ЕЛЬ КАК ДЕРЕВО ЛЕСНЫХ ДУХОВ В ТРАДИЦИОННЫХ ВЕРОВАНИЯХ И ОБРЯДАХ КАРЕЛ И НАСЕЛЕНИЯ СОПРЕДЕЛЬНЫХ ТЕРРИТОРИЙ
SPRUCE AS THE TREE OF WOOD SPIRITS IN TRADITIONAL BELIEFS AND RITUALS OF THE POPULATION OF KAERLIA AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS

Summary/Abstract: Spruce is the tree of the wood spirits. In Karelia and Eastern Finland Tapio plays this role. He is the Lord of the forest beasts, andhunters ask him for luck. A tree with a flat top chosen as a kind of an altar was called “Tapio’s table”. At the beginning of everyhunting season, special charms were addressed to him to be successful in hunting. Hunters were to put a rye flat cake on the Tapio’stable or give Tapio water from a spring to make a sacrifice. Also they would take a branch from the tree to keep bears sleeping inwinter. Tapio tree was also used to look after cattle or to protect the newlyweds from the evil eye. To cure diseases people could usefir needles, taken from the magic tree. In the European North and Karelia we heard stories about tree spirits, which helped people toget rid of the evil eye. Some people hidden by a wood spirit could be found under spruce trees. So, this tree was considered to be thespirit’s home, and moss growing on it was often called the wood spirit’s beard.

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