in the myth of Osiris) was
raking together the fragments of his body from the river of Tuoui, and
fearing that the sprites of the Death-stream might resent her
intrusion, the Sun, in answer to her entreaties, throws his Powerful
rays upon the dreaded Shades, and sinks them into a deep sleep, while
the mother gathers up the fragments of her son's body in safety. This
rune of the Kalevala is particularly interesting as showing the belief
that the dead can be restored to life through the blissful light of
heaven.

Among the other deities of the air are the Luonnotars, mystic maidens,
three of whom were created by the rubbing of Ukko's hands upon his left
knee. They forthwith walk the crimson borders of the clouds, and one
sprinkles white milk, one sprinkles red milk, and the third sprinkles
black milk over the hills and mountains; thus they become the "mothers
of iron," as related in the ninth rune of The Kalevala. In the highest
regions of the heavens, Untar, or Undutar, has her abode, and presides
over mists and fogs. These she passes through a silver sieve before
sending them to the earth. There are also goddesses of the winds, one
especially noteworthy, Suvetar (suve, south, summer), the goddess of
the south-wind. She is represented as a kind-hearted deity, healing
her sick and afflicted followers with honey, which she lets drop from
the clouds, and she also keeps watch over the herds grazing in the
fields and forests.
Second only to air, water is the element held most in reverence by the
Finns and their kindred tribes. "It could hardly be otherwise," says
Castren, "for as soon as the soul of the savage began to suspect that
the godlike is spiritual, super-sensual, then, even though he continues
to pay reverence to matter, he in general values it the more highly the
less compact it is. He sees on the one hand how easy it is to lose his
life on the surging waves, and on the other, he sees that from these
same waters he is nurtured, and his life prolonged." Thus it is that
the map of Finland is to this day full of names like Pyhojarvi (sacred
lake) and Pyhajoki (sacred river). Some of the Finlanders still offer
goats and calves to these sacred waters; and many of the Ugrian clans
still sacrifice the reindeer to the river Ob. In Esthonia is a
rivulet, Vohanda, held in such reverence that until very recently, none
dared to fell a tree or cut a shrub in its immediate vicinity, lest
death should overtake the offe