”Jesus rides to church With a horse coloured as a pike, Shaped as a black salmon. The horse sprained its leg. Mary stepped down from the cart To look at the sprain; Bound with blue strings, Thread with red strings, Joined flesh, matched bones, Knotted veins together.” (Hako, M. Kansanomainen lääkintätietous, SKS. Page 45.) This… Continue reading The Sprain String
Category: Artifacts
The Needle of Death
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
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
Cattle Magic with Cowbell and Salt
The magic objects collection of Vapriikki in Tampere include one cowbell that came to the museum from Rautalampi in 1909. The catalogue tells of this object: Has been used as a magic object. A handful of salt is poured through the loop of its tab and every grain of salt must pass through the loop.… Continue reading Cattle Magic with Cowbell and Salt
Archaeology of Folk Religion 