Primstav and Påskris

The flow of sap in springtime Minneapolis is different every year.

The sun is steady, sister Sol. The moon wanders, brother Mani.

Sometimes Easter comes early - sometimes late.

And sometimes it snows in April.

Keeping track of time in the very old days simply meant being alert and watching the sun and the moon and the nature. When do we perform the spring ritual of whisking with pussy willows? When they are ready! Same with birch whisks, tapping trees, and other spring time rituals that tie us to our place.

Before 1100 CE, Norwegians were practicing land based rituals according to the sun, moon, and the nature around them. Everyone knew this way of practicing. All you have to do is look up to see what part of the month it is. Norwegians still tied the luck of the land to an elected king before this date. After this date, Norway became part of the global theocracy called Holy Roman Empire. The luck of the land was no longer tied to the elected king...no more elections. The people were no longer part of the land. They went from Odal to Vassel. And in 1345 they were colonized by Denmark for 400 years.

The Primstav came into use around that time. It helped peasants keep track of the many new church attendance requirements. They could be fined or worse for missing church days. One church date that can never be etched solidly into the Primstav is Easter. Easter is a lunar feast celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after Equinox. Tying Easter into the spring fertility rituals still needed by farmers in the middle ages is difficult in many ways.

Sometimes Easter comes as early as March, on the Winter Side of the Primstav. Sometimes it comes late in April, on the Summer Side of the Primstav. The lore preserved within the Primstav may give us clues as to how our ancestors dealt with the phenomenon of an ealy or late Easter. They were still looking up, tracking and remembering the names of each moon, remembering the stories of their ancestors.

It is my delight to follow these old ways, to live in the moons and add marks to my own Primstav that can never really track the moon. I watch for buds and listen for sap. I ponder the saints, heaped upon my ancestors and the shedding of saints with their Protestantism.

Photo shows last year's Påskris, my personal Primstav, and page 44 of Kathleen Stokker's book about Primstav lore and the murals of Sigmund Arseth. Buy it Here

Make a Påskris with me! April 4, 2026