Sieidi
In the spiritual tradition of the Sami, a Sieidi is a place of sacrifice. They are widespread throughout the original Sami settlement area. This sacrificial site was a strategically located object in nature for the hunter, fisherman or reindeer herder (such as a stone formation, a mountain, tree, waterfall, lake or spring), which was usually left in its natural state. The Sieidi were not only used for orientation in nature, but also as a sacred place. Individuals but also groups made sacrifices in their immediate vicinity. Meat, antlers, bones, metal (coins) and later alcohol or personal items served as offerings. Siedis served as a medium in order to be able to contact the supernatural forces in nature and pre-Christian gods. Finds are dated to the Iron Age or the Middle Ages, Sieidis held their function longest in Finnmark Norway and northern Finland . The making of offerings extends to the present day.
Typology and distribution
They can basically be divided into three groups: into special land formations (mountain peaks, rock formations, islands, lakes or headlands), natural objects (stones, springs, caves, rock crevices) and into structures (carved tree stumps, set stones and stone circles). Most often they are found in the form of stone formations with an unusual appearance. There are also wooden Siedis, either as trees whose lower branches had been removed or as carved or fallen tree stumps. The exact number of such sacrificial sites is not known: many were brought into the "Lapland research" of the 19th century by missionaries, have meanwhile been destroyed or not revealed by the Sami. Since the Sieidis were criminalized by the Christian mission, it is assumed that large sacrificial sites, which were visited by entire communities, disappeared earlier than smaller sieidis, which served the individual sacrifice. The number of currently known sacrificial sites in northern Finland is around 100 finds, and there are probably around a thousand known sites in the entire historical Sámi settlement area.
function
In traditional Sami society, the Siedis served to maintain the cosmological order of things and the relationship to nature (and its gods) through offerings. They are the holy place to make sacrifices for the previous gifts of nature, health or for future luck in hunting and success in reindeer herding. In understanding the Sami, Siedis were alive and required appropriate gifts. If they are neglected, the consequences can turn out to be drastic, such as losing their luck in hunting, the occurrence of diseases and even death.
Since the Siedis are part of the social order, it is the responsibility of the individual and the social group to care for them. They are therefore a symbol of the respectful treatment of nature, the land and the resources it contains, which are needed to sustain life. Furthermore, they can also serve to contact the pre-Christian gods, such as the Ukonkivi on Lake Inari , which was dedicated to the god of thunder.
As the Finnish archaeologist Tiina Äiskäs explains in her book about the Sieidis, the use of the Sieidis as sacrificial sites extends to the present day, despite proselytizing and the associated criminalization of the Sami sacrificial sites, albeit under different socio-historical and spiritual conditions. There are reports that suggest that in a transition period from shamanism to the Christian faith (and beyond) sacrifices were made parallel to both the Christian church and the Sieidi. Archaeological finds show that until about the middle of the 17th century animal bones were primarily offered as sacrifices, but coins were increasingly used for gifts dated later. Finds from the 20th and 21st centuries also include tea lights, personal items and tufts of branches. The boundaries between tourist customs and neo-shamanistic or neo-paganistic practices are often blurred, but many of the new forms of presentation change the authenticity and appearance of the old sites.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Encyclopädia of Saami Culture (Wiki). Retrieved August 17, 2017 .
- ↑ Tiina Äikäs: From Fell Tops to Standing Stones. Sacred Landscapes in Northern Finland. Oulu 2011.
- ↑ Rauna Kuokkanen: Reshaping the university. Responsibilities, indigenous epistemes and the logic of the gift. UBC Press, Vancouver and Toronto 2007, ISBN 978-0-7748-1356-3 .
- ↑ Tiina Äikäs: From Boulder to Fells - Sacred Places in the Sámi ritual landscape. In: Monographs of the Archaeological Society of Finland . tape 5 , 2015, ISBN 978-952-67594-9-4 .