Friday 10 September 2010

awakened

well...
am slightly flabbergasted and stoked

all my life
i usually get asked one of or three questions:
1. Have you always been Imbi?
2. Where does your name come from?
3. What does it mean?

so, i usually reply, in order, yes, imbi is my given name,
the name comes from Estonia and
lastly, I don't know what it means.

but now, after following a lead, I have discovered the origins...
Imbi is the Estonian derivative of the Finnish name Impi.
In Finnish mythology, Iman Impi or Olipa Impi are names associated with the creation goddess Ilmatar,
the Mother of the Waters, who gave birth to the universe.



Finnish mythology stems from the bardic tradition, told through generations and sung for possibly thousands of years....In the late 1800's Elias Lonnrot collated the lines of verse into the Kalevala. The first verse or Runo, sings of Ilmatar and her journeys through winds, water and stars....
"She, the virgin of the air, Beautiful maiden. Nature's child...By the wind the maid was rocked, On a wave the maid was driven, Round about the blue sea surface, By the whirling whitecaps lifted, Where her womb the wind awakened, And the sea-foam impregnated." -Runo 1, Kalevala
It is all interesting...at least now there is a reference. This is a sculpture of Impi Ilmatar:

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