{"id":523,"date":"2023-03-16T14:11:10","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T12:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mythsandfolklore\/?p=523"},"modified":"2022-10-17T14:23:50","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T12:23:50","slug":"finnish-easter-witches-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mythsandfolklore\/2023\/03\/finnish-easter-witches-holiday\/","title":{"rendered":"Finnish Easter Witches Holiday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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Day of the Snakes<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u200bIn Pre-Christian times people across the northern hemisphere celebrated the spring equinox between the 19th and 23rd of March. In Finland, Spring Equinox was known as Matop\u00e4iv\u00e4<\/em> the day of the snakes. Mato in old Finnish meant both snake and worm and everything that slithered. It was believed that on the day of the spring equinox snakes and worms woke up from hibernation. There are several myths in Finnish folklore telling how snakes came to be and according to one version Akka the earth, the goddess was the one who created the snakes. During spring equinox Akka the earth woke up and all the snakes came out to dance in her honour. The origins of Akka and the snake cult most likely were brought by the Baltic tribes that arrived in what is now known as Finland about 7000 years ago mixing together with the already existing Saami population. Similar snake worship can be found in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and it seems to have been very common in all Baltic countries in the past. In Lithuania snake was worshipped as one of the most sacred totem animals and it is very likely that the goddess Akka was inspired by Zemyna, the Lithuanian goddess of the earth.<\/p>\n