Helka heals a laceration
Come here, we need you
Helka, my wife, my sweetheart,
Help me tend the fields,
To walk on the mossy ground
The holes torn open,
Cover them with small stones,
So the milk won’t spill onto the ground,
And red fall onto the field.
The Helka spell is a powerful example of how, in the old healing tradition, the body, the earth, and words were all part of the same healing world. In the spell, Helka is called upon to staunch the bleeding and cover the “torn hole” with earth, moss, and small stones. A wound is not merely a medical injury, but an opening that must be closed back into the order of things.
It is particularly interesting that blood is not referred to directly as blood, but is described figuratively as “milk” and “red.” In this way, the spell makes the treatment of the wound both concrete and poetic: the blood must not be allowed to touch the ground, nor must the “red” fall onto the field. The Institute for the Languages of Finland notes that Ganander interpreted Helka as referring to Saint Helena, but another possible interpretation is that it refers to a “holy, gentle wife,” possibly a healing figure akin to the Virgin Mary.
The spell can be found in Christfrid Ganander’s work Mythologia Fennica from 1789, under the heading “Helka.” According to Ganander, Helka was invoked to help staunch bleeding wounds, particularly those caused by iron.