Ascension Day

Ascension Day is a very significant day in Christianity. It is also a public holiday in a large number of countries, but how it is actually celebrated differs in several respects. In Sweden, it has a long history that in many ways also connects with pre-Christian times.

Here is some information about the day of Christ's ascension and what characterizes it in our modern times.

Christian and at the same time pre-Christian

Ascension Day is a Christian holiday that aims to mark the day when Jesus left earthly life for heaven. It always takes place on the 40th day after Easter. As this is always a Thursday, the day has sometimes been referred to as Holy Thursday.

How it is celebrated varies greatly depending on the extent to which a country has become secularized. The more traditional celebration of the ascension of Christ includes a service and a visit to the cemetery where loved ones are.

What gives it a special position in Sweden in particular is that Ascension Day also coincides with the day when farmers release the cows on pasture. Therefore, the day is historically also known as the day of grazing release / cow release. This means that culturally it also has an anchorage in the peasant society whose history is in many ways older than the history of Christianity in Sweden.

Holiday that few actually celebrate

In many cases, Ascension Day coincides with Sweden's National Day in such a way that together they form a particularly long weekend. Therefore, Ascension Day sometimes becomes part of Sweden's longest weekend period.

Despite its status as a public holiday, it is relatively unusual in Sweden to celebrate Ascension Day. It is still mainly the Christians and believers who to some extent pay attention to the day. But the celebration has increased, and many predict that it will soon be a bigger phenomenon than it has been before.

Midsummer Day

Although midsummer is for many people reminiscent of a specific Swedish celebration, Midsummer Day is a unique holiday that takes place in a large number of different places in the world. This is because its history is twofold linked to both pre-Christian times and the spread of Christianity across Europe.

Here we take a closer look at Midsummer Day.

Folk and church holiday

In a Swedish respect for Midsummer Day, definitely the thoughts of the Midsummer celebration. This very typical celebration that takes place between 20 and 26 June has a long and unclear history. While some believe that it is a pre-Christian phenomenon that is linked to the celebration of the summer solstice, some believe that its spread is closely linked to Christianity and St. John the Baptist's Day.

Regardless of where you place the day in a historical stage, it is a given that it is a common holiday that is celebrated in many different places in the world. In Sweden, it has traditionally been celebrated with midsummer dance and classic midsummer food.

Elsewhere in the world, where the position of the church is more widespread even in modern times, the celebration has a considerably much more ecclesiastical appearance. This has led many to see Midsummer Day as a kind of rock between pre-Christian traditions and Christian customs. But as it is unclear how obvious the historical anchoring really is, no one has come to draw any definite conclusions.

What is clear, however, is that the day continues to be celebrated in many places around the world and that it remains extremely popular. Something that is particularly interesting is that all countries seem to have a tendency to associate Midsummer Day with their own celebration, even though it is in fact an international holiday. On the whole, probably one of the most common festivals around the world, which interestingly lacks common elements.