Pääsiäinen – Time for witches, mämmi and chocolate eggs

Do not panic if, on the Sunday preceding Easter, little Easter witches — especially girls — dressed up in colourful clothes and painted cheeks and freckles turn up at your door.

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The witches go from door to door carrying willow twigs decorated with coloured feathers and paper. They recite the traditional rhyme: ”Virvon, varvon, tuoreeks terveeks, tulevaks vuodeks; vitsa sulle, palkka mulle!” meaning “I wave a twig for a fresh and healthy year ahead; a twig for you, and a treat for me!”

As a reward the witches usually receive chocolate eggs and sweets. You will probably receive a twig in return. You may want to prepare for the witches by keeping some sweets at the home.

Witches bring the Spring

janaJana Barbara Turk from Austria and M.A. student in Intercultural Encounters, will  spend her third Easter in Finland.

“For me Easter means the beginning of the spring. The ice and snow melt and flowers start to grow, winter is finally over and little witches walk in the streets. In return for giving them candy, one gets the vitsa, a bundle of twigs.”

Finnish Easter mix traditions from the East and the West. The rhyme and twig tradition originally comes from the Orthodox Carelia. The twigs symbolize the palm leaves when Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The Swedish and Western Finnish tradition links to old beliefs that witches, i.e., evil forces, were flying around on broomsticks before Easter.

What to eat

The Finnish word for Easter “pääsiäinen” refers to stop fasting, i.e., abstinence from food and drink. In Finland Easter means good food. Eggs are symbols of new life.

marianthiIf you have a sweet tooth, the traditional Mignon chocolate egg is a classic. For Student Ambassador Mariana Antonaki from Greece, this was one of the most unforgettable tastes.

“The idea of a real egg cell filled with nougat paste was something that I had never seen before, and since I am a chocolate lover, I could not do anything else but admire the Finnish creativity. After that, I will never look at the Easter chocolate eggs the way I did before.”

Roast lamb is the most common for Easter family dinner.

For dessert many people enjoy “mämmi” which is made of malt and rye flour. It is served with cream and caster sugar.

Antonaki recalls her first impressions.

“Mämmi: ohhh yessss! This was the first and most scary experience of Finnish food that I can recall. Imagine my surprise when I enthusiastically tasted a box full of dark chocolate pudding only to discover that it was something completely different and totally strange!”

Pasha is another dessert made out of curd, eggs, and cream, sometimes made in a wooden mould decorated with religious motifs.

Music and passion plays

For music lovers Bach’s Passion oratorios are performed in many churches.

In the Orthodox churches, Easter is the most important event during the year. Services are held in the Lutheran churches as well. In Helsinki the processional Via Crucis Passion Play, which ends up at the Lutheran Cathedral on Senate Square, is performed on Good Friday. Thousands of people follow the last days of Jesus and crucifixion every year.

In many western Finnish villages, bonfires are still lit to drive away evil spirits on the evening of Easter Saturday. In Helsinki you can follow the tradition of Easter bonfires on the 19th April on the Seurasaari island.

Opening times for sights, museums and shops during Easter time
Finnish carnival – First of May (Visit Finland)

Text: Karin Hannukainen
Photo: Karin Hannukainen