Contemporary Shamanisms in Norway

""This is a most rewarding read."" -- Lukas Pokorny, University of Vienna, Religious Studies Review ""a rich and respectful study of shamanic practitioners as spiritual seekers and entrepreneurs intent on restoring cultural and religious heritage. Fonneland's work is undoubtedly an important contribution to the field of new religious movements, New Age, and indigenous religion."" -- Lisbeth Mikaelsson, Scandinavian Studies ""This is an elegantly written and multidimensional volume that manages to be theoretically sophisticated, ethnographically grounded, and eminently readable. It will be of value to both students and researchers engaged in the anthropological and/or sociological study of religion, and of shamanism in particular, as well those exploring the status of religion and spirituality in modern European society."" -- Michael F. Strmiska, Nova Religio ""Whether it is a modern manifestation of an old religion or it was invented on the basis of the theories of Michael Harner, certainly neo-shamanism seems to 'work' both for its practitioners and devotees and for promoting reconciliation between Sámi and other Norwegians after centuries of discrimination and mistrust. This certainly makes the academic study of contemporary Norwegian shamanism a worthy enterprise, and Fonneland's well-written and fascinating book a welcome addition to a growing literature on Nordic new religious movements and global neo-shamanism.""--Massimo Introvigne, Reading Religion ""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 world´s foremost scholars on Sámi 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 Sámi 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