Easter Witches & Bonfires – not bunnies!

Easter is upon us and boy do I wish I was back home in Sweden! The Swedes have a deliciously odd holiday tradition that has the entire young female and male population dressed up as Easter witches and men, complete with brooms that they will fly on to join the devil on the island “Blakulla”!

But before you fly off on your witch broom, you must deliver your hand drawn Easter artwork to your neighbors. The streets are filled with kids tossing their drawings in to houses and getting candy in return. Need less to say..my favorite holiday as a kid.  Around town there are GIANT BONFIRES and fireworks with people singing songs welcoming spring.  I guess living in Sweden and enduring that LONG, did I say LONG?  cold winter you go kind of nuts when the first signs of spring arrive!!

Tree branches filled with colorful feathers decorate all homes, door stoops and just about everywhere else. It’s supposed to signify either the witches broom or the broom for spring clean up.

This is the time of year when the Swedes head out to clear the cobwebs off their summer homes. Houses are being opened up after a long, hard winter.

The colorful feathers are certainly welcoming sign. Spring is here and the earth is alive!! What better sign for EARTH DAY!!??

The gardening tools are being brought out, and the ever crafty and handy Swedes are itching to fix up their gardens!

This is the time for RENEWAL, REBIRTH and CELEBRATION!

Seeing all the little Easter witches walk around I smile..

I don’t know the image source of this, but this is how I looked every Easter as a kid! You’re supposed to have a hood, red cheeks, a broom, a cat and a coffee pot!!

YOU GET TOGETHER WITH ALL YOUR  “WITCHES” AND HAVE A BLAST!!

What could be better?

The EASTER WITCH tradition stems back to the 1600’s and the nasty witch hunt in Scandinavia.  They killed intelligent women believed to have evil powers….

OOOh those eeeevil women….

To scare off  witches back then they used RIFLES and FIRE.

Therefore the tradition lives on with FIREWORKS and the large BONFIRES to scare off all those witches so they fly off!!!!

HEY who wouldn’t want to have a cat, a pot of coffee and fly off on a broom to an island???

IT’S NOT SO BAD BEING A WITCH AFTER ALL!!!

Happy Easter, Earth Day and everything else!!

P.S. Don’t forget to honor EARTH DAY!

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11 thoughts on “Easter Witches & Bonfires – not bunnies!

  1. How fun!! My mother-in-law was born/raised in Sweden and her brother and his grandson are coming (from Sweden) to visit next week– I will have to ask about this!! Happy Easter! Caroline

  2. What a wonderful colorful tradition! Of course I don't like that they used to burn intelligent women but I do love the little girls with their hoods and rosy cheeks. Wishing you a wonderful holiday!!

  3. I wish everyone else, had no idea about this! I'll have to tell my mom, whose side of the family is Swedish. We love learning more about it, and she has even chosen to go by MorMor to my boys. (Which I love and encourage!)

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