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58-470: According to the Finnish pagan faith , the fate of good and bad people is the same and the dead wander the afterlife as shadow-like ghosts. Tuoni , god of the dead, and his wife Tuonetar are the rulers of Tuonela. Although physical descriptions of Tuonela vary between different versions of the myth, a general description emerges from most. According to scholars Felix Oinas and Juha Pentikäinen , Tuonela

116-399: A cemetery usually ended up as permanent haunters of some place, typically screaming in terror, until someone digs up their bodies, blesses them, and buries them in a graveyard. People were afraid of ghosts, but spirits of ancestors could also help their living relatives, and they were asked to help. A shaman could be sent to Tuonela to ask for knowledge of spirits or even to take a spirit to

174-643: A fierce seagoing warrior. He makes a double vow with his wife Kyllikki , binding him to stay at home and not to engage in raiding, and binding her to stay faithful. However, Kyllikki breaks her oath and Ahti goes on a voyage with his old war companions. In the Kalevala, Ahti is mentioned (as a synonym of Lemminkäinen) in Rune IX, where his close association with the sea is made clear; in this verse his marriage to Kyllikki, and their vows, are described. Rune XII describes Kyllikki's breaking of her vow. In Rune XX Ahti

232-479: A home ( kotitonttu ) or a sauna ( saunatonttu ). Certain "haltiat", known as "maan haltija" (literally "tutelary of land"), guarded the property of an individual, including their house and livestock. Votive offerings would be given to these haltijas at a shrine, as thanks for the help given and also to prevent the haltija from causing harm. Sometimes haltijas of certain families and farms acted against other families and their farms by stealing their wealth or making

290-522: A human or another animal's form. Haltijas could be found everywhere in nature, both in the biotic and abiotic parts. Every human has a haltija, usually called haltijasielu (haltija soul) or luontohaltija (nature haltija), which is one of the three parts of a person's soul. The tradition blends with the Swedish tomte : the Finnish tonttu was a being analogous to haltija, but which lives in a building, like

348-475: A missing part of the soul needed to be found. Itse could also leave the body to appear as an etiäinen (a sort of false arrival apparition). At the time of a person's death their itse joined the other deceased of the family or, in some cases, stayed among the living as a ghost; much like the Norse concept of Fylgja (follower). In some traditions, it was a habit to pause at a half-way point while transporting

406-1114: A number of different deities. Most of the deities ruled over a specific aspect of nature; for instance, Ukko was the god of the sky and thunder ( ukkonen and ukonilma ["Ukko's air"] are still used in modern Finnish as terms for thunderstorms ). These deities were often pan-Finnic, being worshipped by many different tribes in different regions. The Baltic Finnic pagans were also animists , worshipping local nature deities at site-specific shrines to that particular deity. These shrines are thought to be mainly "tree-gods": wooden statues or carvings done in trees or treestumps, depicting human figures, and have been scarcely preserved. One confirmed Stone Age wooden statue has been found in Pohjankuru, and folklore about worshipping tree-gods has been documented. Another kind of shrine are "cup-stones" (Finnish: fi:kuppikivi ), large natural stones into which cup-sized recesses have been drilled. Votive offerings of food or drink were left in these cups. Despite Christianization, offerings on these cup-stones continued up to

464-459: A person's body without the person dying, but its lengthened absence would cause problems, such as alcoholism and other addictions. Unlike henki , luonto was not received prior to birth but instead either at the time of getting the first teeth or being given a name. A newborn child was thus considered to be particularly vulnerable. These concepts share similar basics with the idea of hamr (life force) and Hamingja (luck) in Norse belief. Itse

522-446: A synonym for dead in the Finnish language even now. Luonto (translated as "nature") was a guardian spirit or protector. Luonto has also been referred to as the haltija of a person. A strong willed, artistic or otherwise talented person was believed to have a strong haltija who granted them good luck and skills to complete their tasks well. A weak luonto could be strengthened by various spells and rituals. Luonto could leave

580-464: A trip through thorn thickets and dangerous woods, and the defeat of the monster Surma, a flesh-tearing monster that works for the goddess of decay, Kalma . Once in Tuonela, the living were not allowed to leave. They would be welcomed by Tuonetar, who would offer them a memory-erasing beer to erase their former lives. Shamans could visit Tuonela by falling into a trance and tricking the guards. Tuonela

638-522: Is a major deity and former chief deity, in the form of a sky deity in Baltic Finnic paganism, alongside the Proto-Uralic religion until his replacement as the chief deity. Ilmarinen may have [possibly] also been a thunder deity under the name Ilmaričče. Other names for Ilmarinen are Ilmorinen and Ilmollini , as found from runes. Ilmarinen is also described in the pagan faith as

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696-451: Is best known for its appearance in the Finnish national epic Kalevala , which is a collection of Finnish and Karelian mythology. In the 19th song of Kalevala , Väinämöinen , a shamanistic hero, travels to Tuonela to seek the knowledge of the dead. On the journey, he meets the ferryman, a woman, Tuonen tytti / Tuonen tyttö ( transl.  Tuoni’s girl ), or Tuonen piika ( transl.  Tuoni's maid ), who takes him over

754-684: Is briefly mentioned, and the conflation with Lemminkainen and Kaukomiele is made explicit. Ahti is also mentioned in Rune XXVI, in Rune XXVIII he is called "Ahti, hero of the Islands", and in Rune XXX he is again identified with Lemminkainen. A pattern of association of the name "Ahti" with islands and seafaring is found in Runes XX, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII, and other runes. Ahto is the name of

812-467: Is briefly mentioned. In a fable similar to Mercury and the Woodman , Ahto dives to return the lost knife of a shepherd, out of pity. He first finds a gold knife, and then a silver knife, but the shepherd does not claim them as his. The third knife Ahto retrieves is the correct one; as a reward for his honesty, Ahto gives the shepherd all three. This article related to Finnish paganism or mythology

870-522: Is described as being at the northernmost part of the world but is sectioned apart from the world of the living by a great divide. In the divide flows the dark river of Tuonela. The river is wild, and the dead can be seen trying to swim across it. The dead must cross the river, either by a thread bridge, swimming, or taking a boat piloted by the daughter of Tuoni. The river is guarded by a black swan that sings death spells. At times living people visited Tuonela to gather information and spells. The journey required

928-591: Is that the world was born from the egg of a waterfowl . This myth was originally said to be from India, however it had made its way to the Uralic peoples , however this myth was only well known among the Sámi , Finns , Komi and Mordvins . There is said to be no eschatology (the end of the world) in Finnic mythology. However based on similarities in other Uralic beliefs, it can be assumed that Finnic paganism included

986-455: Is the more common name for Ahto, but Ahto is used in the Finnish epic Kalevala as to avoid confusion with Ahti Saarelainen, the hero. In the Kalevala the compiler Elias Lönnrot conflated several mythological persons into the main characters in an attempt to create a consistent narrative from several songs. The heroic figures Kaukomieli and Ahti were condensed into Lemminkäinen in

1044-402: The Finnish , Karelian and Ingrian regional variants of the pagan faith. He was associated with the sowing season during springtime according to Mikael Agricola . Ukko also had characteristics of a war god , and would be prayed to help in battle. Ukko was sometimes given the epithet Isäinen ylinen Luoja ('Fatherly Supreme Creator'), and Salo notes that this could also be related to

1102-490: The Khanty and Mansi , who believe in two souls: the shadow and the lili (löyly). Henki (translated as "life", "breath" or "spirit", sometimes also referred to as löyly ) was a person's life force, which presented itself as breathing, the beating of one's heart and the warmth of their body. Henki was received prior to birth and it left at the moment of death. The word hengetön (lit. "one without henki") can be used as

1160-519: The creation of the universe and the earth. This includes the Sukeltajamyytti  [ fi ] , in which the god sent a Black-throated loon into the Alkumeri ( Finnish : Primeval sea ) to collect mud and sand to build the earth. This myth is common in various Siberian ( Chukchi , Yugaghir and Ainu ), Tatar and North American native folklore. Another creation theory

1218-463: The 19th century as the Kalevala , which was created to be a national epic of Finland by Elias Lönnrot . Ahti In Finnish mythology , Ahti ( Finnish pronunciation: [ˈɑhti] ) is a heroic character in folk poetry who is sometimes given the epithet Saarelainen ( pronounced [ˈsɑːrelɑi̯nen] , "Islander"). Ahto [ˈɑhto] is a Finnish sea god. Ahti

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1276-1038: The Balts or Germanic people . In 1551, Mikael Agricola published a list of deities  [ fi ] present across Tavastia and Karelia , most of the deities were also widespread and known to those who practiced the pagan faith outside of those regions. Näitä kumarsivat hämäläiset / sekä miehet että naiset. TAPIO metsästä pyydykset soi / ja AHTI vedestä kaloja toi. VÄINÄMÖINEN virret takoi, / RAHKO  [ fi ] kuun mustaksi jakoi. LIEKKIÖ  [ fi ] ruohot, juuret ja puut / hallitsi ja senkaltaiset muut. ILMARINEN rauhan ja ilman teki / ja matkamiehet edesvei. TURSAS antoi voiton sodasta, / KRATTI  [ fi ] murheen piti tavarasta. TONTTU huoneen menon hallitsi, / kuin PIRU monta villitsi. KAPEET  [ fi ] myös heiltä kuun söivät. / KALEVANPOJAT  [ fi ] niityt ja muut löivät. These were revered by

1334-718: The Finnish Ilmarinen . Memories of Ilmarinen's status as the sky deity have been preserved in Kalevala myths , such as the belief that he forged the firmament and the Sampo . Tapio is a major deity in Baltic Finnic paganism (in its most recent form), he is the king and god of the forest and hunting . Tapio was prayed to for luck in hunting , because of his control over game . Tapio would often be sacrificed to, by sacrificing of animals , such as birds . Tapionpöytä (( Picea abies ), literally 'Tapio's table') are spruce trees where sacrifices were made to Tapio. Tapio

1392-514: The Tavastians / both men and women. TAPIO gave game from the forest / and AHTI brought fish from the water. VÄINÄMÖINEN forged songs, / RAHKO  [ fi ] darkened the moon. LIEKKIÖ  [ fi ] controlled herbs, roots, and trees / and others of that kind. ILMARINEN made peace and weather / and guided travelers. TURSAS gave victory in war, / KRATTI  [ fi ] guarded treasures. TONTTU managed

1450-500: The ancient Finns believed that the world was totally animistic in that no force of nature or intelligent life existed without väkis or haltijas. In other words, nothing happened in the universe without it being caused by a group of spirits. Even a person's soul consisted of many spirits. The Universe labelled as according to Finnic mythology. B. Celestial pole C. World pillar E. Pohjola F. The known world H. Tuonela In Finnic mythology, there are two different theories on

1508-508: The animals infertile, for instance. Many local haltijas were believed to have originally been the sacred spirits of ancestors. In some cases a haltija was the first inhabitant of a house. Sometimes while making a new house a local spirit of nature could be "employed" to work as a maan haltija. Different elements and environments had their own haltijas. Haltijas were grouped into types or races called väki . "Väki" has multiple connected meanings of "strength", "force", "throng", "military troop"; in

1566-401: The building sites for the churches of the new religion, and the old sacred trees were hacked down. The Finns believed in a place of afterlife called Tuonela , or sometimes also called Manala. In most traditions, it was situated underground or at the bottom of a lake, though sometimes it was said to exist on the other side of a dark river. Tuonela was ruled over by the god Tuoni , and his wife,

1624-408: The cosmic balance. For example, it was believed that on contact with the ground, as in falling on one's face, diseases could spread to the human, caused by the "väki" of the earth. Similarly, löyly ( sauna steam) was believed to contain a väki spirit (löylyn henki), which could cause open wounds to get infected. According to the concept of väki being divided in two (into power and folk of haltijas)

1682-417: The dead body, from the dwelling to the graveyard. Here, a karsikko -marking was made on a big pine tree. The marking was for people to remember the person; and in the event that the spirit were to awaken and try to make its way back home from the graveyard, it would see its own karsikko-marking, then realize that it is dead and instead try to find the path to the spirit realm. A forest with karsikko-marked trees

1740-512: The early 20th century. Several key deities were venerated by all the Baltic Finnic peoples and some other Finnic peoples , these pan-Finnic deities controlled many aspects of nature. Ukko is the chief deity in Baltic Finnic paganism, he is the god of the sky , weather (mostly thunder , rain and clouds), a god of harvest and fertility . He is also given the epithet Ylijumala ('Supreme God' or 'Highest God' ) in at least

1798-478: The first millennium BC, replacing other chief deities who were more unique per region, such as Taara in Estonia. Before the influences of the Balts, the various Finnic people [most likely] had an earlier, original sky-god. Ilmarinen , who is known as the blacksmith in the Kalevala , is the earliest known to be sky-god of the various Uralic peoples . The Udmurt sky god Inmar  [ fi ] corresponds to

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1856-525: The forest, / HITTAVAINEN  [ fi ] brought hares from the bush. Siihen PIRU ja synti veti heitä, / että he kumarsivat ja uskoivat näitä. Kuolleiden hautoihin ruokaa vietiin, / joissa valitettiin, paruttiin ja itkettiin. MENNINKÄISET  [ fi ] myös heidän uhrinsa saivat, / koska lesket huolivat ja naivat. Palveltiin myös paljon muuta, / KIVIÄ  [ fi ] , kantoja, tähtiä ja kuuta. To this PIRU and sin drew them, / that they bowed to and believed in these. Food

1914-443: The forger of the firmament , and the aurora borealis and the colors of the morning and evening are also attributed to the work of Ilmarinen. Ilmarinen was said to have the achievements of inventing iron and " striking the first fire  [ fi ] " according to folklore. He is also described as a blacksmith and is thought to have gained his smith status through Proto-Finnic contact with iron-working cultures such as

1972-476: The goddess Tuonetar . Tuonela was a dark and lifeless place, where the dead were in a state of eternal sleep. Shamans were sometimes able to reach the spirits of their dead ancestors by traveling to Tuonela in a state of trance created by rituals. He had to make his way over the Tuonela river by tricking the ferryman. While in Tuonela, the shaman had to be careful not to get caught: the living were not welcome there. Shamans who were caught could end up decaying in

2030-426: The growth of barley. VIRANKANNOS  [ fi ] took care of oats, / otherwise there would be no oats. ÄKRÄS created peas, beans, and turnips, / brought forth cabbages, flax, and hemp. KÖNDÖS  [ fi ] made the slash-and-burn fields and meadows, / as he saw their unbelief. And when the spring sowing was sown, / then UKKO'S toast was drunk. For this, they fetched UKKO'S festival , / so

2088-1232: The household, / like PIRU who misled many. KAPEET  [ fi ] also devoured the moon. / KALEVANPOJAT  [ fi ] struck down meadows and more. RONGOTEUS  [ fi ] ruista antoi, / PELLONPEKKO  [ fi ] ohran kasvun soi. VIRANKANNOS  [ fi ] kauran kaitsi, / muutoin oltiin kaurasta paitsi. ÄKRÄS herneet, pavut, nauriit loi, / kaalit, liinat ja hamput edestoi. KÖNDÖS  [ fi ] huhdat ja pellot teki, / kuin heidän epäuskonsa näki. Ja kun kevätkylvö kylvettiin, / silloin UKON malja juotiin. Siihen haettiin UKON vakka , / niin juopui piika ja akka. Sitten paljon häpeää siellä tehtiin, / kuin sekä kuultiin että nähtiin. Kun RAUNI UKON nainen härskyi, / jalosti UKKO pohjasta pärskyi. Se siis antoi ilman ja vedentulon. / KEKRI se lisäsi karjan kasvun. HIISI metsäläisistä soi voiton, / VEDENEMÄ  [ fi ] vei kalat verkkoon. NYYRIKKI  [ fi ] oravat antoi metsästä, / HITTAVAINEN  [ fi ] toi jänikset pensaasta. RONGOTEUS  [ fi ] gave rye, / PELLONPEKKO  [ fi ] granted

2146-468: The hunter's catch, and Tapio's spirits were thought to live in the deepest ravines of the forest and took care of plants and animals, in the darkness of the deep forest, which was called Tapiola  [ fi ] . Tapiola was a kingdom which Tapio ruled over, and was sometimes used as the name for Finland by the Baltic Finnic pagan believers during the Early Middle Ages . Ilmarinen

2204-404: The idea that the world is in cyclicity and that it will be recurring at regular intervals. The Finnic pagan belief about the soul dictated that the human soul is composed of three different parts: henki , luonto and itse . Each of the three were autonomous beings on their own. Similar beliefs about multiple autonomous souls are found amongst other peoples speaking Uralic languages , such as

2262-700: The king or god of the sea, and Ahtola is his sea-castle. His wife is Wellamo , and they live together at the bottom of the sea. The Sampo comes into his possession and he is unwilling to return it. In the Kalevala , Ahto appears in Rune XLI; in Rune XLII, where Väinämöinen charms him with his magic harp playing; in Rune XLIII, where the Sampo is lost in the sea; and in Rune XLVIII, where he

2320-426: The magical context, it referred ambiguously to magical strength and numbers. There were, for instance, different väki of water, forests, and graveyards. Väkis could become angry if people acted in a disrespectful manner in their area. For example, cursing close to water made the väki of water angry. When angry, väkis could cause diseases and other misfortune to befall the human victim. Some väkis were always angry, like

2378-436: The maid and the old woman got drunk. Then much shame was done there, / as was heard and seen. When RAUNI , UKKO'S woman, was aroused, / nobly UKKO splashed from the bottom. He thus gave the weather and rainfall. / KEKRI increased the growth of the cattle. HIISI granted victory over the forest folk, / VEDENEMÄ  [ fi ] brought the fish to the net. NYYRIKKI  [ fi ] gave squirrels from

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2436-472: The river of Tuoni. On the isle of Tuoni, however, he is not given the spells that he was looking for and he barely manages to escape the place by turning into a snake. After his return, he curses anyone trying to enter the place alive. Also in the Kalevala, the adventurer-shaman Lemminkäinen goes to Pohjola to woo the daughter of Louhi , a powerful old sorceress. Louhi gives Lemminkäinen three tasks he must complete to woo her daughter. While trying to complete

2494-413: The sky-god *Dyēus of Proto-Indo-European religion . Ukko is perhaps to a significant extent derived from the various Baltic peoples . The Latvian ( Pērkons) and Lithuanian ( Perkūnas) , which are the same thunder deity , are known to be the origins for the Finnish word Perkele (which is also [thought to be] another cognomen for Ukko). Ukko is thought to have entered Baltic Finnic paganism in

2552-499: The stomach of a giant pike fish with no hope of returning to normal life. If the shaman died during the trance ritual, it was believed that he had been caught by the guards at Tuonela. The pagan Finns had many myths about their gods and their great heroes. Because they lived in a non-literate society, the stories were taught orally as folklore , and they were not written down. Finnic mythology survived Christianisation by being told as myths. Many of these myths were later written down in

2610-405: The third task, killing the swan of Tuonela, Lemminkäinen is cut into pieces by a water snake and thrown into a whirlpool in the river of Tuonela. Lemminkäinen's mother is alerted of his death by a magical charm. She goes to the river, and rakes out the pieces of her son's body. With the help of a bee, Lemminkäinen's mother pieces together his body, and brings him back to life. Tuonela is used as

2668-571: The translation for the Greek word ᾍδης ( Hades ) in Finnish translations of the Bible . In Finnish Christianity , Tuonela is often interpreted as the place of the dead before the Last Judgement . This article related to Finnish paganism or mythology is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Finnish paganism Baltic Finnic paganism , or Baltic Finnic polytheism

2726-472: The väki of fire, explaining why every time you touch fire it burns, no matter how respectful you are around it. Each tribe of väkis belonged to specific environments and if they were misplaced, problems occurred. For example, most väkis were misplaced if they attached to a human being, and they made the human being ill because they were in the wrong place. Illnesses were removed by sending väkis back to their right places. Shamans who cured diseases were returning

2784-521: The work. Ahti's story is of a man so eager to fight that he abandons his young wife and sets out on an adventure with his friend Tiera  [ fi ] . The original songs in the Ahti cycle have been tentatively dated to the Viking Age because of their references to sea voyages, but Oinas also sees an adventurous element in both Ahti and Kaukamoinen's tales. Ahti Saarelainen is described as

2842-499: The world of living as luonto . A Spirit of the dead had to be honoured by giving him/her sacrifices. Places where sacrifices were given to ancestors were called Hiisi ( = sacred forest , also a kind of open air temple, often included the Offering-stone, uhrikivi , collective monument for the dead of the family). Christianity held hiisi to be evil creatures and places. The old sacred places were often desecrated by being used as

2900-587: Was a sky god ; today, the word "Jumala" refers to a monotheistic God . Ahti was a god of the sea , waters and fish. Tapio was the god of the forest and hunting . Baltic Finnic paganism included necrolatry (worship of the dead) and shamanism ( tietäjä(t) , literally "one who knows"), and the religion was not always uniform across the areas it was practiced, as customs and beliefs varied during different periods of time and regions. Baltic Finnic paganism shares some features with its neighbouring Baltic , Norse and Germanic pagan beliefs. The organic tradition

2958-413: Was a kind of supernatural barrier between dwellings of the living and the burial grounds. After a person died there was a transitional period of thirty to forty days while their soul searched Tuonela, the land of dead, and tried to find their place there. During this period, the soul could visit its living relatives either as a ghost or in the form of an animal. The soul visited relatives especially if it

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3016-413: Was a spirit received at the time of birth or a few days after. It was believed to define one's personality and receiving itse made one a person. In modern-day Finnish the word itse means "self", but in old days itse was different from one's self, minuus . Like luonto , itse could leave one's body without the person dying but long absence would cause illnesses and misery. Depressions, for instance,

3074-406: Was extremely significant due to the tribal nature of the Baltic Finnic peoples during the time when Tapio was worshipped, as hunting and game was extremely important for survival, making Tapio one of the most important deities. Tapio possessed over various spirits and was himself also a spirit, possessing Tapion väki  [ fi ] ('Tapio's spirits/elves'), the spirit beings were central to

3132-409: Was seen as a result of having lost one's itse . If a person was diagnosed to be itsetön or luonnoton (without one's itse or without one's luonto ), a shaman or a sage could try locating the missing part of the soul and bring it back. Although itse and luonto were usually lost after a traumatising event, it was possible to purposefully separate one's itse from their body. This was required if

3190-523: Was sidelined due to Christianisation starting from ca. 12th century and finally broken by the early 20th century, when folk Magic and oral traditions went extinct. Baltic Finnic paganism provided the inspiration for a contemporary pagan movement Suomenusko ( Finnish : Belief of Finland ), which is an attempt to reconstruct the old religion of the Finns. It is nevertheless based on secondary sources. Baltic Finnic pagans were polytheistic , believing in

3248-561: Was taken to the graves of the dead, / where they lamented, mourned, and wept. MENNINKÄISET  [ fi ] also received their sacrifices, / because widows grieved and remarried. They also served many other things, / HOLY STONES  [ fi ] , stumps, stars, and the moon. Local animistic deities, known as haltijas or haltias, were also worshipped. Haltijas would act as spirits, gnome , or elf -like creatures in that guard, help, own, or protects somethin or somebody. These haltijas could be male or female, and could take

3306-488: Was the indigenous religion of the various of the Baltic Finnic peoples , specifically the Finns , Estonians , Võros , Setos , Karelians , Veps , Izhorians , Votes and Livonians , prior to Christianisation . It was a polytheistic religion, worshipping a number of different deities . The chief deity was the god of thunder and the sky , Ukko ; other important deities included Jumala , Ahti , and Tapio . Jumala

3364-506: Was unhappy. To please an unhappy soul, one would show respect by not speaking ill of the deceased or by having a sacrifice in the spirit's name. After this transitional period, the soul moved permanently into Tuonela. However, the soul could still come back if it were unhappy, or if it were asked to return by its relatives who needed help. Some souls were not able to settle down or were not welcomed in Tuonela, and they continued haunting, i.e. bastard children who were killed and buried outside

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