Luonnotar:
Finnish and Sami Shamanism.
Finnish and Sami Shamanism.
Most people are familiar with Norse mythology, but the traditional beliefs of the Finns and the Sami were a less pantheistic religion, than the worship of Odin, Frigg, Thor and Balder of the Norwegians, Swede, Danes Viking tradition.
The Finns and the Saami developed their own rich and distinct shamanic belief system, which was much more animistic and more akin to nature worship.
The shaman known as the “Tietäjä” (literally “knower” or “sage”) would go on trance journeys with Other world spirit helpers to divine the destinies of seekers. The Tietäjä also used the singing of runes to achieve altered states and promote healing and other objectives. Runes are magic songs or incantations in a distinctive poetic meter, some of which preserve themes of the pre-historic shamanic Finnish past.
Among the runes are epic poems detailing the exploits of shamanic figures from prehistory such as “Luonnotar,” the mother goddess of creation, Väinämöinen the first man often described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, magical singing voice. He was the template from which the character of Gandalf from Lord of the Rings was taken. And Ilmarinen the Eternal Hammerer, blacksmith and inventor who can make anything.
The world, according to the Finnic idea, is quite peopled with spirits; everything has its” haltia,” every tree every hill, every lake, every waterfall, etc.”
It emphasizes fertility, life, birth and sexuality as you can see in the tale of Luonnotar (also known as Ilmatar).
