NINE WORLDS OF SEID-MAGIC

Nine Worlds of Seid-Magic



Nine Worlds of Seid-Magic

This reachable study of Northern European shamanistic observe, or seid, explores the way in which the ancient Norse belief systems evoked in the Icelandic Sagas and Eddas have been rediscovered and reinvented by groups in Europe and North America. The book inspects the experience of altered awareness and the relations of seid-workers or shamanic practitioners with their spirit worlds. Written by a follower of seidr, it investigates new communities engaged in a postmodern quest for spiritual meaning.

This publication was suggested to me as a good introduction to what seithr, shamanistic practices founded in to the north European cultures, is. Specifically it focuses on the oracular aspects of the practice. Rather than a functional how-to manual with step-by-step directions, it is a thoughtful and well-balanced text on the theme from somebody who is both an learned and a practitioner. It fills two niches: the need for more material on seithr; and the need for more academic material on neo shamanisms in their own right, rather than as footnotes in shamanic discourse.

Blain presents a blend of historical references to support the existence of seithr in Northern Europe, both before and after large-scale Christianization. However, she also approaches these materials with a critical eye, rather than simply accepting them as truth. She precisely intertwines these in with observations from modern practitioners of seithr, as well as her own experiences.

There are a number of controversial topics brought up in a generally neutral kind, permitting for the contemplation of the material discussed. Agood deal of the publication anxieties gender matters in relation to seithr and the modern heathen action, especially the resistance to seithr by more cautious elements. The inquiries of if seithr is strictly “wimmin's work”, if or not that disempowers it, and if a seithman is “unmanned”, are all conveyed up and considered in detail, both in the context of chronicled clues and the modern heathen community.

Blain furthermore tackles authenticity and seithr. Is it shamanism? Is it a legitimate, authentic practice? Are neo shamanisms in general authentic? Can “shamanism” be defined? Can a practitioner truly give an impartial reconsider of seithr? These topics and more all supply a riches of brain nourishment to masticate on.

While it isn't an easy-breezy book to read, being written in high academies, it is an excellent introduction that gives context for the modern practice of seithr, as well as providing numerous resources that may be traced for more information. The detail that it is in writing by a practitioner who is furthermore an learned only serves to make deeper the value of this book. Hopefully it will encourage the weakening of the terror of “going native” in academia

“Seidr” (pronounced “say-thur” or “say-th,” with “th” as in “then”), described in the Icelandic sagas, seems to relate to practices involving altered consciousness whereby a seers or seer works on behalf of their (human and nonhuman) communities - it is being reconstructed as such ...