noaidi

noaidi, in Sami religion, a shaman who mediates between the people he serves and the supernatural beings and forces that he either confronts or makes use of for the benefit of his clients.

The shamanic practices of the Finno-Ugric peoples have been best preserved among the Khanty (Ostyak) and Mansi (Vogul), as well as the Sami. Basically, they consist of the manipulation of the supernatural by a specially trained, usually naturally gifted, sensitive person in order to aid people in various serious troubles, of which illness was probably the most common. On being asked to help, the noaidi performs a dramatic séance with a traditional sequence of steps, including divinatory procedures, falling into trance, confrontation of supernatural beings either to fight them or to receive aid from them, and the actual ritual treatment of the patient, in the case of illness. The noaidis can perform both good and evil and formerly were much feared because of their powers, which they also used to political and economic advantage. In Finland the term noita survives mainly in the sense of an evil-working sorcerer, with another term, tietäjä, applied to the specialist in beneficial mediation with the supernatural.

The word noaidi is genetically related to several other terms used by the Finno-Ugric peoples for their religious specialists. Finnish noita, Mansi nait, and Estonian noit belong together linguistically, and their origin may be traced back to the common Finno-Ugric period before 2500 bce. See also Finno-Ugric languages.