Abstract
Finnish charms have been used to solve various common problems, in cases such as healing everyday ailments, or in regard to activities, such as fishing, keeping cattle, agriculture, giving birth, which are involved in supporting a fortunate livelihood. Charms have also been used to boost a persons’s sex appeal. Almost any layman could have used some of these texts. The charms are thought to have been chanted mechanically, and to have been effective only when performed aloud. However, when it comes to dealing with more serious problems, such as the outbreak of a virulent disease, the loss of herds of cattle or falling victim to an evil form of witchcraft, then the help of a seer, a specialist in the rite tradition, was required.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Bibliography
Geertz, Clifford, ‘From the Natives’ Point of View: On the Nature of Anthropological Understanding’, in Richard A. Schweder and Robert A. Le Vine (eds), Culture Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984, pp. 123–36.
Harris, Grace Gredys, ‘Concepts of Individual, Self, and Person in Description and Analysis’, American Anthropologist 91 (1989), pp. 599–612.
Mead, George Herbert, Mind, Self and Society from the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1934/1962.
Morris, Brian, Anthropology of the Self: the Individual in Cultural Perspective, London: Pluto Press, 1994.
Pankamo, Heidi, ‘Miina Huovinen ja Poahkomie Omenairii vienankarjalaisen tietäjätradition edustajina’, in Kaisu Kortelainen and Sinikka Vakimo (eds), Tradition edessä: Kirjoituksia perinteestä ja kulttuurista (Kultaneito, 1), Joensuu: Suomen Kansantietouden Tutkijain seura, 1996, pp. 10–22.
Ricoeur, Paul, Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning, Fort Worth: The Texas University Press, 1976.
Rosaldo, Michelle Z., ‘Toward an Anthropology of Self and Feeling’, in Richard A. Schweder and Robert. A. Levine (eds), Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984, pp. 137–70.
Shulman, David, and Guy G. Stroumsa, ‘Introduction. Persons, Passages, and Shifting: Cultural Space’, in David Shulman and Guy G. Stroumsa (eds), Self and Self-Transformation in the History of Religions, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Siikala, Anna-Leena, ‘Tietäjän sanojen kulttuurihistoriallinen tausta’, Suomen tiedeakatemia. Vuosikirja 1984–1985, Helsinki, 1985, pp. 161–8.
Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot (SKVR) I: 4, ed. A. R. Niemi, Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1921.
Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot (SKVR) VII: 4, ed. Karl Krohn and V. Alava, Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1933.
Timonen, Senni, ‘Self’, The Great Bear: a Thematic Anthology of Oral Poetry in the Finno-Ugrian Languages, Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 1993.
Weiner, Annette B., ‘From Words to Objects to Magic: Hard Words and the Boundaries of Social Interaction’, Man 18:4 (1984), pp. 690–709.
Virtaranta, Pertti, Vienan kansa muistelee, Helsinki: WSOY, 1958.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2004 Henni Ilomäki
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ilomäki, H. (2004). The Self of a Charm. In: Roper, J. (eds) Charms and Charming in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230524316_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230524316_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-51972-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-52431-6
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)