2025

Selection of the topic and boundaries of the narrative

A samba carnival provides an excellent framework where Finnish and Brazilian cultures encounter through art. Multidimensional means of samba provide a scene, where we can deal with topics which are both present-day and everlasting, for example the fragile harmony between man and nature.

This year, we decided to praise Finnish mythology and ancient wisdom which brings us closer to our connection with nature. Finns have begun to explore their own roots more and now they want to know more about our folklore which is more than just the Kalevala. Both Brazil and Finland have a really rich folklore of various deities and possessors. In Brazil, the word “orishas” is used for deities. Numerous ancient gods, mythical creatures and possessors are also known in Finnish culture. Rulers of natural forces can be found in both Finnish and Brazilian stories. For example, Ukko / Shango, ruler of thunder, or Vellamo / Lemanjà, ruler of water.

Over thousands of years we have been able to live in balance with nature, but in modern times we have often detached ourselves from nature so much that we use natural resources without thinking about the consequences or listening to nature’s warning sounds. Climate change is already present, but what means do we have to deal with it both physically and mentally.

How did humans survive before when they were much more at the mercy of nature? They had a conversation with the forces of nature. It was a connection, a dialogue where respect for nature was always present. They sacrificed to the spirits of nature and believed in the other world. The world of the ancient Finns included, in addition to this middle word, under world below the earth and realm above in the sky. Shaman could travel between these worlds. Shaman also imparted knowledge to other people, often in the form of spell poems.

Our parade is a glimpse of this ancient world, with the Shaman as the central character and the spell as the driving force. Finnish oral folklore contains a huge archive of ancient spell poems, from which we too have been inspired and made a song.

“Get up from the notch of my nature
I was born from the deep earth!”

The shaman’s job was to cast spells and maintain the balance of the world. Falling into the Lovi, which was a gateway, usually happened with the help of rhythm and movement. The samba parade provides the perfect setting for telling our story. Our effort is to present a shamanic journey respecting Finnish faith traditions and our culture, combined with the joyful message of samba. We revive an ancient spell and let the Shaman and the characters of Finnish mythology lead us towards the harmony of man and nature. There is power in casting a spell together!

Heidi Roth, Irina Torp and the whole Carnavalesca team: Satu Akalan, Riikamaria Paakkunainen, Sari Ullgren-Lajunen, Maiju Virtala.

Enredo

Pohjan neidot, the maidens of the Pohjola, weave the threads of fate without a break with the rainbow, i.e. the gimmick of the air. Not even these beautiful maidens can help unless the forces that defy fate are taken seriously.

The shaman is in the forest when Etiäinen arrives from somewhere in the future, present or past. Etiäinen has an ax and is menacing. The shaman senses that something is wrong and the signs suggest that the balance between man and nature has been upset. The shaman has to get all the power possible and learn the ancient spells to restore harmony. For the spell to work, the Shaman must know the origin of the different parts of the world. She begins her spell by chanting and asking for strength from the ancient Finnish deities who reside in the above realm.

A shaman has the skill to travel between this reality and the beyond. She is ready to fall into the groove, but senses that she might need help on her journey, so she also asks her power animal for her journey. They are the Emu of humans, or our animalistic ancestors. Hongotar, Käreitär, Holohonka and Juonetar walk alongside the shaman.

The shaman asks for strength from the God of the sky Ukko and the mother of the earth Akka. They respond to her request, spin and the Shaman gains their power.

Ilmatar, who has forged the roof of the sky and rules the winds, calms the weather to make it easier for the Shaman to travel in the upper and middle realms.

A Shaman who has fallen into a hole travels freely in different air directions, as well as in the middle, underworld and overworld. In above world, Päivätär and Kuutar spin time. When we look at the sky, we see those celestial bodies, and our life on earth is largely determined by them. They remind us that we don’t have forever left if we want to do something for the earth. The shaman gets strength from the sun and calms down in the quiet chaos of moon bridge.

The shaman continues her journey in the middle world, where the shaman’s people live. When the human mind falters, nature helps. Mielikki, or the mistress of the forest, takes us in a gentle embrace and we feel better again. The shaman also turns to the people of the forest. She is taught the births and rituals related to the forest in order for her to succeed in her mission.

In addition to healing power, there are also unknown and dangerous forces in the forest. If you don’t behave respectfully in the forest, the anger of the forest Ajattara catch on to the person and the person may end up in the forest. The dance of the Ajattara’s reminds the shaman of this. It is believed that the Ajattaras, or forest demons, are formed from people’s evil and envious thoughts. The seducing and dangerous Ajattaras dance a threatening image of the future – what will happen if the forest nature is lost. If a person does his own self-interest to pursue anything, the forest will not be well, and its disease will infect the person.

Now the instability can be seen even in Sampo, which runs the world. It is the sampa, the central pillar of the world, which tries to maintain the world in balance. For modern people, Sampo often represents only money, worldly mammon, around which the human world revolves. Bateria plays witch drums, the rhythms of which keep Sampo moving. Sampo is always there, but it can still be lost: it rotates, bringing abundance to each of us, but if it falls into only one hand, the balance is shaken. The shaman joins the rhythms of the witch drum.

Sampo moves our earth and its water bodies with its rotation. Life was born from water, so the shaman needs to know the birth of water, and for that she needs help from the people of water. The shaman gets Vellamo, Näkki and the water people on her side to convey an important message: the waters must remain clean for the world to have hope. If the balance is lost, everything falls into the water. The shaman promises to tell the people this, and in return the water people lead her across the water towards the Lintukoto.

The warm Lintukoto is located far in the south and southwest, at the edge of the world, where the sky meets the earth’s surface. Small, human-like Birdpeople live in that paradise. They keep Soulbirds close by to protect them and make sure no one steals their innocent souls. For a moment it seems that we have hope and Sampo is spinning in place, spreading happiness to everyone, but the Shaman’s task is not over yet.

Kekritär will remind Shaman and people of our big problem, which is human selfishness. We might avoid the imbalance of nature if we gave of our own and were a little selfless. Once upon a time, after the harvest was finished, we remembered our ancestors, sacrificed to the gods, appeased and thanked the owners of nature. The Kekri celebration brings back these memories and ancient teachings to us. The shaman also gives her offering and moves on.

After all the traveling, the Shaman now understands a lot more and she has got almost all possible people, i.e. power, for herself. The shaman has already visited the above world and the middle world and has become aware of the origins of the matters. She is always ready to pass the spell and the message of wisdom on to all people. There is still Tuonela, located in Pohjola, which still needs to be visited in order to find out its birth and make the spell perfect. But it’s not even possible to get to Tuonela alive, is it?

At the gates of Pohjola, Shaman will be met by Louhi, the mighty witch of Pohjola. The shaman recites a powerful spell and to her surprise, Pohjola’s old, feared battery agrees with it. Because the wisdom of the old woman of Pohjola has been feared, she has been given the reputation of a wicked witch. The myth is not true. Together with Louhi, the Shaman casts spells for people and the world. Tuonen Tytti, that mystical ferrywoman and healer, travels with the souls of our ancestors towards eternity, towards the eternal wisdom of the dead. We are finally all in harmony among ourselves, one and the same nature. We have our people, we have received our nature and the journey of our souls starts again from the beginning through underworld to above world, from above world back to middle world and from this realm to underworld, the places of dead people again. The shaman has brought her message to all of our hearts and Sampo continues to spin, bringing happiness to us all.

Order of the Parade

1. Comissão de Frente: Pohjan neidot – Maidens of the North and Destaque: Etiäinen

Etiäinen is an image of a person, a double being or a perceptible impression that goes ahead of her and does or is doing ahead of her the same things that the person concerned later does herself. The experience of encountering such a “creature” can also be called anticipatory. Etiäinen can be heard, sometimes even seen. Pohjan neidot, i.e. the daughters of Pohjola, are bright and white women, who exude the maiden’s power, or magical power. Their task is to weave the threads of fate with a trick of the air, i.e. a rainbow.

2. Destaque: Shaman (dance both on the street and in the Abre-alas)

3. Abre-alas: Lovi – Notch

Dancers: Emuu, i.e. grand parents

Hongotar – ancestress and protector of bears
Käreitär – mother of foxes
Holohonka – breeder of game birds
Juonetar – the keeper of the deer’s prey

Lovi is a supernatural place, a gap between this world and Tuonela. At one time, it was also speculated that the notch could also mean a woman’s vagina. It has been born through it and in ancient belief it is believed to have had great power. The shaman falls into a trance state and travels between the realms. With her are the emuus, or the spirits of our ancestors. We believed that people and tribes had their own ancestors who descended from animals.

4. Porta-Bandeira and Mestre-Sala: Akka and Ukko

Akka is the goddess of fertility, the mother of the earth, who gets her strength from nature. Ukko is the supreme god, the ancient god of weather, harvest and thunder.

5. Ala Guardiães: Ilmatar

Ilmatar, the imp of air gives birth to the world. She uses the air element to protect the flag.

6. Ala das Baianas: Päivätär and Kuutar

Päivätär in Finnish ancient belief is the goddess of the sun and the day and a beautiful maiden whose companion, or even twin, is equally beautiful – the moon goddess Kuutar. Kuutar spins gold thread from the moon and Päivätär spins silver from the sun. Wasps and bees are Kuutar’s and Päivätär’s helpers.

7. Destaque: Mielikki

Mielikki, is a powerful woman of the forest, a fairy, the wife of the forest king Tapio.

8. Ala 1: Forest people

Forest people has the magical power that causes forest-related diseases and the possessors and creatures that live in the forest in Finnish folklore.

9. Ala dos Passistas: Ajattara

Ajattaras are evil creatures of belief related to the forest in Finnish folklore. Their seduction power is dangerous and they can dance us into a nightmare where the balance of the forest and people are already gone.

10. Ala da Bateria: Sampo

Sampo is the pillar of the world around which the world revolves. It was believed that its other end is the North Star, which is always in the same position in the sky. The bateria beats the drum, whose rhythms help the shaman travel. Sampo revolves around each of us, bringing abundance.

11. Sound car and melody group do not illustrate the Enredo.

12. Destaques: Näkki and Vellamo

Näkki is the owner of fresh water and Vellamo is the mother of water.

13. Ala 2: Water people

In Finnish mythology, water people is a group of creatures that live under water and in swamps: water lizards, water maidens, water maidens and the magical power of this group.

14. Children and youth group: Soulbirds and Birdislanders

The soulbird brings the soul at birth and takes it at death. Birdisland – Lintukoto is a mythical place that, according to Finnish folklore, is located in the far south and southwest, at the edge of the world or at the point where the sky meets the surface of the earth. In that paradise, there live small, human-like bird nestlings that eat bird eggs. Children and young people have the hope for a better life. They keep the soul bird close to them, lest the soul go its own way.

15. Destaque: Kekritär

Kekritär is a spirit being who is celebrated as Kekri, in connection with the harvest festival.

16. Ala 3: Kekri

If we don’t sacrifice as Kekri, the balance is at risk and Sampo’s spin can be compromised. Kekri is a harvest festival where people eat, drink, sing and burn bonfires. As kekri, a person thanks nature for its gifts and in turn gives his own sacrificial gift. We must not be greedy, but we must give something of our own. It is also Sampo’s principle.

17. Alegoria: Tuonela

Dancers: Louhi, Shaman, Tuonen Tytti and Souls

Louhi is Pohja’s akka, who has the great powers of a seer. Louhi can, for example, transform into a ferocious Kokko bird or steal the lights of the sky inside a mountain. In the north there is also Tuonela and Tuonen Tytti, who knows the causes of diseases and the means of healing. She rows possessed souls, i.e. the dead, across Tuonela’s black river. The souls of our ancestors are with the Shaman this whole way and they float beautifully along our lives, so also in this chariot, which represents Tuonela. Tuonen Tytti reminds us that just as she leads us along the Tuonela stream, life also leads us. Life goes on.

Samba-enredo

Império do Papagaio 2025
Spell

(Kari Winqvist, Heidi Roth, Kaj Askolin, Tuomo Noppari, Markus Jaatinen)

O Shaman!
Knower of the ancient way
Hear as we conjure up a song
Giving you our power
Etiäinen arrived, had a serious dream
Not even the threads of Maidens of Pohjola can be saved soon
The balance of the world has been upset
Our people have lost their way

The old wise people living under the conditions of nature
Felt the spirits of the forest, earth and waters
Perhaps the knowledge is ancient
Our distress would bring the answer
Fall, shaman, into the lovi now
Time for ammo
To pass through the worlds
From Middler to Underer and Abover

Get up from my nature slot
I was born from the deep earth!
Samba’s spell in full swing
Let it take over my nature
May my strength come to me!

Shadows takes on a new character in Underer
Louhi from the North is waiting there
Thinkers are attracted to the dance of destruction
And raise the fury of the forest
The world is sinking into that dark world
Or can an ancient sage’s spell restore happiness?
Our selfishness causes the world to fall apart
Oh will we ever learn?

So…
Louhi joins our spell
Blowing on one coal
Saving our world
Again, Sampo brings harmony
Restores balance
When we only remember to give our own
And love Mother Earth

Papagaio
Like Lintukoto beautiful in the south
Samba school the most beloved
Happiness casts a spell on our hearts

Source Material

Please refer to the Finnish version of the enredo / Lähteet.