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
Category: Research process
The Magic Objects Card Index
The old “magic objects” card index at Finland’s National Museum in Helsinki form a collection of over 300 objects used in folk magic. The index was initiated in the early 20th century and it is not updated any more. Thus, it forms a closed collection of objects that have been acquired in the late 19th… Continue reading The Magic Objects Card Index
Archaeology of Folk Religion 