Which regional shamanism do I practice?

[singthebody]

Greetings and Salutations!

I have wanted to practice shamanism for some time now. I have read the techniques of core shamanism. But I was wondering, if I wanted to practice classic shamanism, which style would I be allowed to practice? I am half German and at least a quarter Slovak. Possily Polish as well. Did my ancestors practice Celtic shamanism? Were there actually regions that practiced no shamanism at all?

Thank you for reading :bow:
Light,
Nicole

 

[Allfather]

I would guess Nordic, just because that seems like that would be the earliest Germanic Paganism I could think of in those areas. Would have resulted from Viking migration. I'm not very familiar with Scandinavian History that predates Roman Christianization, so anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

This is also referred to as Asatru, meaning "belief in the Gods" in Old Norse.

I think the Celtic Shamanism would be more confined to what is now Great Britain, I'm not sure if it would have made it over to Northern Europe.

Hope this helps

 

[Troublemane]

Hey, and welcome to RF!

IMO, everyone has roots in a shamanic culture of one sort or another, and as we are all part of the same family [writ large], then any shamanic system you feel drawn to will do. So why limit yourself to just the ones from your immediate family tree? Go for the World Tree! Why not? :angel2:

 

[Allfather]

I agree, Troublemane, I figured I would just answer their question in to the locations they had mentioned.

There's so much Shamanic culture out there just to limit yourself to one, the information is somewhat daunting sometimes

 

[painted wolf]

I would think that the Lapps have the oldest/closest views to 'shamanism'.
The Norse are too polytheistic and less animistic to qualify IMHO.

wa:do

 

[Allfather]

I would think that the Lapps have the oldest/closest views to 'shamanism'.
The Norse are too polytheistic and less animistic to qualify IMHO.

wa:do

hence this, haha

I'm not very familiar with Scandinavian History

Do you have any good resources about this people? I've honestly never heard of them. Excuse ignorance

 

[painted wolf]

Actually I should have called them the Sami, my apologies.
Some quick info on their beliefs.
Sami shamanism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If I wanted to be very specific, I would point out that "shamanism" is particular to only a small group of peoples from the Siberian region of Russia. But most people think of 'shamanism' as any animistic or "primitive" religion.

wa:do

 

[d.]

Actually I should have called them the Sami, my apologies.

yes, 'lapps' is more or less derogatory - but still widely used, unfortunately. so it's an understandable mistake.

The Norse are too polytheistic and less animistic to qualify IMHO.

actually, the tradition of seiðr among the 'norse' peoples seem to have had elements that could be called 'shamanistic'. these practices are probably for the most part a result of sami influence. i know there have been modern attempts to re-vitalise this tradition, but i know nothing about them.

and it kind of depends on what you count as 'norse religion'. besides the aesir and vanir, there is a lot of folk beliefs that IMO qualify as animism. though IMHO, these are meaningful in relation to the land, the nature - not the blood.

I would point out that "shamanism" is particular to only a small group of peoples from the Siberian region of Russia.

interesting point.