Waeinaemoeinen

Waeinaemoeinen in the mythology of the Finns, is one of the supreme gods, who is said to be seen in the seven principal stars of the Great Bear constellation. He takes the souls of the departed up with him, and if it is possible for such a soul to strike the Great Bear, it becomes partaker of eternal happiness. He is related to Ilmarainen, god of air and water. The name of the father of both is Kawe, and he is the only being sprung from himself. The sons discovered and made the arts and sciences-Ilmarainen, the art of working iron; Waeinaemoeinen invented the kandele (a fiddle like instrument), and with it poetry and song, hunting, fishing, and war, of which he was worshipped as the god generally. He was the spirit whence all life proceeded, the master of favorable spells, the adversary and the conqueror of all personifications of evil, and the sovereign possessor of all science. He sent the celestial fire to man, and invented incantations. Persons of all classes needed to invoke his protection. The sweat which dropped from his body was a balm for all diseases. He alone furnished efficacious assistance against the charms of the sorcerers, and an appeal to him was an effectual resource against the encroachments of daemons. Vollmer, Worterb. d. Mythol s.v.; Lenormant, Chaldaean Magic, p. 246 sq.