Saturday 18 December 2021

December Full Moon Altar: Sankta Lucia


This month's full moon altar honours Sankta Lucia, Scandinavian Goddess of the Winter Solstice.  Wearing her Crown of Light and bringing gifts of coffee and saffron buns, Sankta Lucia welcomes the returning sun after the longest night of the year.

My Sankta Lucia statue was a gift from my sister a couple of Christmases ago. Here I've placed her on a silver beaded altar cloth, surrounded by mini-lights and holly leaves with bright red berries. Around the altar's perimeter is a selection of large old and new Christmas tree ornaments.


The two old ornaments on the left belonged to my maternal grandmother. Every Christmas at the family hotel, a huge 12-foot high, real Christmas tree was put up in the restaurant dining room, covered in large glass ornaments specially brought from Switzerland in the 1950s. These are the two which my Mom and I were given after her passing. My sister also has one. They are cherished family heirlooms!


The two new ornaments on the right were both purchased by me over the years. The sacred spiral of life one I got in Winnipeg about 30 years ago. The one of snowy winter branches with red berries I bought here in Edmonton about 5 years ago. I love them both!


[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks, December 2021]

40 comments:

Boud said...

Lovely family snapshot, as well as the altar.

Mike said...

Cool looking ornaments. I still have some from my parents. I thought glass ornaments would be hard to find anymore. Nope. Everybody still sells them. Even Home Depot.

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

I remember ornate glass ornaments similar to those when I was a kid. I have no idea what happened to them. Maybe my sister has them. I like your goddess this month. Anyone who brings food and drink! -Jenn

CraveCute said...

Everything is so beautiful, and I love those family ornaments! The Winter Solstice and Christmas will be here soon, let the merriment begin!

Travel said...

Saffron from spring, in the turning of the celestial season - red and green in the starkness of winter, symbols of reassurance that the sun and warmth will return.

bobbie said...

Beautiful ornaments (so much history!); lovely goddess!

Tundra Bunny said...

What a lovely and sparkly altar! Does this also celebrate the Winter Solstice? Watch out that HRH doesn't sneak back and steal those sparkly lights for herself....

Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...

Coffee AND saffron buns? Really?

Jennifer said...

Everything is so beautiful! I love your saint and goddess statues and wish I had a collection of them myself. Maybe I'll start one! Your altars are inspirational.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

@ Tundra Bunny -- Yes, it celebrates it ALL!

Frank said...

My idea of Santa Lucia is more like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVJJd0NNkYE&t=61s
or this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Lucia_(song)
but that's just an Italian-American old man here.

Frank said...

Very lovely ornaments...back before they started making them in China/plastic.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

@ Frank -- Yes, the Southern Italian Santa Lucia is an entirely different mythological figure, albeit with the same name. "Lucia" means "light" so for Sankta Lucia, her name refers to the returning Winter Solstice sunlight, and for Santa Lucia, it references her martyrdom by blinding and removing the light of her eyes.

Onevikinggirl said...

Thank you for celebrating Lucia with us Scandis (on the 13th). Bringers of light are much needed!

Ur-spo said...

Lovely!
I have a similar ball/stand !
I too look toward to the solstice

Marie Smith said...

Love this altar. The ornaments are special and real treasures!

Richard said...

I always love your altars. Thank you for sharing them.

Personally, i don't keep this festival. There is no blame! I just don't do it, because if i survive i will save all the goodies for Candlemas!
This time is hard enough. Santa Luz is not to be messed with. Wasn't that Saint Lucy the one who had her eyes put on a platter for all the world to see?

No, i observe this holiday by being absent.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

@ Richard -- Yes, you're right, the Christian martyred saint Lucy/Lucia of Southern Italy is noted for her eyeballs on a plate. That's why it's so important to emphasis that THIS Lucia of Northern Scandinavia is REALLY the ancient pagan Goddess of the Winter Solstice, an altogether different entity, albeit "lightly Christianized" to sneak her past the Christian authorities that subsequently took over from her pagan forbears.

peppylady (Dora) said...

A beautiful altar.
Coffee is on and stay safe

Kirk said...

Scandinavia is the perfect place for a Winter Solstice goddess, and she looks the part.

Richard said...

Let us all put aside our differences and join our pagan forbears and celebrate our good ways.

Moving with Mitchell said...

The new ornaments beautifully complement those special ones from your grandmother. And your sister gives you wonderful gifts.

Susan said...

Yay the Light! What a lovely tableau you have created. I bet that 12 foot Christmas tree with all those lovely ornaments was spectacular.

This N That said...

Beautiful altar with so much history and so many memories..Love the altar cloth..so special..

DVArtist said...

Very beautiful.

Polly said...

It's beautiful. The ornaments are gorgeous.

Bill Lisleman said...

Beautiful and nostalgic ornaments. We should invest in some ornament holders. Hey I see a reflection of you in one of the ornaments.

Pilar said...

Everything looks beauty!

e said...

Another lovely altar, Debra. Glory to the Goddess of the Light!

Mistress Maddie said...

I really like this alter Debs!!! And the tear shaped ball with the stripes, and the other one, they are beautiful. And I love that you held on to family heirlooms. I don't think many care anymore. What ever happened to the rest of them on the tree?

I almost missed this post.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

@ Mistress Maddie -- Yes, I thought you'd like my heirloom ornaments because you're such a fan of vintage Christmas decorations! All my grandmother's ornaments got distributed among our large extended family. My mother, sister and I each got one. I assume everyone else still has theirs, but who knows?

Guillaume said...

I missed the Saint Lucy this year. Again. Oh and I always wondered if she is not the ancestor of our "Fée des Étoiles".

Debra She Who Seeks said...

@ Guillaume -- She could very well be!

Liz Hinds said...

Aw, those are beautiful ornaments. And how lovely to have memories associated with them too.

LL Cool Joe said...

I love all the hanging baubles. I've never seen stands like that before.

Ol'Buzzard said...

Every ornament we have has special meaning - brings back a memory of place and time. The most special are the ones that my wife made for our first Christmas. We were living in an old farmhouse with no electricity, water or sewerage. We heated by fire wood, carried our water from the stream behind our house and studied by lamp light. I had cut a tree from the tamarack swamp in front of our house and my wife made the decorations. We still hang them every year.

the Ol'Buzzard

yellowdoggranny said...

well, this is something I never thought I'd say to you....'love your balls.'..merry merry..

Magic Love Crow said...

Truly beautiful Deb! The older glass ornaments, I have two very special ones from my mom, that look like yours!! Actually, this year, I opened the box, where I have them kept and put them up! I haven't seen them in ages! Big Hugs!

Barbara said...

The statute of Saint Lucia is beautiful and so are the bulbs. I love the idea of surrounding the alter with the bulbs.

Barbara said...

Hahahaha. I wore shorts Christmas Day. Did you?