Magic Of Months (Connecting With The Wheel Of The Year)

The Finnish names of the months are not borrowed from Roman gods or emperors. They grew from the land itself, from the frozen lakes of January, the rutting of elk in October, the hay harvests of July, and the slow return of light after the darkest weeks of the year.

This is a recording of one of my online lectures, where we move through the twelve months as the Finnish language has always known them. Each name carries within it a piece of the old agricultural year: the rhythm of sowing and harvest, the movements of animals, the turning of ice and thaw, the ancient relationship between people and the northern landscape they depended on for survival.

Transcript

Hello friends! Today we are going to talk about the etymology of months, The Finnish months, How their names reflect the reveal of the year. I have always found the names of Finnish months very interesting, Because they reflect the nature and the things that happen in nature, And also they are based on the old agrarian calendar. Names of the months, They center around farming and farming culture. It's of course something that is not that prevalent today, Still, The names of the months haven't changed that much. So they carry in their names the history of Finnish farming, Which is quite nice. In most countries in Europe, In the US, In Canada, You follow the Julian calendar and the names of the months come from ancient Rome, Because all the roads lead to Rome. But Finland is not a country where the names lead to Rome, Because the Finnish month names are Finno-Ugric. Now this is really interesting, Because Estonia is also Finno-Ugric language. In Estonia they also used to have Estonian names for the months that reflected their nature and farming culture, But then at some point they adopted the Roman slash Germanic names, And it is the same in Sweden, And this was taught to me by a nice Swedish lady who took one of my Finnish mythology courses, That in Sweden as well, Back in the days, They had names for the months that were also based on the old farming culture. And now in Sweden, Let me think, The months are January, February, March, April, May. Sweden also adopted the Roman names for months at some point, I personally quite like the old farming names. Let's start with the Finnish months and magic of the Finnish months when it comes to the etymology. We start with January which in Finnish is Tammiku. Now Tammi means an oak tree in Finnish. This name comes from this idea that like the year is seen as a tree and then in January the tree snaps because it is cold and January is the coldest month, Usually. Not always, But usually. So in January, That mighty oak snaps underneath the heavy snow. In Finnish, Kuukausi is month, And it comes from the term kuu, Which means the moon. Each month is like Tammikuu, Helmikuu, Maaliskuu. We have the suffix kuu in the end. So we have kuukausi, Kuu meaning moon, Kausi means a season, The moon season. True. Then we move on to February and February in Finnish is Helmiku. I love the word meaning behind this month because Helmi means pearl in Finnish. And this comes from this idea that in February, When you look at the snow, The snow glimmers and shimmers like pearls. Now, Isn't that beautiful? Then we move on to March, Which is pretty similar to the English one when it is maaliskuu, And maaliskuu comes from the word maa, Which means the earth, And it literally means that this is the month when we see the earth coming back again. The snow is melting, We see grass coming up little by little. And then we have April, Which is huhtikuu in Finnish. Then we have April, Which is huhtikuu in Finnish. And this comes from the word huhta, Which is not really used today, It's an old-fashioned word. Huhta refers to slash and burn cultivation, Which basically means that back in the days when people wanted to create farmland, They would burn trees down, They would burn the wooden areas, And then that piece of land became the farmland. Slash and burn refers to huhta. And that is where we get the word huhtikuu. Now, Finland is a very forestry country, So this kind of way to create farmland was pretty common. Then we arrive to May, Which is toukokuu. The name touko refers to farming, And especially the beginning of farming. Bit of an old-fashioned term now, Refers to start planting seeds and the growth of the crop. Names of the months refer to old agricultural wheel of the year. Then there is June, Which is Kesäkuu in Finnish. Kesä means summer, So it is the month of summer. The older name of the month was Suvikuu. Suvikuu, An older Finnish name for the summer, So it was Suvikuu and now it is Kesäkuu. Then we get July and in Finnish July is heinäkuu. Heinä means hay, Month of hay, Which literally meant that this was a time when people went to the fields and, You know, Did all the hay work. Then we get my birth month, August, Which in Finnish is elokuu. Elokuu comes from the word elonkorju, Which means the harvest. Once again a name referring to farm work. Then we move on to autumn and then there is September, Which in Finnish is very literal, It is syyskuu coming from the name syksy, Which means autumn in Finnish. Then we have lokakuu, A very interesting name. The word loka refers to dirt, Especially like dirt in the ground, Mud, Things like that. Lokakuu refers to the mud mud season. And this term loka, As I today learned from the internet, Has been used since the 1500s. Then we move towards winter and we get marrasku, November. Marrasku is a very interesting word because the word marras is an old name for the dead. It comes from the Latin mort, So all of you probably have heard some version of that. So marras was a spirit of the dead. Could be an omen of death. Like for example in Finnish fishing magic, If you would catch a strange fish, Like a catfish for example, That could be seen as Marras. It could be an omen of death. That is Marras. And also in Finland the spirits of the dead were sometimes referred to as Martaat, As in cruel. Very reflecting name for November, Being the time when the wheel is thin. And then we get December, Which in Finnish is Joulukuu and Joulu of course means Christmas. Christmas pretty much arrived to Finland in 1700s. It came from Sweden with the Christians. Most people were still celebrating Kekri around that time and Kekri was of course the harvest festival. So when Christianity arrived slowly and people started to celebrate Christmas, Christmas got lots of elements from the old Kekri celebration. Before Christianity, The name of this month was Talvikuu. And Talvi means the winter, So it is the month of winter. So we have Talvikuu and Joulukuu. Alright, Those were the names of Finnish months and their etymology. I would love to hear your thoughts about this. I absolutely love it. I love the mythological and the spiritual connotations with many of these names. And that's it! I will see you next time!