_Of the magicall Ceremonies of the_ Laplanders.
It hath bin a received opinion among all that did but know the name of
the _Laplanders_, that they are People addicted to Magic, wherefore I
thought fit to discourse next of this, as being one of the greatest of
their impieties that yet continues among them. And that this opinion
may seem to be grounded upon some autority, they are described both
by ancient and modern Writers, to have arrived to so great skill in
enchantments, that among several strange effects of their art, they
could stop ships when under full sail. This judgement of the Historians
concerning the _Laplanders_ is no less verified also of the _Biarmi_
their predecessours. So that we may justly suppose both of them to have
descended from the same original: for the _Biarmi_ were so expert in
these arts that they could either by their looks, words, or some other
wicked artifice, so ensnare and bewitch men, as to deprive them of the
use of limbs and reason, and very often bring them into extreme danger
of their lives. But tho in these latter times they do not so frequently
practise this, and dare not profess it so publicly as before, being
severely prohibited by the King of _Sweden_: yet there are still many
that give themselves wholly unto this study. But if we enquire into
the motives and reasons hereof, this, formerly mention’d, seems the
principal, that every one thinks it the surest way to defend himself
from the injuries and malicious designs of others: for they commonly
profess that their knowledge in these things is absolutely necessary
for their own security. Upon which account they have Teachers and
Professors in this science: and parents in their last will bequeath to
their children, as the greatest part of their estate, those spirits
and devils that have bin any waies serviceable to them in their life
time. _Sturlesonius_ writes of _Gunilda_, a maid, that was sent by
her father _Odzor Huide_, who dwelt in _Halogaland_, to _Motle_ King
of _Finlapland_ in _Norway_, to be instructed in this art. Where
he gives an account also of two other _Finlanders_, and the great
knowledg they attained to in this profession. But it is very seldom
that the parents themselves are not so learned, as to perform the duty,
and save the expences of a tutor. Thus they become famous in these
studies, especially when they happen to be apt Schollars. For as the
_Laplanders_ do not all agree in the same disposition, so neither do
they arrive to the same perfection in this art. For some are so stupid
and dull, that however they may seem qualified for other emploiments,
they prove altogether unfit for this.
As to the bequeathing their familiars to their Children, they suppose
it the only means to raise their family; so that they excell one
another in this art, according to the largeness of the legacies they
receive. From hence it is manifest, that each house hath peculiar
spirits, and of different and quite contrary natures from those of
others. And not only each distinct family, but single persons in them
also have their particular spirits, sometimes one, two, or more,
according as they intend to stand on the defensive part, or are
maliciously inclined and design to be upon the offensive: so that
there are a set number of obsequious spirits, beyond which none hath.
But however some of these will not engage themselves without great
solicitation, and earnest entreaties, when others more readily profer
themselves to litle children, when they find them fit for their turn,
so that diverse of the Inhabitants are almost naturally Magicians. For
when the devil takes a liking to any person in his infancy, as a fit
instrument for his designs, he presently seases on him by a disease, in
which he haunts them with several apparitions, from whence according
to the capacity of his years and understanding he learns what belongs
to the art. Those which are taken thus a second time see more visions,
and gain greater knowledg. If they are seased a third time, which is
seldom without great torment, or utmost danger of their life, the devil
appears to them in all his shapes, by which they arrive to the very
perfection of this art; and become so knowing, that without the Drum
they can see things at greatest distances, and are so possessed by the
devil, that they see them even against their will. For example, not
long since a certain _Lap_, who is yet alive, upon my complaint against
him for his Drum, brought it to me; and confest with tears, that tho
he should part with it, and not make him another, he should have the
same visions he had formerly: and he instanc’t in my self, giving me
a true and particuliar relation of whatever had happened to me in my
journy to _Lapland_. And he farther complained, that he knew not how to
make use of his eies, since things altogether distant were presented to
them.
As for the art, it is, according to the diversity of the instruments
they make use of in it, divided into two parts: one comprehends
all that to which their Drum belongs, the other those things to
which knots, darts, spells, conjurations, and the like refer. First
concerning the drum, as being peculiar to the _Laplanders_; and called
by them _Kannus_, or _Quobdas_; it is made out of a hollow piece of
wood, and must either be of pine, fir, or birch tree, which grows in
such a particular place, and turns directly according to the Suns
course; which is, when the grain of the wood, running from the bottom
to the top of the tree, winds it self from the right hand to the
left. From this perhaps they believe this tree very acceptable to the
Sun, which under the image of _Thor_ they worship with all imaginable
devotion. The piece of wood they make it of, must be of the root cleft
asunder, and made hollow on one side, upon which they stretch a skin:
the other side, being convex, is the lower part, in which they make two
holes, where they put their fingers to hold it. The shape of the upper
side is oval, in diameter almost half an ell, very often not so much;
it is like a kettle drum, but not altogether so round, nor so hollow;
neither is the skin fastned with little iron screwes, but wooden pegs.
I have seen some sowed with the sinews of Rain-dears. _Olaus_ termed
the drum very improperly an anvil, tho I believe he only meant by
this a drum, as will appear hereafter. This perhaps made the Engraver
mistake, who made a Smith’s anvil for it, placing a Serpent and a
frog upon it, with a Smith’s hammer by. The _Laplanders_ use only a
drum, which perhaps because they beat it with a hammer, was by _Olaus_
called an anvil. They paint upon the skin several pictures in red,
stained with the bark of an Alder tree. They draw near the middle of
the drum several lines quite cross, upon these they place those Gods,
to whom they pay the greatest worship, as _Thor_ the chief God, with
his attendance, and _Storjunkar_ with his: these are drawn on the top
of the line; after this they draw another line parallel to the former,
only half cross the drum, on this stands the image of Christ with some
of his Apostles. Whatever is drawn above these two lines represents
birds, Stars, and the Moon; below these they place the Sun, as
middlemost of the Planets, in the very middle of the drum, upon which
they put a bunch of brazen rings when they beat it. Below the Sun they
paint the terrestrial things, and living creatures; as Bears, Wolves,
Rain-dears, Otters, Foxes, Serpents: as also Marshes, Lakes, Rivers,
_&c._ This is the description of the drum according to _Sam. Rheen_, of
which this is the picture.
[Illustration: The Explication of the Figures.
In the Drum A. a markes _Thor_. b _Thors Servant_. c _Storjunkare_. d
_his Servant_. e _Birds_. f _Stars_. g _Christ_. h _his Apostles_. i
_a Bear_. k _a Wolf_. l _a Rain-deer_. m _an Ox_. n _the Sun_. o _a
Lake_. p _a Fox_. q _a Squeril_. r _a Serpent_.
In the Drum B. _a_ denotes _God the Father_. b _Jesus Christ_. c _the
Holy Ghost_. d _S. John_. e _Death_. f _a Goat_. g _a Squeril_. h
_Heaven_. i _the Sun_. l _a Wolf_. m _the fish Siik_. n _a Cock_. o
_Friendship with the wild Rain-deer_. p _Anundus Eerici_ (whose Drum
this was) _killing a Wolf_. q _Gifts_. r _an Otter_. s _the friendship
of other Lapps_. t _a Swan_. u _a sign to try the condition of others,
and whether a disease be incurable_. x _a Bear_. y _a Hog_. β _a
Fish_. γ _one carrying a Soul to Hell_.]
I have observed that severall of their drums have not the same pictures
upon them, I have three very different; one, which is here set down,
marked by the letter B. They are described differently by _Tornæus_, in
w^{ch} the figures are distinguished so as to refer to several places,
of which there are chiefly three. In the first stands _Norland_, and
other Countries of _Sweden_, which are placed on the South side of
the drum, and are separated by a line from the rest; in this also is
contained the next great City, where they trafic most; as in the drums
made at _Torne_, or _Kiemi_, there is drawn the City _Torne_, with the
Temple, Priest, and Governour of the _Laplanders_, and many others with
whom they have any concerns: as also the highway that lies betwixt them
and _Torne_, by which they discover when their Priest, or Governour
will come; besides other affairs managed in those parts. On the North
part, _Norway_ is described with all that is contained in it. In the
middle of these two stands _Lapland_, this takes up the greatest part
of the drum: in it are the several sorts of beasts that are in the
Countrey, here they picture herds of Rain-dears, Bears, Foxes, Wolves,
and all manner of wild beasts, to signifie when, and in what place
they may find them. If a tame Rain-dear be lost, how they may get him
againe. Whether the Rain-deers young ones will live. Whether their net
fishing will be successfull. If sick men will recover, or not. Whether
women great with child shall have a safe delivery. Or such, or such a
man will die of such a distemper, or by what other; and other things
of the like nature which they are desirous to know. I cannot give an
account of the reason for this difference in the drums, unless it is
that some of them are made for more malicious designs, others again
for each man’s private purpose. Upon this account I believe, according
to the nature of the business they intend, they add, and blot out,
and sometimes wholly change the figures. But that you may the better
understand the diversity of the drums, here are two represented to you,
both which I had out of the Study of the Chancellour of the Kingdom.
[Illustration: The explication of the Figures.
In the Drum C. _a_ denotes _Birds_. b _black Foxes_. c _Tinur_, a God.
d _Thor_, a God. e _Thors hammer_. f _Storjunkare_. g _a wooden Idol_.
h _his Servant_. i _a Star_. k _an Ox_. l _a Goat_. m _a Star_. n _the
Moon_. o _the Sun_. p _a Star_. q _another Star_. r _a Wolf_.]
The two greater Figures represent, one the upper, the other the lower
side of the Drum, and so do also the two lesser.
Besides these two drums, I had also a third given me by the same Lord
of as great a size as any that can be usually met with.
[Illustration]
To these I add a fourth, given me by the Illustrious Baron Lieutenant
_Henry Flemming_, mark’t with the letter F.
[Illustration]
Now there are two things required to fit the drum for use, an Index
and a Hammer, that shews among the pictures the thing they enquire
after, with this they beat the drum. The Index is the bunch of brazen
rings mentioned before. They first place one great ring upon the
drum, then they hang severall small ones upon that; the shape of the
Index’s is very different, for of these I have one made of copper,
of the bigness of a _Dollar_, with a square hole in the middle,
several small chains hanging about it instead of rings. Another hath
an Alchymy ring, on which a small round plate of copper is hung by
little chains. I have seen another also of bone, in the shape of the
Greek Δ, with rings about it; and others of a quite different make. I
have described mine under the drums A, and B, by the mark G; but the
common sort of rings are of copper, and those upon the Chancellors
drums are altogether such. Some writers call these rings serpents,
or brazen frogs, and toads, not that they resemble them, but because
by them they signifie these creature, whose pictures they often use
in their conjuring, as supposing them very grateful and acceptable
to the Devil. The _Laplanders_ call the Index _Arpa_, or _Quobdas_;
and make it indifferently of any sort of metal. The hammer they use
in raising their familiars, is not the Smith’s; which was the errour
of him that drew it in _Olaus Magn._ but is an instrument belonging
only to the _Laplanders_, and called by a peculiar name by them: it is
made of a Rain-deers horn, branching like a fork, this is the head of
the hammer, the other part serves for the handle. The instrument is
placed under the two drums A. B. with the letter H, with the hammer
they beat the drum, not so much to make a noise, as by the drumming to
move the ring lying on the skin, so as to pass over the pictures, and
shew what they sought after. This is the description of the drum, with
all its necessaries as it is used by the _Laplanders_ that are subject
to the _Swedes_; the _Finlappers_ also that are under the Crown of
_Danemarke_, make use of drums something different in fashion from the
former; yet however the difference is so small, that I believe their
drums are not of a different kind from ours, but made only for some
particular uses. I shall give an account of one of those, described in
_Wormius_’s Study, who saies that “the _Laplanders_ drum, which they
use in their magic, and by beating which they discover those things
they desired, is made of an oval piece of wood hollowed, in length a
foot, in breadth ten inches; in this they make six holes, and put a
handle to it, that they may hold in the left hand, whilst they beat it
with the other; upon it they stretch over a skin, painted with diverse
rude figures, drawn with blood, or red; upon this lies a piece of
brass, in the shape of a Rhomboides, somewhat convexe, about two inches
in diameter, in the middle of this, and at each corner hangs a small
chain. The instrument, with which they beat the drum, is of bone, six
inches long, about the thickness of a little finger, and made much like
the Latine T.”
This instrument the _Laplanders_ use for diverse designs, and are of
opinion that whatever they do it is don by the help of this. For this
reason they have it in great esteem and reverence, taking such care
in securing it, that they wrap it with the Index, and hammer, up in a
Lambskin, and for its greater safety, lay it in some private place.
But I think it an errour, to suppose them to lay it in a Lambskin: for
it is written in some places _Loomskin_, which signifies the skin of
a bird that lives altogether in the water. They think it so sacred,
and holy, that they suffer no maid that is marriageable to touch it;
and if they remove it from place to place, they carry it the last of
all, and this must be don too only by men; or else they go with it
thro some untrod way, that no body may either meet or follow them. The
reason they give for their great care in this particular, is, because
they believe if any one, especially a maid that is marriageable, should
follow the same way, they would in three daies time at least fall into
some desperate disease, and commonly without any hopes of recovery.
This they seem to verifie by many examples, that we may give the more
credit to it; and we have the less reason to doubt the truth of this,
since the devil severely commands his worship to be observed, and
suffers not those rites and customs he hath imposed to be violated, so
long as God is pleased to grant him this liberty. Now because it may
happen sometimes that a woman may out of necessity be constrained to go
that way, by which the drum hath bin carried, the devil is so favorable
as to permit it without any danger, upon condition she first offers a
brazen ring to the drum.
[Illustration]
In the next place, because they believe they can effect very strange
things by the drum, we will shew what they are, and the manner used
to perform them. These are three, belonging either to their hunting,
their sacred affairs, or lastly the enquiring into things far distant.
I find four chiefly mentioned by another Writer, the first is, the
knowing the state of affairs in forreign Countries. The second, what
success their designs in hand will meet. With the third, how to cure
diseases. The fourth, what Sacrifices their Gods will be pleased to
accept, and what beast each God desires or dislikes most. As to the way
in making enquiries, it is not the same among all these artists. But
the great thing they generally observe, is, to stretch the skin very
stiff, which is don by holding it to the fire. The next is, that they
beat not altogether in the same place, but round about the Index; then
that they beat softly at first, presently quicker, and continue this
till they have effected their intent. The drummer first lifts up the
drum by degrees, then beats softly about the Index, till it begins to
stirr, and when it is removed some distance from its first place to
either side, he strikes harder, till the Index points at something,
from whence he may collect what he sought for. They take care also
that as well he that beats the drum, as those that are present at the
ceremony, should be upon their knees. As to the occasions of their
beating thus, the later of those is already discoursed of. Now we
proceed to the rest, the first of which is concerning their enquiries
into things acted in remote parts. Those who desire to know the
condition of their friends, or affairs abroad, whether distant five
hundred, or a thousand miles, go to some _Laplander_, or _Finlander_
skilfull in this art, and present him with a linen garment, or piece
of silver, as his reward, for satisfying them in their demands. An
example of this nature is to be seen upon record, at _Bergen_, a famous
Market Town in _Norway_, where the effects of the German Merchants are
registred; in this place there was one _John Delling_, Factor then to
a _German_, to whom a certain _Finlapper_ of _Norway_ came with _James
Samaousuend_: of him _John Delling_ enquired about his Master then
in _Germany_; the _Finlapper_ readily consenting to tell him, like a
drunken man presently made a great bawling, then reeling and dancing
about several times in a circle, fell at last upon the ground, lying
there sometime as if he were dead, then starting up on a suddain,
related to him all things concerning his Master, which were afterwards
found to agree to what he reported. There are many more instances of
this kind: the most considerable, is one concerning a _Laplander_, now
living, who gave _Tornæus_ an account of the Journey he first made to
_Lapland_, tho he had never seen him before that time; which, altho it
was true, _Tornæus_ dissembled to him, least he might glory too much in
his devilish practises, and rely upon them, as the only means whereby
he might attain to truth. The autority of this man is so considerable,
that it may gain credit enough to the Story. As to the method taken
in making discoveries, it is very different. _Olaus Magn._ describes
it thus, the drummer goes into some private room, accompanied by one
single person, besides his wife, and by beating the drum moves the
Index about, muttering at the same time several charms, then presently
he falls into an extasie, and lies for a short time as if dead; in
the mean while his companion takes great care, that no gnat, flie, or
other living creature touch him; for his Soul is carried by some ill
_Genius_ into a forreign Countrey, from whence it is brought back with
a knife, ring, or some other token, of his knowledg, of what is done
in those parts; after this rising up, he relates all the circumstances
belonging to the business that was enquired after; and that they may
seem certainly so, he shews what he hath brought from thence. _Petr.
Claud._ makes no mention either of the drum, charms, company, or those
things he brings with him; but saies he casts himself upon the ground,
grows black in the face, lying as if dead for an hour or two; according
as the distance of the place is, of which he makes enquiry; when he
awakes he gives a full account of all affairs there. It is clear from
what was said before, that they made use of a drum; and ’tis observed
that for this sort of conjuring the lower part of the drum, whereby
they hold it, was commonly shaped like a cross. One of this make was
given me by the Lord _Henry Flemming_, Colonel of a foot Regiment in
_Finland_, the Figure of it is in the page foregoing. They hang about
it several claws, and bones of the creatures they take. That several
persons also, as well men as women, are permitted to be present at this
ceremony, is asserted by _Sam. Rheen_ in his history, where he saies
that the drummer sings a song, called by them _Joiike_, and the men
and women that are present sing likewise, some in higher some in lower
notes, this they call _Duura_. Next as to the casting themselves on
the ground, there are various relations, some think them not really,
but only in appearance dead; others are apt to believe that the soul
departs from the body, and after its travell abroad, returns again.
But without doubt this is false, for is it impossible, for either man,
or devil, to restore the soul to the body it hath once left. So that I
believe the devil only stifles the faculties of the soul for a time,
and hinders their operations. Now after the drummer falls down, he
laies his drum as near as possibly on his head, in this posture.
[Illustration]
Those in the mean time that are present, leave not off singing all the
time he lies sweating in this agony; which they do not only to put him
in mind, when he awakes, of the business he was to know; but also that
he might recover out of this trance, which he would never do, (as they
imagine) if they either ceased singing, or any one stirred him with
their hand or foot. This perhaps is the reason why they suffer no flie,
or any living creature to touch him; and it is upon this account only
that they watch him so diligently, and not out of any fear they have
least the devil should take away his body; which opinion of _Peucers_
is altogether false. It is uncertain how long they lye in this manner,
but it is commonly according as the place where they make their
discovery, is nearer or farther off; but the time never exceeds 24
houres, let the place be at never so great a distance. After he awakes
he shews them some tokens to confirm their belief in what he tells
them. This is the first and chiefest use they make of the drum.
The next is, how to know the event of their own concerns, and what
success their hunting will have, or any other business which they
undertake, for they seldom venture on any thing, without first
consulting that. In order to the knowing this, they place the bunch of
rings on the picture of the Sun in the drum; then they beat, singing at
the same time; if the rings go round towards the right hand, according
to the Suns course they promise to themselves good health, fortune,
and great encrease both of men and beasts; if contrary, towards the
left, they expect sickness and all the evils attending on ill success.
We may easily ground this opinion of theirs upon the other mentioned
above, where they believe the Sun the only Author of all productions.
Wherefore when the Index moves according to his motion, it portends
prosperity by following his course, from whom they expect all the good
they receive. This is the way they take in all their more weighty
affairs, as in a journey, hunting, removing their habitations, or any
such like thing, of which something before, and more hereafter. Before
they hunt they make particular observation which way the Index turns,
whether East, West, North, or South; and collect from thence where
their game lies. Other things for which the drum is serviceable, are,
first, the discovering the nature of diseases, whether they arise from
any disorder in the body, or are caused by magic; this being known,
then to find the remedy for them, which is commonly by sacrifice to one
or other of their angry Gods, but chiefly to _Storjunkar_, who bears
greatest autority among them, and if not appeased, leaves them small
hopes of recovery. Wherefore the sick person vows a sacrifice, either
of a Rain-deer, Bull, Goat, or Ram, or something of this kind to one
of the _Storiunkars_, that stands upon the mountains. The sacrifice is
not left to the disposal of the sick man, but must be made according
to the directions of the drummer; for he is supposed to be the only
man able to advise them in this case, he first discovers which of the
Gods is displeased, and what sort of sacrifice is most acceptable to
him, for they refuse several, and the same also at several times.
But before the drummer appeases their Gods, they give him a copper
and a silver ring, putting them on his right arm, then he begins a
song, and beats the drum, and all that are present joyn with him in a
_Chorus_; after this according to the place, to which the Index points,
he directs them. These are the things commonly done by the drum. The
last thing for which they think it necessary, is, the accomplishing
their wicked designs, as impairing mens health, or depriving them of
their lives; which is frequently enough practised among them, tho not
altogether so publicly as heretofore. Some of them account this only
unlawful, and exclude themselves out of the number of those, which use
it, thinking the other uses of the drum to consist chiefly in doing
good. But however this mischievous Art continues still too much among
them. Several inhabitants of _Kiema_ in _Lapland_ were apprehended in
the year 1671, with drums, for this purpose so large, that they could
not be removed from thence, but were burnt in the place. Among those
_Laplanders_ there was one four score years of age, that confessed
he was bred up in this art from his childhood, who in 1670 upon some
quarrell about a pair of mittens, caused a Boar of _Kiema_ to be
drowned in a Cataract, for which he was condemned to die, and in order
to that was to be carried in chains to the next town in _Bothnia_,
but in the journy he contrived so by his art, that on a suddain, tho
he seemed well, and lusty, he died on the sledge, which he had often
foretold he would sooner do, then fall into the Executioners hands.
As to the ceremonies used in this particular, either in their words,
gesture, or any other thing, I can give no account, finding none in
those writings, from whence I collected the rest. The reason for this,
I suppose, is, because they themselves keep this secret, as the great
mystery in their art; or that no one would enquire into them, least
they should be thought guilty of this damnable sin.
Having treated largely of the drum, we come to the other parts of this
art, to which also belong proper sorts of instruments: the first is
a cord tied with knots for the raising of wind. They, as _Zeiglers_
relates it, tye three magical knots in this cord; when they untie
the first, there blows a favorable gale of wind; when the second, a
brisket; when the third, the Sea and wind grow mighty stormy, and
tempestuous. This, that we have reported concerning the _Laplanders_,
is by _Olaus Magnus_, and justly, related of the _Finlanders_, who
border on the Sea, and sell winds to those Merchants that trafic with
them, when they are at any time detained by a contrary one. The manner
is thus, they deliver a small rope with three knots upon it, with this
caution, that when they loose the first, they shall have a good wind,
if the second, a stronger, if the third, such a storm will arise, that
they can neither see how to direct the ship, and avoid rocks, or so
much as stand upon the decks, or handle the tackling. No other Writers
mention this concerning the _Laplanders_, and I am apt not to think it
at all probable, since they live in an inland Country, bordering no
where upon the Sea. Wherefore this properly belongs to the _Finlappers_
in _Norway_. Now those that are skilled in this art, have command
chiefly over the winds that blew at their birth; so that this wind
obeys principally one man, that another, as if they obtained this power
when they first received their breath; now as this belongs chiefly to
the _Finlappers_ and _Finlanders_ of _Norway_, so doth the stopping of
the course of ships, which is altogether of the same nature. This is
also attributed to the _Laplanders_, who according to the different
affection they have for Merchants, make the Sea either calmer, or more
tempestuous.
We come now to their magical Darts, which they make of lead, in length
about a finger; by these they execute their revenge upon their enemies,
and according to the greatness of the injury received, they wound
them with cankrous swellings, either in the arms, or legs, which by
the extremity of its pain, kills them in three daies time. They shoot
these darts to what distance they please, and that so right too,
that they seldom miss their aim. _Olaus Magnus_ reports the same in
his writings, which I believe is only a transcript of _Zeigler_’s,
the words being the same, and without doubt he follows him in this
particular as he hath in many others. But I suppose they are both
mistaken, and misrender’d them leaden darts, since I can find no
person in these times that knows of any such; neither is there any
mention made of them in any other writers, or by the common People,
who seldom omit such circumstances as these in their relations. But
they might perhaps be mistaken in supposing them to be made of lead,
by misunderstanding the word _Skott_, which is commonly used for their
explanation. For when either man or beast is suddainly taken with a
disease, by which their strength fails, and they immediately perish;
the common People call this that takes them so _Skott_, that is a dart.
This might make _Zeigler_ think to be really some dart, which the
inhabitants are wholly ignorant of, and most among us believe these
things to be effected by some other means. _Petrus Claudius_ calls it
a _Gan_, which they send abroad: he likens it to a flie, but saies it
is some little devil, of which the _Finlanders_ in _Norway_ that excell
most in this art, keep great numbers in a leathern bag, and dispatch
daily some of them abroad. Of these he relates a story, that happened
in his time: an Inhabitant of _Helieland_, who is still alive, going
towards the mountains in _Norway_ to hunt Bears, came to a cave under
the side of a hill, where he found an image rudely shapen, which was
the Idoll of some _Finlander_; near this stood a _Ganeska_, or magical
satchel: he opened this, and found in it several blewish flies crawling
about, which they call _Gans_, or spirits, and are daily sent out
by the _Finlanders_ to execute their devilish designs. But he seems
to intimate no more by this word _Gan_, then that very thing which
endangers mens health, and lives. For he saies that these _Finlanders_
cannot live peaceably, except they let out of their _Ganeska_ or
_Gankiid_, which is the satchel, every day one of the _Gans_, that is
a fly or devil. But if the _Gan_ can find no man to destroy, after
they have sent him out, which they seldom do upon no account at all,
then he roves about at a venture, and destroies the first thing he
meets with; sometimes they command it out to the mountains, to cleave
rocks asunder: however these conjurers will, for very trivial causes,
send out their _Gan_ to ruine men. This word _Gan_ signifies no more
then what _Zeigler_ meant by his dart, for the term by which they
express its going out is _de Skiuda deris Gan_, that is, he as it were
shoots out his _Gan_ like an arrow, for _Skiuda_ is only proper to the
shooting out of an arrow.
This is the third thing belonging to their magic, which they use as
well against one another as strangers; nay sometimes against those that
they know are their equals in the art. Of this kind there happened
a notable passage betwixt two _Finlanders_, one of which was called
_Asbioern Gankonge_, from his great knowledge in the art, the other
upon some small difference concerning their skill, or some such trifle,
would have destroyed _Asbioern_, but was still prevented by his too
powerfull art, till at last finding an opportunity, as _Asbioern_ lay
sleeping under a rock, he immediately dispatcht away a _Gan_, that
cleft the rock asunder, and tumbled it upon him. This happened in the
time of _Petrus Claud._ not long before he wrote his History. Some of
the Conjurers are contented only with the power to expell that _Gan_
out of men, or beasts, which others send. This is remarkable among
them, that they can hurt no man with their _Gan_, except they first
know his parents name.
Now all that the _Finlanders_ and _Finlappers_ of _Norway_ effect by
their _Gan_, the _Laplanders_ do by a thing they call _Tyre_. This
_Tyre_ is a round ball, about the bigness of a wallnut, or small apple,
made of the finest hair of a beast, or else of moss, very smooth, and
so light that it seems hollow, its colour is a mixture of yellow,
green, and ash, but so that the yellow may appear most. I had one of
these given me by M^r _John Otto Silverstroem_, Warden of the Colledge
belonging to the metals, and Master of the Mines at _Saltzburg_ and
_Frahlune_. This is the figure of it.
[Illustration]
This _Tyre_ they say is quickened and moved by a particular art; it
is sold by the _Laplanders_, so that he that buies it may hurt whom
he pleases with it. They do perswade themselves, and others, that by
the _Tyre_ they can send, either Serpents, Toads, Mice, or what they
please into any man, to make his torment the greater. It goes like a
whirlewind, and as swift as an arrow, and destroies the first man,
or beast, that it lights on, so that it often mistakes. Of these we
have too many instances in this time, which are too long to insert
here: having therefore done with all, or at least the chiefest matters
concerning their sacred, and superstitious rites, or worship; we
proceed to other affairs.