Finnish neopaganism
Encyclopedia
Finnish Neopaganism is a Neopagan religious
system that attempts to revive old Finnish paganism
, the pre-Christian polytheistic ethnic religion
of the Finnish people.
The main problem in the revival of Finnish paganism is the nature of pre-Christian Finnish culture, which relied on oral tradition and was completely illiterate. The primary sources concerning Finnish native culture are written by latter-era Christians. They may be biased, tainted or unreliable.
Finnish Neopaganism is advocated by the Taivaannaula voluntary association (since 2007). Its existence is not reported by adherents.com
(as of 2010). According to official statistics on religion in Finland
in 2009, 79.7% of Finns are Lutherans, 17.7% are nonreligious, 1.1% Eastern Orthodox, and the remaining 1.3% are mostly adherent of smaller Christian denominations.
Finnish Neopaganism also includes an element of ancestor worship.
, and it is a place where several different deities live, including Tuoni
.
Bible
, but the folk epic of Finland, the Kalevala
is sometimes used as it is a collection of folk beliefs describing the gods and goddesses. Still, Kalevala was heavily edited by its writer, Elias Lönnroth, so most Finnish neopagans prefer SKVR.
Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot or SKVR (The old poems of Finnish people) is a massive collection of all collected Finnish poetic folklore and mythology, with 100 000 different poems. SKVR is probably even more important than Kalevala, because it is fully authentic raw material, that has not been altered. SKVR is today available on internet http://dbgw.finlit.fi/skvr/skvr-tietokanta.php making the exploration of Finnish mythology a lot easier than earlier.
at the midsummer festival (Ukon juhla).
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
system that attempts to revive old Finnish paganism
Finnish paganism
Finnish paganism was the indigenous pagan religion in Finland, Estonia and Karelia prior to Christianization. It was a polytheistic religion, worshipping a number of different deities...
, the pre-Christian polytheistic ethnic religion
Ethnic religion
Ethnic religion may include officially sanctioned and organized civil religions with an organized clergy, but they are characterized in that adherents generally are defined by their ethnicity, and conversion essentially equates to cultural assimilation to the people in question. Contrasted to this...
of the Finnish people.
The main problem in the revival of Finnish paganism is the nature of pre-Christian Finnish culture, which relied on oral tradition and was completely illiterate. The primary sources concerning Finnish native culture are written by latter-era Christians. They may be biased, tainted or unreliable.
Finnish Neopaganism is advocated by the Taivaannaula voluntary association (since 2007). Its existence is not reported by adherents.com
Adherents.com
Adherents.com is a website that aims to collect and present information about religious demographics, established in 1998. It is the largest pool of such data freely available on the internet. As of January 2010, the site contains approximately 44,000 references on over 4,300 faith groups...
(as of 2010). According to official statistics on religion in Finland
Religion in Finland
Most people in Finland are at least nominally members of a Christian church, but since the 1980s, there has been a rapid increase in the number of people without religious affiliation. Prior to Christianisation, Finnish paganism was the primary religion....
in 2009, 79.7% of Finns are Lutherans, 17.7% are nonreligious, 1.1% Eastern Orthodox, and the remaining 1.3% are mostly adherent of smaller Christian denominations.
Deities
Finnish Neopaganism is polytheistic, with a pantheon of many deities worshipped:- UkkoUkkoIn Finnish mythology, Ukko, in Estonian mythology Uku, is a god of sky, weather, crops and other natural things. He is the most significant god in Finnish and Estonian mythologies, and created the goddess Ilmatar, creator of the world. The Finnish word ukkonen, thunderstorm, is derived from his...
: the sky god, and chief deity in the Finnish pantheon. Actually most Finnish neopagans consider Ukko just a god of sky rather than "chief of gods". Imagination of Ukko Ylijumala (Ukko Overgod) has born at Christian era. Some think he is the same as Ilmarinen. - AkkaAkkaAkka is traditionally a female spirit in Sámi and Finnish mythology.In Sámi mythology, the first akka was Maderakka and her daughters were Sarakka, Uksakka and Juksakka. Some Sámi thought they lived under their kota tents....
: goddess of fertility, and wife of Ukko; rejected by some as historically dubious - AhtiAhtiThis article is about the Finnish mythic hero. For the fictional city in the Star Wars universe, go to Manaan.In Finnish mythology, Ahti or Ahto is one of the heroic figures Elias Lönnrot compiled in the character of Lemminkäinen...
: the sea god - TapioTapioTapio may refer to*Tapio, a Finnish male given name*Tapio, an East Finnish forest spirit or god. He lends his name in the form of*Forestry Development Centre Tapio, Finnish organisation, that produces solutions for sustainable forest management....
: the forest god - Pekko: god of the crops
- NyyrikkiNyyrikkiNyyrikki is the Finnish god of the hunt, and son of Tapio. He has been tenuously associated with Nimrod....
: the hunter god - MielikkiMielikkiMielikki is the Finnish goddess of forests and the hunt. She is referred to in various tales as either the wife or the daughter-in-law of Tapio. She is said to have played a central role in the creation of the bear....
: goddess of forests and the hunt - IlmarinenIlmarinenSeppo Ilmarinen, the Eternal Hammerer, blacksmith and inventor in the Kalevala, is an archetypal artificer from Finnish mythology. Immortal, he is capable of creating practically anything, but is portrayed as unlucky in love...
: the god of sky and weather. Some consider him to be the same as Ukko. - LouhiLouhiLouhi is a queen of the land known as Pohjola in Finnish mythology and the mythology of Lapland.-In mythology:Louhi is described as a powerful witch with the ability to change shape and weave mighty enchantments. She is also the main opponent of Väinämöinen and his group in the battle for the...
: God that gives birth to many diseases. Matriarch of the Pohjola ("Northern"), evil place - TurisasIku-TursoIku-Turso is a malevolent sea monster in the Finnish mythology. Nowadays Meritursas means octopus in Finnish, named after Iku-Turso, but originally tursas is an old name for walrus while the more common term is mursu. However, it is more common to see the word Iku-Turso is a malevolent sea...
: the war god; rejected by some as historically dubious - HaltijaHaltijaHaltija is a spirit, gnome or elf-like creature in Finnish mythology, that guards, helps or protects something or somebody. The word is possibly derived from the Gothic *haltijar, and referred to the original settler of a homestead — although this is not the only possible etymology.In common...
s: elven-like creatures, spirits, gnomes. Other nominations: Pitäjäs/Pitäväs, also ukko (old man) akka (old woman)-of something - LemminkäinenLemminkäinenLemminkäinen or Lemminki is a prominent figure in Finnish mythology. He is one of the Heroes of the Kalevala, where his character is a composition of several separate heroes of oral poetry. He is usually depicted as young and good looking, with wavy blonde hair.The original, mythological...
: mythical hero - VäinämöinenVäinämöinenVäinämöinen is the central character in the Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic Kalevala. His name comes from the Finnish word väinämö, meaning minstrel. Originally a Finnish god, he was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, magical...
: mythical hero, creator god and god of poetry and music and magic - HiisiHiisiHiisis are a kind of tutelary spirits in mythologies of the Baltic Sea area, especially in Finland. In Christian tradition, they are most often considered to be malicious or at least very horrifying...
: holy place and creature - Jumi: fertility god or statue that gives fertility (without being a personal god)
Finnish Neopaganism also includes an element of ancestor worship.
Afterlife
For Finnish Neopagans, the afterlife is a place called TuonelaTuonela
Tuonela is the realm of the dead or the Underworld in Finnish and Estonian mythology. Tuonela, Tuoni, Manala and Mana are used synonymously. In Estonian mythology, it is called Toonela or Manala....
, and it is a place where several different deities live, including Tuoni
Tuoni
In Finnish mythology, Tuoni was the god of the Tuonela ....
.
Festivals
Various folk festivals are followed:- HelaHelaHela can stand for:* Hela, an ancient name for Sri Lanka* Hela , a name for the Sinhala people of Sri Lanka* Hela a Hindu caste found in North India* HeLa cells derived from Henrietta Lacks...
, a festival celebrating the coming of spring and the new growing season - Juhannus or Ukon juhla, midsummer festival.
- KekriKekriKekri is a city and a municipality in Ajmer district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.-Geography:Kekri is located at .Earlier this city was known as Kankawati Nagari, named on the Name of princess kankawati, but now it is known as Kekri.This city is a pioneer in the field of religious, education...
, celebration of harvest and the ancestors - JouluYuleYule or Yuletide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic people as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January...
, the winter solstice.
Texts
There is no sacred text in Finnish Neopaganism, such as the ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, but the folk epic of Finland, the Kalevala
Kalevala
The Kalevala is a 19th century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Finnish and Karelian oral folklore and mythology.It is regarded as the national epic of Finland and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature...
is sometimes used as it is a collection of folk beliefs describing the gods and goddesses. Still, Kalevala was heavily edited by its writer, Elias Lönnroth, so most Finnish neopagans prefer SKVR.
Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot or SKVR (The old poems of Finnish people) is a massive collection of all collected Finnish poetic folklore and mythology, with 100 000 different poems. SKVR is probably even more important than Kalevala, because it is fully authentic raw material, that has not been altered. SKVR is today available on internet http://dbgw.finlit.fi/skvr/skvr-tietokanta.php making the exploration of Finnish mythology a lot easier than earlier.
Worship
Some Finnish Neopagans visit sacred forests, where wooden god-images or sacred stones can sometimes be found. Some celebrate the circling of the year at certain dates, for example by burning bonfires, dancing, sacrificing, or making other kinds of rituals. One ritual, which is also an authentic practice of the ancestors, is to drink a toast for the thunder god UkkoUkko
In Finnish mythology, Ukko, in Estonian mythology Uku, is a god of sky, weather, crops and other natural things. He is the most significant god in Finnish and Estonian mythologies, and created the goddess Ilmatar, creator of the world. The Finnish word ukkonen, thunderstorm, is derived from his...
at the midsummer festival (Ukon juhla).
External links
- Lehto - Finnish organization for Earth-based religions
- Taivaannaula - Finnish Neopagan organization
- Finnish Paganism by Anssi Alhonen