Animal Myths And Legends In Finnish Folklore

In Finnish folklore, Emuu is a creator of an animal species. Emuu comes from an old Finnish word "emo" meaning mother. The creator of a species was often a god, goddess, or spirit, Sometimes it was a human/animal hybrid or looked like a human or an animal. The well-being of the animal was connected to the emuu. Learn about snakes, spiders, rabbits, wild deer, and frogs. Snakes were sacred animals of Akka, the earth goddess and during the spring equinox, when snakes woke up from their hibernation, they danced in honor of Akka and awakened her.

In Finnish folklore, cats were protector spirits of buildings and cats were often kept as pets because they killed rodents. Witch hunts arrived in Finland and Sweden rather late compared to the rest of Europe and in Finland cats never had a reputation of being a witch´s pets so there never was massive cat burnings in Finland like there were in many other parts of Europe. In Finnish mythology, the cat was created in the sauna by tonttu (elf). It was believed that tonttu could shapeshift themselves into animals and take the form of a white cat. On some occasions, white cats were believed to be spirits of passed-away relatives. In this section, we will go through lessons we can learn from cats and implement in our lives. Cats are true zen masters and know how to relax and enjoy life and be completely stress-free.

In this meditation, you can join me on a guided visual journey to the world of myth. A group of swans invites you to join them and visit magical realms. This meditation is excellent for relaxation, healing and inspiration. On the way you come across philosophy and ideas from ancient Finnic wisdom tradition.

In Finnish mythology there are many stories told about the fox. The most famous story tells about the creation of the northern lights. In Finnish northern lights are called "revontulet" the fox´s fires. Repo is the old Finnish word for the fox. The legend tells of a magical firefox, who runs in the snowy hills. Ravens have been both feared and respected birds in many several cultures. In ancient Finland, ravens were powerful animals connected to witchcraft and often shamans had ravens as their pets. Raven is the bird's learning. If you struggle with attention spans and trying to find your way of learning, the raven can be a great help. Ravens are all about creativity.  The Fox has an extraordinary hearing ability, and it knows this. It can hear low-frequency sounds, which helps it pinpoint and target its prey. Thus it focuses on honing that ability from pup to adulthood. Foxes are always hunting for food even when they are not hungry. They bury or hide whatever food they come across intending to consume it later.

When the area of Finland was first populated after the ice age 10 000 years ago first tribes who arrived were small hunter-collecter communities who had totemic belief systems. Moose and the bear were important animals. From Finnish cave paintings, one can find moose, deer and snakes but not bears. Horses were very important animals in the agrarian society, for they helped to carry heavy loads and riding was the only way to travel far distances. In Finnish folklore, the first horse was called Iku-Tihku and he was made of ice and fire. Iku-Tihku was created inside a mountain by trolls and later on the trolls used him as the model to create all other horses, but these horses were made of iron. As sophisticated herd animals, horses know the importance of getting along. Like us, horses are social animals, with defined roles within their herds.

The main reason why bears were worshipped was the fact that bears go-to winter sleep/hibernation. The way bears went to sleep every autumn and woke up again in the spring was proof of their supernatural powers of the bear. The ancient people believed that, like winter nature, the bear died and was reborn again in the spring. It was forbidden to kill bears during their hibernation but it was supposed to wake with a special spell. If the bear was awakened without these rituals, that would have made the spirit of the forest angry and they would curse the hunters. Bears hibernate every winter, without fail. Scientists have discovered how captive bears struggle to maintain a healthy weight if they get fed year-round. Zoos have started restricting their captive bears’ food supplies in the fall, and the captive bears hibernate. The hibernation allows them to maintain their regular rhythms of rest. From bears we can learn self-love and the value of rest.