We Finns have Easter traditions that combine the biblical and pagan customs. To explain the motley crew above I copy pasted this info from the Finland info link I have in the sidebar.
On Palm Sunday, people may greet their friends and relatives by whisking them lightly with virpovitsa willow twigs. It used to be an old custom in Eastern Finland, especially in its Orthodox areas, to wish people luck by whisking them with decorated twigs. On Palm Sunday, relatives and neighbours each got their turn. After a week had passed, they would have to pay by giving a little token in return, usually an egg, sweets or a coin. The virpovitsa custom has spread all over Finland during this century.
Similar secular Easter rituals form a part of the tradition in many European countries, in both East and West. The origin is biblical: when Jesus rode to Jerusalem, people greeted Him by swinging palm fronds. In the north, the southern palms were replaced by willow twigs, the blossoms of which (pussy willows) foreshadowed the awakening spring. After the Reformation, it was forbidden to bless willows in the Swedish realm, but they remained a customary Easter decoration.
Witches Fly at Easter
Stories and tales of witchcraft are a part of widely-known folk tradition. In Central Europe, witches are out and about especially on Walpurgis Night, but in the Nordic countries they fly between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the time when Jesus is still lying in the Garden Tomb behind a sealed stone door.
According to popular belief, witches were old women who had sold themselves to the devil. They were much feared, because they had the power to hurt people and domestic animals. In some parts of Western Finland, the custom still remains of burning bonfires on Holy Saturday. This is said to be connected with the age-old habit of scaring witches.
During last century, a witch with her broomstick and cat became part of children's Easter games; the devil's advocate flying on her broomstick thus became a fairy-tale character. Of old, witches were associated with Easter, and now they began to symbolize the festival. Pictures of witches were featured on Easter cards and letters. Children began walking around villages dressed as witches as early as the 1800s.
Witches wishing You Good Luck blend the eastern and western traditions
At Easter you may well see quaint little characters walking around Finnish villages and suburbs. Children with sooty faces and scarves tied round their heads go begging, carrying broomsticks, coffee pots and bunches of decorated virpovitsa willow twigs. Little girls and sometimes even boys dressed as witches go from door to door, reciting good luck poems in return for money and sweets.
Daycare centres, schools and the mass media have actively promoted the spread of this tradition, especially since the 1980s. Begging has not always been favourably received: the little witches in fact combine Western superstition with the Eastern church tradition of blessing people by whisking them with twigs. However, the custom is a novel example of the Finns' ability to assimilate and revitalize both Eastern and Western traditions.
This year Niina didn't want to be a witch, but instead opted for the bunny outfit, as did a couple of her friends. She made one cute bunny!
Saara spent the night at a friend's and did her 'virpominen' there. I hear she got a good haul. The crew in the photo came back with their baskets filled with chocolate eggs and all sorts of goodies! She even had a few twigs left over so we have cute decorations when I add those to all the happily decorated ones I received from the 14 or so witches, bunnies and even a cat that rang my doorbell.
