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"Virpominen" is an old Karelian custom on Palm Sunday. Nowadays two old customs are mixed: In the western part of Finland people used to fire big fires in the spring time to scare off bad witches. Over the years the witches stopped being bad in people's minds and children started to dress up as ones already in 19th century. In the eastern Finland people used to wish good luck and health to each other by "virpominen". When you went to do that, you tapped your relatives, friends or neihgbours with willow twigs blessed in church on Saturday.
Today, on Palm Sunday, you can see children dressed up as witched, holding decorated willow twigs in their hands, walking towards the houses in the area. You usually get chocolate eggs, other candy or even some money for pay when you do the "virpominen". In east you got the pay after a week, in Easter. Today you normally get it right away. That's probably the reason why it's so popular in Finland among children. Some people don't like the mixture of these two traditions very much and prefer the "virpominen" being done without the witch costumes.
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Both Lutheran and Orthodox people go to the church during the Easter time. The customs in each church are very different.
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Many families grow special grass for Easter, called "rairuoho", rai-grass. Since the plants don't grow very much in Finland in Easter time, this is a way to get some new groth to the homes. The winter is already gone, but the spring is not very far in Easter in Finland.
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The traditional Finnish dish is "mämmi" (brown porridge made of rye malt and water). In the old times it was made into birch-bark baskets. Nowadays it is made in board baskets.
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Eggs are important in Easter in Finland. The children get chocolate eggs from their families and grandparents. Many people decorate their homes with different eggs, either real ones or decorated wooden or stone eggs. Children make egg-shaped decorations to homes out of paper or something like that.
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The families often eat together in Easter Sunday or Monday. The Easter menu often consists of roast mutton, mint sauce, garlig potatoes, sweet bread, mämmi, pasha and coffee. The menu can differ a lot between families.
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The Finnish Orthodox people have inherited their Easter customs from Russia. Many of their customs are popular nowadays also in lutheran homes.
Pasha, the most famous dish is made in wooden moulds. It is usually made of sour milk (kvark), cream, butter, sugar, vanilla and orange marmalade. There are different recipes. There are the letters XB and a cross on the pasha. XB means "Christ is risen".
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The pictures work as links to the pages where they were copied from.
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