Wild Wisdom from the Arctic North. A Book of 100 Poems, Verses and Magical Thinking, Volume 3: A Journey Through the Eight Seasons

This is my fourth book of poetry published since 2021. It consists of multiple photographs which are accompanied by poems and magical or narrative thinking, predominantly from the Rovaniemi area, which is in northern Finland, Lapland. The photographic materials are a journey through the different seasons which are eight in total, the winter season comprising of most of the materials because the cycle lasts between five to seven months and therefore, connects the seasons sometimes from early autumn to late spring.

Last year (2023) the first snow arrived in southern Lapland in October, and it is the end of March 2024, and it has been snowing for 15 hours which again, has transformed the landscapes here. In some places, compact snow is still one meter deep. Expressing this also gives the reader some idea of how long and beautiful the cold seasons can be. Should we think of this as a good sign given that climate change is making the winters’ colder here in the north? It seems not. Winters have become more unpredictable over the course of the last decade and so very cold temperatures and heavy snowfall can be seen as normalish.

As expressed in my earlier publications, I want to pay tribute with gratitude to the spiritual powers of the seasons here which are like no other in Europe, and thus, why it makes collecting photographs and writing poetry a truly remarkable experience, from extreme to ever so subtle and unpredictable. Henceforth, bringing different kinds of richness to personal experience through the ways nature and the many landscapes communicate in their own unique and individual ways. Sometimes in the thick layers of kaamos – when there is no sunlight, to icy cold days at minus thirty-five Celsius, to, in the middle of fierce snow and windstorms, to floods and heatwaves. Being so far north and with climate change there are many extremes within the seasons of the year, and this is what makes it unique.

I want to make a dedication regarding what is compiled and presented in this book to the memory of the ancient forests which have been decimated because of the ways they have been harvested for decades. When one considers how legends and spiritual traditions, beliefs and practices here in the north have their origins within forests and other sacred landscapes, what remains of them is indeed a sad situation. Therefore, through the inspiration and thoughts in this book which are shared with the world, I am hoping that more will be done to stop the natural world from being turned into a desolate, synthetic place which is oozing with false landscapes that have replaced natural ones, especially in towns and cities.

The themes presented in the book relate to different forms of inspiration drawn from and communication with trees, plants stones, water, animals, wind, Sun, Moon, snow, ice, clouds, grass, flowers, soil, stars, and of course sacred sites which maybe natural or man-made. And therefore, are representative of the sacred earth and her powers here in the northern realm.

It is my hope that through the content of the book you will find inspiration and tiny drops of magic which will bring both lightness and brightness to you wherever you are in the world.