Something positive and totally volutary: All over Sweden and Denmark, there are Lucia parades where children and youngsters, dressed in white, sing the 'lucia' song and other songs about how dark it is (day is from 7-0 hours long right now, depending) and how much we yearn for the light, and the front person have a wreath of candles or electrical lights around her head. Sankta Lucia is a Catholic saint blatantly imposed on the Winter Solstice Pagan celebration of the coming of the light :-)

Here is taste in Swedish if anybody is interested, there are dozens if not more on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoX6j...eature=related