Of the many types of magical power that were utilized in Finnish folk magic practices, the power of death may seem the grimmest one. This power could be accessed through any object that had come into contact with a dead body. One very typical way to invoke the power was by retrieving soil or even… Continue reading The Needle of Death
Category: Magic Objects
The Unique Witch’s Stone
Most of the magic objects that occur in the Finnish museum collections are common in the sense that either there are similar objects in the collections or at least they are mentioned in folklore accounts. As to every rule, there are a few exceptions. One of these exceptions is a so-called witch’s stone (Fi. noitakivi).… Continue reading The Unique Witch’s Stone
What’s special about the badger?
The European badger (Meles meles) is a nocturnal animal. (Photo by BadgerHero - CC BY-SA 3.0) One of the magic objects in the collection of the National Museum of Finland is the foot of a badger (Meles meles; Fin. mäyrä). It belonged to the cunning man Juho Sarkkinen in Tohmajärvi and came to the museum… Continue reading What’s special about the badger?
Cross-Cultural Cross Stones
This cross stone (staurolite crystal) belonged to a cunning man from Iisalmi before 1894 when it was bought by the museum. National Museum of Finland (KM F1249). Photo by S. Hukantaival. There are nine so-called cross stones (ristikivi) in the magic objects collection of the National Museum of Finland. One of these is a smooth,… Continue reading Cross-Cultural Cross Stones
Snake-medicine and Envious Eyes
"When building a cowshed, or also when it is already built, a hole is drilled into the threshold and the head cut off of a living snake is put inside; the hole is then plugged with a rowan wood plug. Then envious eyes cannot harm the cattle and luck is ensured" (SKMT IV, 1: I… Continue reading Snake-medicine and Envious Eyes
The Strange Imatra Stones
There are seven strange limestone formations among the magic objects in the National Museum of Finland. Two of these are called “Imatra stones” (Imatrankivi) in the catalogue. Imatra stones are chalk coagulates that were formed in clay deposits of the River Vuoksi area during the melting phase of the Ice Age. They are often curiously… Continue reading The Strange Imatra Stones
The Burdensome Journey of Collecting Magic Objects
How did the magic objects end up in the museum collections? Most of these objects were collected in the late 19th and early 20th century. In this period, there was a huge effort to collect the “folk culture” of Finland to be preserved in archives and museums. Thus, researchers, students, schoolteachers, and other interested individuals… Continue reading The Burdensome Journey of Collecting Magic Objects
The Stoat – A “Furry Venomous Snake”
Among other animal remains, the magic object collections include a few heads or dried carcasses of stoats (Mustela erminea, Fin. kärppä). Where it is quite easy to understand the powerfulness of big predators, such as the bear, it may be a bit more puzzling why a stoat could be seen as useful in folk magic… Continue reading The Stoat – A “Furry Venomous Snake”
Bolts of Thunder
The thunderbolt prevents all fiery arrows of a witch. Often when cattle are thriving, someone will envy the cattle-luck. If one does not take precaution, the animals will start to suffer and will not thrive. Old folks used to conceal a thunderbolt under the threshold of the cowshed in the stone foundation, since witches could… Continue reading Bolts of Thunder
Pigs and the Power of Earth
In the previous post about wooden gnarls used for healing skin diseases, a folklore example also mentioned that healing could be done with the snout of a pig. The magic objects collection of Finland’s National Museum includes mostly parts of wild animals, but the domestic pig is one common exception to this rule. Parts of… Continue reading Pigs and the Power of Earth
