The end of the old year was followed by jakoaika (literally divide-time), which was a period of sacred time between the new and the old year. During jakoaika things belonging to the old year were done for the last time and things belonging to the new year were done for the first time. With proper and careful acts luck was transferred from the previous year to the next. Jakoaika was said to last from kekri or Simos Day to Marttis Day (November 10). In some areas it was a time between Mikkos Day and kekri. People also talked about time of kekri peace which was similar to Christmas peace. For servants, kekri was followed by a römppä week, also called cat week or personal week. As the name suggests, it was a vacation week between the end of old service and beginning of a new, which potentially meant moving to another household. Jakoaika was needed to balance the solar and lunar years with each other, because of the 12-day yearly gap between the years. Because of this, jakoaika also symbolised the whole year in miniature shape, which is particularly evident from weather predictions. One moment of sunshine was, for instance, said to correspond with nine days of sunshine in the summer. If it was cloudy during jakoaika, the summer would be wet. The sacred time was spent in silence and idleness. Noisy and messy works in particular were avoided. Laundry was not to be washed nor animals to be slaughtered. One was not allowed spin wool or shear sheep, as it would mean that wolves would tear the animals. Suitable quiet works included fixing nets and fish traps. Boys and girls also made spells to see the appearance of their future spouse, and observed omens which told about the happiness of their future family life. Spirits were said to be walking on earth on this time, and people were susceptible to catch diseases. Pregnant cows, mares and sheep had to be handled with special care so that they would not be harmed. All the things necessary for the success of the house were believed to be full of special power. Giving it away was dangerous because as a result the house could face bad times. Because of this, nothing was given away to neighbours or anyone else. It was said that whatever was given away could not be replaced by something new. During jakoaika large bread was baked to represent the end of the harvest year. The bread was kept in the barn and put on the table for Christmas. The bread was finally eaten in the spring on the first day of sowing. A small piece was saved and put into the sowing bushel and fed to the animal pulling the plough. This way fertile harvest luck was transferred from the previous year to the new harvest. Suomenusko In English
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 09:07:02 +0000
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