• Printversion •
for download 

Bock Mythology and Kajaani Castle 

Newspaper article from Lapland (1990)

Kajani Castle

Kajani Castle
600km north of Helsinki, Lapland

 

               

 

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.

Three golden Bocks

According to the information of Ior Bock there are a few more artefacts of the heathen culture which are still buried in different places in Finland. It is about three golden Bock statues, 288kg each, three crystal balls and the regalia( crown, apple and sceptre) of the last King of the ASER.
Two golden Bocks and crystal balls are buried under two oak trees in Snappertuna, about 80km west from HEL.

Unfortunately, this piece of land is property of the church and a nature reserve. That for the Finish Museum refuses the permission to dig there for several years now. Another golden Bock and the regalia of the last heathen king are buried in the court of an old castle, situated on a river island in the town of Kajaani, about 600km north of Helsinki.
On Oct 12th 1990 we made an expedition to Kajaani to examine the area of the castle with a metal detector. We knew from Ior where the golden Bock iis buried. On the place pointed out by him the machine showed a big piece of metal about 4m in the ground in the middle of the courtyard.

As the castle is property of the Finish state we needed a digging permission of the Finish museum. We offered the museum-management the payment of the costs for the excavations by deposing 50.000 FM ( about 12.000$) in advance. Up to now our offer was refused.

See website about the geophysical examination - here (click CA 4 - profile)


The castle of Kajaani in Lapland 600 km north of Helsinki

HOME