Terve Ystävät, Greetings!
My name is Aili Marjatta Kerttula and I am a fourth-generation Finnish-American and practitioner of witchcraft since 2004. The calling of my ancestors is to bring information about Finnish folklore and magic to new generations of Finnish-Americans and English-speakers in a way that has never been accessible before.
My Story
My great grandfather was a 100%, ice cold Finn. He lived and sweat on the same property in rural Rhode Island that his father had cultivated since the 1920s in the sauna his father built. I grew up seeing this mysterious, smoking building, but no one ever explained to me what it was or encouraged me to use it. He was a peculiarity best left undiscussed. However, when I was eleven years old my mother encouraged me to do a big school project about personal heritage on my Finnish background and an obsession was born. Ever since then, traveling to Finland to visit the land of my ancestors became one of my deepest dreams and desires.
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When I discovered Wicca and Witchcraft in my late teens, I tried to learn more about the mythical and magical traditions of my Finnish ancestors. Information was beyond scarce and throughout the years even with the dawning of the Age of Information, Google, and Wikipedia I was still left with only crumbs. In 2023 when my mother fell ill I realized how increasingly tenuous my Finnish connection was if she passed away as her family was sparse. I dove back into my attempt at research and reconnected with my Great Aunt still living on my family's 100+ year old farmland. As if by magic, my ancestors began to hand me information and resources. Something changed.
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As I amassed more knowledge and information, I knew that I needed to take what I had learned from all these disparate sources and forge something with it. A Finnish folk magic practice. So, I began to write it all down and organize. The deeper into my personal project I got the more I felt the push to share it with the world. I knew and the ancestors were pressing me on and telling me that I was not alone. There was a thirst; a hunger for this information. And miraculously, they had chosen me for this divine purpose so with trepidation I reached out to a publisher, Crossed Crow Books, and within HOURS they excitedly replied with their interest and the rest is history.
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My first published piece will be released in 2025 with the anthology, Regional Magic and my piece titled, Elements of Purification; a Folk Magic Primer. My full book Finnish Folk Magic is currently predicted to be released in Fall of 2026 and I dream of many other projects in the future that will allow me to continue to share this magic in even deeper ways in the future. My ancestors are whispering that this is just the beginning.