Räuchle

Many people in Innerrhoden don't feel christmassy until the blue smoke of incense pervades the house with its fragrance.

This ceremony takes place late in the afternoon at Christmas. In the village the altar-boys go from house to house with the smoking censer, in the country the father of the family fetches the special pan from the cellar. Using a brand from the stove and with branches of holly and juniper left from Palm Sunday, he starts the pan smoking. Then the «Räuchli», incense bought from the verger or drugstore, goes into the pan. Now father carries the smoking pan through all the rooms of the house, the stable, barn and byre and all around the premises. In the meantime the family stays in the parlour and prays for divine protection against «Öbel ond Oofall» (evil and accident).