Then Odin rode to the eastern door,
There, he knew well, was the wise-woman’s grave;
Magic he spoke and mighty charms,
Till spell-bound she rose, and in death she spoke
Seiðr is a uniquely Norse form of mysticism. Scholars discuss seiðr in many different terms. Some call it witchcraft, others a form of spirit work, and some a form of sorcery. Some seiðworkers had the power to divine the future and uncover hidden knowledge. Others could speak to the dead. On the battlefield, seiðworkers clouded their foes’ judgment, binding their courage and will to fight. There are even accounts of seiðworkers conjuring storms, healing the sick, shapeshifting, and performing other acts best described as magical.145
Even with the fragmented information we have, it is clear seiðr was very important in the ancient world. Odin was said to be a seiðworker and two whole sagas, the Voluspo and the Baldrs Draumar, show his power over the dead to compel answers from the Nameless Seeress. Odin is not even the most skilled of the gods in this art, with Freyja named as his teacher and an expert in seiðr. Frigga is also said to be skilled in seiðr, with the art being a possible source of her great knowledge of many hidden things.146
Scholars have long argued where seiðr came from. One prevailing theory is seiðr came from the Saami peoples of northern Scandinavia. This argument, described by Stefanie V. Schnurbein, claims cultural exchanges between Norse and Saami groups lead to Saami techniques being transmitted to the rest of Scandinavia. Jenny Blain argues this is likely, asserting the process was probably one where the techniques, ideas and methods of the Saami were integrated into existing Norse practices. Neil Price also offers support for this theory, providing specific examples of documented overlap between Saami and Norse seiðr practices, including ancient accounts of Saami performing seiðr. This suggests the stories of the Vanir teaching seiðr to the Aesir may also be a cultural memory of this process.147
Seiðr was also a transgressive art, seen in ancient times as more associated with women than men. Odin was named by chronicler Snorri Sturluson as ergi, a very loaded Old Norse word associated with being the receptive sexual partner or engaging in traditionally feminine sexual practice because of his learning seiðr. Scholars have observed a similar stigma was attached to seidworkers as other mystical workers, such as witches, in later times. This has led to many associating the art with queer sexuality and practices. Even so, there are examples of men practicing seiðr, suggesting the stigma attached may in part be due to the biases of Christian chroniclers like Snorri and Victorian-era translators who amplified existing attitudes to match their own assumptions.148
Seiðr today consists of three main forms. They are utiseta, sorcery and spae. All are conducted in an ecstatic state as discussed earlier in Chapter four. There are a few additional resources you can consult in appendix I on modern seiðr. This chapter is a general introduction to this art. Those who wish to learn more should seek instruction from experienced practitioners in seiðr or other similar disciplines like mediumship and trance possession.
Understanding the Self
The Self, in Norse practice, is seen very differently from the conventional division of body, mind, and soul. In Radical Norse Paganism, as inspired by the ancients, the Self is made of four parts. These are your physical form, known as hamr, your mind, which is called hugr, your spiritual shadow or subconscious that is named fylgja, and your luck, which is referred to as hamingja. Understanding how they collectively make you who you are and what they do is essential for seiðr and can help you better know yourself.
Hamr (pronounced HAM-er) is your physical form. The root of hamr is your body but that is not all there is to hamr. Hamr is your whole form, including how you present yourself, how you dress, the way you move, and your body language. The ancients believed the hamr could be changed and called this art shapeshifting. Berserkers were said to be shapeshifters who took on the abilities of different animals, usually bears or wolves, to gain their strength and ferocity before going into battle. On the surface, the idea of changing physical form may sound fantastical or ludicrous. Upon digging deeper, however, there is a far more profound truth. How everyone acts, appears and dresses are things you control that change how people react to you. Adopting different garb and mannerisms, like wearing a suit and speaking in jargon or putting on a mask, is as much an act of shapeshifting as when the berserkers took up their famous bearskins. Hamr is more than flesh and blood; it is everything that makes up how you move in the world and how people perceive you.149
Hugr (pronounced HOO-ger) is your mind. It is thought, consciousness, and awareness. Through your hugr you can understand and shape the world around you. In the ancient world it was said those with a strong mind could directly influence the world with their thoughts. This might sound highly esoteric, but the powers of mind provide you with the means to understand, perceive and direct your efforts to cause change. Hugr can also give you the words, creativity, and inspiration to put ideas in motion. When you know your own hugr you can better influence on the world around you.150
Fylgja (pronounced FILL-ge-yah; the plural, fylgjur, is pronounced FILL-ge-yur) is your spiritual shadow. It is your subconsciousness, a reflection of your hidden desires, and an extension of your Self. You could see your fylgja as the voice in the back of your head that questions what you are doing, urges you to question what is in front of you, or decides to play some catchy jingle in your brain for three hours just because. As much as it might sound like a troublemaker and distraction, when you are in tune with your fylgja it serves as a powerful ally. The fylgja may catch things that you miss or overlook. During workings, this shadow self can take on the shape of an animal, moving around and acting independently of you as a guardian or a guide. The ancients believed highly skilled seiðworkers could use their fylgja to carry their hugr out to watch over others or deliver a working. Being in tune with your fylgja gives you both a better understanding of who you are, the world around you, and serves as a powerful ally.151
Hamingja (pronounced HA-ming-ya) is Luck. How your hamingja interacts with Fate is explained earlier in chapter two, but it is mentioned again here for its part in how it works as a component that makes up your Self. As your capacity to change the world, Hamingja can be gained or lost through your actions; you could consider it the sum of all your knowledge, tools, capabilities, and influence in the world. What makes hamingja different from simply seeing it as the sum of these things is that hamingja is a part of your Self just as much as your body or mind. Just as these capabilities can be loaned out or used to support others, you can give some of your hamingja to others and strengthen their Luck. The ancients believed that if a person’s hamingja was especially strong, it could pass on to relatives, be reborn in a new form, and be called on by others after its owner died. As your means to influence the world around you, hamingja is your Self’s metaphysical muscle.152
Understanding the parts of the Self will give you greater insights into who you are and can unlock your true potential. Each is a part of the greater whole that is you. Understanding each on their own terms brings deeper understanding and self-knowledge. Thinking on how they all come together and complement each other will bring you closer to living as a whole, complete Self. Even if you never practice any of the forms of seiðr, understanding the four-part Self brings its own wisdom. If you do pursue the mystic arts, each is used in the three forms of seiðr in their own unique, powerful ways built on this self-awareness.
Utiseta
Utiseta is the most personal and safest of the three forms of seiðr. The word means “sitting out” and comes from the Old Norse expression seti uti til frodleiks, “sitting out for wisdom.” Utiseta is both a form of meditation and a mystical art used for answering challenging questions. The most famous example of utiseta from the ancient world is where the Icelandic lawspeaker Thorgeirr went “under the cloak” to resolve the growing divide between Christian and Pagan Icelanders in 1000 CE. Thorgeirr was respected by all parties as fair-minded and sought out a solution through sitting out:153
… then Thorgeirr lay down, and spread his cloak over him, and he lay all day, and the night after, saying no word. And the next morning he sat up and called people to the Law Rock.154
For the Norse, utiseta was an accepted way of gaining hidden or inaccessible knowledge. There were many places the information came from, with much speculation as to what the source of knowledge was. In most cases, utiseta moves you into a space where you can more directly contemplate the patterns of Fate, giving deeper understanding of potential cause and effect. However, there are other uses of utiseta in the ancient sources. One common application of this form by v
lur was getting information from the dead by sitting out on grave-mounds. You can also use utiseta for journeying to the other Nine Worlds or for speaking with local spirits and receiving guidance directly from the Powers.155
As a mostly solitary form of seiðr, utiseta can be learned and practiced by anyone on their own. The foundation of utiseta, like all other forms of seiðr, rest on working in an ecstatic state and understanding the parts of the Self. During utiseta, your hugr goes into the Nine Worlds, reaches out to spirits or taps into fate, and is protected by your fylgja. During utiseta anything you experience is filtered by your mind and experiences into the easiest form for you to understand. What you see in utiseta and how you interpret it will always be different from what others see, making understanding a highly personal process.
If you want to practice utiseta, the best place to start is by doing regular meditations as discussed in chapter four. The exercises in this book will help you build your meditative skills. Regular practice cultivates the discipline, focus and controlled shift into ecstatic states necessary for utiseta. When you are comfortable in your ecstatic practice, you can then attempt your first utiseta journey. The exercise at the end of this chapter, Going to the Well, is a good format to follow for your first time. Once you have finished your journey or have encountered something that’s more than you can handle, it’s really easy to end the journey. You do this by focusing on your hamr and its physical surroundings.
When you have finished a journey, take some time to ground yourself back in the physical world. You can do this by having something to drink or eat, going for a walk, or using the Spatial Awareness exercise. This helps bring you back into reality and is essential for a healthy understanding of utiseta.
You should always balance any insights gained through utiseta with other information regarding any questions you are exploring while on your journey. Utiseta provides new or unconventional perspectives that can help provide solutions, but utiseta alone is never enough. It is best used along with other forms of divination, outside research, investigation, and critical analysis. Like all skills, your first attempts at utiseta may be challenging but will become easier with practice and discipline. As you get more comfortable with utiseta, you can, if you choose, easily add it into your daily practice.
Sorcery
Sorcery is the second form of seiðr. Sorcery in seiðr is the art of using the parts of your Self to directly manipulate Fate and change the world around you. In many sources, both ancient and modern, the term seiðr refers to this specific use of power as well as utiseta and spae. To make things even more confusing, some call it witchcraft, wizardry, magic, and energy work. This book uses the term sorcery for second form seiðr because this is one of the commonly accepted translations of the word seiðr and to avoid any confusion. Regardless of the specific term you use, sorcery is very different from utiseta and spae because unlike these forms of seiðr, the point of sorcery to cause direct change instead of gathering information. The ancients believed you could use it for everything from cursing enemies to banishing hostile spirits, curing illness, and even conjuring thunderstorms.156
There is little surviving documentation describing exactly how Norse sorcery was done. Most of what exists comes from Scandinavian folk practices and customs. How you do sorcery will be different from how others do it. What matters is any methods used are ones you genuinely understand, have not appropriated without permission or proper training, and work best for you. One common choice is using different forms of rune magic, like galdr or bindrunes, as a part of seiðr workings. Even with all the variety of how you do it, sorcery generally has three types of workings that are commonly practiced by seiðworkers. These are spirit work, shape-changing, and direct sorcery.
Sorcery uses all four of the parts of the Self to cause change in the world. In sorcery, your hamingja is the metaphysical muscle that gives power to your workings. If your hamingja is the oomph that gives the working power, then your hugr is the tool you use to direct your workings. Your fylgja acts as a guide and protector, providing advice and safety during the working while your hamr is a medium that can be altered by sorcery. One way you can think of how the parts of the Self work is to think of sorcery like singing. Hugr is your voice shaping the music that is the working, hamingja your lungs giving breath to the song, fylgja the muse whispering in your ear, and Fate (or, if you are practicing shapeshifting, hamr) is the air that carries it into the world.
No matter what you are doing or what your goal is, you should be careful with sorcery. All these methods bind your parts of your Self in the workings in a very intimate way that can impact your life in unpredictable and unexpected ways. The best way to protect yourself from unintended consequences is to be very precise in what you are doing, consider the possible impacts of your working, and be as careful as possible. Regardless of what you do, sorcery is not a replacement for doing the necessary work to make your goals happen. A working for getting a better job or removing an obstacle cannot bring these changes into your life if you don’t act to make them reality. Sorcery, like rune-magic, may tilt the odds in your favor but can’t make life happen for you.
Spirit-work is a straightforward form of seiðr. Interacting with spirits is a quite common form of seiðr for modern practitioners in most Norse Pagan traditions, including this one. Seiðworkers may seek out spirits for guidance, information and sometimes ask for their help. Petitioning spirits for information or assistance is the safest form of sorcery because you are reaching out to different spirits and bargaining with them instead of directly using your own hamingja to directly change Fate. These bargains usually include making oaths, giving the spirit specific offerings or performing tasks on the spirit’s behalf. Even though spirit work is safer than direct sorcery, it is not risk-free. Many practitioners have encountered hostile spirits who were difficult to work with or actively tried to hurt the practitioner. In such cases, your best defenses are your fylgja, protective bindrunes, or workings combined with pulling yourself back, as described under utiseta. Be assured that spirit work is relatively safe even with these dangers; it allows you to build on existing relationships you have with local spirits and can deepen these relationships.157
Shape-changing is the art of changing your hamr. There are many ways you can do this; the most mundane include changing your clothes and how you speak. When you are engaging in sorcerous shape-changing, you take this foundation to the next level. Visualization and action conducted in an ecstatic state make it easier to focus specifically on more subtle changes like body language, mannerisms, and movement. The most radical changes come from focusing on specific elements of other beings, such as bears or wolves, as was the case with berserkers, and acting them out during ecstatic states. In some ways, shape-changing is very similar to the processes used by actors to get inside the head of a part or role so they can give a better performance. Shape-changing happens on many levels, from the obvious different garb to the subtle difference in tone and body language.
The third method of sorcery is direct sorcery. This form is where you use elements of your Self to cause change in the world. This work is the riskiest form of seiðr as these workings very intimately tie your Self into the working, the changes to Fate, and the consequences unleashed. Like all other forms of sorcery, direct sorcery is best done in an ecstatic state. In this state you will use a combination of visualization, proxy objects, chants, poems, and whatever else helps you focus your Self for manifesting a specific change. It cannot be said enough that you should exercise caution and restraint when performing direct sorcery. The earlier warnings of unintended consequences and outcomes are in full force here. Like all other forms of sorcery, a direct working is not enough on its own to make the changes you desire come into the world. Be careful, precise, and—above all else—ethical in your uses of direct sorcery.
Spae
Spae is a form of seiðr where the practitioner, known as a spaeworker, becomes a channel, giving their voice to one of the Powers so they may speak through the spaeworker. Spaeworkers were figures of awe and fear in ancient society. Their arts set them apart from society, yet their skills were frequently sought. A description of the spaewoman of Greenland in the Saga of Erik the Red shows the importance of spaeworkers for the Norse peoples:
He invited, therefore, the spae-queen to his house, and prepared for her a hearty welcome, as was the custom wherever a reception was accorded a woman of this kind. A high seat was prepared for her, and a cushion laid thereon in which were poultry-feathers. Now, when she came in the evening, accompanied by the man who had been sent to meet her, she was dressed in such wise that she had a blue mantle over her, with strings for the neck, and it was inlaid with gems quite down to the skirt. On her neck she had glass beads. On her head she had a black hood of lambskin, lined with ermine. A staff she had in her hand, with a knob thereon; it was ornamented with brass, and inlaid with gems round about the knob. Around her she wore a girdle of soft hair, and therein was a large skin-bag, in which she kept the talismans needful to her in her wisdom. She wore hairy calf-skin shoes on her feet, with long and strong-looking thongs to them, and great knobs of latten at the ends. On her hands she had gloves of ermine-skin, and they were white and hairy within.158
The garments of the spaewomen show she is very wealthy and treated with great respect. Thorkell, the host, goes out of his way to make his home as welcoming as possible. He sets out a cushioned seat for her and the feast in her honor is a very impressive spread with many rich dishes.
Spae is a possessory form of spiritual work. In some cases, the spaeworker is directly under the control of the Power called on for the working. Other cases may have the spaeworker act as an intermediary who receives messages from the specific Power, conveys questions from others and delivers that Power’s answer. Regardless, there are two big differences between spae and other forms of seiðr: Spae is always a form of possessory work or mediumship, and spae, unlike sorcery or utiseta, is always a communal practice. Spae sessions have questioners who approach the spaeworker seeking answers and the spaeworker provides answers as best as possible.159
If you are interested in learning spae, the best way to do it is finding in-person, hands-on training from people who are experienced spaeworkers or have done similar work like mediumship. Apprentices studying spae under a trained spaeworker learn the craft by working in support roles for their teacher. In these positions they help bring the spaeworker back from deep trances, guide all who approach the spaeworker and assist in creating an ecstatic state for the spaeworker with song and music. This was as true in ancient times as it is in the present day.160
Like all other forms of seiðr, spaeworkers do their practice in an ecstatic state. This opens their minds to different sources of information, processing sensations, and obtaining insights. During spae, practitioners have their focus divided between the physical and spiritual. This divided attention is another reason why spaeworkers have assistants or apprentices supporting them in the work.161
If you want further information, seek out in-person training and attend a few spae sessions. Spae should never be done alone or learned out of a book. There have been instances where improperly, incompletely, or self-taught spaeworkers have experienced involuntary possession. Some use spae to blame possessory entities for engaging in harmful behaviors. Properly trained spaeworkers know how to reassert control during possessory work, prevent involuntary experiences and affirm what is ethical behavior. For these reasons you should not study spae as a solitary practitioner and all uses of spae should always be conducted with other experienced spaeworkers. The information in this section is enough to give you an idea of what spae is. If spae is something you want to do, always study it in person with an experienced, proven spaeworker or someone who has proven skill in related disciplines like mediumship or possessory trance. Spae is not for everyone, and it is very common for Norse Pagans to practice the other forms of seiðr without ever doing spae.
Work of the Self
Seiðr is a deep, powerful art whose tools offer great potential for insights and change to their users. Many modern practitioners have used its skills to deepen their relationship with the Powers. Others have refrained from using seiðr while still seeking out the insights of those skilled in its ways. It can be deeply uncomfortable for some, but any distress can also bring greater understanding of the Self and the world. Whether you choose to practice seiðr, or which forms you prefer, is entirely up to you and what you are comfortable with.
The exercise at the end of this chapter is an introduction to utiseta. You should practice the other exercises in this book regularly before attempting it, as Going to the Wells effectively depends on developing other key skills. Regular, daily practice will help you hone the necessary discipline and focus for effective utiseta. When ready, you may begin this exercise and take your first big step into a much larger world.
exercise
Begin by finding a calm, undisturbed place for doing the working. Make sure there are no potential distractions when you first practice this exercise. With experience, this can be done in places like public parks or even in a busy crowd. Even so, when you first engage in Walking the World Tree, it should be in a calm, undisturbed place.
Conduct the Breath exercise in chapter one. Complete as many breath cycles as you feel are necessary until your heart reaches a resting state.
Once you have reached a resting state, begin the Sea and Sky exercise. When you are doing Going to the Wells make sure you continue the Sea and Sky exercise until the sea is smooth as glass and the sky is completely clear. When engaging in utiseta, it is critical you are as calm and relaxed as possible. This makes you more receptive to what may come during the work. After you have completed the Sea and Sky exercise, perform the World Tree Within exercise from chapter four. After you have completed this exercise and held the extremes of void and core within, you may proceed to the next step.
Feel the version of the World Tree that has just been running through you. Imagine you are now on the Tree, holding onto the trunk and its branches.
Visualize yourself climbing down the Tree until you reach where the trunk meets the soil Yggdrasil is planted in.
Walk along the base until you see a great, open pool before you. This is the Well of Urdr. In the lore it is said those who wish to drink from it must sacrifice something in exchange, but you will not be doing this for the purposes of this exercise.
Gaze deep into the Well. Let whatever images surface run through your mind. Pay attention to what you see but do not try to analyze. Allow what emerges from the Well to flow freely through you.
With practice, it is possible to approach the Well seeking guidance for specific questions or problems by fixing them in your mind as you climb the tree. Such an approach should be conducted later with time and experience. While you are starting out, focus on reaching the Well and taking in what you see.
When you feel you have seen enough, imagine yourself stepping away from the Well. Feel your body again, take a deep breath, and awaken. Think on what you experienced and its potential meaning.
145. H.R. Ellis Davidson, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe, Penguin Books (New York: 1964), 117–121; Jenny Blain, Nine Worlds of Seid-Magic: Ecstasy and Neo-Shamanism in North European Paganism, Routledge (London & New York: 2002), 114; Davidson The Road to Hel 154–155; Price, 64.
146. Davidson Gods and Myths of Northern Europe 48, 119–121.
147. Stefanie V. Schnurbein, “Shamanism in the Old Norse Tradition: A Theory between Ideological Camps”, History of Religions, Vol. 43, No. 2 (November 2003), 117–120; Blain 135-136; Price, 48.
148. Blain 17–19, 114–115.
149. Bettina Sejbjerg Sommer, “The Norse Concept of Luck”, Scandinavian Studies, Vol. 79 No. 3 (Fall: 2007), 282; Davidson, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe 67–68; Price, 244–246.
150. Sommer, 279–280; Davidson, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe, 120; Price, 244–246.
151. Blain, 65; Davidson, Gods and Myths of Northern Europ,e 118–119; Sommer, 282.
152. Davidson, The Road to Hel, 132–133; Sommer, 279, 282.
153. Blain, 60–61.
154. Ibid.
155. Blain, 60–63; Davidson, The Road to Hel, 144–145.
156. Blain, 16, 114.
157. Blain, 63–65.
158. Chapter 4, The Saga of Erik the Red, translated by J. Sephton.
159. Blain, 63, 66–67.
160. Blain 33, 35–36.
161. Blain 33, 36–37.