Sweden is an easy target for stereotypes. You’re probably already thinking of tall, blue-eyed blondes hiking in bracing outdoor temperatures. When it comes to Easter, however, the standard assumptions about the country veer way off track. That’s because Holy Week is less about willowy women with platinum hair and more about, well, witches.

It all started way back in Sweden’s powerfully pagan history. Before the Christians got their hands on this particular celebration, it was focused on fertility (now expressed as chocolate eggs) and the rebirth of spring (shown in the birch twigs that Swedes still use to decorate their homes).

Over time, this time of year became associated with fables about wise old women who could do magic. They could heal or maim, bring good luck or curses and their magic could bewitch both animals and people, for good for evil. Some believed that the witches, with assistance from a mythical ‘milk hare’ (now the Easter bunny or påskhare), could steal the very milk from a cow’s udders.

Witches still feature in Easter festivities across Sweden.

Swedish folklore had it that on Maundy Thursday (known as Skärtorsdag), witches muttered a few magical words and then ascended through their chimneys and flew by broom to Blue Hill (Blåkulla, somewhere in the Baltic Sea) to meet with Satan himself. They danced or, in the more X-rated versions, copulated with the devil in a hedonistic frenzy.

If they got tired en route, they might have a little rest on a church tower; good citizens would keep an eye out for them there. On the following Sunday, they would return and file into church like everyone else, but could be spotted by their telltale tendency to recite prayers backwards.

By the 15th century most of Europe was in the grip of a witch-hunt fever, burning and dunking suspected witches with frightening regularity. Sweden took longer to succumb, but by the 17th century the idea that witches could commune with the devil was widespread. Witch-hunters were contracted, in conjunction with the Church, to entrap supposed witches, who were often tortured into confessing and the fate of these wise old women took a distinctly darker turn.

With so many witches zipping about, the Swedes would fire up bonfires the day before Easter to scare them away and prevent them from landing

With so many witches zipping about, the Swedes would fire up bonfires the day before Easter to scare them away and prevent them from landing in the neighbourhood on their return. They still do so today, throwing in some fireworks for good measure, perhaps to shoot the witches down. Traditionally, chimneys and windows were also closed to prevent a stray witch from dropping into the living room uninvited and then trotting blithely off to church.

Witch hunting reached its zenith in the late 1600s with several major witch trials taking place in Sweden. The last witch is thought to have been killed in 1720. Nevertheless, these witches (know as ‘Easter hags’ or ‘Påskkärringar’) are still an established Easter tradition.

Festivals collide in the country as Easter starts to look rather more like Halloween. On the Thursday or Saturday before Easter, little girls (mainly) dress up in their mum’s old and oversized clothes, throw on an apron or a shawl and a headscarf, paint on rosy cheeks and freckles and then go around the neighbours holding a copper kettle and a broom, seeking sweets.

They are supposed to bring each household an Easter letter or a drawing of the witches in exchange for their goodies although the old timers complain that today’s youth has become a little lazy in that respect. Sometimes the letters are delivered secretly, without the house owner seeing the sender.

Easter lunch traditionally comes to an end with the semla,which is not unlike our own cream buns.

Easter edibles

Swedes celebrate Easter on Saturday (Easter eve) with a lot of eating and drinking. Typical fare includes decorated boiled eggs, which can be very ornate and of course chocolate eggs filled with sweets or toys.

The main event is often laid out as a smorgasbord or buffet, traditionally on a long, wooden trestle table. Foods include lamb, pickled herring, smoked salmon, boiled potatoes, dark rye bread and cracker bread. If you’re lucky, someone will also have made a Janssons frestelse (Jansson’s temptation); it’s a creamy potato, onion and anchovy dish. For dessert, you might find traditional semla, wheat buns of around 10cm diameter made with cardamom then filled almond paste and whipped cream. A herby ‘snaps’ spirit helps with digestion after all those victuals.

Decorations

Witch-shaped decorations are big, but many Swedes will also have decorated birch twigs in their homes, to symbolise Christ’s suffering. Servants and children used to be lashed with these twigs to remind them of the suffering of Jesus Christ but that practice has mercifully died out. On Good Friday boys in northern Sweden used to visit their neighbours and try to whip the girls with birch twigs until they gave them food or drink (if they could catch them that is).

The girls got their own back on Easter Sunday evening. These days, the twigs are more likely to be arranged in pots and decorated with the coloured feathers that signify the end of winter, although the Swedes are still fond of a little birch twig whipping in the sauna to ‘soften the skin’, so watch out.

Holiday houses

Swedes often go away at Easter to their ‘summer house’ for this first long weekend of spring. This sounds grander than it is; often people just have a glorified barn in the country. Otherwise, snow permitting, they’ll break ground on their gardens and start to prepare for the year ahead.

Getting serious

In terms of the religious significance of Easter, Good Friday is a still a quiet day here. Cinemas were only recently allowed to stay open and the day is known as långfredag or long Friday, because having fun is a little taboo. Once Saturday comes though, spring is officially sprung and the feasting begins. On Easter Sunday, church sermons are held and although the country is fairly secular, the services are likely to be busy.