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Christmas in Finland (Finnish:joulu;Swedish:jul) begins, as is commonplace onpublic holidays in Finland, onChristmas Eve (Finnish:jouluaatto;Swedish:julafton).[1] Especially the evening of Christmas Eve has become the most important day of the Christmas period, and is nowadays a paid holiday in most workplaces.[2] Unlike on other public holidays, public transportation stops almost completely on the afternoon of Christmas Eve[3] inFinland. The Christmas period ends onEpiphany (Finnish:loppiainen;Swedish:trettondedagen).[4]
In the Finnish tradition, the Christmas period has usually been considered to start onTuomas’s nameday on December 21 and to continue untilSt. Knut's Day on January 13. This is reflected in several rhymes and jingles, such asHyvä Tuomas joulun tuopi, paha Nuutti pois sen viepi (“Good Tuomas the bringer, bad Nuutti the taker of Christmas”). Prior to 1774, Finland also celebrated a third Christmas Day, the day of apostle John the Evangelist on December 27, and a fourth Christmas Day,Massacre of the Innocents on December 28.[5] However, KingGustav III of Sweden cut them down to two, because thenobility andbourgeoisie believed that long holidays made the workers too lazy.[6] The third and fourth Christmas Day have also been calledlittle holidays ormidweek holidays.[7]The Finnish Orthodox Church spends Christmas at the same time as theWestern Christianity.[8]
The Finnish Christmas has acquired some characteristics from the harvest festivalkekri, that used to take place around the oldAll Saints' Day. InSweden,Estonia and Finland,joulupukki (Christmas goat) was a man who dressed as afertility rite character, agoat. He put goathorns on his head as in shamanistic tradition to look like a goat. The outfit also included amask made ofbirch bark and a sheepskin coat worn inside-out.[9]
Feeding smallbirds at Christmas is an old tradition and the peasant culture’s ritual that brought good luck to farming. The purpose of thebarley oroat sheaf was to keep the birds away from the crop in the summer. TheFinnish pagans may have believed that the dead, i.e. soul birds, celebrated the mid-winter holiday with the living. They may have also believed birds to bring good luck to the home.[10] In Sweden, the church was against this tradition, and it was about to disappear in Finland too, until some newspapers and charitable organisations revived it.
Some traditionalChristmas decorations arehimmeli (a hanging decoration made of straw) andYule Goat.[11][12] Decorations made ofstraw have their source in kekri, the harvest festival.[13] The first Christmas trees came to Finland in the middle of the 1800s.[14]
Early-morning Christmas church on Christmas Day morning is part of the Protestant tradition. The Christmas gospel is heard andLuther’s hymn 21Enkeli taivaan (Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her) is sung. Previously theLutheran church was very strict about attending the Christmas church. If you did not attend, you were reprimanded publicly in the annual catechetical meeting. Reading the Christmas gospel before the meal became common at the end of the 1800s as a consequence ofthe Christian revival.
Having a sauna at Christmas is an old tradition. People washed in the Christmas sauna before the festivities, and food and drink gifts were left there for the elf. People in wealthy families started giving each other presents at the beginning of the 1800s.[15] Christmas calendars arrived in Finland after thesecond world war.[16]
The tradition to visitcemeteries to lightcandles on family graves was started in the 1900s. It became a common practice at the graves of fallen soldiers after theWinter War and soon at other graves too. The Kekri tradition of leaving presents for the dead was moved to Christmas. Nowadays candles may be lighted as a common experience to honor the dead.[17]
Eating abundantly at the Christmas meal comes from the ancient Finns and relates to the agricultural year cycle and the festival of light celebrated around the winter solstice. At a time when food was grown at home, gluttony and eating meat at Christmas was a rare luxury.Lutefisk and porridge are some of the oldest Christmas foods. Barley was replaced by rice in the 1800s. Casseroles, prune soup and gingerbread biscuits were adopted from the upper classes in the 1800s and 1900s. TheChristmas ham replaced the kekri lamb, and in the 1940s it was challenged by thewild turkey.
Christmas has traditionally been a family celebration in Finland, but in the 2000s, it had become quite common to spend Christmas alone.[18] ThePosti Group have been publishingChristmas stamps in Finland since 1973.[19]
The usual Christmas decorations are spruce twigs,Christmas tree, Christmas wreaths, straw goats, himmelis,apples,candles, Christmas tablecloths, Christmas flowers, outdoor torches, ice lanterns and sheafs.[20]
To preserve nature, some people choose a tree in the garden or nearby forest to decorate for the birds, instead of buying aChristmas tree. The tree is decorated with fat balls.[21] Before giving out the presents, some may lightcandles for the dead. It is commonplace to go in the sauna at Christmas.[22]
The Finnish Christmas meal,Joulupöytä (literally “Yule Table”), normally features different casseroles made usually of carrot, swede (lanttulaatikko) or potato (sweetened potato casserole) and various fish, such as cold smokedsalmon, gravlax and Coregonus lavaretus (graavisiika). On Christmas Eve people usually eat rice porridge.[15]
