Midsummer | Swedish National Holiday and Modern Pagan Celebration (Filmed in Sweden)
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- Опубліковано 1 лип 2024
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The Wisdom of Odin is a vlog of my journey through Norse Paganism, a way to assist others along their journey, and a place to promote a positive image for all of paganism.
While I personally declare myself as a Norse Pagan, I speak on topics that also involve aspects of Asatru, Heathenry, and other pagan identities such as Slavic/Celtic/Germanic paganism.
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That look you gave when she said "we don't burn stuff at Midsummer" was priceless my friend 😅. Another great video!
That was the face of a man who just remembered the dozens of "big fires" he's seen in rituals 😂
@@TheWisdomOfOdin in valborg or Walpurgis they have huge bonfires back home in Sweden.
Finland's midsummer celebrations often have bonfires near lakesides. In Finland it's known as juhannus, but before Christianization it was called Ukon juhla (Ukko's celebration). The celebration was a tribute to Ukko the Finnish God of Thunder.
This is resonated in Northern sweden as well, we always had fires when I grew up
From a Norwegian/Swedish Family here in the states we in California have an Epic Midsummer in the Bay Area! This and Jul are def my fav times of year
Sorry to be pedantic , but midsummer bonfires are not just a New Age or Wiccan thing , they were common in the folk traditions of Europe . The traditional midsummer herbs such as fennel , mugwort , St. John's wort and vervain were passed through the smoke to bless them and live stock were driven between two fires to protect them from harmful magic . The lighting of fires on St. John's Eve (around the summer solstice) is first written about in the 12th century , but would have been practised long before .
That is really interesting! I would love to do some research about this. Where have you found your source materials? Where can I start looking? I would be really greatful for any tips 👍
I'm Latvian and I will argue that Latvia is one of the last places to go to enjoy a proper pagan, un-christianised Midsummer celebrations. I have been to a traditional Swedish Midsummer celebration out in the islands. It was nice, but I must admit that compared to our Latvian traditions it felt a bit underwhelming and very tame.
Here in the Baltics Midsummer is still a pure pagan celebration with traditional songs (without any Christian influences whatsoever), bonfires, singing dancing etc.
Midsommar is truly our largest holiday in Sweden. Moose Lady nailed it. You can’t have fun without singing Små Grodorna. The sights and sounds of home this time of year are truly magickal. Great video, Jacob!
I'm glad I was able to attend the Ohio Midsummer gathering. It was really nice meeting all of you. You were all very welcoming.
Thanks for coming! Glad you enjoyed yourself ❤️
It’s popular the best Swedish holiday ❤ I miss it so much. I can’t wait to move back.
Fire on the summer solstice is certainly a tradition in Germany and some other countries.
Just to clear up the "bonfire situation" (insert sly nod to Pulp Fiction here) Valpurghis Night (April 30th) is a bonfire night we Swedes still celebrate! As mentioned in the comments, Denmark, Finland and the Baltic countries celebrate Johannis/Johannus at the summer solstice with bonfires. That being said, dancing around in a circle probably is something we have done since being able to walk upright, probably around a camp/bonfire. As Dieter Meier (of my favourite group Yello) once said: The first music played in the world was dance music, and the last music played in the world will be dance music...
It was a wonderful time celebrating midsummer with wonderful people 🙏
Loved hearing this conversation 🇸🇪☀️🌼
Sadly a lot of our pagan traditions have been mixed with christianic traditions for so long that it's hard to tell wich is which in some cases. But with that said we can still count ourselves lucky to at least have some of them even today. Many other cultures have even less today to remind them of their heritage.
And to be a bit picky...if it wasn't obvious you don't see your love during the night when putting the seven flowers under your pillow. You Dream about your intended 👍
Really great video and I've been waiting a long time for someone to make a serious video like this about our swedish traditions. We should ABSOLUTELY show this to our goverment as an educational staple. Our politicians have said in intervjues in news shows that we swedes have NO culture. Can you imagine?? To think it takes an American to teach our leaders about their own culture, traditions and heritage. That is hilarious 😂
The dancing was a lot of fun! And i love seeing my waiver tshirt while making flower crowns...dangerous stuff!
Could be thorns on those flowers 😂
Jepp jag älskar midsommar ❤
Ah amazing. Thank you so much. I remember celebrating this in Northern England as a child. Had a Danish Grandfather. Crazy dances and around the tree at Yule too! Didn't really have a clue. What you are researching and filming is so important xx
I love the solstice. the transition from Gemini ♊️ where everyone is more open to new dualities to cardinal water ♋️
Lots of healing energies coming in from Khaos to make everyone get along emotionally that time of year.
The time of year everyone can just agree to disagree and get along for a minute.
This year the New Moon in Gemini ♊️ is right before it. Can’t wait!
😊😊😊
I may not be a Norse Pagan but I’m an indigenous one. We’re a lot more rare in Europe.
Thank you for this amazing video and conversation 😊 I have enjoyed your time in researching and sharing your knowledge of these ancient traditions! Happy Midsummer to all🤙🏼
Thank you!
Thank you for this...loved it ❤
Did she just say that Schnapps is a shot of vodka? 😳 Every German bone in my body just flipped out.
Haha welcome to the wonderful confusing world of languages 😂
From the internet:
"Referred to as brännvin in Sweden, schnapps (or snaps) is the country's preferred distilled liquor from potatoes or grains."
No I said "snaps" is. Which is a Swedish word since I'm talking about Swedish midsummer 😉 calm them German bones 😂
Yes here in Sweden they do not have German Schnapps or I have yet to find it at all! I know much of German food drink, lived there for 6yrs then went back several times in the past 10 yrs. I have wanted to make some drinks, I went to buy Butterscotch Schnapps or Peppermint to make a drink with that and an egg Liquor. No luck! He hee. The Snaps here is more like a voka. *Maybe in southern Sweden which has the bigger cities you can find it, I live in Hälsingland which is part of Norrland*
Loved the video thank you . I live on Columbus, Ohio. Would love to go to Sweden 0ne day during Mid Summer
Not far from ya. Raised just 20 min north of Columbus
Love to attend your Midsommar event. Sounds like a great time!
What a great gift for my birthday another great video jacob
Happy birthday!
@@TheWisdomOfOdin thank you very much
The singing and dancing makes my heart feel good! Thanks for posting this!
We are going to celebrate it here in The Netherlands next week, but hope to be back for Midsommar next year again
I work everyday for are gods! I will be bringing all sorts of foods and everything that is needed for Sweden.
Do Americans really think midsommar is like the weird movie? 😂😂😂😂😂😂 that’s silly!
Lmfao i guess they do.
@@sandrashevel2137 that’s so sad that they can be so gullible or naive!
yep, they do! crazy Christian that live there in the Usa they think anything pagan =Devil! And not the creation of God and celebration to show appreciation. Hate and ignorance combine! So if you look creative out of the box-colored hair tat ect =Devil/pagan for them.
Not all do. Keep in mind, we’ve never heard of it before and Midsommar was our first exposure to the concept. We know Hollywood amps things up, but without any basis, no one knows the facts of it
@@heatherlundquist-buffalo i am a pagan eclectic witch. I have found people thought it was like the movie, i said no.
In Latvia midsummer has been always celebrated,so called pagan tradition is very much alive. With bonfire,songs and many other things kept from times past. Yeah and its national holiday.
*Magnificent episode.* Only thing the lady might've forgotten that at least used to be very common as Swedish summer food is *_smoked eel._* (Perhaps a bit more common in late-summer.)
That frog song sounds like something I heard from a kids show I watched back in the late 80s
How fun that looks!
Really interesting video! Very insightful and two very charismatic people
Glad you enjoyed it!
Enjoyable video. Aww would be fab to visit Sweden in midsummer. 🌞💛
I would love to visit sweden one day
you are really doing the work of the gods here jacob
Well… some of the dances like Små grodorna are actually done for the small children, parents and grandparents join to companion the small children. Other dances describes the planting, growing and harvesting of oats and so on.
This was very interesting Jacob! Thank you for the great discussion. It was VERY valuable to me! ❤I know very little about my Swedish heritage, so this was helpful. :)
Just have to get you to do the little frog dance 🐸!
@@TheWisdomOfOdin I'm on it! LOL! *hop hop* ;)
we have midsummer in most of the eastern europe countries and yes the movie was...it is a movie
Haha to the babies being born after midsummer
I went to a christian camp in france with my highschool and people from all across the world were there. I made a swedish friend and they invidted me to a midsummer celebration that they had away from the church. It was a lot of fun and my best memory from that trip.
Adds to my Bucket List
No, us stupid Americans do not think midsummer is like the movie. It is a horror film that has elements of midsummer tradition in it, like- the dresses, folk art, May pole, dancing, flower crowns, offerings to earth for good harvest, meals outside, and shots of alcohol. It even includes the pickled herring.
Love the music from Beltaine in this vid
Regarding the Swedish Jul, this is equal to the Danish Jul and the old Yule, and it´s meaning isn´t just one feast, but at least 4 annual solar rituals in the circle of life.
Cyclical motions are mythically symbolized with a central dot, 4 or more spokes and a concentric ring, a wheel like figure.
The Danish word for a Wheel is "Hjul", which connects nicely to Jul or Yule and the plural Yules, which is the original meaning these annual rituals.
Such a wheel symbolism is also made to mark the Earts celestial pole axis and the strarry motion around it, and this nocturnal Wheel is confused by scholars and authors all over the world to be a "Sun-Wheel".
Do you have a video about the Baltic pagans ?
recently ( like Monday) I got a bunch of stuff/documents from Sweden about the Ancestor I'm Named After. I guess I need to go to Sweden on Midsummer to find the old town now. P.S. I love Pickled Herring, although it's more of a Polish Easter/Ostara food.
Pyromania day is in Spring, so we still do have annual bonfires. Big ones. But they're in April/May. It's often called Walpurgis Night in English, and I believe the bonfires evolved to scare away witches.
Tho I have attended midsummer celebrations here in the South that did light a fire come dusk. It rarely gets completely dark here at midsummer, but the sun does set just below the horizon for a couple hours.
Thats so cute, I'd love to visit for this. The US just doesn't have this kind of cohesion.
From the thumbnail my first thought was "Wianki". We use the term "Litha" for the summer solstice and pay homage to Titania - the Summer Queen - at this time.
My patron god has always been Thor and a little odin
Oh how I wanna move to Sweden :'(((
Hail All-father Odin. Amazing video Jacob. Skòl💀🍻
Fire brings life. And destruction.
The eating first then taking a shot reminds me of Jewish Hanukkah celebrations 😉good times.
probably because Hanukkah actually has pagan origins connected to Yule, in Sweden we put "Menorahs" in our windows to light up the dark, we call them advent lights, google advent lighting. They look a bit different but are similar. I would say Hanukkah is probably inspired by Yuletide or something similar.
@@godsaveme Thank you for this insight! I was making an observation late at night and deeply apologize. It was Passover. Hanukkah has a completely different meaning and ceremony.
Yeah I know, but isnt though hanukkah a Light festival as well? Celebrating the light, ofcourse its more than that, im not of jewish decent and only have a limited knowledge about it, and wouldnt say i have read much upon it, but I would like to think that much of the semitic traditions have pagan roots as well, though of course much of their own roots but like every other religion they probably share more commonalities than we actually think.
@@user-mr4nz3ow5g
The midsummer movie genuinely passed me off
The fact it was over 2 hours long pissed me off 😆
I was also offended by the midsommar movie too dw 😂
Who is Jacob interviewing? I checked the description and the transcript too. Aside from maybe Elin, but that isn't much to go on.
There is link in the description that should work? Her instagram is @mooselady_ as well
Hello 👋
Do you have a discord for your community?
Yes! I offer it through patreon:
www.patreon.com/thewisdomofodin
The Danes celebrate midsummer on the 23rd with large public bon fires all over in the country. It us NOT a new-age thing, but an old pre-christian celebration, that with the advent of Christianity got connected with celebrating the birthday of John the Batist - convenient for the church to attach the celebration of the birthday of John the Babtist on Summer Solstice and Baby Jesus on Winter Solstice ;-)
I’ve never seen the movie. I don’t think I will lol.
I saw the commercial and did not want to see it.😢
How can you compare an ancient holiday to july 4th- please
Both summer holidays that involve getting together with your family (typically outside) where you eat, drink, and listen to music.
4th of the July festivities is the closest American equivalent to what Midsummer is to the Swedes.
@@TheWisdomOfOdin god have mercy
Do you still have plans in buying a plot of land to build a place for Norse pagans?
The Fellowship of Northern Traditions is the Non-profit that came from this channel. We have currently raised over 18,000 for the purchase of land and are currently looking for the right property to put a down payment on 👍
You can follow our journey on our website www.northerntraditions.org
That was an enjoyable vid!
I am a US born, raised person that lives in Sweden past 3yrs, and has lived in Norway for about a year, visited Finland many times. So yes one thing you say which is so very very true is it is nice if you are a Nordic pagan to really go to Nordic nations! I found it is quite different and as the woman on this vid said Swedes are very friendly and love sharing their culture with others! As a black US person being a Norse pagan in the USA is not doable and many times not even safe within the pagan community. I had my white Norway born grandfather get in a fight when someone in San Diego, CA hit me for wearing a Mjölnir at a grocery store and many other times having such things. But living in Nordic countries I am embraced greatly.
Is that movie "Midsommer" really well known in the US? I have not been in US in about 10 yrs and do not know anyone there so I do not know! When it came out I was living in Budapest which is where they filmed it, I have been to the very field they were at, it is funny if you turn around there is a huge Tesco and Aldi right there. He hee. It is up in Budakeszi a suburb of Budapest. But I would say the woman is totally right the costumes and the things they do in the film are NOT representative of Swedish paganism! It is more close to Slavic, Baltic Slavic paganism both in the costumes and the burning of the barn that is built and the um straw figures and covering a woman in flowers etc. I was a follower of Romuva for many years and have been to Lithuania and Latvia, their pagan festivals are more simlar to what you see in that film. So if any fellow Yanks as do tell them to look up more Romuva or Slavic paganism in regards to that movie.
But the movie sucked anyway so whatever! He hee.
I’m a dual citizen of USA and Sweden and lived in Borlänge from 1998-2009. Yes ppl here have seen the horror movie Midsummer. And yes I’ve had to correctly show them real Swedish midsommar lol
@@heatherlundquist-buffalo Oh goodness! Well thank you for correcting people! I actually had a person in the US ask me if I was going to be picked out for sacrifice at Midsommer here in Halsingland cause I am brown skinned! I said NO ONE is sacrificed at all! I had people think "Wicker Man" is real for UK pagans also! He hee
Yeah sadly non-pagans especially will only know about it from this movie. :(
@@TheWisdomOfOdin it’s pretty sad in this day n age of Google n Wikipedia lol
If you can’t make it to Scandinavia; come to Louisiana! We have over 400 celebrations and festivals every year. And a lot are still tied to the old customs and cultures.
Mid sommer of to castle rig peacefull there stonehenge just not for me have a great sommer
I don’t get why she says that they burn fires to keep away the “witches” and then goes on to talk about magical aspects of their traditions as a positive thing?
I would assume that this is a difference of terminology in Swedish-English. From my experiences in the Germanic/Scandi world when the term "witches" or "warlocks" is used. It's used to describe people who cast curses on others, and only intend harm.
I see this is Finnish myth as well. There are god-like beings who can use magic, but then fight against "the witches" aka "bad people"
Could also just be twisting of traditions from the christian era.
It is a language thing ☺️
Häxor is not looked positively on except at Easter time in Sweden. Otherwise they’re evil. It’s a shame when I tried to explain to my Swedish mother in law in Swedish that I’m a Wiccan/pagan witch.
Will there be tent camping available? I live in Ohio. How open are you to gay couples? I'm also fairly new to paganism, will I feel lost?
The Ohio Midsummer already happened. There is often tent camping available at gatherings, the Fellowship is inclusive to all, and there's usually a good number of newbies. Hope that helps!
@@DrunkenBigfootStudio thank you so much for your response. I'll add it to my calendar for next year! Skool
I've never even heard of that movie before. Till this video. But it sounds like I won't like it
Never seen the movie.
Since I first watched it, i have always knew that the movie Midsommar is an abhorrent portrayal of Germanic paganism.
You need to visit Ukraine and attend such holidays as "Maslenitsa" and "Ivan Kupala".
Hate to say it, but not a good idea right now.
@@MarisaP1978 Yes, it's not the best idea now, but after Ukraine's victory, we should definitely attend these holidays.
I’ve never seen the movie. Never cared to.
Great video Jake. My thoughts on the film is it is pretentious piece of shit of a film. The only thing stopping the main characters from leaving and escaping is their own stupidity even though it makes sense to get out of there. Conflicts between the characters are contrived and aren't really explained. I could go on and on why this is a polished turd and nothing more.
As a swede, I appreciate the ending with dancing around the pole whilst pretending to be frogs ! X)
I cant believe I got so many people to dance with me! 😂