Laestadianism

## Laestadianism "The Firstborn"

   People in the Upper Midwest of North America think that, because of its prevalence in the region, they know everything they need to know about the Lutheran Church. First off, since the dissolution of the Wisconsin Synod during the New Revolution and the retreat of the Missouri Synod into their own enclaves, when people think "Lutheran" they are thinking about the mainstream Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America.

And when they think Lutherans and magic they probably think of the scholarly boys and girls of Principia over at Concordia  or more long-term residents think of the monster-fighters in the Pontoppidan Order.

But neither of these were the first Lutheran response to the Awakening. That honor belongs to the Laestadian Firstborn.

### History

Without going too down the rabbithole of the history of Lutheran doctrinal schisms in pre-Awakening Europe, suffice it to say that Laestadianism has its roots in Swedish minister and temperance advocate Lars Levi Laestadius, who founded a conservative pietist revival movement among the Sami  people in northern Scandinavia, which gave birth to a number of different, closely-related and mutually-hostile branches ("The Firstborn", "Mikelsons", "Heidaman Conservatives" etc) [If you really want to get into the specifics of Laestadian belief and why they never seem to play nice with the ELCNA, you can read it about yourself **HERE**).

The important point for the future is the strong presense of Laestadianism among the native Sami. Despite forbidding the joik , the sacred songs of the Sami, elements of *joiking* made its way into the distinctive Laestadian hymns. This was a bit of musical and ecclesiastical trivia until the Awakening. Until the return of Magic.

It turns out that the *joik* of the Sami, like many timeless indigenous traditions, was part of a forgotten magical tradition. And combined with the words of the Laestadian hymns, it formed a uniquely Lutheran/Sami style of magic. There were several accidents as whole congregations, praying for relief from the various ills befalling the world at the time, unwittingly cast spells, and some talk of banning singing altogether, except for the Rev. Nils Erick Järvinen of Helsinki, who finally figured out the use of sacred songs and Sami *joiking* for directed purposes.

Järvinen's discovery was the beginning of the Firstborn (which takes its name not from the Laestadian denomination of the same name, but from Hebr 12:23 "To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect" KJV), the Laestadian magical tradition. Trained Firstborn were sent out to spread the 'Gifts of Grace' to the faithful and defending their congregations against the terrors blooming all around them.

Missionary-Mages spread out, contacting even non-Laestadian Lutheran factions (such as the ELCNA and the Order of Kelpius) and sharing the knowledge they had gained. Locally, groups like Principia were grown largely from the magical techniques and this happened all across the Lutheran Christian world.

### Magical Training

Still active to this day, the Firstborn are involved in setting up serving their home Laestadian congregations and in supporting themselves by training other Lutheran mages in the Firstborn way. A lot of Lutheran-affiliated magic users were trained in the Firstborn tradition, even those themselves who aren't Laestadian (for example, the Rev. Katherine Grace , who is Bishop of the ELCNA Minneapolis  Synod was trained by Laestadians).

The Firstborn tradition uses verbal components as its primary focus for spellcasting, specifically sacred singing, influenced by Sami *joiking*. The strengths of the tradition are largely defensive, known for warding, banishing and especially counterspelling, which the Laestadians are famous for. While properly-trained, god-fearing Firstborn do not summon, their banishing techniques are easily-enough backwards engineered into fairly effective summoning and binding techniques.

Return to: ELCNA