SEIDHR AND SEIDHRWORKERS: Recovering shamanic practice in contemporary Heathenism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v13i6.6Keywords:
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
Adhalsteinsson, Jón Hnefill. 1978. “Under the Cloak.” Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis 4. Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell.
Blain, Jenny, 1998. “Seidhr as women's magic: Shamanism, journeying and healing in Norse Heathenism.” Canadian Anthropology Society, annual meeting, Toronto, May 1998.
Fell, Christine (ed. and trans.) 1975. Egils Saga. London: J M Dent & Sons Ltd.
Grundy, Stephan Scott. 1995. “The Cult of Odhinn, God of Death.” Ph.D. Cambridge.
Hastrup, Kirsten. 1990. “Iceland: Sorcerers and Paganism.” Early Modern European Wtichcraft: Centres and Peripheries. Ed. Bengt Ankarloo and Gustav Henningsen. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Jochens, Jenny. 1996. Old Norse Images of Women. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press.
Kuhn, Hans, and Gustav Neckel, ed. 1962. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius (V1. Text). Heidelberg: Carl Winter.
Larrington, Carolyne, ed. 1996. The Poetic Edda. World's Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Liberman, Anatoly, 1996. "Ten Scandinavian and North English Etymologies," Allvíssmál 6: 63- 98.
Monsen, 1932 (ed. and trans.) Heimskringla, or The Lives of the Norse Kings, by Snorre Sturlason. Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd.
Morris, Katherine. 1991. Sorceress or Witch? The Image of Gender in Medieval Iceland and Northern Europe. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America.
Blain, Jenny, 1998. “Seidhr as women's magic: Shamanism, journeying and healing in Norse Heathenism.” Canadian Anthropology Society, annual meeting, Toronto, May 1998.
Fell, Christine (ed. and trans.) 1975. Egils Saga. London: J M Dent & Sons Ltd.
Grundy, Stephan Scott. 1995. “The Cult of Odhinn, God of Death.” Ph.D. Cambridge.
Hastrup, Kirsten. 1990. “Iceland: Sorcerers and Paganism.” Early Modern European Wtichcraft: Centres and Peripheries. Ed. Bengt Ankarloo and Gustav Henningsen. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Jochens, Jenny. 1996. Old Norse Images of Women. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press.
Kuhn, Hans, and Gustav Neckel, ed. 1962. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius (V1. Text). Heidelberg: Carl Winter.
Larrington, Carolyne, ed. 1996. The Poetic Edda. World's Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Liberman, Anatoly, 1996. "Ten Scandinavian and North English Etymologies," Allvíssmál 6: 63- 98.
Monsen, 1932 (ed. and trans.) Heimskringla, or The Lives of the Norse Kings, by Snorre Sturlason. Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd.
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
Issue
Section
Articles
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
