Sami shamanism

Not much is known of the Sami mythology. There is no original sources. Traditions included Scandinavian or Christian interpolations. Moreover, it is not written by seeds, which the source value decreases. The Sami mythology was spread around the Arctic Circle.

Tradition

The first report on the Sami religion comes from a Norwegian chronicle in 1100, where the shamanic drumming and trance is described. The reports from eastern areas date from the 17th century.

Christianization

At this time, the seeds had already come into contact with Christianity, first in Eastern Finland with the Orthodox Church, to the west with the Catholic Church, then with the Lutherans. The strongest influence on the seeds of northern Europe came from the Lutheran pietism in northern Sweden. While the Catholic Church primarily so contented to baptize the seeds to trust and to bury, the Pietists began with an active mission with the aim to make them also inwardly Christian. This also led to crack down. 1662 a shaman was burned at the stake because of persistent exercise of his religion. The partial brutal missionary work extended into the 18th century. Lars Levi Laestadius (1800-1861) tried to integrate the ecstatic tradition of the shaman in his worship, so as to make Christianity more acceptable for the seeds.

Worldview

The shaman noaidi ( Northern Sami ) or Nåejtie ( South Sami ) plays a central role. It establishes the connection between the real and the supernatural world. The shaman is male. But women across the fertile period could also have psychic connection without it would have been but an equal footing with male colleagues in their abilities. They were called in Scandinavia Framåt, guap earlier, kweppckas or gåbeskied.

The world view is how often divided into three parts: the upper world, real world and the underworld. In the upper world residence of the gods, in the middle world live people and live in the underworld, the dead, ruled by Jabmaekka, the ruler of the underworld. In the underworld there are three areas: In Savoaimo the deceased shamans live in Rutaimo lives the evil god Ruto. In Jabaimo deceased people. They live like on earth and thus need animal sacrifices to survive.

In the upper world of the gods, there is the god of thunder Hora Galles, the god of fertility Vearalden Olmai. Most gods of Sami pantheon are spanked, the few are etymologically usually attributed to Scandinavian deities.

The man has three souls: the rational soul, which belongs to the upper world, which means soul for the body functions and the names of soul that receives the child with the name. The child is given a name of an ancestor, which is to transfer his skills from the underworld to the child. Even the animals have multiple souls.