Latest Posts

(Original article 7/7/2016) Do you know why they originally used canopies in the Middle Ages? Or where the saying “sleep tight” originates? Or why they slept in a half-sitting position and not lying down like today? Last May I got answers to these questions I even hadn’t realized to ask: I got a chance to visit Cardiff, Wales for a weekend. It is possible to do surprisingly lot of things during a long weekend, even if you suffer from the … Read More

(Original article 14/9/2016) The weather was perfect when we headed to Gamla Uppsala, north from Stockholm last June after a day spent in Stockholm. I guess the sun is always shining in Sweden? Except in Nordic noir. I’ve been lucky this rainy summer with trips and happenings what comes to weather. Thank you for the weather gods for that! May a trip to terrible pagan cults, the world of little princes and priestesses begin. Prehistorical central place Gamla Uppsala is … Read More

(Original article 9/5/2019) A summer solstice more than three thousands of years ago. A group of people have gathered by an ancient stone structure to wait for the sunrise. Only the crackling of the burning torches breaks the silence. Little by little space is filled by a low, even ghostly sound. A gigantic horn has been raised and a rhythmic drumming begins. Men in the circle are pounding big drums decorated with red images with their axes. When the first … Read More

(Original article 5/10/2018) The Birth of the Bear The Kalevala tells about the creation and the birth of the bear: “Otso was not born a beggar, Was not born among the rushes, Was not cradled in a manger; Honey-paw was born in ether, In the regions of the Moon-land, On the shoulders of Otava, With the daughters of creation.” Mielikki, the mistress of the forest creates the bear and makes the teeth out of twigs of pine and fir trees. … Read More