Ancient Secrets Of Karelia: Mysterious Vottovaara Mountain Was Sacred To The Sami People

Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - Many ancient civilizations believed spirits lived in sacred places such as trees, mountains, and stones.

One such place is the mysterious Vottovarra Mountain in Karelia, sacred to the Sami people. This enigmatic place was also an ancient pagan site and is still visited by neo-pagans who consider it particularly important.

Karelia has always been an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden.

Swamp or lake and megalithic seid boulder stones, dead trees on mountain Vottovaara. Credit: Adobe Stock - geniousha

Archaeologists have uncovered many fascinating rock carvings in the region. On the eastern bank of Lake Onega, the second largest lake in Europe, archaeologists discovered about 1,200 rock drawings estimated to be from 5 to 6 thousand years old.

Known as the Onega petroglyphs, these astonishing rock carvings were deliberately made to display stunning special light effects, just like a prehistoric cinema.

Finn-Ugrick rock art from the Karelian Lake Onega region of Russia. Image credit: David Rothenberg.

Another intriguing site in Karelia is located about 20 kilometers from Sukkozero Lake. Here we find the beautiful Vottovaara Mountain, which became famous for its odd boulders scattered across the site.

The boulders known as Seida, Seyda, or Seid (Finnish language Seita) were sacred to the Sami culture, the oldest culture in large areas of northern Europe. Before the Swedish, Finnish, or Viking culture had developed, Scandinavia was populated by the Sami people (earlier referred to as the Saemieh).

The Sami people speak a language that is a member of the Uralic language family, along with Finnish, Hungarian, and Estonian languages. Interestingly, Norwegian and other Indo-European languages are unrelated to the Sami language.

The unusual thing about Vottovaara seidas is that many of them look like they were intricately cut, but they are natural formations when the glacial ice retreated about 10,000 years ago. Seidas are holy places related to Sámi culture. Seidas are usually situated on gentle rocky slopes and can be very large.

Vottovaara Mountain - Maximaximax - CC BY-SA 3.0

The ancient Sami people considered the boulders sacred and believed spirits lived in these magical, large stones. Before Christianity, traditional Sami peoples' beliefs were based on the practice of shamanism and animism.

Animism was manifested in that all significant natural objects, such as animals, plants, rocks, and many others, possessed a soul. So, it's only natural that the Sami people also believed in the existence of many spirits.

Updated on August 26, 2024

Written by Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com

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