Cultural Perspective – How Finland’s New Year’s Rituals are Cultural
Finland is known as “The Land of a Thousand Lakes” (Li, 1989) and can you imagine how amazing New Year’s Eve fireworks look as they reflect off the countless bodies of water that are sprinkled across the country! In Finland, the fireworks shows for celebrating New Year’s are actually more private and owned by the individual instead of put on by cities or the Government. Along with private fireworks, Finns who are ringing in the New Year at home will most likely have a Nordic Smörgåsboard buffet laid out for guests to indulge in both hot and cold dishes, some adapted from the neighboring country of Norway. (Traditional Finnish New Years celebrations, 1997-2013) Of course, something that you must partake in during the Finnish winter, including New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, is the Sauna. The Sauna is hot and relaxing, a great combatant for the well-below freezing weather across the country. (S. Lampela, personal communication, June 1, 2013) For those Finns who are not at their home or a friend’s for the evening, another popular place to celebrate the holiday in Finland is at a restaurant or even a nightclub. (Traditional Finnish New Years celebrations, 1997-2013) Regardless of where New Year’s is being observed in Finland, there is more than likely going to be a lot of alcohol consumption and loud celebrating! (S. Lampela, personal communication, June 1, 2013)
One of the most intriguing cultural events that I participated in the entire year I was in Finland was the New Year’s tradition of “uuden vuoden tina” which is the melting of metal as a way of telling the fortune to come in the New Year. With small, long-handled pans, one at a time my friends and I put our own horseshoe-shaped piece of metal into our pans and heated them over the stove until the horseshoe was shapeless. We then immediately tossed it into a bucket of cold water and,
"The resulting blob of metal is analyzed, for example by interpreting shadows it casts. For example, a heart or ring shape means a wedding, a ship foretells a travel and a pig shape means plenty of food. However, these predictions are never taken too seriously." (S. Lampela, personal communication, June 1, 2013)
There are several other shapes and symbols of the impending future that people eagerly look for in their cooled metal shapes. While mine was surprisingly shaped somewhat like the country of Finland and apparently also signified money, Finns who participate in this age-old tradition also might find the following shapes and symbols:
• Ashes or black soil/mold = death
• Baby doll = children
• Coin = wealth
• Four-leaf clover = good luck
• Horseshoe = good luck
• Key = gaining a house/apartment of your own
• Piece of bread = secure income, carefree living
• Pin = sickness or pain
• Ring = engagement or marriage
• Sugar cube = easy living, "sweet success"
• Empty cup = "nothing special"
(Traditional Finnish New Years celebrations, 1997-2013)
One of the other Finnish New Year’s traditions that gives some insight into the culture of the Finns is specifically for women who want a hint as to their future love and relationships. In a dark room lit only by dim candle light, a young lady who stares into a mirror may see a quick view of their future husband looking back at her in the mirror. (Traditional Finnish New Years celebrations, 1997-2013) This over 200-year-old adventurous activity on New Year’s is depicted in the painting, “Svetlana Guessing on Her Future” by Karl Bruillov. Personally, I am glad that I did not participate in that event while I was in Finland! Still, it lends a view into what much of the focus is in terms of the hopes and future that women are anticipating for the coming New Year. (See the photo below
Political Perspective – Finland’s New Year’s Speeches
In Finland, the biggest celebration takes place in Helsinki’s Senate Square where innumerable people gather to kick-off the New Year in the Country’s capital, even people from Russia come to celebrate. However, it is not necessarily the loud and wild party that most people may expect. In fact personal fireworks are actually prohibited in the space and while the show will have various artists or musicians performing, the evening also includes speeches from politicians, the Mayor, or someone of similar status. Throughout the years, this celebration seems to be lacking patriotism that was prevalent in the past. (Traditional Finnish New Years celebrations, 1997-2013) Perhaps because New Years is a more global holiday instead of something that each Nation may give value to based on their culture, people are viewing the holiday as more of a party than observation of tradition. When I was in Finland, the Finnish flag may have been flying, but New Year’s celebrations had little to do with the country of Finland, and more to do with each individual. The same can be said about the majority of the United States.
Finland is known as “The Land of a Thousand Lakes” (Li, 1989) and can you imagine how amazing New Year’s Eve fireworks look as they reflect off the countless bodies of water that are sprinkled across the country! In Finland, the fireworks shows for celebrating New Year’s are actually more private and owned by the individual instead of put on by cities or the Government. Along with private fireworks, Finns who are ringing in the New Year at home will most likely have a Nordic Smörgåsboard buffet laid out for guests to indulge in both hot and cold dishes, some adapted from the neighboring country of Norway. (Traditional Finnish New Years celebrations, 1997-2013) Of course, something that you must partake in during the Finnish winter, including New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, is the Sauna. The Sauna is hot and relaxing, a great combatant for the well-below freezing weather across the country. (S. Lampela, personal communication, June 1, 2013) For those Finns who are not at their home or a friend’s for the evening, another popular place to celebrate the holiday in Finland is at a restaurant or even a nightclub. (Traditional Finnish New Years celebrations, 1997-2013) Regardless of where New Year’s is being observed in Finland, there is more than likely going to be a lot of alcohol consumption and loud celebrating! (S. Lampela, personal communication, June 1, 2013)
One of the most intriguing cultural events that I participated in the entire year I was in Finland was the New Year’s tradition of “uuden vuoden tina” which is the melting of metal as a way of telling the fortune to come in the New Year. With small, long-handled pans, one at a time my friends and I put our own horseshoe-shaped piece of metal into our pans and heated them over the stove until the horseshoe was shapeless. We then immediately tossed it into a bucket of cold water and,
"The resulting blob of metal is analyzed, for example by interpreting shadows it casts. For example, a heart or ring shape means a wedding, a ship foretells a travel and a pig shape means plenty of food. However, these predictions are never taken too seriously." (S. Lampela, personal communication, June 1, 2013)
There are several other shapes and symbols of the impending future that people eagerly look for in their cooled metal shapes. While mine was surprisingly shaped somewhat like the country of Finland and apparently also signified money, Finns who participate in this age-old tradition also might find the following shapes and symbols:
• Ashes or black soil/mold = death
• Baby doll = children
• Coin = wealth
• Four-leaf clover = good luck
• Horseshoe = good luck
• Key = gaining a house/apartment of your own
• Piece of bread = secure income, carefree living
• Pin = sickness or pain
• Ring = engagement or marriage
• Sugar cube = easy living, "sweet success"
• Empty cup = "nothing special"
(Traditional Finnish New Years celebrations, 1997-2013)
One of the other Finnish New Year’s traditions that gives some insight into the culture of the Finns is specifically for women who want a hint as to their future love and relationships. In a dark room lit only by dim candle light, a young lady who stares into a mirror may see a quick view of their future husband looking back at her in the mirror. (Traditional Finnish New Years celebrations, 1997-2013) This over 200-year-old adventurous activity on New Year’s is depicted in the painting, “Svetlana Guessing on Her Future” by Karl Bruillov. Personally, I am glad that I did not participate in that event while I was in Finland! Still, it lends a view into what much of the focus is in terms of the hopes and future that women are anticipating for the coming New Year. (See the photo below
Political Perspective – Finland’s New Year’s Speeches
In Finland, the biggest celebration takes place in Helsinki’s Senate Square where innumerable people gather to kick-off the New Year in the Country’s capital, even people from Russia come to celebrate. However, it is not necessarily the loud and wild party that most people may expect. In fact personal fireworks are actually prohibited in the space and while the show will have various artists or musicians performing, the evening also includes speeches from politicians, the Mayor, or someone of similar status. Throughout the years, this celebration seems to be lacking patriotism that was prevalent in the past. (Traditional Finnish New Years celebrations, 1997-2013) Perhaps because New Years is a more global holiday instead of something that each Nation may give value to based on their culture, people are viewing the holiday as more of a party than observation of tradition. When I was in Finland, the Finnish flag may have been flying, but New Year’s celebrations had little to do with the country of Finland, and more to do with each individual. The same can be said about the majority of the United States.
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