I grew up in Finland for the majority of my childhood, just outside of Helsinki. However, my heritage is mostly Swedish and so I was more indulged in Swedish-Finnish or "finlandssvensk" culture. The Swedish-speaking population of Finland is a linguistic minority - about 280,000 people form a part of this demographic. Interestingly enough I was never taught Swedish, only Finnish and so I find myself in a very confusing position. However one tradition I was always indulged in and one which is celebrated in both Finland and Sweden, is an Easter tradition - virvonta. That's what today's post is going to be all about!
Virvonta is a tradition that usually takes place on Palm Sunday. Little kids dress up as witches and go around the neighbourhood knocking on doors (think trick-of-treating). With them they carry a bunch of vitsa, which are willow twigs that are colorfully decorated with feathers and ribbon. They then say a little rhyme, which roughly translates to "I wave a twig for a fresh and healthy year ahead; a twig for you, a treat for me!" The recipient receives a twig which they add to their collection in a vase, and the kids will receive some sort of candy or treat.
This ritual of bringing willow twigs actually stems from a Russian Orthodox practise, where they are meant to represent the palms laid down when Jesus entered Jerusalem, and the dressing up as witches comes from a Swedish and Western Finnish tradition in which children made fun of earlier fears that evil witches could be about on Easter Saturday. I remember doing this nearly every Easter, as Halloween isn't really celebrated in Scandinavia.
Today's little DIY is going to show you how to make your own vase of vitsas. This year I'm only making a few for tradition's sake and as a way to keep myself busy indoors. I managed to make do with materials I could find at home and so didn't need to go out - I encourage you to get creative with what you have at home as well!
THE VITSAS
Even though traditionally the branches that are decorated are those of a willow or birch, I live in Australia and so I'll be using eucalyptus tree branches (they're the easiest to find) - these I picked up while walking my dog. You'll also need to following materials:
Materials
- glue gun (or tape, or normal wood glue, whatever)
- feathers (these can be either real or cut out of paper)
- ribbons
- decorated easter eggs to hang (also optional). I made by own just by blowing the yolk out and painting them.
- you can decorate them with literally anything you want; there's a lot of room for creativity here.
Some more inspiration:
The materials I used - patterned paper, old hair ribbons,wood glue, eucalyptus branches, paper string.
I cut the feathers out of patterned craft paper I had leftover from an old school project.
The feathers were more difficult to keep in place than I thought they'd be - the technique I found to work best was to put some glue at the base of the feather and leave for ten minutes to get tacky so it wouldn't slide off once I stuck it on.
I then cut the ribbons into smaller segments and tied them randomly to the branches, and hung the eggs. Here's the finished product! Not exactly my best work but it was fun to make - we'll be using it as our centerpiece for Easter Sunday lunch.
Comments