Raven Speak from Soul Bird by Rent Romus, Heikki Koskinen, Otherworld Ensemble

In Finnish mythology, ravens were popular spirit guides for the shamans and many times when they travelled into the underworld they would take the form of a bird. When the raven hatched eggs, one of the eggs could be heavier than others and was considered a magical stone. It gave the shaman the ability to speak the language of ravens, understand the mysteries and ancient wisdom of the ancestors and the underworld. In Finnish mythology, there were three layers of the world; Ylinen, the upper world where all the highest of the spirits lived, Keskinen, the middle world. A place for all humans, animals, plants and all
elemental deities. Then there was Manala, the underworld. Ancestors lived in the underworld and in the original world view, the underworld was not like the Christian version of Hell. It was a place where the spirits of the ancestors waited for the reincarnation. They represented the different aspects of rebirth in nature. The raven and black animals, in
general, were believed to be a creature of the underworld and are connected to some of the most powerful of all the gods in the Finnish pantheon such as Lempo, Tapio, Hiisi, and the thunder god Ukko (Äijö).

Tracklist