Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
> On 10/31/2011 13:46, Warp wrote:
> >    In other parts of Finland Easter time was, for some reason, associated
> > with witches (I think this is a more international phenomenon than Finland
> > only).

> The earliest it was reasonable to dance naked in the forest? :-)

  The typical image of a Lapland witch was a rural very old wrinkled woman.
I don't think "dancing naked" was part of the imago... :P

  To be honest, I have no idea at what age the real-life "witches" started
their "profession" back when they were still active. I suppose they had
some kind of apprentices, if not even daughters that would succeed them.

  I also don't know when the practice was completely eradicated, but I think
they prevailed up until surprisingly recently. AFAIK even in 1950's there
were still some such women up there far in the north.

> >    At some point these two traditions got merged,

> Cool traditions. Somehow I'd always thought that Europe had more generally 
> homogenous cultures in things like that, but I guess that's just the Ugly 
> American(tm) in me. :)

  Europe is not the United States. The cultures are extremely varied, both
in the north-nouth axis and the east-west axis.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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