Posts by Taina Mansikkamäki
The Forest Listens — The Karelian Lament Tradition
There are things that are hard to say out loud. Grief that doesn’t fit into words. Exhaustion too deep to explain. Feelings that circle inside us with nowhere to go.
Throughout human history, people have taken these things into nature. Not because nature provides answers. But because it receives. Quietly, without judgement, without advice.
Where the Trees Still Remember the Old Songs
The 28th of February is Kalevala Day in Finland — a day to celebrate our national epic and the deep roots of Finnish culture. As someone who works with ancient rhythms every day, I find it impossible to let this date pass without sharing why this remarkable book still moves me, and why it might move you too.
Finding Love in Unexpected Places: Your Drum as a Companion
With Valentine’s Day approaching, I’ve been reflecting on friendship, connection, and the many forms love takes in our lives. Here in Finland, we actually celebrate this day a bit differently – we call it Ystävänpäivä, Friend’s Day. Rather than focusing solely on romantic love, we honour all the meaningful connections in our lives: friends, family, and yes, even the relationship we have with ourselves.
The Power of Words: The Finnish Tietäjä Tradition
Have you ever noticed how certain words, when spoken with intention, seem to carry weight? How a whispered blessing can calm a crying child, or how the right phrase at the right moment can shift an entire day? The old Finnish shamans – the tietäjät – knew this intimately. They were called “the knowing ones” not because they possessed secret knowledge, but because they understood something profound: words, when combined with rhythm and intention, become medicine.
How Working with Your Hands Brings Deep Wellbeing
Have you ever lost yourself so completely in a task that hours felt like minutes? Where the outside world faded away, and there was only you, your hands, and something beautiful taking shape before your eyes? Here at Rumpu-ukko, we experience this magic almost daily. When I’m crafting a new shamanic drum – stretching the reindeer hide, adjusting the tension just so, listening to the first tentative beats – time simply disappears. My mind quiets. My breath slows. The constant mental chatter that usually fills my head fades into silence. It’s not work in the traditional sense. It’s flow. It’s meditation. It’s joy.
And as it turns out, science is now confirming what craftspeople, artisans, and makers have known in their bones for millennia: working with your hands is extraordinarily good for you – not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually.
Rumpu-ukko´s Sami Drums Now Available at Tunturipuu Online Store
When Body and Mind Become Overloaded – Try Drumming
Forest Spirits and How to Call Them
There’s something you should know about us Finns: we never quite stopped believing in magic. Oh, we’ll talk about technology and modern life like anyone else, but scratch the surface and you’ll find we still leave porridge for the house spirits at Christmas, still feel a shiver when walking past certain stones in the forest, and still – perhaps unconsciously – drum in rhythms our great-grandmothers would recognise. You see, when over 70% of your country remains forested and your ancestors spent thousands of years in intimate conversation with the spirits dwelling within those woods, that kind of connection doesn’t simply disappear because someone invented the mobile phone.
The Sacred Rhythms of Sápmi
In the vast wilderness of Finnish Lapland, where the aurora borealis dances across endless skies and reindeer migrations have carved pathways through time itself, the haunting resonance of traditional Sami drums once guided shamans between worlds. Today, contemporary craftspeople are breathing new life into this ancient tradition, creating instruments that honour the past whilst speaking to modern souls seeking connection with something deeper than themselves.
