The story of Kummavalo

Saga grew up in a family where cards were more than pictures on paper. Her mother, Aino, read them, and before Aino, Saga’s grandmother did the same. The cards belonged to quiet moments at home, to conversations and to questions that did not always have a direct answer.

Further back in the family history, the same tradition appears in different European countries. From one generation and place to another, the readers were all women. Some helped people openly, while others read only at the kitchen table and among those they trusted. It was not always safe to speak openly about such a skill.

The gift was not passed down as a finished doctrine. It travelled through glances, sayings, notes and ways of handling the cards. Each woman left her own mark, yet one idea remained: a card does not command or decide. It helps us see what we may already know but have not yet found the words to say.

Kummavalo’s first light grew from this chain — from women who preserved the tradition and allowed it to travel forward.