”Johannes Setälä is a shaman, visual artist and art teacher from Lohjansaari. Johannes has been in contact with his ancestors, shamans, sages and witches all his life. His shamanic initiation began in the 1960s. In his twenties, in the beginning of his initiation period, he received as his teacher Old Ugri, a shaman from Siberia, already in the spirit world. Old Ugri initiated Johannes into the tradition of Finno-Ugric shamanism. From there, Johannes moved on to study Finnish and Kalevalaic sages and it is on this long shamanic path that Johannes has served us Finns for the past 50 years.
Over the years, Johannes has helped and healed those in need, organized public and private rituals, taught future healers and artists, and brought new life to Kalevalaic art and sculpture. He has also written extensively on our Kalevalaic legacy.
Johannes is also known as a versatile artist and a social critic, who has through his art presented us with the threat of the destruction of Mother Earth herself and the blindness and greed of Man. As a shaman, Johannes is forced to filter and feel the pain and imbalance of the world through his body and mind, yet his work and teaching embody deep compassion, love and connection to humans, animals and indeed all forms of nature. In 1996, Johannes was inaugurated by indigenous shamans as the Guardian of the Shaman Fire of the North.”
(Susanna Aarnio)