What is Reindeer Shamanism?

Reindeer Shamanism is an extinct line of shamanism practiced by indigenous people thousands of years ago in what is now northern Scandinavia. These people knew themselves as the Reindeer Tribe or Reindeer People and followed the migrating herds of reindeer across the sub-arctic and arctic. They lived long before the domestication of reindeer, which itself took place roughly 3,000 years ago. 

Reindeer, both the animal and his spirit, was (and is) central to Reindeer Shamanism because the reindeer their people followed kept them alive during the long winters. A deep relationship with this animal developed, a mutual relationship of survival (nearby humans kept wolves away from reindeer herds), and a mystical relationship of spirit. 

Why Reindeer Shamanism?

I was called to the path of Reindeer Shamanism by my deceased maternal grandfather, Grandpa Charlie, in the fall of 2022. Through a series of strange events, along with the aid of an energy healer, I discovered that my grandfather (who was Norwegian in this life) was my guardian and shamanic teacher thousands of years ago when we both lived among the Reindeer Tribe.

In my first past-life encounter with Grandpa Charlie, he told me that I was meant to bring Reindeer Medicine to a world in need. Processing his message, and other shamanic experiences I had along the way, I came to understand that his missive was for me to pick up the work we were doing thousands of years ago, and bring it into a modern healing practice.

The result is the revival of this ancient tradition of shamanism, which I am learning from my Grandfather and our lineage in shamanic reality, and bringing forth so that others can learn and practice it as well.

Reindeer Shamanism Today

Even without the Christian persecution of shamans worldwide for hundreds of years, I believe the practice of Reindeer Shamanism as I am learning it, wouldn’t exist today in northern Scandinavia. The Reindeer People are now called the Sami, and Sami shamanism would be what this practice evolved into, changing and growing with its people. But shamanism in Scandinavia – as in many other parts of the world – was oppressed to the point of extinction. Little remains of pre-Christian Sami shamanism, so I don’t know how different those practices might have become. 

As a result, putting together a practice in this tradition requires much research into shamanism in general, adding and substituting rituals, ceremonies, and practices, feeling my way into my own shamanic practice, and determining what feels in alignment with my shamanic heritage as I build this modern practice of Reindeer Medicine. Many of the rituals and practices I’m developing are either adaptations of what I’ve learned in shamanic reality or are from other shamanic practices that fit (or are adapted to fit) this practice. Still others are informed by my Western esoteric training and practice.

Finally, I should clarify that I am not – yet – a shamanic practitioner. My energy healing practice is just that – energy work. While energy healing is a component of shamanic work, there is much more to shamanic healing. And though I am initiated into this tradition, I am still a student and not yet healing publically through my shamanic practice. That will come in time, for now, I am grateful just to be on this path, and to have these experiences that help me grow and transform.

If you’d like to learn more about the shamanic path I’m following, you can find my story under the blog category of ‘My Shamanic Path‘.

Header image by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash.