Depiction of Hiisi, Master of the Sacred Grove by NASA Hubble Program 9746 (Jean-Luc Margot) Processing by D. Bamberger, based on method described in Benecchi et al. (https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0912/0912.2074.pdf)
NASA Hubble Program 9746 (Jean-Luc Margot) Processing by D. Bamberger, based on method described in Benecchi et al. (https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0912/0912.2074.pdf) · Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Hiisi, Master of the Sacred Grove

Karelian · numen · mythic · numen

Hiisi is one of the oldest attested figures of Finnic religion: the word first denoted the sacred grove or cult site itself, and place-names in hiisi- mark old worship sites across Karelia. In the runic poetry and charms the word is personified as the grove's master, increasingly demonized after Christianization into a devil-like lord dwelling in Hiitola. In the Karelian epic runes he fashions the demon elk that Lemminkäinen must catch on skis, and healing charms banish diseases and iron-wounds back to Hiisi's realm.

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