Wow. Apparently he can't even figure out who he is, or what tradition or persona he wants to sell. Since when does a supposed (and likely dubious) apprenticeship in some Native tradition qualify one as a Norse spiritual leader? And since when does being a fake Chinook Shaman/Etaminua make one a 'traditional Norse spiritual leader'? He just seems to love to create personas based on traditional spiritual leader titles, misrepresenting traditions just to feed his ego and cater to white new age ignorance. If he actually for real, he wouldn't make up these names to play on white stereotypes and explanations. He is fixated on the persona, because he does not have the true foundation for a traditional spiritual leader: community.
Thorbjorn is a traditional Norse spiritual leader called a Gothi (pronounced goe-th-ee).
He has appropriated two false titles: Etaminua and Gothi. Because new age shamanism is all the same mishmash, he can offer the same bogus services under both shamanic personas:
Gothi Thorbjorn is a traditionally apprenticed shaman.
He has taught several students over that time frame, and has worked with shaman and medicine people from several native cultures. As a gothi he is available for spiritual counseling, spiritual exams, spirit animal introductions, spirit healing, soul retrievals, spirit transitions, spirit communication, spirit protection, and spirit removals.
[Bold added by author for emphasis]
Doesn't sound all that different from his advertisements for himself as a 'traditionally-apprenticed Etaminua', as he is just peddling the typical new age-isms (spirit animals, etc...). The 'spirit exams' sound particularly interesting
*barf*
Under his persona as 'Shaman Swadwa' he claimed his traditional apprenticeship is with a Native tribe, though that is certainly dubious also, because he never stated which tribe it was, and he admittted that the Chinook medicine lineages were lost. So anyways, I would be really interested to hear him state which tribe's traditions qualify one as both a Chinook Shaman and a Scandinavian one too. I will add Gothi Thorbjorn to his list of aliases in the first post, and I would also suggest that the Moderators add it into the title of this thread, as they have done with his name Mark Robert Lumaye.
A gothi (pronounced goe-th-ee) is a Norse spiritual leader. There is no singular description of a gothi's duties, for they often develop their own distinct practices based on the guidance received from the gods and spirits around them. They have been described by many sources as priest, spiritualist, shaman, etc., and have even held the duties of clan/village leader or chief, for the Norse traditionally looked to their spiritual leaders as their community leaders as well.
Here, he is setting himself up to claim himself as a Chief/Elder, the same way he has claimed to be a Chinook Elder/Chief.
Epiphany: All this shows you were certainly correct back when you first noticed 'shaman swadwa' was setting himself up to ride the 'celtic mystic train'. This figure is obviously a stereotypical new age colonialist, one who seems to be online everywhere trying to draw more clients and students to himself. People like this are dangerous, people who misrepresent traditions, posing as some kind of traditional leader and spokesperson of this or that culture. If they were honest spiritual healers, they wouldn't do such things, so usually when this sort of thing happens, they are doing it for personal reasons: usually selfish and desirous motivations such as ego gratification, financial exploitation, or sex. These people really have some nerve to do all this.
