Finnish Pagan Midsummer - history & traditions

[@Anttimation]

Here's the Taivaannaula video I mentioned: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJCuhKqei7Z3pJI Great channel and website in general for Finnish folklore and tradition! This was a lighter episode this time and relatively quickly put together. That's why the music is too loud. Well, these things happen sometimes. Happy Midsummer.

[@jhargh12234]

Midsummer festival or "Jāņi" (Janis day) is still a big celebration day in Latvia. Most likely the name Janis is just derived from christian st John, but some people suggest that this word also could have some ancient Latvian etymology, for example by comparing it to word "jāti" which means to ride. Other alternative name for this celebration is Līgo, but it seems that this name for holiday was introduced quite recently only in past centuries. We actually have two public holidays for 23th and 24th of June for it. And I think some people in Latvia hold it in higher regard than Christmas or New year. Nowadays for many it is just festival of bonfires and drinking, but we also have quite a lot of traditions connected to this day. Some of the most prominent are: Singing of special songs called Janis Songs, or Līgo songs - basically all of these songs ends with chanting word Līgo (Liiguo). There are at least two possible origins of this word. One is from Latvian origin which means to swing, to bend. Other is from possible Livonion (finno-ugrian people) origin which would mean something like - to become or let it be. Making of wreaths from Oak (used by man) and from Flowers (used by women). Also we are collecting all kids of flowers and weeds which are called Janis weeds during that day. Searching for the Fern Flower - it is said that midsummer's night is the on;y night when you can find Fern Flower. However it is possible that is is just and excuse like activity for man and woman to go away to some remote place for some more intimacy... It is believed that you definitely have to stay awake during whole night until first morning light. Cheese is also a big thing in this celebration just like you mentioned in case of Finland. And of course beer is considered to be very important. Jumping over bonfire - it is still practiced widely even today. Name Janis is still the most popular male name in Latvia and these people have special place in this celebration. All guests in this celebration are called Janis children. For females ones with name Līga (Liiga) are considered special for this celebration. In past there were also all kinds of activities connected to future telling, but these are no longer popular today.

[@Anttimation]

@@jhargh12234 thanks for sharing! Sounds largely similar but different enough to be fascinating Happy to hear that it is still celebrated!

[@SuperEohippus]

Latviasta tunnetaan keksikesän juhlintaan liittyen tapa, jonka mukaan juhannusyönä "jokainen nainen on neito" eli naimaton. Toisin sanoen jokainen nainen on vapaa avioliiton rajoitteista, ja juhannusyönä oli lupa mennä ja rakastella kenen kanssa mieli teki. Tällä on kenties haluttu turvata myös hedelmättömien aviomiesten vaimojen mahdollisuus lapsensaantiin.

[@Anttimation]

Mielenkiintoista! Sopii hyvin käsitykseeni suomalaisenkin juhannuksen eroottisesta luonteesta. Kiitos valistamisesta.

[@angelsmagick]

Hyvää Juhannusta !

[@Anttimation]

Hyvää juhannusta my friend!

[@R2-D292]

Samoin !

[@valerijsduboviks]

Priecīgus Jāņus !!!Greeting's from Latvia.

[@kissalanpojat]

Hyvää Ukon juhlaa! Mahtava video niinkuin aina!

[@Anttimation]

Kiitos ja sitä samaa!

[@Brunavargen]

Hyvää Juhannusta ja glad midsommar from Sweden! Brilliant video as alwas 😃

[@Anttimation]

Glad midsommar! I wonder if you sacrificed any foreign tourists this year?

[@Brunavargen]

@@Anttimation Sadly no... I will have to lure a whole bussload of germans here next year to repent before our goddess of the sun!

[@HS-su3cf]

To prepare for midsummer, one can use this Forest-finn runo from Grue, Norway. Written down by C. A. Gottlund in 1821. Kyrpeä karastaminen Nouse noukka, kasva kulli, Lämpoisille lähtehillen, Karvaisille kaukaloillen Iltayöstä istumahan, Puoliyöstä valvomahan, Nosta piäsi, muista työsi, Niin kuin äskön äimistelit! 😉

[@Anttimation]

That's some proper magic right there! 😆

[@elenaylitalo1624]

Here’s a couple of midsummer traditions I used to do, when I tired to find out who my future husband is: 1. Collect 7 different flowers and place them under your pillow on midsummer eve and then you will see your future spouse in your dreams when you sleep on them. 2. Dance around a well 7 times and look at the reflection on the water and you will see your future partner. I recently found out Swedes and Danes have similar traditions, so I’m not sure where these “spells” originate from.

[@Anttimation]

The first one I think is still quite common! And to the second we could add that if you see your current partner in the well, they've already drowned 🤔

[@BlackArtBMX]

Mahtavia videoita, hienoo animaatiota (etenkin Suomen historia -sarjassa) ja mielettömät musiikit. Puskista tuleva kuiva huumorikin toimii. Kiitos.

[@Anttimation]

Kiitos paljon! Musiikki on Karneh-nimisen artistin biisejä. Kannattaa tutustua suoratoistosta, someista ym.!

[@BlackArtBMX]

@@Anttimation Laitoin Spotifyssä seurantaan ja linkkasin Wardruna -fani kaverille

[@WillBosch-Vuononen]

I laughed so hard with the Juhannus sacrifices for Ahti 😂😂😂

[@Anttimation]

😁😁

[@berrymcockiner3906]

Saint Johns is celebrated in Upper Michigan

[@Anttimation]

Interesting! How is it celebrated? Anything similar to Finnish/Nordic midsummer?

[@berrymcockiner3906]

@@Anttimation big bonfires on the beach with food, lots of people from all over USA/Finland and Sweden come to congregate for two weeks

[@oddis188]

​@@berrymcockiner3906Just saw this comment now. But that wouldn't be so weird. The great lakes surrounds have always been full of Finnish descendants. I got friends in Wisconsin who just did a Lake Superior/Lake Michigan road trip and he sent me a picture from some upper Michigan gas station and they had SISU bumper stickers for sale there. There's even Finnindians over there. The natives liked Finns when they moved there back in the day, similar respect to the nature and living and the sauna culture was similar to their sweat lodge/tents so there was many marriages between Finnish migrants and local natives

[@berrymcockiner3906]

@@oddis188 i am in the yoop right now

[@Peter-ri9ie]

Klockrent. Kollar denna på midsommardagen. Riktigt bra. Och musiken passar som handen i handsken. Ser fram emot fler filmer! 👊🏻

[@Anttimation]

Tack och glad midsommar! Hoppas att ni sakrificerar många turister i år 🎉

[@Peter-ri9ie]

@@Anttimation he he he *tittar över åkern mot skogsbrynet där asken i solnedgången står, den månghundraåriga, som sett vattnet sakta försvinna och människor komma och gå, den välvattnade.*

[@sijaltainen]

Kiintoisa video! Mukavaa juhannusta ja kesää! 🌞

[@Anttimation]

Kiitos ja sitä samaa!

[@Loveolin]

Jeeee mahtava video jälleen ja hyvää juhannusta🥳

[@Anttimation]

Kiitos ja sitä samaa!

[@metaldiver]

Hyvää juhannusta! Hieno video jälleen

[@Anttimation]

Kiitos jälleen kerran ja hyvää juhannusta sinnekin!

[@Ardabor-GrimoriosyBestiarios]

Thnks for the video, I really enjoyed 🧙‍♂

[@Anttimation]

Thank you. That's great to hear!

[@MessiahsandMythology]

At last! Antti reveals his true form. I knew there was a reason the trolls were so well-endowed in his comic.

[@Anttimation]

😆

[@karnehfolk]

Hyvää Ukon juhlaa!

[@Anttimation]

Kiitos ja sitä samaa!

[@karnehfolk]

@@Anttimation

[@anderpanders6210]

Teet tosi hyviä videoita! Kyllä saa kaimasta olla ylpeä. Tiedätkin varmaan, mutta etunimesi tulee tuolta etelästä Andres, Antros nimestä, ja tarkoittaa miestä. Antti Palosaari - Man Burn-Island

[@Anttimation]

Kiitos paljon! Joo. Tavallaan harmi, ettei ole muinaissuomalainen nimi, mutta ihan mielenkiintoinen historia tälläkin.

[@zoolkhan]

HYVÄÄ UKON JUHLA! ja kiitos antti

[@Anttimation]

Kiitos samoin!

[@martinlugus7242]

In your Finland history program I was distressed to hear that the Lithuanians were the last people to be Christianized. I always thought that it was the Estonians that enjoyed that singular honor. Love your content - a proud Estonia living in America [for many years].

[@Anttimation]

@@martinlugus7242 I think they were the last as a somewhat formed state. Communities surely held pagan beliefs and customs for much longer. Thanks for watching and greetings back!

[@martinlugus7242]

@@Anttimation That makes sense. Thanks.

[@BorgonOfTheSnows]

Happy Juhannus from Upper Michigan! we have bonfires here as well as midsummer poles from the swedes.

[@Anttimation]

Nice! Keep the (bonfire) flames alive!

[@Deseko]

Feed the Algorithm

[@Anttimation]

Can't let it starve, can we

[@rogersittnikow]

​@@Anttimation no we cannot!

[@tedr.5978]

I for one appreciate "bad" taste joke endings.

[@Anttimation]

Noted... 😉

[@Robert-gc9gc]

I don't live somewhere that you can do bonfires, although that would be fun. I have an Ukonvasara that I recently put in my car to hang in the window for Midsommar. All I can do. I think ancient Finns would have had a level of fun in their rituals despite the hard times. Just my opinion ❤

[@Anttimation]

That should keep any trolls away from the car! I think so too re: ancient Finns. I could easily see how our trollish, morbid humour would have developed over centuries. Hyvää juhannusta!

[@jake-rg3fd]

The great famine joke was hilarious 😂

[@vickis.9363]

Great presentation, kiitos! Do you ever look at the Bock Saga? Any opinions?

[@Anttimation]

Thanks! I get asked that every now and then but I don't find it worth it other than as a peculiar work of fiction maybe

[@overconfidentcat]

hyvää Ukon Juhla

[@Anttimation]

Likewise!

[@informationstream6513]

Juhannus on liitettävissä voimakkaasti myös kokkoon, joka on voimakkaasti yhdistettävissä amerikkalaiseen ukkoslintuun ja kaaoskäärmettä vastustavaan alkujumalaan... itse ainakin juhlistan kokkoa aina joka juhannuksena.

[@N_0968]

Hyvää juhannusta! Nyt kelpaisi Karhu tai mikä tahansa oikea olut.

[@Anttimation]

Kiitos samoin! Sahti vois olla sopiva juoma 🤔

[@kaamoshaamu]

You're speaking the word. But I hate that troll figure. :D Kept on listening mode.

[@deathfalcon602]

I think its the same with anything, some thought the rituals had power and most went along mindless. In this capitalistic world every weekend has sort of become Juhannus...before the dreaded workweek. Id be interested to know were there any athiest minded "trolls" back then who thought the rituals were stupid, i am guessing a member of a town maybe had to take part in them to some extent...they were very tight communities who relied on eachother to survive. Love the videos!

[@Anttimation]

Yeah I've wondered that too sometimes. Maybe with the tight-knittedness of the communities, someone doubting the beliefs or rather knowledge of the time might have also often been smart enough not to bring it up...

[@xandrecarnes9888]

Who is the demon Paha in Finnish mythology?

[@Anttimation]

I don't think I've heard of such a thing 😅

[@psynque]

Paha is an ancient proto-finnic word that exists in all Baltic Finnic languages, it means bad or evil and I doubt it was ever used to personify some entity. Some foreign sources, even english Wikipedia, list Paha as a consort of Lempo. I have no idea where this comes from. I can see there being cases of "paha" being used more or less interchangeably with Lempo, Hiisi or Piru in some variants of old poems about the birth of sickness or bloodletting, but this doesn't mean that it was an actual figure in pagan mythology.

[@herrakaarme]

Ukko won't let go of his party that easily, even if it needs to happen under someone else's name. That being said, John the Baptist might wonder why he is celebrated by drinking booze and burning bonfires.

[@thatwhitewolf5222]

Drinking alcohole isint a sin, drunkness is a sin. And bonfires and fire, gose far back as the old testament. if Fire was just pagan alone, the whos paganism is the true Bonfire?

[@herrakaarme]

@@thatwhitewolf5222 Considering bonfires, the elements seem to clash. If John the Baptist is known for the ritual of baptism, which is performed with water, then bonfires, which are all about fire, the element opposite to water, doesn't seem fitting. Juhannus has traditionally had quite a lot of drinking in excess.

[@jortekariko]

megapussi after megapussi... repesin. mut anyway! hyvää juhannusta!

[@N_0968]

Samoin.

[@Anttimation]

Hyvää juhannusta megapusseilla tai ilman!

[@xandrecarnes9888]

A question how big is a uralic people in finland survive the proto-indo-european evasions horse riding Giant indo-europeans?

[@Anttimation]

Sorry mate. I didn't understand the question 😅

[@xandrecarnes9888]

They also known as Aryans and introduce the swastika

[@LKLM138]

Jaa että omakuvan oot tehny. Just tuollaisen näköiseksi sällin kuvittelinkin

[@alananimus9145]

Thor isn't a sky god. I've come to believe he is Hercules. The sky god was first Tyr then Odin.

[@Anttimation]

Ah yeah. From what little I have read the Eddas, he did seem very focused on fighting Jörmungandr, if I remember correctly at all

[@xandrecarnes9888]

Fun fact The Finnish Air Force the last country that use the swastika.

[@Anttimation]

It does raise some (understandable) confusion abroad every now and then

[@avaruusmakkara5176]

We still pick 7 wildflowers from 7 different fields every Juhannus night with my sister. We make a small bouquets out of the flowers and put it under our pillow for the rest of the night. It's supposed to show a future spouse in a dream. We are both still single so it might be a totally reliable way to find a partner, I say 😅 there's also running around the sauna 3 times counter clock wise, naked. Should help with finding a spouse. Understandable yet real hard to pull of in a city 😂

[@Anttimation]

curious to know if/when it works!

[@avaruusmakkara5176]

@@Anttimation will let u know 😁

[@fallenknight3016]

finnish laungage being spoken me: i don speak elvish

[@Valmentaja]

🟢

[@JanosBanics]

Good old Alcohol and stupidity. The great European past time.

[@sylarkane8883]

Ah...alcohol & stupidity...that's what makes a good Mid Summer.

[@deathfalcon602]

I love the butthurtness towards christianity in these videos 😂 as if Christianity wrecked all the fun everyone was having. I truly relish the videos though! Love them.

[@Anttimation]

Thanks! It did destroy a lot of our old traditions which I would very much have liked to have survived. But the remarks are not without some degree of jest ;)

[@deathfalcon602]

I get it, it would be super interesting! I love the stories of Finns trolling the Christian priests coming from Sweden😂. Would love to hear more of them. I noticed in Lohja last week there was a waterway called "ämmänperse" 😅...love it.

[@Anttimation]

Would be fun to share when/if I come across more of those 😁

[@MangoTV9040]

Suomi prkl

[@Anttimation]

[@WMfin]

I was worshiping Satan at metal festivals but hail Ukko as well! I didn't do any spell-casting other than heavy drinking but I did see my potential partner as I went there with her!

[@Anttimation]

Good! Would have been alarming if you didn't see her 😆

[@heitorfontenele2041]

Você poderia dublar seus videos para o Português, ou uma lingua Ibérica como espanhol? 🦊🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷👍🏻

[@Anttimation]

Well, not really as I don't know those. But automatic subtitles might work?

[@heitorfontenele2041]

​@@AnttimationEntão tá, é que eu vi o seu canal e daria muito certo aqui nos países latinos 🦊👍🏻

[@JarkkoToivonen]

Horrible Finnish language accent.😢

[@Anttimation]

You mean *awesome*

[@Silveirias]

Ei suomalaisessa aksentissa oo mitään vikaa tai hävettävää.

[@Esti-xg7tg]

My French hubby who's born in Berlin, LOVES Finnish accent, and also your humour! Hyvää Juhannusta/Ukonjuhlaa näin jälkikäteen! 🙂 Tai erittäin ajoissa, miten päin haluaa katsoa! 😉​@@Anttimation