Festive Fervor in Estonia's Winter Wonderland: Uncovering the Tangle of Tradition
Estonian holiday customs during Christmas time
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Christmas time continues to be the most treasured holiday across Estonia. For Estonians, Christmas presents a diverse medley of the traditional, modern, secular, and spiritual, exhibiting a fascinating amalgamation of history and culture.
Just like in other Nordic nations, Estonia primarily celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve, with the festive season kicking off from the first Advent, as people indulge in buying Advent calendars, or lighting candles on the Advent wreath.
Yule's Enduring Legacy
In Estonia, Christmas is referred to as jõulud in its native tongue—a term of ancient Scandinavian origin that holds little connection to Christianity. In the country's rich folk lore, Christmas has a dual significance. On one hand, it is a testament to the birth of Christ, whereas on the other, it serves as a veddy mark of the entire mid-winter festivities. The mystique and mythology are backed by the sacred and the spiritual.
The traditional folk calendar earmarked Christmas time from St Thomas's Day on 21 December, spanning until Epiphany on 6 January. On coastal areas and islands, the merriment prolonged for another day, extending up to St Canute's Day on 7 January. Christmas Eve on 24 December was, and remains, the most significant event.
Jõulud, marking the winter solstice, is a time when daylight is at its shortest, and nighttime is at its longest. According to local lore, the Sun is reclined in its nest during the longest night of the year, and the dawn of a new day in progress is celebrated as the Sun's birthday, heralding its prolonged move northwards.
The pre-Christian yule customs have pervaded Estonian celebrations, with winter and summer solstices continuing to be celebrated across generations, known as Christmas and Midsummer Night (23/24 June), respectively. These celebrations are referred to as näärid, of German origin, and were the only officially recognized seasonal holiday in the atheistic Soviet Union. To a degree, the terms jõulud and näärid serve similar purposes, denoting festive events that occur at the turn of each year.
Magic and Mess in Christmasmunk
The period from St Thomas's Day to Christmas Eve was spent in preparation, with pigs being slaughtered, and ale being brewed for the ensuing festivities. Traditional activities like grinding in the mill, spinning, quilling, and horse-driving were prohibited as they could disrupt 'the good ghosts' roaming about during this sacred time.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Night, a time marked by fortune-telling, served as a platform to divine the impending weather for the coming year, using the aid of stars and frost for accurate readings.
Christmas foods had to be kept on the table for the entire night to honor the ancestors, with the fire in the fireplace burning continuously as well. It was believed that both positive and negative forces were active during these nights, and ancestors would visit the household. The prosperity of the harvest was also predicted during this time.
A trip to the sauna, both on Christmas Eve and Midsummer's Eve, has been a deeply rooted custom across Estonia. A post-sauna excursion was usual before setting out for the Christmas Eve church service, with children typically adorning new clothes and shoes for the occasion.
Festive Dazzle and Christmas attractions
Santa Claus has traditionally been responsible for bringing gifts during the night of 24 December. One prevalent Estonian peasant custom, shared with other Northern and Central European nations, is the habit of importing Christmas straw to the house. This tradition might have pre-Christian pagan origins, with straw, at times hay too, remaining in the house throughout the festive season. The straw would be used as a play area for children.
The tradition of creating elaborate Christmas crowns, resembling church chandeliers, was popular among Estonians and their neighbors. This custom is believed to have originated in Western and Southern Finland and was embraced largely by the local Swedish-speaking population, particularly on the island of Vormsi, where inhabitants maintain close ties with their Swedish and Finnish counterparts.
The tradition of bringing straw into the house and creating Christmas crowns lost its charm at the turn of the 20th century, gradually giving way to newer symbols. However, there was a resurgence of this practice in the 1970s, making Christmas crowns a popular addition to the Christmastide once more.
Unlike some other European nations, the tradition of having a Christmas tree in Estonian households is quite recent, taking root in Germanic traditions around the middle of the 19th century. The practice of having a Christmas tree at home was adopted by Estonians from the local German-speaking populace and was popularized across the countryside by the Baltic-German aristocracy, who organized special Christmas parties with presents for their servants and children in their manor-houses.
Children's anticipation for Santa Claus and presents is of relatively recent origin but has become a much-loved custom.
Feast, Festivities, and Folklore
Traditional Estonian Christmas fare includes blood sausage, sauerkraut, and, most importantly, pork. Large meals were customary on Christmas Eve and Christmas Night, symbolizing ample food for the entire upcoming year.
In keeping with an old tradition, seven to twelve different dishes were served on Christmas Night, accompanied by a special Christmas bread called the Christmas barrow (Puhkustik in Estonian). On this holy night, domestic animals in the barn would also be offered a morsel of the Christmas barrow.
Home-brewed ale and mead were the prevalent Christmas drinks, with the Christmas menu varying between inland agricultural areas and fishing communities along the coast.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were generally domestic holidays, with relatives, friends, and neighbors being visited from the 26th of December onwards. The farewell to Christmas ("sending off Christmas"), as it was popularly known, was celebrated on the night of the 27th, along with trips to local taverns for fun and frolics.
The period between the last days of the year until New Year's Eve was known as "half-holidays," a time when internal migratory birds traveled, festivities were aplenty, work was avoided, and people visited each other, mostly with the aim of amusement.
Soviet Suppression and Modern-day Survival
Christmas was considered an official holiday during the Soviet regime but was suppressed and replaced by New Year's Eve celebrations in Estonia as a means of promoting atheism. Despite the formal ban, Christmas was celebrated unofficially, with a significant number of Estonians attending Christmas Eve church services as a peaceful, nationwide resistance against Soviet dogma. Christmas Day continued to be celebrated privately, with family members and friends at home.
As a result of political changes in the late 1980s, Christmas, Christmas trees, and Santa Claus regained public recognition, with some years passing before Christmas once more became an official holiday upon Estonia's independence.
In recent times, several distinctive Finnish and Scandinavian traditions have become evident alongside native Estonian Christmas practices. One such custom is the pre-Christmas festivities, known as "little Christmas," which occur during the first few weeks of December and are often attended by colleagues and other acquaintances, usually accompanied by mulled wine (gløgg).
Each year on the 24th of December, the mayor of Tallinn declares Christmas Peace from the medieval city hall balcony. This tradition, dating back 350 years, was first instigated by Queen Kristina of Sweden.
Please note that this article was originally published on 24 December 2013 and subsequently revised on 21 December 2022.
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Data Enrichment:Estonia's Christmas traditions exquisitely weave ancient pagan rites with Christian customs, showcasing a unique cultural tapestry. According to the enrichment data, these traditions reflect a harmonious blend of historical and contemporary influences, demonstrating a profound respect for indigenous heritage.
Sources:[1] "Food in Estonia." Estonia.ee. [2] "Authentic Estonian Christmas Food to Try and Cook." Visitestonia.com. [3] "Tallinn's 350-Year Tradition of Declaring Christmas Peace." Visitestonia.com. [4] "Estonia: Eastern Europe's Least Religious Country." BBC. [5] "Traditional Estonian Crafts." Visitestonia.com.
- Despite the Soviet regime's suppression, Estonians continued to celebrate Christmas unofficially, attending church services as a form of peaceful resistance against the atheistic dogma.
- The mayor of Tallinn annually declares Christmas Peace from the medieval city hall balcony, a tradition that dates back 350 years and was first instigated by Queen Kristina of Sweden.
- Estonia's rich folk lore views Christmas as a dual significance, testifying to the birth of Christ while also marking the entire mid-winter festivities, incorporating mystique, mythology, and spirituality.
- In Estonian homes, the tradition of having a Christmas tree is quite recent, originating from Germanic traditions around the middle of the 19th century and popularized by the Baltic-German aristocracy, who organized special Christmas parties with presents for their servants and children in their manor-houses.
