Technically, I am not a Shaman.  I do not go into people and remove their icky-stickies, or retrieve souls.   The word Shaman is from Siberian use – which is not unrelated to what I do – but it has come to represent everything worldwide, including Ayahuasca ceremony in Peru, and African Medicine practice.  Shaman is an umbrella term, and I can claim it, as I fit under the practice of mysticism, journeying, dreaming, and manifesting those journeys for self-transformation.

I am more inclined to help people transform themselves, than I am to go in and “fix them” or “heal them” by manipulating the energies around them.  I believe that this “healing” is more permanent when the transformation comes from within.

Technically, I am a Seidr (SAY-der), which is less of a healing profession, and more of a Voice in the Wilderness.  Seidr is about seeing patterns and prophecies, using divination and dreams.

From Eldar Heide, 2006,  “Spinning Seiðr”

Seidr is a form of pre-Christian Norse magic and shamanism concerned with discerning and altering the course of destiny by re-weaving part of destiny’s web.

You could call Seidr a subgroup of Shamanism, but it’s not near the mainstream of the practices.  Seidr literally means to bind, to spin, to weave, and the symbol of a Seidr practitioner is a spinning distaff.

Seidr is based in the Nordic, Viking, Asatru tradition.  I use Runes and trance to communicate with the subconscious, with the Powers of the Earth, and to explore relationships.  Runes lead me to geometry, numerology, astrology,  language, mythology, connection to plants, animals, nature, and a code of conduct (The Havamal), as well as the original shamanic source for me.

The Seidr still goes into shamanic trance, she still travels the worlds, so I am still operating under the umbrella of shamanism.  Seidr is more my personal religious tradition within shamanism.

From the Havamal:

I know that I hung on a windswept Tree – Nights All Nine

Wounded by Spear, given to Odin, myself to myself.

On that Tree, of whose roots no man knoweth

And none offered Bread or Mead

I took up the Runes – wailing I took them

And fell back again.”

This speaks to me of the sacrifice of Shamanic Death, and I’ve experienced it in a number of ways.  Shamanic Death is a topic for long discussions later – but it is an essential initation:   the means of seeing that there is more than this world, our lives are tiny and insignificant, and in facing our fears and integrating them, we are stronger, more whole persons.

It is the Hero’s Journey of transformation.  As a Seidr, I hope to help others find their Way, to navigate through the realms of consciousness, to point to tools they can use to expand awareness and improve attention.

I don’t want to help others become like me; it is better to help others become more themselves.  So I don’t preach Seidr, but I practice it.

Recommended reading:

Diana Paxsen, “Seidways”

Freya Aswyn, “Northern Mysteries and Magick”

Katie Gerrard, “Seidr, The Gate is Open: Working with Trance, Prophecy, the High Seat and Norse Witchcraft,” and “Odin’s Gateways – a Practical Guide to the Norse Runes through Galdr,  SIgils, and Casting.”

Raven Kaldera and Galina Krasskova, “Neolithic Shamanism: Spirit Work in the Norse Tradition.”