Nordic Neoshamanisms

Nordic Neoshamanisms proposes that the drive for religiosity and experiences of the sacred are far from lost in contemporary western societies. However, the spiritual quest in Nordic countries comes in some very surprising and innovative forms which make it necessary to rethink the relationship between the religious and the secular world. The contributors do just this by focusing on the mechanisms of contemporary shamanism in these contexts. The contributors' objective is to explore the myriad of ways late modern shamanism is becoming more vital and personally significant to people, communities, and economies in Nordic countries.

This book intends to survey how the field of modern shamanism is entwined with the political, the social and the popular in this area of the world. Drawing on case studies of particular persons, groups and institutions, well-known historians of religion and folklorists discuss how modern shamanism can be said to contribute to self-knowledge, identity, and community life in Northern European countries.

Siv Ellen Kraft is currently Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø, Norway.

Trude Fonneland is currently postdoctoral fellow at the Department of History and Religious studies at the University of Tromsø, Norway.

James R. Lewis is currently Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø, Norway.

Introduction: Nordic Neo-Shamanisms; Siv Ellen Kraft, Trude Fonneland, James R. Lewis
PART I: BACKGROUND
1. Late Modern Shamanism: Central Texts and Issues; Olav Hammer
PART II: LATE MODERN SHAMANISM IN NORDIC COUNTRIES
2. The Rise of Neo Shamanism in Norway: Local Structures – Global Currents
Trude Fonneland
3. The Way of the Teacher; Merete Demant Jakobsen
4. Shared Facilities: The Fabric of Shamanism, Spiritism, and Therapy in a Nordic Setting; Anne Kalvig
5. Shamanism – A Spiritual Heritage? The Significance of the Past in Shamanic Discourses; Torunn Selberg
6. Metroshamanism: A Search for Shamanic Identity in Modern Estonia; Henno Parks
7. New Age Medicine Men vs. New Age Noaidi: Same Neo-Shamanism, Different Socio-Political Situation; James R. Lewis
8. More or Less Genuine Shamans! The believer in an exchange between antiquity and modernity, between the local and the global; Bente Gullveig Alver
PART III: NEO-SHAMANISM IN SECULAR CONTEXTS
9. Sami Shamanism and Indigenous Film: The Case of Pathfinder; Cato Christensen
10. Contextualizing Exhibited Versions of Sámi Noaidevuohta; Stein R. Mathisen
11. The Festival Isogaisa: Neo Shamanism in New Arenas; Trude Fonneland
12. Shamanism and Indigenous Soundscapes. The Case of Mari Boine; Siv Ellen Kraft