What is Seidr?

Honestly there is not that much information left to us.

We have descriptions of clothing, ritual items, and the use of a song.

It seems to be a blend of shamanism, witchcraft with a little seer work woven in. But we really don’t know what they did, or quite how they worked their magic.

There are three ways to try and access seidr.

· Reconstruct what we think our ancestors did.

It’s a useful exercise- to read the Edda’s, consider the role of the staff, high seat, her hood, her girdle. To look at the wider history and gain a sense of what was most likely to be happing during a seidr session.

It might help you to feel connected, or in the right mindset to work with replicas, to craft a cloak or staff that is meaningful to you.

But we don’t know how these ritual items were used. Was the staff a symbol, used to beat a rhythm, communicate with the singers (like a conductor’s baton), to hold or direct energy?

Just because we know what items they had- doesn’t mean we know how they were used, or why they had them.

· Look at other Northern European Indigenous practices.

Not all cultures were taken over by Christianity, even in Christian countries there will still be some old ways woven in.

Reading folktales, looking at Scandinavian cultures, exploring the Sami culture and traditions, these can give insight into how the Norse may have practised Seidr.

It can be helpful to look at other indigenous cultures, to see how they weave magic or use sound as a magical tool.

· Making it work.

At its core roots we know three things.

1. It was a form of “magic”

2. It used song, chant, or human voice.

3. It was used in the Nordic culture.

So, whether you are choosing to invest in ritual items, chant in Old Norse, Proto-Germanic, nature sounds or even English. Whether you work alone in everyday clothes, or in ceremony with a large group and a high seat….. What really matters is you have some form of validation to check in that the magic is working.

Otherwise, you are in danger of cos-playing or historical re-enactment (both of which I actually do for leisure- they are great ways to learn, but they are not practising seidr.)

Perhaps what matters most is the use of voice, with a Nordic wisdom at the core, to weave magic. Allowing space