Wise women
Wise women and the women before us
In every Norwegian village there were women people went to when someone was ill or misfortune struck. Here is their story, told with respect, and with honesty about what was good and what was not.
Who were the wise women?
A wise woman, klok kone, was a woman who practised healing based on folk medicine. She knew herbs, charms and old advice, and the knowledge often passed from mother to daughter.
Two of the best known lived in Kristiania, today’s Oslo, in the 1800s: Mor Sæther (1793–1851) and Anne Brannfjell (1815–1905). Both were well known and respected in their time.
Blood-stopping
Stopping blood was the art of halting bleeding by supernatural means, and it was often a wise woman who did it. Blood-stopping remained an important part of Norwegian folk medicine well into the 1900s.
Blood prayers were often used, frequently Christian and sometimes in Latin. Ash bark, cranesbill, tinder fungus or bear fat might be placed on the wound. The most important thing, it was said, was that the words had enough power.
Was folk medicine kind?
In the 1860s the teacher Johan Theodor Storaker travelled around collecting folk medicine. His material shows that folk medicine was neither only kind nor harmless. Some advice was harmless, some was cruel, and some hit vulnerable groups hard.
We honour the care, the knowledge of plants and the comfort the wise women gave. But we do not pass on advice that can do harm. That is why we always separate tradition from knowledge.
The witch trials
Knowledge that stood out could become deadly. In Bergen, Anne Pedersdotter was burned as a witch on 7 April 1590. In Finnmark, 91 people were sentenced to death in the witch trials between 1600 and 1692. Across Norway, around 280 people were executed for witchcraft.
Steilneset Memorial in Vardø honours the victims in Finnmark today. We light a candle for them.
“The most important thing was that the prayer gave the words enough power.”
The heritage we carry with us
Arvekraft is named after the strength in what is inherited. From the wise women we take the care, the curiosity about nature and the courage to help. The knowledge we take from research. We think they would have liked that.
The Moon Letter
Get the moon’s crystal, intention and ritual at every new and full moon.