Ancient Finland: Sacred offering grounds

Sacred offering grounds

The ancient Finns believed that nothing came for free. So in order to get something from the gods or spirits, they had to give things in return, such as food, ale, seeds, treasures or animals.

A hiisi was a sacred offering ground where they would offer things for the gods. These grounds were unusual or special places out in nature, such as a special stone or tree. When christianity came the word hiisi changed its meaning to a bad creature or even hell itself.

There are a few types of hiisi:

Cupstones:

A cupstone is a stone with man-made ''cups'' on the surface. Most of these are found close to ancient burial grounds and villages. The people of ancient times could've offered grains by placing them into the holes to get a good harvest. It was believed that the rain water that the cups gathered had healing abilities. In ancient spells you would also send pain and illnesses from a human into the cups of a cupstone. Over 500 cupstones have been found in Finland. Almost all of them date back to the iron age, but some may very well be from the bronze age. They were in use for a long time, even during the early 1900's in some villages.

Natural stones:

Special looking natural rocks have also been used as offering places. The rock could've had a crack in the middle where the people would offer their items. Many of these have probably been forgotten, since they don't have anything human made to be discovered and recognized. Christians also forbid people to use these sacred places. The only sources we have are stories and tales about a particular place used for offering, such as the offering stone with a crack in Koli national park. Maybe a special rock or tree near you have been used for offering?

Trees:

Trees have been very important for the ancient Finns, and many types of trees have been used for different ceremonies and offerings. It was very common for a household to have an offering tree. It was believed that the spirit of the homestead lived there, and you had to keep him happy. It was common to give the very first batch of a newly prepared food to the spirit, by placing it at the root of the tree. The first bread that was made, the first ale that was brewed and so on. By keeping the spirit happy, it took care of the household and helped you with tasks. If the spirit was unhappy, your whole household would have bad luck. The spirit got also mad if you were lazy and did not do your chores.

Pine:

When the ancient Finns hunted a bear, they would have a ceremony for it called karhunpeijaiset. At the end of the celebrations, the skull of the bear was taken ceremonially to a pine and placed high up on a branch of the tree. This allowed the bears spirit to be reborn into a new bear. Pine was called honka, and the progenitor of the bear was called Hongotar. This is a clear connection between the two.

Spruce:

When a person found a good place to build a house on, they could sleep under a spruce over the night. The spirit of that place would then appear in the persons dreams, and tell them if they are allowed to build a house there or not. If the spirit allowed it, you could build your house. If it did not, but you built the house anyway, you'd be living with a very angry spirit. Bad luck would fall upon your whole household. The spruce was a common offering tree, and many shamans had their own offering spruce. Special looking spruces were considered sacred, and were used to offer the first hunting catch to Tapio.

Birch:

Birch sap was used to wash your face with, because it was believed to make you beautiful. Many spells and rituals required birch branches, and was common to take branches from several birch trees to make a vihta. Even today the Finns make a vihta from birch branches, and smack themselves while in the sauna. Vihta doesn't seem to have an English name, it looks like a hand broom with leaves.

Alder:

The alder was believed to have a connection to the afterlife because of its red color. It was often connected to the spirits and powers of the forest. The alder was also used to magically bind things to a place. For example hiding a dogs hair inside a hole in the wall and sealing the hole with an alder peg, stopped the dog from running away. The same can be done with your wife's hair. The tree was also used in love magic, by feeding the bark to a person you want to fall in love with you.

Juniper:

Juniper represented good energies more than any other tree. It was believed that the spirits of the juniper were the most beautiful. By fastening a branch from a juniper to the door of your house, you were protected from the evil eye. It gave a very powerful protection when combined with tar and fire, scaring off bad spirits and bringing good spirits to you. Bad spirits feared smoke that had a strong scent, so combining juniper with tar and burning it, the scent was very strong.

Rowan:

The rowan was a very powerful tree, being able to keep bad spirits away and summoning good spirits. With the berries of a rowan, you could heal many illnesses and fix magically ruined things. Many things were protected with rowan branches. It was common to have a rowan growing on your yard to protect your homestead.

Oak:

Many cultures had their own world tree, and Finns were not an exception. In the beginning of the worlds creation, there was a huge oak that covered the sky. The oak connected the three layers of the world, the sky, our world and the afterlife. The oak was so big, no sun or moonlight could come through it. Then a tiny man came out of the ocean, and he grew into a giant as big as the tree. He had an axe in his hand, that he used to hit the oak three times. On the third time, the tree fell. The oak had a lot of magic inside it, and he who gets a branch from the tree, gets eternal luck. Wooden chips got loose from the tree, and got into the Tuonela river. The river took the chips to Pohjola, where a servant girl found them and took them home. Witches then made arrowheads out of the chips.

Natural springs:

Natural springs are found all over the country. Many of these have stories and legends attached to them, much like the natural stones used for offering. People would offer things to the gods by throwing items into the spring, often silver and other riches.

Other:

It was not uncommon for a household to have a guardian snake instead of a tree. The snake would be the physical representation of the household spirit, and the people would offer food to it. During the stone age, it was very common to paint rock paintings on rocks that represented a human face. Some believe these were sacred places used for rituals, offerings and ceremonies. If you ever visit a stone age rock painting, make sure to check the rock it is painted on from a distance. Maybe you'll see a face! Some offerings have been dug into the ground or burned. Stone piles resembling bronze age graves have been found, where no sign of a body was present. These are believed to be either junk piles or offering places.

Stones have been found that have long and thin grooves in them. The grooves look exactly like someone sharpened their sword with the stone, and that is why we call them ''sword sharpening stones'' today. They were not used for sword sharpening though, and their usage is still unknown. There exists no historical sources about the usage of these stones, but many believe them to be for religious purposes much like the cupstone. These stones could've been some kind of luck bringing stone for smiths. Some also believe them to be connected to fishing magic, since most of them have been found near water. The habit of creating these stones seem to be adopted from Sweden, specifically Gotland, where there are over two-thousand sword sharpening stones. All of the stones in Finland and Sweden are dated to the iron age, specifically the viking age.

Here are a few sacred places I've visited: