The amazing Seo Helrune will be teaching “The Völva and the Witch: Spinning, Seiðr, Knots, Luck, and Elves” on October 7, 2023 at 12:00 PM Eastern! Live online, and also it will be recorded so you can watch it later if you can’t make the live event.
Description: Ever read Ynglinga saga 7 and wonder about the seiðr that seems to have existed beyond the high seat? If so, this class is for you!
When modern Heathens and other interested magical practitioners think about seiðr, the image that most commonly comes to mind is that of the völva (seeress) on her high seat as depicted in Eiríks saga rauða/Eric the Red’s Saga. It is this image as interpreted via early 20th century scholarship arguing for seiðr as a form of shamanism and Harner’s “core shamanism” that has largely shaped modern recreations of seiðr.
However, when we look at the following section from chapter seven of the Yngling saga, it’s clear that there was much more to seiðr than the high seat:
“Odin knew and practised that craft which brought most power and which was called seid (witchcraft), and he therefore knew much of man’s fate and of the future, likewise how to bring people death, ill-luck or illness, or he took power and wit from them and gave it to others. But in promoting this sorcery, lack of manliness followed so much that men seemed not without shame in dealing in it; the priestesses were therefore taught this craft.”
(trans. taken from here)
Well, would ye know yet more?
In this class, I’m going to take a look at seiðr beyond the high seat. We’ll scrutinize the association with shamanism, consider the connection between spinning and seiðr, leap into the matter of luck, vent about the Vanadís, meet with some mound priestesses, get egregious with ergi, pour over possible survivals of seiðr in Early Modern witchcraft accounts, and ask the question so many have asked before: What is up with the elves?
Along the way, we’ll also talk staffs, gandr spirits, weird magical experiments, and so much more!
Caveat: Please note that this class will include discussion of adult themes. Please do not sign up if you are underage or prefer to avoid such topics.
Live attendance not necessary. All ticketholders receive links to attendee packs/recordings after the event.
