THE
BLUE HILL
A Swedish Myth
The
Easter Hag In Sweden, we celebrate Easter a bit differently from Australia. Instead of hunting Easter eggs all kids dress up as what we call a “påskkärring” which in English can directly translate to Easter Hag. We go around and collect candy from neighbours, like Halloween but everyone dresses in the same costume. You’re dressed up in an apron with a scarf around your head and big circles on your chin. This happens on the Thursday before Easter and at night we have a massive bonfire. When I was a kid we were always told that we did this so the fire would scare the witches away, so they wouldn’t take us when they fly to a place called Blåkulla, in English translated to “the Blue Hill”.
The
Broom The myth goes that on every Thursday before Easter, all the witches in Sweden flew to this mysterious place to have a sabbath or a party with the devil. They flew on brooms or sticks, sometimes even with their pets or other humans and along the way they picked up children that they would sacrifice to the devil. Once they arrived at the blue hill they had to walk to the middle of the Island where there is a cave. Once they reached the end of the cave they had to use a needle to pin a tiny hole in the mountain, and that was the gateway to the devil’s chamber.
The
White Chamber Next door to the devil’s chamber was another place called “Vitakammaren”, translated as “the white chamber” where the angles were. It was decorated with white benches, white floors and ceilings and in the middle of the room was god trying to convince them to come over to the other side so they could be saved from the devil.