The Key to the Kalevala [Paperback]

Pekka Ervast (Author), Tapio Joensuu (Translator), John Major Jenkins (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1998

The Key to the Kalevala was originally published in Finland in 1916. Now this insightful and detailed exploration of the ancient origins of Finnish mythology is available in English. Students of the ancient traditions and mystical teachings will find no better introduction to the profound esoteric meaning of the Kalevala, the Finnish National Epic, than Ervast's book.

This translation is authorized by Ervast's study-school in Finland, whose members have worked to preserve his insights into his culture's past and the spiritual evolution of humanity. We also have the good fortune of being able to use Eino Friberg's beautiful translation of Kalevala (1988) into the modern American idiom. The combined work of Ervast and Friberg results in a unique, insightful, and aesthetically pleasing offering.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Finnish

About the Author

Pekka Ervat (1875-1934) was a writer, Christian mystic, and a true "seer from the North." While his life was not long, his teachings are timeless and universal. Ervast spoke clearly and intelligibly to the most profound questions of philosophy, theosophy, and various religions. His literary works comprise over a hundred volumes. He has been, and still is, his nation's spiritual teacher.

Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: Blue Dolphin Publishing (December 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1577330218
• ISBN-13: 978-1577330219
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #772,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insights into the deep wisdom within Finnish mythology, March 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Key to the Kalevala (Paperback)

Pekka Ervast was a brilliant mystic from Finland who interpreted the Finnish National Epic, the Kalevala, with the "key" of theosophy. His book explains the adventures of the Kalevala's three heroes (who represent emotion, intellect, and will) as windows into the evolutionary struggle of human beings. Integrating these three forces is a challenging process, and their dynamic interplay and ultimate resolution is, amazingly, what we see within the Kalevala if we "read between the lines" with Ervast. There are hundreds of lines of Kalevala poetry in the book, drawing from Eino Friberg's 1988 translation. The deep wellspring of Finnish myth, touching such topics as shamanism, magic, astronomy, cosmology, and wedding rituals, is only recently becoming widely known outside of Finland. This first English translation of Ervast's book is a unique and valuable contribution to understanding the deep wisdom of the ancient Finns. I served as editor on the project and wrote the Introduction for it, and when in 1994 I first received a response from Finland regarding the possibility of translating Ervast's work, I had the sure feeling that the Key to the Kalevala's time had come.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mavi's comments (an Italian reader), October 17, 2005

By 

Maria Vittoria Serpini (Italy) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Key to the Kalevala (Paperback)

The first thing to be said as to this book is that it's necessary a previous knowledge of the Finnish epic poem "Kalevala" because only so it's possibile to follow Ervast's deep esoteric meaning, that he gives to it, and that he takes from his knowledge about Blavatsky's Theosophy and Steiner's Antroposophy.

Kalevalian heroes' enterprises are seen as a journey in the discovery and the gathering of the Self, where the different parts (intellect, emotion and will) are played by the heroes themselves (Ilmarinen, Lemminkeinen, Vainamoinen): their connection and their separation in different moments and places and situations are metaphors of what happens in the Self of man's life.

Pekka Ervast's point of view has been for me very useful for my cultural and, moreover, for my personal growing.

I found particularly enlightning Chapter 35, where two human types of different hystoric times are explained: the "Atlantean" one and the "European" one. The people of the Kalevala belong to the first kind: they are Children-People. The educational way of approaching them, indicated by Ervast, is the same which can be used effectively by our teachers also today, because it is enrooted in the being of the child nature.

Moreover, I think that another possibile use is for better understanding and better copying the multicultural world of today with the differences among people entering in contact each other more frequently than in the past. If we approach the common humanity in all of them, but don't forget the differences, it may be possibile to arrive to a mutual positive regard and to a better mutual understanding.

12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Do Not Recommend, June 23, 2008

By 

E. Edge (Brazoria County, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Key to the Kalevala (Paperback)

This "Key" tries to turn 4000 year old runes into a Christian tale. It is not.