Akka

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Akka

Mythology: Sami and Finnish

        A female spirit.  Akka means old woman. In Finland, it means great grandmother or ancestress.  Madder means earth or ground. Madderakka is the Sami goddess of childbirth. Her daughters Zarakka, the cleaving woman; Uksakka, the door woman; and Juksakka, the bow woman assist her.

        Zarakka, Uksakka, and Juksakka watch over the development of the child from conception through early childhood.

        Madderakka and her male companion, Madderatcha, are according to the Lapps, the divine couple who created humankind. Madderatcha's job was the soul and Madderakka's job was the body.  For a child to be born, Madderatcha made a soul and handed it off to Madderakka who made the body, and then placed in the mother's womb. Madderakka had general control of fertility,  while her daughters were more directly involved with human reproduction.

        Juksakka can change in the womb a daughter to a son.  

         Zarakka was the separating that made childbirth easier. She was considered to be a deity of wom, aiding them in women's concerns such as menstruation.  It is said that she suffers the pain of childbirth right along with the mother.

        Ussakka was to receive the child at birth and care for it, protecting it from accidents.

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