Bock Mythology and Kajaani Castle
Newspaper article from Lapland (1990)
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Kajani Castle
600km north of Helsinki, Lapland
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Ior Bock asks if we should drink tea first. "In
that way we will get better feeling."
We are sitting in a guest-house in Kajaani. Bock has promised to tell
me his family story, the story on which he bases his arrival in Kajaani
to search for a golden Bock.
"It lies under the courtyard of Kajaani castle and I will not leave
this town before I have it in front of me. I will not take the Bock away
from here. It belongs to everybody, especially to the people of Kajaani.
I want that the Kajaani people can admire it."
While waiting for the tea we are talking about the Kajaani scenery. Bock
is for the first time in this town.
We talk about Elias Lönnrot, Eino Leino and Urho Pekkonen. Last evening
Bock had visited the theatre to watch the Kupletti-perfomance. "It
was a brillant perfomance. In Helsinki we don't see anything like this."
Theatre is close to Bock's heart. He himself has acted in the Swedish
theatre in Helsinki. When he became guide in Suomenlinna his guiding tours
became his perfomance. Within the fortifications of Suomenlinna Bock was
able to "conquer" his audience.
After we have enjoyed our tea, Bock asks me to sit on the floor. He sits
crosslegged with the flexibility of a dancer. While putting the tape recorder
between us, Bock starts his story:
"The sun is a ring and the sun is Oden. And the rays of Oden have
created all the green that exists on our planet. And before the Christian
religion the sun has always been the No. 1." Bock focusses straight
on me with eyes that have an undeniable hypnotic effect.
"Then we have the moon and the moon is changing. We have new moon,
half moon and full moon. The moon changes its form but the sun is always
round."
After that Bock talks about the ringlands, "As the sun is Oden and
Oden is a ring, the ringland is UUDENMAA. Around UUDENMAA there are six
other ringlands: Turunmaa, Hämeenmaa, Kymenmaa, Eestinmaa, Liivinmaa
and Lattvianmaa. In UUDENMAA live ASER and they had the ASER language.
In the ringlands outside of UUDENMAA live VANER and their language was
the VAN language."
To the ringland UUDENMAA also belong the islands. Bock explains where
the islands are situated. The mythology of UUDENMAA or Väinämöinen-mythology
comes from these islands.
Bocks lights a thin cigar which is not available in Finish shops. I guess
he brought his cigars from India. He has spent more than 15 winters in
Goa, India, in a small fishing village which was once ruled by the Portuguese
colonialists. An old castle reminds the Goans of this colonial time. I
have been told that in Goa Bock is well known and popular. Cigar smoke
is drifting between us as he is continuing his story.
"In the Finish mythology, the Väinämöinen mythology,
we find eight figures, four of which are male respectively female. The
main figures are UKKO and AKKA, LEMMINKÄINEN and JOUTSEN, Seppo and
Maya, Sampo and Aino."
A long time Bock explains a former breeding system which was based on
respect of the sperm.
"In this system LEMMINKÄINEN is the breeder. He made Joutsen
pregnant, a woman who was the most healthy and beautiful of all women.
Joutsen gave birth to at least 7 daughters and 12 sons. The first girl
reaching the age of 27 became the queen or MAYA. And the first son reaching
the age of 27 became King or SEPPO Illmarinnen. And when the 12th son
became 27 years old he became the new LEMMINKÄINEN and got his own
Joutsen who again gave birth to 7 daughters and 12 sons. After they were
a new LEMMINKÄINEN and Joutsen, the old ones became UKKO and AKKA."
Bock talks about about the different colours these figures represent.
Through these colours people were reminded on different ideals belonging
to different periods of their lives.
The story has its own logic. But when you listen to it the first time
this logic is not revealed directly. After that Bock speaks about three
different social groups within the ringlands: JARLs, KARLs and TRELs.
Again the system's origin goes back to LEMMINKÄINEN whose duty also
was to make the disas or ancestresses.pregnant. The strong sons of the
progenitresses became RABIS who were making the JARL-girls pregnant. The
JARL-men made the KARL-girls pregnant and the KARL-men made the TREL-girls
pregnant. The TREL-men had no right to make children at all.
"In Finland before the year 1050, the people could say that their
father was a KARL, the KARLS could say that their father was a JARL, the
JARLs could say that their father was a RABI and the RABI could say their
father was LEMMINKÄINEN. And because LEMMINKÄINEN was coming
from UKKO, UKKO was the father of everybody, or the Allfather, in this
old breeding system up to the year 1050."
According to Bock the old breeding system collapsed when the Catholic
religion arrived at Finland's coast. After this Bock talks about the different
rituals in the old breeding system, and its festivals, elections between
men and women, temples, chapels, offering places and castles.
I am almost collapsing from words and smoke when he for the first time
mentions Kajaani castle.
"Then we have KARL-JARL-e-pu-ri." Bock explains how we come
to this name. KARL are the tenants, JARL are the Earls, "E"
means Oak, "Pu" means family-tree and "ri" means again
and again.
"Karljarlepuri is nowadays Kajaani Castle", he says. According
to Bock, Kajaani Castle served as an old breeding centre thousands of
years ago, a place where the JARLs and the KARLs met to make children.
Even the construction of the castle confirms this, says Bock.
Afterwards Bock explains the offer-places, chapels and temples. A long
time he speaks about UKKO's and AKKA's stone and their ETTESTUPA'S ( Nature
places where they retired from life.) In addition to this he comments
how the same breeding system existed in the whole arctic area of todays
Scandinavia and England. During all the time he builds and bases the story
on similarities between words and sounds.
"You can't change the sounds. Sound is true", he remarks. The
old breeding- and offering-system started to change when the Christian
religion came to the North. The LEMMINKÄINEN-Temple which according
to Bock is located in Sibbo in Gumbostrand was closed in 987. This temple
was the centre temple of all the ringlands to which every generation of
every ringland brought its most beautiful objects.
"When LEMMINKÄINEN-Temple was closed three golden Bocks were
left outside the temple." According to Bock's story the inhabitants
of UUDENMAA escaped from their old dwellings in the year 1050 when the
Swedish king arrived at Hanko-peninsula with an army recruted in Middle-Europe.
Then the destruction of UUDENMAA began.
"SEPPO and MAYA went North to Karljarlepuri which
became the Finish King- and Queen-Castle between 1050 and 1250."
In the earlier part of the story Bock has told that SEPPO Illmarinnen
and MAYA-King and Queen- represent the moon and - the Royality.
" SEPPO's and MAYA's father and mother, UKKO and AKKA, went to Korvatunturi."
After this Bock moves in his story to 1248 A.D. At that time a great event
took place. Alexander Newski representing the Greek-Orthodox and Birger
JARL representing the Roman-Catholic church shook hands at the Vane-River
which was the border between the Greek-Orthodox and the Roman-Catholic.
In this meeting they also changed the name from Vane to Newa-river. After
this SEPPO and MAYA had the right to move back to their old places.
"When they left Karljarlepuri they buried a golden Bock in the courtyard
of the castle, at the deepest point of the bedrock." The other golden
Bocks had been buried earlier under oak trees in Snappertuna, the place
where the Bock familie's property was.
"In 1250 A.D. Birger JARL was promised that we don't talk anything
about this mythology before the year 1984", Bock finishes his story.
Afterwards we walk along the banks of Kajaani river. Ior is amazed when
he hears that the police is checking the castle because they think that
Ior and his friends start to dig in Kajaani castle.without a permission
...
He shows me the place where the golden bock is buried - for sure.
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