The Religions Book

30

because those responsible for
waking them with a spell had
forgotten the magic words. One
shaman was said to have been
lost for three years, until the person
acting as his guardian remembered
that his soul needed to be recalled
from “the coil of the pike’s intestine,
in the third dark corner.” When the
relevant words were spoken, the
shaman’s legs trembled, and he
awoke, cursing his guardian.

Communicating with
the spirits
Sami shamans were believed to
fly to a mountain at the center of
the world (the cosmic axis) before
entering the spirit world, either
above or below the mountain. They
might typically ride on a fish spirit,

be guided by a bird spirit, and

protected by a reindeer spirit.

A journey to the upper world

of Saivo would be undertaken

in order to plead for game or for

help of some other kind; a journey

to the underworld of Jabmeaymo

would be made to fetch back the

soul of a sick person. This could

only be done after the mistress of

the underworld had been placated

with offerings. The shamans were

able to communicate with the

spirits in the upper and lower

worlds because their shamanic

training involved learning the

secret language of the spirits.

The Netsilingmiut (Netsilik

Inuit) shamans—an Arctic culture,

from present-day Canada (west of

Hudson Bay)—had similar religious

THE POWER OF THE SHAMAN

beliefs to the Sami. As well as

subduing storms and acting

as healers, they also mediated

between the human world and the

spirits of the earth, air, and sea. A

shamanic seance was always held

in subdued light, in a snow hut or

a tent. The shaman would summon

his helping spirits by singing

special songs. After falling into a

trance, he would speak in a voice

that was not his own—most often

in a deep, resonant bass, but

sometimes in a shrill falsetto.

While in this trance state, the

shaman could send his soul up into

the sky to visit Tatqiq, the moon

man, who was thought to bring

fertility to women and good luck

in hunting. If he was pleased with

the offerings the shamans made

to him, he would reward them

with animals. When the moon was

not visible in the sky, the Netsilik

believed that he had gone hunting

for animals to feed the dead.

Into the sky, under the sea

According to one Netsilik account,

one day the great shaman Kukiaq

was trying to catch seals from a

breathing hole in the ice. He gazed

In some Arctic cultures, animals are believed
to have spirit guardians who protect them and
ensure their well-being. Shamans have the power
to negotiate with these guardians, on behalf of
human beings, for the release of animals from
the spirit world into the human world for
hunting and fishing.

Everything comes from

Nuliayuk—food and clothes,

hunger and bad hunting,

abundance or lack of caribou,

seals, meat, and blubber.

Nâlungiaq,

a Netsilik woman