Book about human remains in folk magic published in Finland
A book by religious studies scholar Risto Pulkkinen, Rahvaan magia, about magical practices of the agrarian era has been published in Finland. As YLE News reports, magic was part of the everyday life of the country’s rural population as recently as the last century.
Protecting livestock and farms
The book provides examples of rituals intended to protect farms, animals and people from misfortune. In particular, a snake’s head could be placed under the threshold of a new stable, and the opening sealed with a rowan stake, as rowan was considered a sacred tree.
According to Pulkkinen, people sought to influence events around them or protect themselves from danger through magical actions. Rituals were used for livestock breeding, the well-being of horses and favorable wind while burning forests for agriculture.
The researcher explains that some practices were based on the principle of symbolic similarity: it was believed that a ritual action could affect the real world. Thunder, fire, iron, river rapids and the stones in them were endowed with a special power called väki.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Magic associated with death
One of the strongest powers in these beliefs was considered to be the power of death. Human bones brought from cemeteries or parts of the bodies of recently deceased people were used in magical rituals. According to Pulkkinen, researchers have also noted the particular prevalence of such practices in Finland’s agrarian culture.
According to folk beliefs, a human skull could be used to feed livestock so that the animals would feel better. Pulkkinen noted that arterial blood collected at execution sites was considered the most effective magical remedy: it was credited with the ability to cure all diseases.
Beliefs about harmful magic
Finnish folk beliefs also included rituals intended to harm another person. For this purpose, figurines of an enemy could be made, nails driven into them, placed in a stream or shot at. There was a belief that secretly adding human remains to food could drive a victim insane through persecution by the spirits of the dead.
Pulkkinen also links such practices to the idea that the amount of happiness in the world was limited: it was believed that a neighbor’s misfortune could bring prosperity to another person.
