Dreamcatchers and the Spider Goddess

March 30, 2023 By Niina Niskanen

Dreamcatchers are iconic, well-known symbols within Native American cultures. The tradition of dreamcatchers originates from the Ojibwa tribe. For the Ojibwa, the dreamcatcher symbolizes natural wisdom. Ojibway is the name of the tribe in Canada, and the name of the American tribes is Chippewa. Ojibwas reside in southern Canada in Manitoba and Ontario and in the states of Michigan and Wisconsin. Dreamcatchers were originally made of twigs of the willow tree. Twigs were gathered fresh and they were pulled into... Read more

Fairies In Finnish Mythology and Folklore

March 23, 2023 By Niina Niskanen

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Spirits around us The worldview of the ancient Finnish tribes was animistic and it was believed that everything in nature had its own soul and spirit. Nature was filled with invisible spirits and many of them had the ability to affect the lives of men, therefore, respect for nature and its powers was essential in order for people’s survival. Fairies in Finnish folk tales are not small, winged pretty ladies but they come in all shapes and sizes. Daughters of... Read more

Finnish Easter Witches Holiday

March 16, 2023 By Niina Niskanen

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Day of the Snakes In Pre-Christian times people across the northern hemisphere celebrated the spring equinox between the 19th and 23rd of March. In Finland, Spring Equinox was known as Matopäivä the day of the snakes. Mato in old Finnish meant both snake and worm and everything that slithered. It was believed that on the day of the spring equinox snakes and worms woke up from hibernation. There are several myths in Finnish folklore telling how snakes came to be... Read more

Reindeer in the Saami Mythology

March 9, 2023 By Niina Niskanen

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The Reindeer People Saami are the native inhabitants of Lapland in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Kola Peninsula in Russia. Saami land is a wide area which covers several Saami tribes and languages such as; Northern Saami, Koltta Saami, Inari Saami etc. The majority of the Saami were fishermen, hunters and above all reindeer herders. Therefore reindeer is one of the most sacred animals in the Saami culture. Taming The Wild Deer Some other totem animals of the Saami were bears... Read more

Mermaids in Polynesian Myths & Legends

March 9, 2023 By Niina Niskanen

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World of the Islanders Let´s dive into the mermaid myths of Polynesian islands. It is easy to imagine the southern seas being filled with exotic mermaids and sea creatures. Polynesian islands cover many languages and cultures and myths from different islands are intertwined in various ways to each other because many of the islanders were sailors. These Polynesian legends that I am sharing mainly come from Hawaii, Tahiti and New Zealand. Mo’o In Hawaii, Mo’o is an umbrella term to... Read more

Mermen in Myths and Folklore

March 2, 2023 By Niina Niskanen

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Origins of the Sea Folk Stories of the seafolk have been told around the world since the beginning of time. Mysterious waters have always captivated people´s imagination. Seas and oceans are still in many ways unknown and we don´t know what lies beneath the surface. Water being the element of feelings and emotions is often connected to the mysteries of the feminine. This is one of the reasons why mermaids are some of the most fascinating creatures there are in... Read more

Cosmic Egg in the Creation Myths Around the World

March 2, 2023 By Niina Niskanen

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The Cosmic Egg When we study creation myths from ancient cultures and civilisations the cosmic egg is one of the most popular motifs. The egg is a representation of the universe, the primordial sea or some primordial being that comes into existence by ”hatching”. “Ilmatar” by Robert Wilhelm Ekman, 1860 Finland Water birds had great spiritual significance among many Uralic people. In the proto-Uralic creation myth, the world was created by a waterbird who dived into the primordial sea bringing... Read more

Sun and the Moon in Saami Mythology and Folklore

February 23, 2023 By Niina Niskanen

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Living In Balance With Nature Saami people are the native people of northern Europe. Saami land reaches from the northern parts of Norway, Finland and Sweden to Kola peninsula in Russia. In these modern times, you can find saami in all kinds of professions but back in the day’s majority of the saami were fishermen, hunters and above all reindeer herders. The nomadic lifestyle was a natural way of life for many saami. They knew all about the constellations, movements... Read more

Water Spirits In Finnish Mythology

February 16, 2023 By Niina Niskanen

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The Mermaid Finland is a very forestry country, so it is no surprise that mermaid stories and legends are not very common. Mermaids in Finnish folklore are known as merenneito (maiden of the sea) vedenneito (maiden of water) and vedenemä (mother of water). Stories about mermaids can be mostly found on the coast of southern and western Finland. Vedenemä was described to be an erotic character who had big breasts, long green hair and green skin. In Finnish folklore, mermaids... Read more

History of Valentine’s Day

February 9, 2023 By Niina Niskanen

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The roots of Valentine´s Day lead all the way to the pagan festival of Lupercalia in ancient Rome. Lupercalia was a festival dedicated to wolves and there are lots of stories about wolves in Roman mythology. Many of them come from Pre-Roman times. In the Etruscan culture, the wolf was worshipped as one of the most important totem animals. Romulus and Remus The most famous wolf legend is the story of Romulus and Remus. The two brothers founded the city... Read more