Hauntingly Beautiful: Jonna Jinton Uses Ancient Art of Kulning to Summon Cows

In mid-September, an entrancing video started circulating the internet and has very quickly gained everyone’s interest. Why would a video of some woman singing to cows be so intriguing, you might ask? Watch the video below and you will see exactly why…

Jonna Jinton, a 28-year-old artist, photographer, and blogger, used to live in Gothenburg, the second-largest city in Sweden. Five years ago, though, she felt like something was missing, like there was a pit in her soul that couldn’t be filled.

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“The apartment and the city life were stifling me. I did not want to study, I did it because I thought I should ‘do’ it,” said Jinton. [1] “I felt unhappy and had an inexplicably strong desire for something completely different. Nature, tranquility, fresh air, meadows, lakes, sunsets. Silence.”

That’s when Jinton decided she needed a change. So, she uprooted her life and left behind her big city apartment and school and moved into a wooded cottage in small village 100 miles north called Grundtjärn, which has a population of 10… and she could not be happier.

Feeding her creative spirit every single day, she is able to do what she loves – take photographs, paint, blog and, more recently, sing. But not just any type of singing.

What Is Kulning?

Pronounced cool-ning, the term for this Swedish tradition can be broken down into two words: [2]

1. Kuh (cow)
2. Lock (to call)

Kulning refers to “the traditional calls used to call down sheep, goats, and cows from high mountain pastures where they have been grazing during the day.” [2] And it’s the very thing that Jonna Jinton has become incredibly famous for as of late.

In September 2018, global news network WION (World Is One News) shared a video of Jinton practicing kulning. (You can watch it below!) She first heard kulning when she was 12-years-old. Eventually, she ordered a book that came with a CD on how to learn this ancient Swedish art.

“It took a few months to learn, then I went out one January day and just went for it… it sounded amazing, I was hooked. A couple of days later I did my first video on Facebook and it got a couple of million views.” [3]

Although her quiet cottage life seems (and is) idyllic, many people still have misconceptions about living that lifestyle. Despite being immersed in nature, the average person doesn’t do it for more than a week or two. Unless you’re prepared to live such a solitary existence, it can cease to feel like a vacation quite quickly.

“Everything takes much longer here, because you have to drive huge distances to buy groceries, you have to work to get heat in the house, your water supply might be sporadic,” Jinton told The Local. [3] “Nothing is as accessible as it is in big cities and everything is a challenge – but it’s so rewarding.”

That said, kulning definitely brings some beautiful sound to an otherwise quiet town. If you search “Jonna Jinton” on either Google or YouTube, you can find more of her videos along with other creative projects. We found that listening to kulning is a great way to relieve stress, too, thanks to its soothing and calming sound.