Contemporary Shamanisms in Norway

This book paints a vivid picture of contemporary shamanism through the voices of the shamans themselves, along with the writer's excellent analysis of their stories and relations. The book illuminates how the shamanic movement developed in our times, locating the religious ideas within contemporary cultural currents like identity politics, yearnings for mythical nature and authenticity, and re-evaluations and interpretations of distant pasts. How global trends are localized within shamanistic ideas in present-day Northern Norway is presented in excellent ways in this book. -Torunn Selberg, Professor of Cultural Studies, University of Bergen, Norway This is a fascinating book, fresh and up to date, written by one of the worlds foremost scholars on Sami and contemporary shamanisms. It offers the perfect blend of academic comprehensiveness and vivid case studies, and portrays and analyzes interesting aspects of contemporary religious life. --Liselotte Frisk, Professor of Religious Studies, Dalarna University, Sweden In Contemporary Shamanisms in Norway, folklorist Trude Fonneland presents a nuanced and enlightening look at Sami and Norwegian shamanic practitioners in Norway today. Fonneland explores how contemporary shamans adapt ideas and methods arising from the 'core shamanism' of American Michael Harner to create or recover shamanisms that embrace the traditions and environment of Norway, past and present...A must-read for any scholar of Western New Age religious movements and a lively account of the formation of contemporary shamanic practices in this northern periphery of Europe, Contemporary Shamanisms in Norway is sure to become a standard work in the study of modern European religious cultures. --Thomas A. Dubois, Halls-Bascom Professor of Scandinavian Studies, Folklore, and Religion, University of Wisconsin, Madison