Saffron Bread at St. Lucia's Day

St. Lucia’s Day
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St. Lucia’s Day
Cultural traditions are often associated with symbolic foods and mark the celebration of a particular event or individual important to a community. St. Lucia Day, luciadagen, is a cultural tradition observed in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries. This tradition is observed on December 13th to commemorate an ancient Christian martyr, Lucia. Christianity was prohibited during the Roman reign, and those who held on to it were exterminated. Lucia stood by her Christian beliefs and spent most of her life helping the needy. The Romans persecuted St. Lucia due to her steadfast beliefs. St. Lucia day falls on the solstice, which was observed among the ancient Norse to scare evil and alter the sun’s course. An integration of both Christian and pagan beliefs, St. Lucia day is meant to bring hope and light during the darkest time of the year in Scandinavian countries. The traditional foods associated with St. Lucia day include Saffron Bread, Gingerbreads, coffee, and mulled wine.
Saffron bread is considered the most symbolic food in St. Lucia's day tradition. The contextual meaning of the saffron bread differs with different pers[ective at which the tradition is observed. One of the outstanding features of this food is its golden color, resulting from the spice saffron. According to Snyder (n.d.), this color is symbolic of the significance of the tradition among Swedish people. It symbolizes the hope that the long winter will end and light will come. In the Scandinavian countries, winter is longer and darker than in other countries in the southern parts of the world. Also, when the celebrations take place, the solstice has a longer night than day. The golden bread during the celebration indicates hope for lighter days amidst dark winter.
Saffron bread also reflects the contextual meaning of the name Lucia in Sweden. Lucia is associated with light in Latin, a language associated with Christianity. However, Lucia has also been associated with the devil in swede, especially in pagan beliefs. In the Christian perspective, the use of golden-colored bread is symbolic of the literal meaning of the tradition- Lucia. St. Lucia is considered the bearer of light in the Swedish and Christian contexts (Snyder, n.d.). During the celebration, a girl playing the role of Lucia serves the golden saffron bread, bringing out the aspect of St. Lucia as the light bearer. From a pagan context, the concept of light is drawn from the ancient Norse celebration of the solstice with large bonfires to scare the evil spirits (Britannica, 2018). The use of golden saffron bread is associated with light in a pagan context.
The saffron bread is s-shaped with two raisins on each side representing eyes. These features also give this food its symbolic attachment to St. Lucia day. In Swedish, this bread is referred to as Lussekatter. This term also translates into Lucia’s cats or saffron buns, which explains the shape of the buns (Stalcup, 2002). Cats were associated with evil spirits and the devil during the medieval period. There is a common belief among Swedish communities that anyone awake can hear cattl...