Midsummer mating magic
When you want to raise a Finn, you first need to have a Finn, and although it is the 21st century and there’s more freedom of choice when it comes to actually becoming a parent, we will try to focus on a more traditional, or old-fashioned, way of making a baby to start the Finnraising with. Hashtag Finnraising. Viral!
Many people decide to start a family with a partner, usually, and preferably, of their own choosing. But what if you don’t even have a partner yet? Let’s take a look of how we Finns find love. Or at least used to. Some Finns if not all.
Finns have a strong bond with nature, maybe because there’s a lot of it and only a few of us, and of course we have our own old pagan religions, folklore and traditions, that have a lot to, if not everything, do with nature itself. One of the most magical nights in the year is the summer solstice, midsummer night, called Juhannus, at the end of June. It used to be called Ukon Juhla, Ukko’s Celebration, after the Finnish god Ukko, but after Christianization, the holiday got a new name after John the Baptist, Johannes Kastaja in Finnish.
Back to the magic. So in the folk magic Juhannus is a very potent time of the year. Celebration of fertility also. We don’t know why, maybe it’s because the sun doesn’t set all night and that’s magic, or science because of the location of Finland on the globe and the axial tilt of Earth. Who knows. Magic.
So if we are looking for suitors and fertility, there are many small rituals to do at Juhannus. Let’s take a look of some of them:
- When you look in to a well, a pond or a spring at midsummer’s night, preferably naked, you’ll see your future spouse
- If you pick seven flowers or herbs, then climb over seven fences, and sleep with the flowers under your pillow, you’ll see your future bride or groom in a dream
- When you sleep with your left sock turned inside out, you’ll dream of your future spouse
- If you sweep your bedroom floor on midsummer night whilst naked, with a red string tied around your waist, your future husband’s ghost will appear. (Spooky)
- If the smoke from midsummer night’s bonfire turns to you, you’ll get married soon
- You’ll get good luck in love if you roll around naked in a dewy meadow at midsummer’s night
- After sauna at midsummer night, if you run naked across the ditches of a rye field, at the ninth ditch your future spouse will meet you
A lot of the rituals involve being naked. That’s a bit odd but there must be a reason for that too. Someone surely knows why.
These magic things must work, since here in Finland the peak birth month is about nine months from Juhannus. Might also have something to do with the fact that everyone is drunk on Juhannus. Very very drunk.
Disclaimer: Even if we have a partner, or sometimes because of it, we still don’t have time to fact check, so everything we claim might not be 100% accurate.
— Editors
The writer of this story is a member of the Mom of Finland community.
There are 0 comments, leave a reply.
