The magic of continuity
"To make the vigor [of the crops] continue from one year to the next, some kind of 'touch' or contact was needed even with the time. When sowing in the spring, crumbs from a 'såkaka'*, baked between harvests and placed on the julbord, were mixed in with the sowings. That way, there was a continuity, a transmission of power from one year to the next."
- Ebbe Schön, Folktrons år
*A såkaka ("sowing loaf") is a type of showbread that was made for Christmas and placed on the "Christmas table" as a decoration. It could be plain or beautifully decorated. Many farms had their own designs and customs surrounding the såkaka. (Link to a Swedish radio program about the såkaka)
Today, the word såkaka is also the name of a (to my knowledge) completely unrelated saffron cake.
