Chapter 5. Contact at Last. Cultural Explanations

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Midnight sun in Lapland

This chapter depicts Sálle in his supernatural experience that transforms him into Bávlos. The text fuses both Christian and Sámi shamanic ideas. If you are familiar with the Bible, you may recognize details from the account of Samuel in the Book of Samuel. The young Samuel is roused repeatedly from his sleep by a divine voice until he finally recognizes it as God calling him. Callings of a similar nature occurred for Sámi noaiddit, shamans, as well. They would be contacted not by a single spirit but by a group of deceased kin and shamans who were interested in forming a relation with the living adept. In the account, this group is headed by Iesh, a name that means "self" in Sámi and is thus close to the biblical "I-am-who-am" of the Old Testament, as well as the Iesus of the New. Iesh instructs Sálle that he is to be called Bávlos from now on, and that he should continue on his trek until Iesh tells him to stop. The North Sámi verb for stop is bissánit, and thus, Bávlos must wait to hear the command "Bissán!" i.e, "Halt!" It is natural that Bávlos should associate Iesh with the sun, as the most powerful being in the Sámi cosmos and a crucial helper in all travels.