James R. Lewis

Trude Fonneland

Siv Ellen Kraft

Nordic Neoshamanisms proposes that the drive for religiosity and experiences of the sacred are far from lost in contemporary western societies. However, the spiritual quest in Nordic countries comes in some very surprising and innovative forms which make it necessary to rethink the relationship between the religious and the secular world. The contributors do just this by focusing on the mechanisms of contemporary shamanism in these contexts. The contributors' objective is to explore the myriad of ways late modern shamanism is becoming more vital and personally significant to people, communities, and economies in Nordic countries. This book intends to survey how the field of modern shamanism is entwined with the political, the social and the popular in this area of the world. Drawing on case studies of particular persons, groups and institutions, well-known historians of religion and folklorists discuss how modern shamanism can be said to contribute to self-knowledge, identity, and community life in Northern European countries.

Nordic Neoshamanisms

Greg Johnson

Consisting of original scholarship at the intersection of indigenous studies and religious studies, the Handbook of Indigenous Religion(s) includes a programmatic introduction arguing for new ways of conceptualizing the field, numerous case study-based examples, and an Afterword by Thomas Tweed.

Handbook of Indigenous Religion(s)

Ingvild Sælid Gilhus

This volume investigates "alternative" spiritualities that increasingly cater for the mainstream within the secularized society of Norway, making Norwegian-based research available to international scholarship. It looks at New Age both in a restricted (sensu stricto) and a wide sense (sensu lato), focusing mainly on the period from the mid-1990s and onwards, with a particular emphasis on developments after the turn of the century. Few, if any, of the ideas and practices discussed in this book are homegrown or uniquely Norwegian, but local soil and climate still matters, as habitats for particular growths and developments. Globalizing currents are here shaped and molded by local religious history and contemporary religio-political systems, along with random incidences, such as the setting up of an angel-business by the princess Martha Louise. The position of Lutheran Protestantism as "national religion" particularly impacts on the development and perception of religious competitors.

Siv Ellen Kraft

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