Shamanism

The word ‘shaman’ is originally a Tunguz word, a Siberian language. It means ‘the ecstatic one’. In the shamanic world view all that lives has a soul. A tree, a mountain, a river, an animal, everything has a soul. The world view also contains an image of several parallel worlds, where the gods, spirits, guides and ancestors live.

A traditional shaman is someone who can make contact with these beings and worlds via rituals, ceremonies and trance. He or she can also be a healer, a caller of animals, and a negotiator between the world of humans and the worlds of gods and powers of nature. The term ‘shaman’ is currently used to describe a worldwide scala of healers, priests, medicine people en people who work with different forms of trance.  Antropologists believe shamanism is the oldest form of religious practice.

’m not a shaman. In my view, you cannot declare yourself a shaman in these modern times. The name ‘shaman’ is a title, given by a traditional community to a person who proved to be able to serve a community in a spiritual way, in dedication and humbleness. I call myself a shamanic practioner, trying to serve my community as best as I can.

Seidr

For the last five years I’m researching seidr: an ancient Scandinavian spiritual tradition.

A long time ago immigrants from continental Europe went to Scandinavia. They brought with them their own religious system, their gods and their priests and priestesses. The ancient Indo Germanic religious world view had a close connection with the ancestors, gods and landwights. In time the religious images of these immigrants changed and evolved, under influence of the Scandinavian land itself, and the influence of other people who shared these lands with them: the Finnic people and the nomadic Sami people.

We don’t know much about seidr as a form of Nordic spirituality. Some (vague) information is mentioned in historical documents, the many Nordic saga’s and the Edda’s. Other information comes to us from archeological finds. The people who where involved in seidr are called by many different names: völva, vala, seidhmadr, seidhkona, depending on their specific specialisation. These people visited farmsteads to oracle for the people. They gave blessings and council, spoke with the ancestors in the burial mounds (útiseta or ‘sitting out’), communicated with the landwights, seeked and provided knowledge about the fate of humans. Who where these people? Where they witches, shamans, priests, or something entirely different? What was their connection with the land? Did they have a god or goddess as patron? Is there a connection with the spiritual Sami customs? What was their role in their community?

My main goal is to enhance preservation of the knowledge still available, and give education and information about the Northwest-European cultural/spiritual heritage. Via research, be it scientific or non-scientific, we can try to understand more about the spiritual roots of the Northwest European peoples.

Sami spirituality

Next to my research of seidr I have a warm interest in the spiritual ways of the Sami, the first nation of Scandinavia. For the last ten years I’ve travelled to Scandinavia, spoke and worked with Sami people of different families and made several contacts. As a non Sami person I respect the boundaries of this research. The Samipeople have both a beautiful and painfull history. My main goal is to make contact and build bridges between Sami and non Sami.