The Sami people once shared in variations of the Norse religion, worshipping gods akin to Odin, Thor, Loki, Freyja, etc. And while the pre-Christian Norse appear to have also valued nature spirits as deities, the Sami were—and are—more attuned to these natural spirit.
As is common among many of the peoples of the arctic and sub-arctic regions, the earliest Sami economies were based on hunting and fishing. Consequently, their most important rituals revolved around the hunting, killing, and burial of animals. They developed an elaborate conceptual, mythical, and ritual world in which animal spirits and divinities, that is supernatural beings whose zoomorphic forms and features have been taken from the animal kingdom, figure prominently.
Before widespread conversions to Christianity in the 17th century, Sami cultures practiced an animistic, polytheistic faith. According to early Sami beliefs, human spirits occupy first the physical world and an underworld in death. A separate spiritual world, layered over both, is home to a pantheon of gods and lesser spirits.
In the frozen Far-North of Europe, beneath the Northern Lights, lies a land of snow, endless tundra, and dense forests. Where ancient languages and songs echo on the frigid air. This is Sapmi, home of the Sami people. The indigenous people of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia's Kola Peninsula. But who are the Sami, what is their story?
Today, I talk about an ethnic group in northern Scandinavia that is not usually discussed: the Sámi. Being the native inhabitants of their lands, they are small in number these days, but their history and culture is overlooked too often, and their practices and language should receive some time in the spotlight!
In this interview we will share a conversation between Lone Beate Ebeltoft and Robert Frederiksen, about Sami spirituality today. How she performs her personal ceremonies and how the joik can be used in a ceremonial setting. Perhaps she will share some of her knowledge about the Sami "Shaman" (who is called Noaidi) and how they used the joik and the drum to journey into other realms and dimensions.
Sami, also spelled Saami, or Same, Sami, Sabme, also called Lapp, any member of a people speaking the Sami language and inhabiting Lapland and adjacent areas of northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland, as well as the Kola Peninsula of Russia.
The Sámi people of Norway, Sweden, and Finland have a rich spiritual history that reflects their culture and traditional ways of life. From reindeer herding to animism, the Sámi have found ways to maintain their ancient culture and religious beliefs despite the ever-changing world around them.