Examine individual changes

'{{short description|Traditional religion of the Sami people in the Nordic countries}} {{refimprove|date=March 2016}} [[Image:Sami shamanic drum.JPG|thumb|250px|[[Sámi drum]] in the [[Arktikum Science Museum|Arctikum museum]], in [[Rovaniemi]], [[Finland]]]] '''Traditional Sámi spiritual practices''' and beliefs are based on a type of [[Penis|anime]], [[polytheism]], and what anthropologists may consider [[shamanism]]. The religious traditions can vary considerably from region to region within [[Sápmi]]. Traditional Sámi religion is generally considered to be Animism. The Sámi belief that all significant natural objects (such as animals, plants, rocks, etc.) possess a soul, and from a polytheistic perspective, traditional Sámi beliefs include a multitude of spirits.<ref name="Religion">{{Cite web |url=http://www.utexas.edu/courses/sami/diehtu/siida/christian/decline.htm |title=The Decline of the Sámi People's Indigenous Religion |last=Holloway |first=Alan "Ivvár" |publisher=University of Texas}}</ref> Sámi traditional beliefs and practices commonly emphasizes [[veneration of the dead]] and of animal spirits. The relationship with the local animals that sustain the people, such as the [[reindeer]], are very important to the kin-group.<ref name="Religion" /> ==Deities and animal spirits== Aside from the [[bear worship]], there are other animal spirits such as the Haldi, who watch over nature. Some Sámi people have a thunder god called [[Horagalles]]. [[Rana Niejta]] is "the daughter of the green, fertile earth".<ref name="Donner">{{Cite journal |last=Donner |first=Otto |year=1876 |title=Lieder der Lappen - Lappalaisia lauluja |series=Suomi-sarjan Toinen Jakso, 2 Oso |page=13}}</ref> The symbol of the [[world tree]] or pillar, similar to that found in Finnish mythology, which reaches up to the [[North star]] may also be present.<ref>Leeming, pp. 135</ref> The forest spirit of some of the Sámi people, Laib Olmai, is traditionally associated with forest animals, which are regarded as his herds, along with granting either good or bad luck in hunting. His favour was so important that, according to one author, they made prayers and offerings to him every morning and evening.<ref>''Pre- and Proto-historic Finns'' by Abercromby, pp. 161</ref> ==Sieidis== [[Image:Stabben siedi balsfjord.JPG|thumb|350px|Stabben: A ''sieidi'' stone in [[Balsfjord]]]] In the landscape throughout Northern Scandinavia, one can find ''[[sieidi]]s'', places that have unusual land forms different from the surrounding countryside, and that can be considered to have spiritual significance. Each family or clan has its local spirits, to whom they make offerings for protection and good fortune. The ''Storjunkare'' are described sometimes as stones, having some likeness to a man or an animal, that were set up on a mountain top, or in a cave, or near rivers and lakes. Honor was done to them by spreading fresh twigs under them in winter, and in summer leaves or grass. The ''Storjunkare'' had power over all animals, fish, and birds, and gave luck to those that hunted or fished for them. Reindeer were offered up to them, and every clan and family had its own hill of sacrifice.<ref>Pre- and Proto-historic Finns by Abercromby, pp. 163-164</ref> ==Noaide== {{main|Noaidi}} A ''[[noaidi]]'' was a male mediator between the human world and ''saivo'', the [[underworld]], on the behalf of the community, usually using a [[Sámi drum]] and a domestic flute called a ''fadno'' in ceremonies. ==Ancestors== One of the most irreconcilable elements of the Sámi's worldview from the missionaries’ perspective was the notion "that the living and the departed were regarded as two halves of the same family." The Sámi regarded the concept as fundamental, while the Christians absolutely discounted any possibility of the dead having anything to do with the living.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rydving |first=Håkan |title=The End of Drum-Time: Religious Change among the Lule Saami, 1670s-1740s |publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell International |year=1993 |location=Uppsala}}</ref> Since this belief was not just a religion, but a living dialogue with their ancestors, their society was concomitantly impoverished.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.utexas.edu/courses/sami/diehtu/siida/christian/decline.htm |title=The Decline of the Sámi People's Indigenous Religion |last=Holloway |first=Alan “Ivvár” |publisher=TexasU}}</ref> ==Additional deities and spirits== {{more footnotes|section|date=January 2017}} *The [[Akka (spirit)|Akka]] goddesses, such as [[Raedieahkka]] * [[Beaivi]] - goddess of the sun, mother of humankind. * [[Bieggolmai]] 'Man of the Winds'- god of the summer winds. * [[Horagalles]] - thunder god whose name means '[[Thor]]-man', also called "Grandfather", Bajanolmmai, Dierpmis, and Tordöm. * [[Ipmil]] 'God' - adopted as a native name for the [[Christian God]] (see the related Finnish word [[Jumala]]), it refers originally to [[Radien-attje]] or [[Waralden Olmai]], the creator of the world and head divinity; in Sámi religion, he is passive or sleeping and is not included in religious practices often. * [[Leib-Olmai]] - god of good luck * [[Lieaibolmmai]] - god of the hunt, and of adult men. * [[Mano (mythology)|Mano]], Manna, or Aske - god of the moon. * [[Rana Niejta]] - daughter of Raedie.<ref name="Donner"/> ''Rana'', meaning 'green' or by extension 'fertile earth', was a popular name for Sámi girls. * [[Radien-pardne]] - son of Radien-attje and Raedieahkka. * [[Ruohtta]] - god of sickness and therefore also a death-god. He was depicted riding on a horse. * [[Stallo]] - feared cannibal giants of the wilderness. * [[Tjaetsieålmaj]] - the men of water.<ref>Herman Hofberg, "Lapparnas Hednatro" (The Pagan belief of the Sami)</ref><ref>Uno Holmberg, "Lapparnas religion" (The faith of the Sami)</ref><ref>Rafael Karsten, " Samefolkets religion" (The Sami religion)</ref><ref>Edgar Reuteskiöld, " De nordiska samernas religion" (The religion of the Northern Sami)</ref> ==See also== * [[Sámi people#Religion]] * [[Finnic mythologies]] * ''[[Fragments of Lappish Mythology]]'' * [[Lars Levi Laestadius]] ==References== {{reflist}} ===Bibliography=== * {{Cite book |last=Abercromby |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/preandprotohist01abergoog |title=Pre- and Proto-historic Finns |publisher=D. Nutt |year=1898 |author-link=John Abercromby, 5th Baron Abercromby}} * {{Cite book |title=Saami Pre-Christian Religion: Studies on the Oldest Traces of Religion Among the Saamis |publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell |year=1985 |editor-last=Bäckman |editor-first=Louise |location=Stockholm |editor-last2=Hultkrantz |editor-first2=Åke}} * {{Cite book |last=Leeming |first=David Adams |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=myMgj6gUWUEC&pg=PA133&dq |title=European Mythology |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=9780195143614 |pages=133–141 Finnic and Other Non-Indo-European Mythologies}} ==External links== * [http://www.utexas.edu/courses/sami/diehtu/giella/film/pathfinder.htm Folklore, Boundaries and Audience in The Pathfinder] (a film review by Thomas A. DuBois in ''SamiCulture'') University of Texas * [http://www.faqs.org/faqs/nordic-faq/part2_NORDEN/section-2.html The Sámi people] Nordic FAQ * [http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol11/meandash.htm Folktales of Meandash, the mythic Sámi reindeer] ''Folklore.ee'' * [http://senc.hum.helsinki.fi/wiki/Sieidi#tab=English "Sieidi"] ''Encyclopaedia of Saami Culture'' University of Helsinki * [http://senc.hum.helsinki.fi/wiki/Pyhä#tab=English "The Sacred"] ''Encyclopaedia of Saami Culture'' University of Helsinki {{Sámi navigator}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Sami Shamanism}} [[Category:Sami mythology]] [[Category:European shamanism]]'