A noaidi ( sme, noaidi, smj, noajdde, sma, nåejttie, sms, nōjjd, sjt, niojte, sjd, noojd/nuojd, italic=yes, sje, nåjjde) is a

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

of the

Sami people Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

in the Nordic countries, playing a role in Sámi religious practices. Most ''noaidi'' practices died out during the 17th century, most likely because they resisted

Christianization of the Sámi people The Christianization of the Sámi people in Norway and Sweden–Finland took place in stages during a several centuries long process. The Sámi were Christianized in a similar way in both Norway and Sweden–Finland. Background - Christianity ...

and the king's

authority In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The N ...

. Their actions were referred to in courts as "

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

" or "sorcery" (cf.

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

). Several Sámi shamanistic beliefs and practices are similar to those of some Siberian cultures.Voigt 1966: 296

Description and history

Noaidis, often referred to as the "Sámi shamans", are the traditional healers and protectors of the

. Noaidis are considered to have the role of mediator between humans and the spirits. To undertake this mediation, the noaidi are believed to be able to communicate with the spirit world, and to ask what sacrifice needed to be made by a person so that he might return to good health and be successful in the hunt for food. Sacrifices designed by the noaidi are understood to reestablish a kind of balance between the mortal and immortal worlds. Using a traditional drum, which is the most important symbol and tool of the Sámi noaidi, they invoke assistance from benevolent spirits and conducted out-of-body travel via the “free soul” with the help of other ''siida'' members. The Sámi distinguish between the “free soul” versus the more mundane “body soul”; the “body soul” is unable to traverse the divide separating the spiritual netherworld from the more mundane, corporeal, real world. A noaidi can engage in any kind of affair that demands wisdom; it is said they take payments for their services. The activities include healing people, helping children, making decisions and protecting

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

, which represents the most important source of food and are also used as tribute payment. The sources from which we learn about noaidi are court protocols, tales, excavated tools such as belts, and missionary reports. That noaidis were punished and in some cases sentenced to death for their "sorcery" should perhaps rather be interpreted as an attempt to obliterate opposition to the crown. Prior to 1858, when the Conventicle Act was abolished, there was by law no freedom of religion, as the Lutheran Swedish church was the only allowed religion for Swedish citizens. Swedish priests supported conviction of noaidis for sorcery, and in 1693, Lars Nilsson was executed for this charge. It has traditionally often been claimed that only men could become noaidi and use the drum, but both

Rijkuo-Maja Rijkuo-Maja or Rika Maja (Sami or Swedish for "Rich Maja"; 1661–1757) was a Sámi noaidi from Mausjaur. She was known for her influence and wealth in the contemporary Sámi community and became a famous figure of the Sámi history and the subje ...

of Arvidsjaur (1661-1757) as well as Anna Greta Matsdotter of Vapsten, known as Silbo-gåmmoe or Gammel-Silba (1794-1870), were both noted to have done so.

Remnants in music tradition

In the Sami shamanistic form of worship drumming and traditional chanting (

joik A joik or yoik (anglicised, where the latter spelling in English conforms with the pronunciation; also named , , , or in the Sámi languages) is a traditional form of song in Sámi music performed by the Sámi people of Sapmi in Northern Europe. ...

ing) is of singular importance. Some of joiks are sung on shamanistic rites;Szomjas-Schiffert 1996: 56, 76 this memory is conserved also in a folklore text (a shaman story).Voigt 1966: 145 Recently, joiks have been sung in two different styles, one of which is sung only by young people. The other joik may be identified with the “mumbling” joik, resembling chants or magic spells. Several surprising characteristics of joiks can be explained by comparing the music

ideal Ideal may refer to: Philosophy * Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato Mathematics * Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considere ...

s, as observed in joiks and contrasted to music ideals of other cultures. In some instances, joiks mimic natural sounds. This can be contrasted to other goals, namely

overtone singing Overtone singing – also known as overtone chanting, harmonic singing, polyphonic overtone singing, and diphonic singing – is a set of singing techniques in which the vocalist manipulates the resonances of the vocal tract, in order to arous ...

and

bel canto Bel canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song", )—with several similar constructions (''bellezze del canto'', ''bell'arte del canto'')—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing. The phrase was not associat ...

, both of which exploit human speech organs to achieve “superhuman” sounds.Szomjas-Schiffert 1996: 74 Overtone singing and the

imitation of sounds in shamanism Shamanism in various cultures shows great diversity.Hoppál 2005: 15 In some cultures, shamanic music may intentionally mimic natural sounds, sometimes with onomatopoeia.

are present in many other cultures as well.Hoppál 2006: 143
Diószegi 1960: 203 Sound imitation may serve other purposes such as games and other entertainmentNattiez: 5
/ref> as well as important practical purposes such as luring animals during hunts.

Notes

References

* * The book has been translated to English: * The title means “Shamans in Eurasia”, the book is published also in German, Estonian and Finnish
Site of publisher with short description on the book (in Hungarian)
* * . The songs ar

from the

ethnopoetics Ethnopoetics is a method of recording text versions of oral poetry or narrative performances (i.e. verbal lore) that uses poetic lines, verses, and stanzas (instead of prose paragraphs) to capture the formal, poetic performance elements which ...

website curated by

Jerome Rothenberg Jerome Rothenberg (born December 11, 1931) is an American poet, translator and anthologist, noted for his work in the fields of ethnopoetics and performance poetry. Early life and education Jerome Rothenberg was born and raised in New York ...

. * * {{cite book , last=Voigt , first=Vilmos , title=A varázsdob és a látó asszonyok. Lapp népmesék , series=Népek meséi , year=1966 , publisher=Európa Könyvkiadó , location=Budapest , language=hu The title means: “The magic drum and the clairvoyant women. Sami folktales”, the series means: “Tales of folks”. Religious occupations Sámi mythology European shamanism Sámi-language terms Traditional healthcare occupations

Description and history

Remnants in music tradition

See also

Notes

References