Gods and Shamans in Northwestern Europe (Dutch)

Shamanism is probably the oldest way of living and thinking. It is usually associated with beautiful natural surroundings, with enormous bears and impressive eagles. Not with three floors up and a pigeon nest on your balcony. Yet there is not such a big difference. We have to take care of ourselves and our loved ones, just like our ancestors. We seek healing when we are sick and advice when we have a problem. We try to live in harmony with our surroundings, even if they are not as “natural” as they used to be.

In this book Linda Wormhoudt shows how shamanism fits into our current life, into our current society. For this she first went in search of the shamanistic past of Northwestern Europe.

Contrary to what many people think, we in Northwestern Europe do have our own shamanistic tradition. Most of the knowledge of and about our ancestors is hidden in the landscape, folklore, fairy tales, customs, superstitions and somewhere deep in our genes. Linda forges the fragments and puzzle pieces into a whole. In this way we get an image of the people who once lived here and what role spirituality played in their lives. Which gods did they worship and why?

How did they live in and with nature? Linda then indicates how we can use rituals in the here and now: “Many of the ritual customs of the European ancestors have been lost, but it is also not necessary to know them all and restore them to their former glory. If that were desirable, because both the Germans and the Celts once sacrificed people. Although we can learn a lot from our ancestors, it is up to us to create new rituals that fit the present time.” With the extensive information about the past and her ritual suggestions, we can get started in the present.

With this book, Linda wants to restore the line between ancestors and descendants: “Looking at the past is important: it gives us grounding, it gives us a place. Looking at the future is important: it gives our descendants grounding and a place. We are the ancestors of our descendants.”

Ideal as inspiration for making SoulCollage® cards.