God Wears Many Skins

"The Sami, who call themselves "the real people," are nomadic indigenous people of Northern Scandinavia and adjacent areas of Russia. They practice an animistic religion which invests godlike qualities in animals such as the fox and the bear, and in certain features of the landscape. They believe that the sun (male) and the earth (female) mated to make a son, who then found a bride and fathered human beings. The earth and sun share our daily experience of living, as do all plant and animal creatures. This form of dynamic interdependence has been expressed over time in a wealth of songs and stories told by Sami shamans and wizards. The stories are characterized by great reverence for our natural environment, which can form a strong spiritual foundation for sustainable living." This is a spiritual resource for sustainable living of stories and folklore in a poetic setting adapted from the Sami people of Northern Europe. The last four chapters contain an essay which outlines a spiritual basis for sustainable living.