Moss Soul

Moe no suzaku (Naomi Kawase, 1997)

july 2026

In Uralic tradition "the underworld" was associated with conifers, and offerings and ceremonies ment for the "underworldly" spirits would be done at conifer trees specifically. I will note now, that in Finnish tradition "pitämyspuu", a tree which protects the house and to whom the family must give offerings, can be any sort of tree. In some areas "pitämyspuu" is most desired to be a rowan, even, in direct opposition to the idea of a ritual tree being strictly conifer. But there are Finnish traditions that are associated with death or post-death existence and confined to conifer trees, more specifically pines. "Karsikko" was a pine tree situated somewhere between the home and the graveyard (in Christianized Finland), and when a familymember would die a branch would be pruned off the tree, and (sometimes) the name of the deceased carved on the pine. If the dead spirit was to travel off the church grounds, it would come upon the "karsikko", see its name, and be reminded to turn back to its "right place" - the world of the dead. The other important pine tree is "Karhunkallohonka", a large pine tree reserved for Karhunpeiijaiset, a special ritual held for the bear after hunting one down. By hanging the skull of the bear on the pine tree, and burying the other bones at the root of the tree, the soul of the bear could travel back to the sky.

Petros Koublis

Strabantzerchen : Bilder und Reime - Hans von Volkmann - 1906 - via Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin

John Bauer - Agneta and the Sea King (1911)

My first commissioned piece, for good health and good spirits. With rosemary, elderflowers, and juniper berries.

First Day of Spring🐑🐑🐑

june 2026

kesäyöhön katoaa / june 2026

Barney, snoozing on a hilltop, in the summer of 2009. 

beginning of july

Waterfall amidst a mountain covered in ash after a volcano eruption

What would you do with an autumn breeze? 🍂🎐🍂