Thursday, December 11, 2014

Pagan Era Finnish Christmas Cookies



In some area of Finland traditional shapes for the Pagan era Winter Solstice Fertility ceremony (the real "Christmas") are still made.  Some of them any modern Christmas sweets connoisseur would recognize:  evergreen trees, figures that look like Santa and reindeers.  Others are clearly more pagan nature:  suns, moons, ripened apples, fertility couple.  But there is one...yeah that one close to the upper right...that swastika looking thing!  It's a very old symbol and is curiously found in most human communities in some form the world over.  Usually it represents a type of sun wheel.  In regards to Finnic pre-Christian believe it is supposed represent a power that may relate to women and stars that shine brightest on the Solstice, since that is the shortest day of the year.  These days these cookies are still made is a much more modern fashion and include jam.



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