SEIDHR AND SEIDHRWORKERS: Recovering shamanic practice in contemporary Heathenism

Authors

  • Jenny Blain

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v13i6.6

Keywords:

neo-paganism, shamanism,

Abstract

The Saga of Eirik the Red describes the visit of a spákona, a seeress, to a Greenland farm, one thousand years ago. Her clothing and shoes, her staff and cloak, are detailed. She is asked to predict the progress of the community; she eats a meal of the hearts of the farm animals, and the next day a “high seat” is made ready for her, where she will sit to foretell. She engages in ritual practices known as seidhr, which requires a special song to be sung to “the powers” in order that she may gain their knowledge, in trance.

References

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Morris, Katherine. 1991. Sorceress or Witch? The Image of Gender in Medieval Iceland and Northern Europe. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America.

Published

1998-11-01

How to Cite

Blain, J. (1998). SEIDHR AND SEIDHRWORKERS: Recovering shamanic practice in contemporary Heathenism. Pomegranate, 6(Autumn), 6-19. https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v13i6.6