her lifetime). This could correlate with the breakfast tray that the eldest, or most beautiful daughter, serves to her parents that holds coffee and buns. As mentioned previously, the buns known as “Lucia Cats,” also have a symbolic reference: cats have been a symbol of good luck and a sign to keep the devil out of the house (Thompson 1998). The reasoning behind this is that the Devil was believed to be in the form of a cat. With each house being lit with candles throughout the entire day of December 13th, families are somewhat “forced” to stay together within their households; consequently, the symbolic reference to cats protecting the house indeed makes sense. Again, the religious celebration is real to those who practice.
Some families who practice Saint Lucia 's Day will join with other families and have a community parade of lights at night. This is where the celebration moves out of the family household and religious realm, and becomes more public. During this time the entire family is involved and each person participates equally. Torches are lit and carried by each family and the community will travel together. Once they are finished, everyone throws their torches together in one large pile creating a bon fire (History Channel 2004). This relates to the actual burning of Saint Lucy in her jail cellar.
St. Lucia 's Day can be related partially to a “Rites of Passage” religious holiday. Within the Rites of Passage there is a very important stage known as "liminality" (Turner & Turner 1982). Within this stage, there is the concept of sacra that identifies with sacred objects. With St. Lucia being a religious holiday, there are many sacred objects such as the white robes, the red sashes, the crown of candles; many of the observable objects. Another feature within the liminality stage is communitas . This is when there are minimized social distinctions. This is displayed when the families come together at night to participate in the parade and bon fire. All families participating on this day are trying to receive some religious harmony. On days other than the celebration, the families may practice differently. Communitas is also established with the roles of the children on St. Lucia 's Day. Although there are some distinctions between the different siblings (gender and age), all the children wear the long, white robes and associate with some sort of “glowing” reference. The “common goal” of each child is to wake up their parents and sing traditional Swedish, Christian hymns (Turner & Turner 1982). The celebrated objects and costuming is extremely important and yields multiple meanings—each in itself combining many symbolic elements.