Christmas Magic on Luostarinmäki

On Luostarinmäki, people prepared for Christmas during the whole year. Fish caught in the summer was salted, the harvest from autumn was used to bake bread (fi. limppu), and candles were poured in preparation for the darkest time of the year.

During the 19th century, Luostarinmäki was inhabited by people of lesser means, and they relied heavily on self-sustainment and a lifestyle stemming from the countryside. The people themselves were of different backgrounds; some were carpenters and some were tavern hostesses. People had moved to the quarters of Luostarinmäki from the countryside; some were farmers, some vagabonds, and this was all reflected in how Christmas was celebrated.

The end of the harvest season was celebrated by having the Harvest Festival, and it was the most important celebration of the year for most of the 18th century. As a result of urbanisation, the traditions, beliefs, rites, and rural customs blended with the Christmas celebrations. For instance, the symbolic and practical meanings of straw, fertility beliefs, and overindulgence of food all became an important part of Christmas during the 19th century.

When the cottages on Luostarinmäki had been put in excellent shape for St. Thomas’ Day, people laid straw on the floor of the home and placed St. Thomas’ crosses around the house to ward against evil. The straw served another purpose as well: it filled gaps in the floor, making the house more insulated and it also made it reflect more light, making it brighter on the inside. It was also nice to sleep and play on the straw on the floor, and people also made Christmas decorations from it.

— People made small predictions with straw. These had to do with fertility beliefs and predicting the coming harvest, fortune, or weather. The straw symbolically represented both the harvest and the crib, says Maiju Tuisku, amanuensis at Turku City Museum.

Even though straw was prohibited after the Great Fire of Turku, the tradition lived on in the outskirts of the city during the 1800s.

Christmas Involved Going In the Sauna, Eating, and Going to Church

Christmas could be seen in the home’s decorations, on a more abundant dinner table, and in Christmas being hallowed from work. The straw on the floor brought Christmas feeling, and wood splints burned during normal time were exchanged for candles during Christmas. Straw mobiles, carved wooden birds, and poured Christmas candles decorated the modest homes. The long and dark holidays were spent by telling stories, reading spiritual literature, playing Christmas games, and by making predictions.

The preparations, which had lasted for the whole year, culminated on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Christmas Eve was often started by going in the sauna. It was important to start the new year while being clean, and often new clothes were worn only after the sauna.

— Christmas sauna is an older tradition than Christmas itself, where people prepared for the holidays by cleaning themselves. The last bath (fi. löyly) was sometimes thrown for the guardian spirit of the sauna, Tuisku describes.

For many residents in Turku, the program included eating, going to watch the declaration of Christmas peace, and going to church. Even though presents were not usually exchanged in poorer homes on Luostarinmäki, people may have given their children new clothes and carved new spoons for each family member.

The Christmas food was more abundant and tastier than the food during normal times. The hard rye bread was exchanged for a soft rye loaf (fi. limppu) that was eaten with butter, or white bread, and the typical flour porridge was changed to groat porridge. What is more, on the table you could also find salted fish, sausage, mixed beetroot salad (fi. rosolli), and cheese made from sheep or goat milk. Together with the food, people enjoyed a more heavily brewed beer, spiced with hops.

— The table might be set with a stack of bread, which was thought to bring good fortunes for the coming year. The stack was also a sign of the home’s wealth and baking skills. At the bottom of the stack there was a sourdough bread (fi. kylvökakko), which was not eaten, and instead save for the spring, when it was sowed in the ground together with the grain, or given to the draught horse to ensure a good harvest, Tuisku says.

It was custom to leave the food on the table, as if to show the prosperity of the home in case any forefathers came for a visit. Hospitality and abundance were the virtues of Christmas time, and these were appreciated no matter the social class. If the food ran out it meant bad luck for the coming year.

Even the pets got their share of the feast.

— Usually, something better, like an excess meal, was reserved for the pets, for instance, branches saved from the summer times. It ensured success in the coming year, Tuisku states.

People did not always have the means to arrange a feast. During the worst harvest years there was almost nothing over to spear for Christmas dinner, meaning that the food did not differ from everyday food. During the Great Hunger Years of 1866–1868, Christmas was more about survival than anything else.

Christmas Time Tricks, Feasts, and Predictions

Peasant culture and the seasonal change could be seen in how Christmas was celebrated in the outskirts of the city. People associated Christmas with the idea of a time that divides the year. During the turn of the year you could see different beliefs, predictions, and magic that stemmed from the traditions and customs of the Harvest Festival. People also believed that evil spirits were on the move during Christmas time, so it was a good thing to do a little magic, just in case.

— The Yule Goat was thrown in the air and it was with excitement that you counted how many straws were left hanging from the ceiling beams. By counting the straws you could predict how good the harvest was going to be during the following year, Tuisku describes.

Also the circulating song and beggar tradition was strong on Luostarinmäki. On Boxing Day, a singing event was arranged, where people knocked on doors, begged for a feast, and wishes the neighbourhood a merry Christmas.

— The Boxing Day Songs were a mix of old beggar and song tradition that is still upheld on Luostarinmäki, Tuisku says.

In places around Finland the peasant culture also included the so-called Nuuttipukkiperinne (en. ‘Knut goat tradition’), which involved young people dressing up in inside-out fur coats or animal skins and going door-to-door in hopes of a Christmas feast. It was best to invite the “goats” during Christmas time, because it was thought that they brought good fortune with them into the house.

Depending on the household’s customs and traditions Christmas was celebrated from St. Thomas’ Day all the way to St. Knut’s Day. Even though there is a saying (in Finnish): “Good Thomas brought Christmas, evil Knut took it away”, the chores required workers to resume their normal lives sooner than on St. Knut’s Day.

For a long time, Christmas was the only holiday-like break during the year. People wanted to take advantage of it to the fullest, because ahead was a long period of no festivities.

TEXT: REEA VIITASALO — TRANSLATION: CARL-IVAR BACK — PICTURES: VILLE MÄKILÄ & TURKU CITY MUSEUM