St. Peter's Day June 29th.

In Norwegian:
Persok

Catholic:
In remembrance of St.Peter and St. Paul's martyrdom. The most common sign is a key, and the day was also called: Peter with the golden key, because Jesus gave Peter the management of the keys to heaven.

Old tradition:
Gathering herbs was important today.

Engraved signs:
Flower, cross, sword, ax, and key.

It's quite amazing giving one person alone the keys to heaven. What if he is haveing a bad day? I'm not sure this is the smartest I have done, to make the key out of bookpaper. Can you see the horizontal cross, the two dots and the two triangles?
It seems photo manupilating has become a habit with these small artpieces. I have thought, let so be it with this series. It will be nice to have them all in the same tecknique.

This is the end of June, and half way throug the year. Now I need a break so the next half will start coming July 1st next year.

St,John's Wake June 24th.

In Norwegian:
Jonsok, St.Hans

Catholic:
In remembrance of John the Baptist's birth.

Old traditions:
Bonfires are the most known and used symbol of midsummer, but there are plenty of other things connected to the solstice too. In old times this was the day they celebrated the solstice, and there were alot of danger to be aware of, All things good and evil was coming forward around the solstice, and fire was a good way to help strenghten the power of the sun. Many people sought the church this day, probably to pray and ensure them selves against all evil.
There were a strong belief that witches was out flying this night together with the black one, he who has a green tail and a pitchfork.( never mention him by his real name. :) am I a bit influenced of old superstition too? )
Around here, it's said that the household didn't sleep in their beds this night, ( of course not, out partying I would call it.) the beds should be clean and done for the dead ones to sleep in. The dead ones who once belonged to the household.
The livestock were protected by drawing a tar cross on their forehead.
This was the best time to gather herbs, and young girls could pick 7 different wild flowers and put them under their pillow. During the night they could possibly see/ dream of the person they would be married to. Water could have magic power coming night. This day announced the weather for coming summer. Every other weathersign was outdone by this one.

If it was raining, the Autumn would appear early.Other weathermarks could be: high flying swallows, meant good weather. If the swallows flew low in the sky, rain was expected. The same with ants, ants in top of straws meant wet weather. It was also a good sign if some specific birds nested high in the treetop, good weather. I'm sure you all know some different weather marks from where you live, it seems they're still alive.

Engraved signs:
Sun, cross,three men, hourglass and on my stick a church.

It is always exciting to see what can be done to my original painting in picasa. Some of them simply can't take colors, while others are "growing" with use of colors. No matter what, I end up liking the result and todays piece is no exception.

Summer solstice June 21st.

In Norwegian:
Sommersolhverv

The sun reaches its highest point and we have the day with the longest period of light in the year.
Hence also the "shortest" night.

Old traditions:
Way back in time people had a large amount of respect for everything concerning the sun. Where I live people were afraid the sun would not reappear in the sky after winter solstice. Because of that they were not allowed to do work which went in circles. Not spin, not grind flour, things like that. The same goes for summer solstice. They believed the circle moves gave negative energi to the sun and helped it fall off the clode. Probably they thought what's good in winter will help in summer as well, hence the ban in summer too.

Engraved signs:
"turning" sun.

This is the sun at its highest. The line pointing down, not a sunray, indicates coming phase.....lower. I love how the sky turned out, and the ocean/ground too. It's quite interesting to enlarge the photos, that's when it's possible to see all the colors used.

St. Botolph Mass June 17th.

In Norwegian: 

Botolfsmesse, Botsok.

Catholic:
In remembrance of St. Botolph who, according to legend, built a monastery in England in year 654. Most knowledge about him is lost, but it's said he was a very popular man.

Old traditions:
This day has been an important one in Norway. Back in 1276 our chief court of law, lagtinget, opened this day. As late as ca. 1850 this day were still held as a holyday some places in our country.
One should not work this day.

Coming week is said to be a good one to work new land. All roots and weeds will be easy to pull up and will later rot. Even now, some farmers work according to this tradition. I have a slightly different experience, around each full moon and new moon the weeds's root system are sitting loose. Every year I pull up difficult weeds and their complete root systems according to the moonphase. A couple of days later it's impossible to loosen them.

Engraved signs:
Sheep, Ears of corn, Bishop's pastoral staff.
In my stick it's the Bishop's pastoral staff.

 It's such a joy to make these pieces and interesting also to build them up to a final result. This specific one was made using more lines and details to create a bit more interest to it. All my pieces are based upon simple signs, and I try to make each one of them a piece of it's own. When I'm done with this project I'll have 60 pieces or so, and it would be nice if each one of them could live on their own without all the rest.

Vitus Mass, June 15th.

In Norwegian:
Vitusmesse

Catholic:
In remembrance of St. Vitus who is the patron for those who suffers from epilepsy and Vitus's dance.

Engraved sign:
I havn't been able to find the marks of this day. It's not a well known day and it was not much celebrated here in Norway. The sign in my stick is a line and tiny dot only.

Old traditions:
Not special for this day only but, as kids we tried to capture a ladybug holding it in our closed hands and carefully shaking while saying: ladybug ladybug fly today tomorrow we'll have a brighter day. Then we opened up and if the ladybug flew away we would have pretty and warm weather. Oh, if it only was easy as that.
Some say this is the day for cleaning the celing and walls.
In Kaupanger stave church they celebrate this day each year the sunday closest to June 15th. King Sverre sat the old stave church on fire the night before Vitus day in year 1184. Hence the yearly celebration.
I've learnt alot working with this stuff, and this day explained to me why one of the drugstore chains in Norway is called Vitus.
By clicking this link you'll be lead to a site telling about Vitus.

I'm not sure whether I should make this one. As I see it, it's just the dot that is ment to be a reminder of the day. The line below is leading up from the actual dayline. To make a tiny dot only felt meaningless, as it is now, it can be related to different things.

Originally St. Bernhard Mass. May 22nd.

 

In Norwegian:
Bjørnevok, which means Bear's wake.

 

Catholic:
In remembrance of St. Bernhard - Bernhard from Clairvaux 1090-1153.

 

Old Tradition:
If this day fell on a monday one had to sow coming wedensday, if the day fell on a saturday, on the other hand, one should NOT sow coming monday.
Bear's Wake, it was time for that now. Another important thing here, where I live, was to start  the reed harvest. A traditional craft here is to make slippers from reed, and type of weather determines the quality of the end product. It's most important to avoid foggy weather the weeks before harvesting. If there has been much foggy weather the slippers will not last long, the reed will be of a bad quality. Here is how the slippers look like.

 

Engraved signs:
Bear, Cross, Bishops hat, Bear's paw.

The sign on my stick is a bishops hat, and it's very interesting. I assume you all know how a Mitra looks. (The Bishops hat) The sign on my stick is made like a kings krown. When reading, I learnt the orthodox Catholics still uses a hat looking like a king's krown. I don't know what it means, but perhaps it was more like orthodox here too way back in time.

 

 

 

Today I had a hard choice, that's why I show you both pieces. I simply can't decide which one I like the most. The black one, like it's sitting in a dark room with just a tiny light source coming in. One can see glimpses of the white hat with all the gold on it. 

And then, the pure white one looking clean and delicious. It's really a Pope worthy. Which is the better one in your eyes? 

St. Hallvards Wake May 15th.

 

In Norwegian:

Hallvardsok, Hallvards messe.

 

Catholic:

In remembrance of the Norwegian saint Hallvard (1020- 1043) which was murdered and then thrown into the Drammens fjord with a millstone bound to his neck. The reason was that he did protect a woman who had been stealing. According to legend his corpse returned to surface still bound to the millstone. 

 

Old tradition:

St. Hallvard is the patron of the city of Oslo.

3 days before and after this day is the best time of year to sow.

The livestock should now be able to find their food outdoors.

 

 

Engraved sign:

A millstone, a plate containing seed.

My stick has a sign which could be both, so I chose to make an ordinary millstone.

This is a hand drawing, not a stamp. I find it even more interesting to make drawings, paint them and then work on them in picasa. In fact I use quite much time in picasa to achieve the result I'm after. And it's so fun too, I never notice the time while working.

This way of doing it has opened so many new things to me, and new ideas of things to try. I can work for an hour before some magic happens, and it's interesting to see how different each piece reacts to different tools in picasa. 

Cross Mass Spring, May 3rd.

 

In Norwegian:
Krossmesse.

Catholic:
In remembrance of  Empress Helena finding the Holy cross. She was the mother of Emperor Constantin.

Old traditions:
Now all gates were to be closed and all fences repaired so the animals could be let out and be safe. It  also was time to cut the sheeps wool.

Engraved signs:
Cross, sissors.
In my stick there is a cross.

 

 

 

Normally this should be a cross only, but I couldn't help making the "aura" of a person. It's meant to be an empty space, a suggestion of someone once being there. That is such a well known image and with a cross like mine alot of people would have this image in mind after all. Once again I'm very pleased with the result. This one was made from a hand drawn and hand painted piece, no stamps used here.

Cuckoo mass, May 1st.

 

In Norwegian:
Gaukmesse.

Catholic:
In remembrance of St. Philip and St. Jacob

Old traditions: 

It's important to notice from which direction one can hear the cuckoo the first time in spring.

 

North: meant one would be sick or die within the year.

South: meant one would sow in dry weather and have a rich harvest.

West: meant everything would be according to ones wishes.

East: meant one would be successful in love.

If one could sit under a tree with a singing cuckoo one would have three wishes come true, I don't know how many times I tried that as a child. Never successful though.
Where I live it is said that cuckoo mass brings the summer. As children we always had to wait till after May 1st. before we were allowed to go barefooted. 

The Norwegian name, Gaukmesse, probably has it's origin from the first summer month in pagan times which was called gauk mànadr.

Engraved signs:
A cuckoo or a dubble cross.
In my stick the sign is a cuckoo in top of a tree.

I made this piece using a handmade stamp and then painted it. Later on I did manipulate the piece in picasa and am very pleased with the result. I have been searching for this kind of result for a long time and finally I'm able to do it. It's just so satisfying. 

St.Marks Day, April 25th.

Norwegian : Markusmesse, also called Den store gangdagen - A procession, with the priest in front, went around the fields and blessed them for coming season.

Catholic :
In remembrance of Mark the Evangelist. Martyred during Neros persecutions.

Old traditions :
This day the wild birds should have two eggs in their nests.
It was tradition to eat eggs this day.

Engraved signs :
Ears of corn with a sircle around, to symbolize the procession.
Quill, to symbolize Mark the Evangelist.
Branch with leaf, to symbolize the power of nature.
These are some marks which have been used.

The sign ingraved in my stick is the branch with leaf.

 Primstaven with the first three signs.

As I read the sign it has a cross on top, and therefore I implyed that in my piece as well. The one green leaf is such a great symbol of life I think.

My own handmade stamp used here.

St. Magnus' Day April 16th.

In Norwegian, Magnusmesse.

Catholic :
In memory of Magnus Orkney Earl's death in 1115/1116, the experts disagree when it comes to the exact year. A Cathedral were build, St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, to his memory.

Old traditions :
This day is also called Third day of summer.
Time to start working the fields.

Engraved sign :
Ax, arrow, hoe, cross, half cross
Because it was time to start working the fields, people saw the cross/halfcross as a hoe.

The sign engraved in my stick is an arrow with a cross.

Below is how I made it. Magnus had his own flag in red and yellow, but I chose to use these colors.

Another one of my handmade stamps used here.

First day of Summer, April 14th.

 

First day of Summer.
April 14th is the first mark on the summer side of Primstaven.

Catholic:
Tiburtius and Valerianus day.
T & V were, according to legend, brothers that martyred in Rome in year 230.

Old tradition :
This was the day for servants/workers to leave the household.
From now on it was a good time to sow. ( depending on the location, of course)
Those who had livestock should not eat anything containing meat this day, nor should those who would be hearding the animals during summer. If they did, Bears and Wolves would get control over the animals during the season. Now it was time to tie bells onto the Cattles too, to prepare them to stay outdoors. One should also make cheese and butter to secure an early spring.
If it was snowing or a mix of rain and snow this day, it would still come snow nine times before spring. If the weather was good this day, it promised good for the Summer.

Engraved sign in Primstaven :
A tree or a bush, to symbolize the summertime.

This is the sign engraved in my stick. You should know that the signs can be different, depending on who made it and their location in our country.

My stick is a true copy of an old one. The original one is dated 1707, and is now part of the Norwegian Folk Museum's collections. I don't know who made my stick or when it was made. I guess it's 50/60 years old. Handyman bought it for me as a gift for my birthday.

Above is my interpretation of the mark. I was so pleased on how it turned out until it dawned on me it looks more like the burning bush described in the bible. I tried to give it a modern expression. I love how the inside of the branches and the leaves are spring green. Shows that something is happening even if it doesn't show much in nature yet. This was my first stamp in use. I'm so pleased to be able to combine stampmaking and the work with primstaven, but not sure I will make a stamps for each mark though.
Below is the one which will be more correct according to the time of year. It even looks like a couple of birds are sitting in the treetop.

I hope you've enjoyed reading, because there's alot more to come. Primstaven covers a whole year, you know.

Primstaven, our ancient calendar.

 

Have you ever heard of Primstaven?

 

The word prim comes from latin and was a commonly known word for calendar. (This is my very short version of a looong explanation.) Stav is the same as stick and most primstaver were made as sticks.
The experts are not sure but they think it might be even older than the Runecalendar which is known from back in  the 1200's. Primstaven is a flat or rounded woodstick with one mark for each day (almost) and a variety of special signs to remind people of different things. One thing were special using Primstaven as a calendar, the same one could be used year after year after year.

I have always been facinated by old times, what things ment for people back then and how they behaved according to their beliefs, and also how it affects us today.
Many people also called Primstaven,  Messedagsstaven. Which means something like The Mass-day stick, because of all the special signs. They were made in remembrance of different Saints in the Catholic Church.
There are less than a thousand known original Primstaver left in Scandinavia.

This year I'll  write a series of posts looking at Primstaven and what it ment to people. I'm no expert, and I'm not that interested in Catholic Saints but people made the signs fit into their lives and work and that's quite another issue. After the Reformation ( year1500) people more and more forgot about the Catholic Saints and gave a different meaning to the signs. I've heard it said that Primstaven also could be used as a farmers calendar.

Way back in time they divided the year into two halves, Summertime and Wintertime.

Summer was like this:
April 14th- May 13th  was the first month of  summer    April 14th was also known as first day of summer.
May 14th- June 12th           second
June 13th- July 13th            third
July 14th-  August 12th       fourth                              July 14th was also known as midsummer.
Aug. 13th- Sept. 11th         fifth
Sept. 12th- Oct.13th          sixth

 Summer side

Winter was like this:
Oct. 14th- Nov. 12th was the first month of  winter.        October 14th was known as the first day of winter.
Nov. 13th- Dec. 12th             second
Dec.13th- Jan.11th                 third
Jan.12th- Feb.11th                 fourth                           January 12th was known as midwinter.
Feb. 12th- Mars 13th             fifth
Mars 14th- Apr. 13th             sixth

 Winter side

In summertime the work began with sunrise and ended with sunset. Summer were the time for production and storage.
In winter the work began with dawn and ended when the darkness appeared. Winter were the time for consuming.
I'm sorry if this was boring, but I felt it needed to be said.

What I intend to do from here, is to have a look at the special signs, how people made them fit their own lives, and I'll paint my interpretation of the signs as well.
April 14th. will be the first day of posting, and then new posts will appear as they do in the Primstav.

Most of the text I've found on the internet. And most from here, here,and here.

You are welcome to ask questions if there is anything you want to know. I'll answer as good as I can.

Hooray, it's my birthday!!

 

Today I'm turning 55, and am happy with that.

Best of all, Handyman surprised me more than ever this morning. To tell you about it, I'll have to tell you what my ongoing project is all about. Stampmaking and everything.

I've always taken interest in old times, how people lived, what their belives were and all such things. Way back in time we (in Norway and partly in Europe) had a calendar called Primstaven.

I'm planning  to write a series about primstaven, for several reasons.
I'm thinking of writing about each special day, explaining the signs, old traditions, weather marks and all that kind of stuff.
People have been writing about it already, but by doing it myself I will have it all gathered in one place. I would love it if you recognize any of the customs and let me know in a comment. Besides I love researching this stuff. The old calendar, primstaven has two sides one winterside and one summerside. I'll start writing about summer and the first post will be posted in first half of April.
When it comes to the stamps, my intention is to make my own artpieces from each mark on primstaven.

Well, back to Handyman again. To surprise me, he had baught one of these old calendars for me. How on earth he could find one for sale is a mystery, and he wouldn't tell. That means I'm now the proud owner of a primstav. ME!

He've heard me talk about it for awhile, that's probably the reason he did this for me. I'm so happy, best birthday present ever. And how fun it will be to write now that I actually have one in person. It also means that I can consentrate on this specific one.
Oh happy day...........