Contemporary Shamanisms in Norway: Religion, Entrepreneurship, and Politics

249 Pages·2017·5.442 MB·English

by  Trude Fonneland

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co nte mporar y shamanisms
in nor way
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c o n t e m p o r a r y
s h a m a n i s m s
i n n o r w a y
Religion,
Entrepreneurship,
and Politics
trude fonneland
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contents
List of Illustrations vii
Preface and Acknowledgments ix
1. Introduction: Contemporary Shamanisms in Norway 1
2. The Development of Sámi Shamanism 20
3. The Power of Nature in the High North 49
4. Gender in Sámi Shamanism: The Past as a Premise
for New Gender Constructions 96
5. The Festival Isogaisa: A Center for Contemporary
Shamanic Practitioners 121
6. The Shamanistic Association: The Rise of Shamanism
As an Approved Religious Community 147
7. Shamanism in Secular Arenas: The Case of
Esther Utsi, a Sámi Spiritual Entrepreneur in
the Norwegian Tourism Industry 170
Presentation of Interviewees 195
Notes 199
References 209
Index 231
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list of illustrations
(All photographs by Trude Fonneland, except where noted)
1.1 The “World Drum” made by Sámi shaman Birger Mikkelsen 2
2.1 Shaman Ailo Gaup (photo by Linda Bournane Engelberth) 21
2.2 Shaman drum (photo by Ronald Kvernmo) 40
3.1 Shaman Eirik Myrhaug at Lortvannet (photo by
Bente Brunvoll) 53
3.2 The Sámi sieidi (sacrificial site) Rikkagallo in Lavangen
municipality 72
3.3 Shaman Eirik Myrhaug at the sieidi Rikkagallo 76
4.1 Sáráhkká is dancing (photo by Ragnhild Enoksen) 97
4.2 Isogaisa poster 115
4.3 Woman with drum (graphic by Nils Anders Inga) 117
5.1 Isogaisa poster 122
5.2 Shaman Ronald Kvernmo and Sámi cultural workers from
Russia (photo by Ronald Kvernmo) 128
5.3 The festival fire 135
6.1 Shamanistic Association’s logo 148
7.1 Spiritual entrepreneur Esther Utsi 172
7.2 Polmakmoen Guesthouse 177
7.3 “The Seven Coffee Stops” 185
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preface and
acknowledgments
In 2000, I took part in my first fieldwork among shamanic practitioners
in Norway, during the shaman course “A Tribute to the Great Spirit.”
The things I experienced at this course sparked a curiosity and spoke
to my young folklorist heart. It also laid the foundation for a desire for
a deeper understanding of shamanic practitioners’ worldviews, their
values and attitudes, their interpretations of everyday life, of activities,
experiences, identities, and strategies.
My interest in these topics became the basis for my doctoral disser-
tation, Samisk nysjamanisme: I dialog med (for)tid og stad (Sami Neo-
shamanism: In Dialog with the Past and Place) (2010), and the theme
has further been an important and enticing part of my field research
over the last decade.
Topics and cases explored in this book have been discussed using
a variety of approaches in research seminars, in papers, and in some
publications. This book, however, presents new perspectives and an
extended focus, and it opens the field to a wider context. Drawing on
ethnographic cases, I explore the dynamics of shamanic entrepreneur-
ships in contemporary Norway, the impulses that are at play, and how
they intersect and transform. I focus on how local pasts, places, and
characters are woven into global discourses on shamanism and how, in
this melting pot, new forms of religion are taking shape.
I am most grateful to my prior colleagues at the Department of
History and Religious Studies, UiT, The Arctic University of Norway in
Tromsø; at the Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies
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