In the last days of October, Helsinki came alive with the annual book fair at the Expo and Convention Centre, drawing Finnish and international authors for discussions on literature, art, and society. Thousands of visitors streamed in to discover books, vinyl records, decor, and more.
Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, speaking at the fair’s opening, noted that “literature builds our identity”, a sentiment that resonated with the spirit of the event.
On a gray, crispy Sunday morning the streets of Helsinki are quiet. Finns have cozied up inside their homes clenching to their beloved cups of coffee or are enjoying the avocado toasts and eggs benedict of their local brunch places. But there is one place in the city that is full of life – the Helsinki Book Fair. Outside the Expo and Convention Centre, people are speed walking to make their way first to the queues. Babies in strollers, elderly with their canes, and youngsters with their hip outfits.
The fair was held at the Helsinki Expo and Convention Center. Photo: Ivana Bratovanova
After a quick scan of the ticket’s QR code I have also made my way inside. I take off my scarf and my coat, fold them neatly in my bag, and prepare for “The Future”, this year’s theme. As I walk towards the exhibition hall, I can already feel the overwhelming twist in my stomach as my eyes open widely to the immense amount of literature, art, music, and so much more than I could have expected.
People of all ages, backgrounds, and interests have gathered together to enjoy the 4-day annual exhibit in Pasila. As I was wondering why is it that Finns choose to spend their Sunday at the book fair, Markus, an attendee, replied:
“The book fair has received an increased popularity over the past few years in media, and that also caught my eye”.
Markus says the thing he was mostly looking forward to at the fair was the vinyl selection.
“I’ve been meaning to update my vinyl selection and I knew that here I could find good jazz LPs”.
Photo: Ivana Bratovanova
The fair attracts not only natives but people from all over the world – more than 30 international authors were present this year. Panel discussions with writers, politicians, and industry professionals stopped people from flipping through the book’s pages and take a seat to listen to what they have to say.
On its opening day, the Helsinki Book Fair welcomed the president of Finland Alexander Stubb. He answered questions from the audience about the importance of literature for the Finnish nation.
”That is everything. Literature builds our identity (…) In our collective thinking Finnishness consists of the interpretation of history and literature around it. Without literature, we would not be”.
Stubb’s reflections on identity set the stage for deeper discussions throughout the fair.
Alexander Stubb spoke about the importance of literature for the Finnish nation.
The most crowded panel I saw during my visit was held by Hanna Ylöstalo, Emma Lamberg, and Inna Perheentupa on Feminism in Economics. Despite the language barrier, the audience’s sharp focus on the discussion showed a strong engagement with what was being shared.
After a quick bite from the Wine and Food corner at the fair, I was already looking forward to next year’s book fair. Until then, I’ll hold onto the inspiration of being surrounded by so many works of art in literary form.
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Last year, people in Finland ate more meat and chicken than the year before. At the same time, oat consumption set a new record in the Finnish diet, according to a new study.
Last year, Finns ate 78.2 kilograms of meat per person, including game and offal. Most of the meat, 76.2 kilograms, was beef, pork, lamb and chicken.
The consumption of beef in particular has decreased for several years in a row, but last year it increased, according to a survey by the Finnish Natural Resources Institute. The amount of chicken on the plate also increased in Finnish homes. At the same time, less pork and mutton was eaten. The consumption of fish remained seemingly unchanged, with each Finn eating an average of 13.7 kilograms last year.
Cereal consumption increased last year, reaching 87.3 kg per person. The main increase was in the amount of oats consumed, which reached record levels last year. Wheat and barley consumption also increased, while rye decreased.
– Here we see something of a trend. This is because the food industry has created a lot of new oat products. Part of this trend is also that Finns are drinking more oat milk, says statistics expert Erja Mikkola, to Finnish state broadcaster Yle.
Regular milk drinking decreased by about two percent, but people ate about the same amount of butter and cheese as in the previous year. Furthermore, each Finn ate an average of 48 kilograms of fruit and 64 kilograms of vegetables last year.
Midsummer is an ancient Nordic tradition that is still very much alive today, particularly in Sweden. Throughout history, there has been a perception that this time of year holds a special kind of magic, that the veil to the supraphysical world is thinner than at other times of the year. Over the years, this special day has been celebrated in a variety of innovative ways.
Midsummer marks the definitive arrival of summer. It means exactly what it sounds like, “in the middle of summer,” and the word already existed in Old Swedish as miþsumar. The holiday is celebrated in connection with the summer solstice, which is the time of year when the sun is at its highest point in the northern hemisphere. Midsummer Eve is always celebrated on a Friday.
This article was first published on June 21, 2024.
In northern Europe, midsummer has long been celebrated in conjunction with the Christian holiday of John the Baptist, which is also the reason why Saturday has become a public holiday. In Finland this holiday is primarily called Juhannus, in reference to John the Baptist. Denmark and Norway also celebrate John the Baptist’s evening by lighting bonfires and playing games. John the Baptist’s Day is also celebrated to some extent in Germany, but generally the summer solstice celebrations in the rest of Europe are fairly limited.
Ancient roots
It is not clear for how long Midsummer has been celebrated, as it seems to date back to prehistoric times, but it is definitely known that it has been celebrated in the Nordic countries at least since the Middle Ages.
However, very little is known about how Midsummer was celebrated in the Middle Ages. There are hints that the celebration was related to fertility and some older sources that show that there was ritual beer drinking and also blot – ritual animal sacrifice – during the Viking Age.
Photo: Håkan Dahlström/CC BY 2.0
Summer cleaning and little frogs
From around the middle of the 19th century, there is more clear evidence of how the celebrations were carried out in Sweden.. One important step was to clean the entire house, then dress the house both inside and outside with flowers and leaves from birch trees, among other things. The festive locations were also decorated with leaves, as were the wagons in which people traveled. Outside the house, leaf bushes were placed, which the farmers could also sell to the townspeople.
The midsummer pole has its origins in the May Day celebrations when a so-called maypole is erected in Germany and other parts of the world. The tradition probably came from Germany to Sweden in the Middle Ages, but since the Nordic countries rarely have time to start greening during May, this tradition was moved to the Midsummer celebrations. There is a widespread belief that the midsummer pole is dedicated to fertility and thus may represent some kind of phallic symbol, although there is no confirmation of this from known historical sources.
The midsummer pole has had different designs over the years, but during the 20th century the appearance was standardized and the midsummer poles became increasingly similar all over the country. Dancing around the midsummer pole has probably existed since at least the 19th century, says Jonas Engman, curator at the Nordic Museum.
– But the dance with songs took off in the 1920s. This era saw the publication of songbooks with melodies and lyrics associated with holiday celebrations.
Perhaps the most classic Swedish midsummer song – Små grodorna (the little frogs) – has been traced to a military march from the French Revolution called La Chanson de l’Oignon, or The Onion Song. This song was turned into a taunt by English soldiers, replacing the word camarade (comrade) with grenouille (frog). It is unclear when or how the song came to Sweden, but it is known that it has existed for a long time at Nääs Castle in Västergötland in connection with courses in handicrafts and games, where The little frogs was a game taught there and printed in the singing games book Sånglekar från Nääs in 1922. The singing of The little frogs is typically associated with jumping around the midsummer pole in a frog-like manner.
Food
What people used to eat around Midsummer depended on where they were in the country. Different types of fish, but also pork and other meat have all been part of the feast in different places. White porridge, that is, porridge cooked with milk and often also with wheat flour, is a dish that was common as a festive meal in various places. A Swedish filbunke, or viili in Finnish, is a fermented milk dish similar to yogurt or kefir which also used to be a common feature of the midsummer feast.
In modern times, herring and new potatoes constitute the core of the menu, along with the classic strawberries. Spirits of various kinds are just as essential – together with a good snapsvisa, of course! A snapsvisa is a traditional Scandinavian drinking song, often with comical lyrics.
Photo: Magnus D/CC BY 2.0
Midsummer magic
It has long been thought that the boundaries to the supraphysical reality were thinner during Midsummer. Everything that grew was considered to be charged with magical powers, especially during this time. It was therefore common, for example, to tie a wreath during Midsummer and save it. For the same reason, there was also a belief that one could regain energy during the winter by placing a dried midsummer wreath in the annual Christmas bath.
Midsummer dew, in particular, was considered to have special powers and it was not uncommon to roll around naked in it, or to collect the dew in sheets, for example, because it was thought to improve health. Drinking from springs was also common during Midsummer, which was considered beneficial to the body and mind. However, all activities involving any kind of magical aspects would be done in silence, so as not to break their mystical effect.
Keeping silent at certain special places could also bring visions of the future. For example, it was common to walk the so-called årsgång (year walk), which could involve walking counter-clockwise around a church or other holy place on an empty stomach.
– If the ‘yearwalker’ completed the entire ritual, on the way home he would experience sights or sounds that told him about events in the coming year, says Tora Wall, folklorist at the Nordic Museum.
Night of love
Midsummer has long been associated primarily with love. Many young women in Sweden still pick their seven or nine flowers and put them under their pillow to find out who they are going to marry.
“The Midsummer night is not long but sets seven and seventy cradles in motion” is an old Swedish rhyme.
Another way to predict one’s future partner was to eat a dream porridge made of flour, water and a lot of salt. The person who came later in the dream and gave you a drink to quench your thirst was your future partner. The type of drink could also give a hint as to whether you would have a richer or poorer life together.
Young people often arranged mock weddings and could choose a midsummer bride and groom, often each with their own floral wreath. It was also not uncommon for girls to tie wreaths to the boys to show that they were a couple.
A de facto national day in Sweden
In Sweden, the National Day celebration on June 6, commemorating the coronation of Gustav Vasa in 1523, has traditionally not been as big a holiday as National Day is in many other countries. One of several explanations for this, in addition to the long period of peace in Sweden, is probably that the nearby Midsummer celebration has de facto been the really big and obvious holiday alongside the more quiet Christmas.
That said, we would like to wish all readers a glad midsommar!
Would we feel better if we broadened our view of death? Can we live a richer life of higher presence by seeing death in a more natural way – without fear?
Could it be that we actually lack fundamental knowledge of life? Birth, life and death are life processes that everyone goes through. But although these being common to everyone, our attitudes towards these processes can differ considerably. Man’s view on life and death is influenced by both upbringing, cultural environment, acquired life knowledge, individuality and level of development. His attitude towards death becomes particularly apparent when faced with difficult situations. When death is perceived by man as the definitive end of existence, it naturally becomes something to fear. Faced with imminent danger and without understanding of the nature of death, he seeks to avoid it at all costs. But can the price be too high? These are subjects for individual reflection.
The preservation of the physical form of life is what is valued most by most people, indicating that something noble is developing. It is in physical life that we learn to love and care for each other. This nobility needs to be achieved before trust in life, discernment, and true common sense can awaken, and we with higher mental consciousness and with increased knowledge of human evolution can look upon life from a higher perspective. If the higher emotional qualities of the heart were not developed first, man would be in danger of becoming of a cold and inhuman nature, inclined to go astray in life.
Good qualities such as compassion and humility grow more easily under difficult circumstances, which often give rise to reflection on held values. By man being placed in crisis situations and by learning to handle them, that “’prepares the ground” within them and enables the development of consciousness.
Common crises in a society have the potential to raise collective consciousness. The processed life experiences offer a more fertile soil for the seeds of knowledge sown in the human kingdom by individuals of higher natural kingdoms. The normally slow development of consciousness is accelerated when we take advantage of the opportunities given to us during the course of life and when we reflect on and process our experiences. An open and inquiring attitude prevents emotional illusions and mental fictions from crystallizing in our thinking. An important step is taken when man begins to seek understanding of the higher meaning of life. This enables an incipient understanding of the path of human development and a changed approach to both life and death.
The Western illusion of only-one-life
Of all the human inhabitants of the earth, a majority seem to have the insight that this earthly life is only one of countless others. It is in the more secularized societies of the Western world that this knowledge has been ignored in favor of material development, with the exception of the great thinkers of the ages, who have realized the fact of reincarnation.
To be born and to die are to the individual like activity and rest, both equally necessary from the point of view of the real self. We go into and out of incarnation, again and again, with widely varying periods of rest. It is only the lowest of our envelopes, the physical organism, which we leave behind us on earth. Existence continues, and just as real as we perceive our ordinary life, existence is perceived after so-called death. The real sacrifice or “death” from the point of view of the self is being born into the physical world – with all its limitations. Yet it is in the physical world that we have to make the life experiences that take us forward on the path of evolution.
Physical death comes to us all sooner or later. When the organism is too decayed and diseased, one thing or another will cause the withdrawal of the inner man, what may be called natural death. This is inevitable, and from the point of view of the real self something necessary and good. A physical instrument that can no longer serve its function must be released from man’s grasp, and the self thus liberated for higher existence. Man’s fear of losing loved ones may of course be great, because in our ignorance we believe that we really lose them, and in physical form this is of course true. But the truth is that we have met and loved each other in so many shapes that we should be grateful that the memories of our partings in the past are beyond our reach. Despite this, earthly love can naturally give rise to great sorrow and loss when a loved one dies, but with the insights we have the opportunity to attain through higher knowledge of life we can evade being perished by sorrow. We meet again, and the bonds are strengthened. Death is nothing to fear but is a liberating transition and joy as we move on to finer worlds of existence.
Many have testified to the experiences they have had during so-called near-death experiences – NDEs – which, however, merely show the first stop after death – the only one from which man can return. Much more remains for the self to experience in these higher worlds as it gradually emancipates itself from the emotional envelope and later the mental envelope, that enabled its emotional and thought life during incarnation.
Photo: Pixabay
Consequences of denial
In modern society, new technology in healthcare has multiplied the capacity to save human lives, for better or for worse. The goal of prolonging and saving life at all costs may be laudable and right, but this is not always the case. When the eventual consequences of alleged preventive and life-sustaining measures are not taken into account, these can have even more serious consequences for the individual. Sometimes life-sustaining measures prolong the life of an organism that no longer serves its purpose and where the higher self is just waiting for an appropriate way to pass. If we could see this from a higher perspective, we might smile indulgently at people’s persistent attempts to “save lives”. Many times these efforts do more harm than good.
If, in difficult and life-threatening conditions, where the possibility of recovery is excluded, we could instead accept our condition as a preparation for transition, trusting that the incarnation is coming to an end, we could instead choose to die safely at home in a calm and familiar environment. With our loved ones gathered, this can become a peaceful and beautiful transition, a fine farewell, while still having the possibility of assistance from palliative care if needed.
In addition to the limitation of the physical organism in terms of lifespan, the law of reaping also has its effect, not only individually but also collectively. That people are “taken out of incarnation” is no coincidence but always has a cause, even if it may be distant and impossible for us to understand. The death of a loved one also has a significant impact on the development of relatives, which from a higher perspective and under certain circumstances could be seen as an act of sacrifice. In addition, each individual always has a life debt account that is relieved by what can be perceived as “premature” death, as may be the case in accidental or tragic circumstances. Regardless of the reasons, incomprehensible to us, we must never hesitate to provide the care our fellow human beings need. This care is not only pure humanity but also the good reaping of others, a compensation for old debts and good sowing through a new causal act. The long-term perspective is always a reality even if it is exceedingly rarely taken into account. An emerging understanding of the law of cause and effect inevitably leads to greater humility about life.
Photo: Pixabay
From the higher perspective
The larger perspectives include humanity as a collective, the rise and fall of civilizations, the development of consciousness of beings and the evolution of the planet, all of which are subject to higher laws. From the higher perspective, incarnation is a necessity for growth through life experiences, lessons and insights, which can only be gained in the physical world. When the purpose of the individual incarnation has been achieved (something we are not able to fully understand), no more opportunities for instructive experiences can be offered or the human organism has been rendered unserviceable, Augoeides, man´s guardian angel, calls man out of incarnation for continued existence in finer material worlds. Augoeides provides man with a causal envelope during the passage through the human kingdom. All this is a completely natural process according to knowledge conveyed to humanity from individuals of higher kingdoms.
All these repeated incarnations serve to develop twelve essential qualities in man, the attainment of which is necessary for the next stage of evolution, his transition to the fifth kingdom of nature. These fundamental qualities for man are trust in life, trust in self, obedience to law, uprightness, impersonality, will to sacrifice, faithfulness, reticence, joy in life, purposefulness, wisdom and unity. All of these contain many related qualities. This next kingdom of nature – the essential world or the world of unity – exists in finer matter than the physical, and there everything that is not unity, love and wisdom must be overcome once and for all. Until then, the common goal in the kingdom of man is to achieve unity and brotherhood, reflected in a community building of an entirely new quality. Then humanity can, through its radiance of light, love and power, fulfill its true role and be a blessing to the lower kingdoms of nature.
In our time, this knowledge of reality is presented through the hylozoic mental system, conveyed anew by the Swedish esoteric philosopher Henry T. Laurency (1882-1971) and especially adapted for Western minds.
Frederick Forsyth, the author behind timeless classics such as The Day of the Jackal and The Dogs of War, has passed away at the age of 86 after a short illness. He died on June 9 at his home in Jordans, Buckinghamshire, surrounded by his family.
Frederick Forsyth began his professional career as a pilot in the Royal Air Force, then became a foreign correspondent for Reuters and the BBC, and during the Cold War was an informal asset to MI6 during conflicts such as the Biafran War.
These life experiences laid the foundation for his journalistic and fact-based narrative style. He went on to become one of the greatest thriller writers of modern times.
His debut novel, The Day of the Jackal (1971), was written in just 35 days when Forsyth was under financial pressure. The book was a huge success thanks to its realistic portrayal of a professional assassin hired to kill the then French president Charles De Gaulle.
– The point was not whodunit, but how, and how close would he get?[to de Gaulle].
Among his most notable works are The Odessa File (1972), The Dogs of War (1974), and The Fourth Protocol (1984).
Frederick Forsyth’s writing was characterized by a fact-based and documentary style, where the complexity of reality always took center stage.
Very sad to report the passing of award winning novelist Frederick Forsyth. His books have sold more than 80 million copies worldwide and have been adapted into spy movies like The Day Of The Jackal, The Odessa File and The Fourth Protocol.
— SpyHards – A Spy Movie Podcast (@SpyHards) June 9, 2025
Successful films and a title of nobility
During his career spanning more than fifty years, Forsyth wrote over 25 books, which together sold over 75 million copies worldwide.
Many of these were successful film adaptations – from The Day of the Jackal (1973) and The Dogs of War (1981) to later productions such as The Fourth Protocol (1987).
For his life’s work, he was awarded the title Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1997 and the Diamond Dagger Award, the Crime Writers’ Association’s highest honor, in 2012.
Despite his success, Forsyth remained a low-key, research-driven writer who often emphasized how his own background – from military service to investigative journalism – gave his stories a distinct credibility.
Now the world mourns a true master storyteller – but his stories, as captivating as they are incisive, will live on and inspire generations to come.
Name: Frederick McCarthy Forsyth
Born: August 25, 1938, Ashford, Kent, England
Death: June 9, 2025, Jordans, Buckinghamshire
Occupations: RAF pilot, foreign correspondent, author
Debut novel: The Day of the Jackal (1971)
Other known works:
The Odessa File (1972) - Untitled Odessa
The Dogs of War (1974) - The Dogs of War
The Devil's Alternative (1979) - The Devil's Alternative
The Fourth Protocol (1984) - The Fourth Protocol
The Fist of God (1994) - The Fist of God
The Afghan (2006) - The Afghan
The Cobra (2010) - The Cobra
The Kill List (2013) - The Kill List
The Fox (2018) - The Fox
Awards:
- Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), 1997
- Diamond Dagger, Crime Writers' Association, 2012
Style: Documentary, research-driven and fact-based thriller
Books sold: Over 75 million copies worldwide
Film adaptations: The Day of the Jackal (1973), The Odessa File (1974), The Dogs of War (1981), The Fourth Protocol (1987) – and more
