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Which natural forces were associated with personally venerated Sami spirits?
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Animism
Edward Burnett Tylor, detail of a chalk drawing by George Bonavia, 1860; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
In the context of pre-Christian Sami religion, the few personally venerated spirits or gods were identified with the following natural forces and aspects of life:
- Thunder
- Sun
- Moon
- Hunting
- Childbirth
- The winds1
These personally venerated spirits were distinct from the localized nature spirits that the Sami often propitiated through seide—idols of wood or stone placed in specific topographical locations to secure protection and good fortune.21