BEING FINNISH - WHY ARE YOU BORN WHERE YOU ARE NOW?

Aino by Akseli Gallen-Kallela

To begin I start with reincarnation - I believe we are born again and again to learn a predetermined lessons to figure out Who Am I. Where you are isn't the thing to focus on per say, except if you feel drawn to your countries spiritual history - because then there are things to consider:

• You have been involved from the beginning of your human cycle in evolving this culture, especially spiritually.
• You are drawn to the spiritual practice because there is something there that is very important for you to remember and learn.
• It is one of your purposes to bring out the tradition, or information of the practices that can be beneficial to humanity now.
• And myriad other reasons that you can understand deeply within yourself...

Little about why I feel drawn to my country's spiritual history:
When I was 18 my mother and my mother's twin sister took me to a lecture with them, the title of it was Being Kalevala (Kalevalalaisuus), if I recall right it was held by Matti Kuusi or Juha Pentikäinen - here is where my memory slightly fails on me. ;)
But what I do recall clearly is being thoroughly impressed how much old Finnish mythology intertwined with my spiritual view (even thought my spiritual view was only 5 years old) it was the truth to me, I knew it immediately.

From the Kalevala

After the loss of his first wife to Kullervo's curse, the disheartened Ilmarinen attempts to craft a new one from gold and silver, but finds the golden wife hard and cold. Dismayed, he attempts to wed her to his brother Väinämöinen instead, but the old sage rejects her, saying that the golden wife ought to be cast back into the furnace and tells Ilmarinen to "forge from her a thousand trinkets". Speaking to all of his people, he further adds:

    "Every child of Northland, listen,
    Whether poor, or fortune-favored:
    Never bow before an image
    Born of molten gold and silver:
    Never while the sunlight brightens,
    Never while the moonlight glimmers,
    Choose a maiden of the metals,
    Choose a bride from gold created
    Cold the lips of golden maiden,
    Silver breathes the breath of sorrow."

http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/kveng/kvrune37.htm - Golden Bride in full text
The tale of the Golden Wife can be seen as a cautionary tale based on the theme where money cannot buy happiness and marrige and choosing your partner wisely. Having someone who looks good and is valueable but is cold and hard makes for a bad match. All the tales in Kaleva are to be throught through for their meaning to adapt to your life.

As impressed by it as I was... Life happened. Things got pushed to the back burner, they simmered there waiting.

Väinämöinen and The Maiden of The North by R.W Ekman

Being wiccan in a point of my development made Kalevala Mythology completely natural to me - it was after all very nature based, with god of the forest Tapio and goddess of the waters Wellamo, and so on...
But it wasn't till few years ago when I remembered Kalevala and felt frawn to it, I wrote a book, read Kaari Utrio, listened to Suo, studied finnish spiritual practises, god and goddess mythology.
The Fall and Winter have turned out to be the perfect times for studying Finnish Mythology, in the growing darkness the spirit of Finland rises from the ground with the mesmerizing mist and fog of the early morning. It dances over grass and water and calls you to remember. It is Fall again.

Yesterday - I read for the first time that there is a view of Finland in certain circles where they talk of Finno-Ugric language being the original language and early Finns having a grander history than what school teaches us. Naturally, I was intrigued!

"We came from the East and at the peninsula of Denmark we parted ways. The other group headed for South to Germany and middle europe, the other moved to North, aproximately 5000 years ago. [...] There are many studies that finnish language (old finnish) was the original language. These result have been made by Gustaf Kossina. Germans have gotten their culture from a higher culture called Urfinns, the original Finnish people. Reserched has showed connections to Russhian Monasteries and Great Britan's Royal Chronicals. Mannonen sees that Finns have never been a vast amount of people, but a spiritually magnificent one. 'Finns have brought their culture to where they have traveled. We have been a great nation, who has never buckled under depression.' 'We have had a more noble view of the world as Kalevala testifes. We were not a warring nation like the barbaric tribes. Instead we were the people who spread civilisation and culture... [...] Original finns and remained a clean bloodline, this has been studied by scientifically through our genes." ~Kauno Mannonen's interview in Minä Olen - Magazine 4/2010 (translation to english from finnish by yours truly)

This article, interview, above was several pages long, and has inspired me to seek more information about my countries spiritual history. Why? Because like I stated at the very beginning and in my own introduction to my history with Kalevala - It is meant to be. For one reason or another I have to learn as much as I can.
This almost makes me laugh, that I have to!
I do feel I have had many lives as a Finn, and as I feel most connected to Wellamo I feel there is history there as well. Luckily I have up to 90 years to figure this out. ;)

I will stop here as I have nothing yet to continue this on, but feel free to check out my entry of Kings of Finland.
Also people to research who were mentioned in the magazine article are:
Kauko Manninen
Pekka Ervast
Tapio Kaitaharju
Juha Pentikäinen  - books.google.fi Kalevala Mythology (especially page 225, 'Language & Cultural Identity')
Matti Kuusi

And these following mostly-neutral sites on Finno-Ugric history, if this topic has peaked your interest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalevala
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finno-Ugric_languages
http://www.helsinki.fi/~jolaakso/fufaq.html - Frequently Asked Questions about Finno-Ugrian Languages

click for a bigger picture and easier read

But with this said, we cannot get too focused on one country, and one group of people. We have to remember that we are One, body, mind and soul, and though this school teaches us many things through many channels we have to remember to not take vain pride in just one thing (be it "my" country, "my" culture or "my" history). But recall that what is important and share.

Love, Light, Joy & Unity!
Niina