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by Marja-Leena

snowflakes & scary santa

Today’s blog travels yielded some seasonal treats like this lovely photogallery of snowflakes and some of the science behind these nature’s artworks.

In case you missed it, also have a look at something a bit related – frost fractals.

Thanks to Amy for the snowflakes link on the sidebar at Ever So Humble* along with many other neat links. Amy has been writing this month about winter’s wonders and christmas-y stuff, sharing her honest enjoyment of the pleasures of community, home and family. I should have added her blog to my list of favourite things about Christmas!

Then at mirabilis, another favourite blog, I’m reminded of the history of “joulupukki” – Finland’s Scary Santa.

Try out these suggestions for an eco-friendly holiday

UPDATE: Avoid buying these 10 gifts.

UPDATE: Dec.25.04 Another site about snowflakes and snow crystals

*this blog no longer exists, sadly

December 20, 2004 in Culture, Folk Legends & Myths by Marja-Leena Comments Off on snowflakes & scary santa

by Marja-Leena

Aurora Borealis

Yesterday I read on Amy’s blog Ever so Humble about the current solar storms taking place (lots of great links here!). Tom Montag writes about seeing the Northern Lights in Wisconsin USA – quite far south, I thought.

Now today I see Helsingin Sanomat’s article: Exceptional solar activity produces Northern Lights further south than usual. See the photo of a corona as you read this article, and some good links explaining the aurora borealis* along with some beautiful photos. Don’t miss Pekka Parvianen’s photos* (bottom of page) taken in April 2000 of a most extraordinary one in southwest Finland.

I’ve seen these lights in southern Manitoba, and across the Canadian prairies, but they were the best and most frequent in northeast British Columbia. Seeing auroras always makes me feel that I am experiencing something mystical, awe-inspiring and very other-worldly. Can you imagine what prehistoric people must have felt?

Folklore abounds with explanations of the origins of the spellbinding celestial lights. In Finnish they are called ‘revontulet’, which means ‘fox fires’, a name derived from an ancient fable of the arctic fox starting fires or spraying up snow with its brush-like tail. No matter that in English ‘foxfire’ is a luminescent glow emitted by certain types of fungi growing on rotten wood.

Report a sighting and enter your photos in a contest, at Nordlys and check out the Auroral Mythology page.

Update: More photos at the Aurora Gallery

* (expired links)

November 9, 2004 in Folk Legends & Myths, Photography by Marja-Leena 3 Comments »

by Marja-Leena

pumpkin moon

How fortunate we are to have a clear night to see this total lunar eclipse. NASA calls it a “blood moon” but it’s more like a glowing pumpkin in the sky over the Vancouver area of British Columbia, something like this photo:
Lunareclipse04.jpg
On a night like this, I rather like to imagine that the moon is a palace where immortals and fairies live, according to Chinese myth.

October 27, 2004 in Folk Legends & Myths by Marja-Leena Comments Off on pumpkin moon

by Marja-Leena

Lord of the Rings musical

Helsingin Sanomat* has a story that really tickles my Finnish funnybone as it makes the intriguing connection between Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and Finland.

The makers of London’s West End musical Lord of the Rings (Flash webpage) have gone to Finland for inspiration. Finnish culture is going to be present in the musical on several levels, particularly the music of folk group Värttinä, and inspiration even from old Finnish jewelry and handicrafts.

But the producers had a surprise in store – Tolkien had got here first, by at least half a century. ‘It was not until we had decided to invite Värttinä into the project that we discovered that the Finnish language had been a source of inspiration for Tolkien himself. It felt then as though we had instinctively come to the right place’, says co-producer Kevin Wallace enthusiastically. Read about this connection in an earlier post.

Don’t miss the many links at the bottom of the HS article, about the production and about some Finnish cultural sites.

And, here’s a fun post about Tolkien’s Elvish language.

* Updated 27.08.2015 – expired links removed

October 3, 2004 in Culture, Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric, Folk Legends & Myths, Music by Marja-Leena Comments Off on Lord of the Rings musical

by Marja-Leena

Shamans & Storytellers

Back in February, I posted about an event presented by the Vancouver Society of Storytellers. One of these storytellers was Kira Van Deusen, who brings to professional storytelling and music a background which includes a BA in Russian Language and Literature from Cornell University and an MA in Folklore/Ethnography from Antioch University. She has done extensive research with indigenous people in Siberia and the Russian Far East.

Her fascinating website relates her explorations into Siberian folk tales and their storytellers, musicians and shamans. She writes: Storytelling in Siberian societies is very closely linked to shamanism [and] can act as a healing. Kira van Deusen’s site offers many links to explore and learn about this mysterious part of the world.

I enjoyed this online exhibition from the Museum Centre Vapriikki in Tampere, Finland: Shamans – Secret Life of the Peoples of Siberia.*

9a.jpg

*Sadly, link has expired.

September 26, 2004 in Ethnicity, Folk Legends & Myths by Marja-Leena 4 Comments »

by Marja-Leena

Karelia’s Rock Art & History

Andrew Heninen is a Karelian (Finnish-Russian) programmer with a keen interest in the history of lost Finnish territories. Karelia (or Karjala in Finnish) is a territory which straddles the present-day border between Finland and Russia, and is home to the Karelian people, related to Finns. Heninen’s site has numerous pages in English, Finnish and Russian about Karelian history that is like walking into a museum.

These pages about the area’s rock art fascinate me the most:
Karelian petroglyphs in drawings and photos
The Stone Labyrinths
Sami Sacred Stones or Seidas

Another interesting note, when on the home page, if you click “refresh”, the photos change.

In case you missed it, I wrote a related post some time ago called visiting Karelia.

Read about the sad history of the Many Karelias** from which this quote:

Karelia holds an important place in Finnish cultural history. The material for the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala and numerous other collections of folk poetry were gathered mainly in the northern parts of Finnish and Russian Karelia. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Karelia provided the inspiration for many of Finland’s leading artists, composers and writers and played an important role in the 19th century national awakening and the development of a Finnish national identity. (link added by me.)

** expired and removed link

July 6, 2004 in Ethnicity, Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric, Folk Legends & Myths, History, Rock Art & Archaeology by Marja-Leena 4 Comments »

by Marja-Leena

summer solstice

Depending on where you are in the Northern Hemisphere, it is the longest day of the year. Actual dates of celebrations vary in countries, often a weekend nearest the true solstice for convenience. It is mostly a northern European festival with pagan roots like so many of their traditional holidays.

“Juhannus”* in Finland became so called when Christians renamed it St. John’s Eve. I fondly remember the wonderful looong days and very short almost mere twilit nights, some call “white nights” of the North, with bonfires on the beaches and much merriment. It’s a very important celebration even for emigrant Scandinavian communities in Canada and other parts.

So, Hauskaa Juhannusta! Happy Midsummer!

Addendum June 24.04: Torill has written a magical story of a Norwegian midsummer night – ‘Dreams in the shortest night’.

And Solstice at Stonehenge via BBC

* link has since expired and has been removed.

June 21, 2004 in Culture, Folk Legends & Myths by Marja-Leena 2 Comments »

by Marja-Leena

monsters and ghosts

How is your doppelganger or fylgia today? What do nixies, corrigans, dziwozony, yuki onna, erynnes and ajatar have in common (hint: they are all female)? What is a basilisk? Curious? Check out the encyclopedia of monsters, mythological creatures and fabulous beasts.

How about ghosts? “The forms by which men and women are haunted are far more diverse and subtle than we knew”, says Ernest Rhys, author of The Haunters and the Haunted, Ghost Stories and Tales of the Supernatural.

Found at plep ( May 29th, 2004).
Edited April 14, 2009. First link updated.

May 30, 2004 in Folk Legends & Myths by Marja-Leena Comments Off on monsters and ghosts

by Marja-Leena

the artist’s childhood

Grimm.jpg

Grimm2b.jpg

As a child I loved reading books and fairy tales were my very favourite. My first books were in Finnish written by Finnish authors, but most loved were the tales collected by the Grimm Brothers. This edition, a very well-worn almost 500 page Finnish translation, was the most beloved of them all, perhaps that is why I still have it. One old house that my family lived in for a few years had an attic where I had my very own little artist’s garret, with my papers and pencils and paints and books and my daydreams by the little window overlooking the street.

Grimm Brothers Homepage

(Thanks to Amy at ever so humble* for inspiring this little trip into the past.)

*sadly, this blog no longer exists.

May 19, 2004 in Being an Artist, Books, Folk Legends & Myths, History by Marja-Leena 1 Comment »

by Marja-Leena

More on Full Circle

A few days ago I wrote about the Newfoundland and Labrador Museum exhibition commemorating the events surrounding the Viking landfall in L’Anse aux Meadows – Full Circle: First Contact.

Then National Geographic News posted an interesting article called “Sagas” Portray Iceland’s Viking History. I enjoyed learning more about Iceland and what importance it places on its sagas, especially after just revisiting my own older posting A Europe of Tales.

But what particularly struck me as a bit of synchronicity is to note among the numerous great links at the bottom of the article, one to Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga, a Smithsonian website of the same subject, and it is an excellent one, well worth visiting.

May 14, 2004 in Folk Legends & Myths, History by Marja-Leena Comments Off on More on Full Circle

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