TEUTONIC MAGIC - Awaken Video

14: SEIDH-MAGIC
Seidh-magic has been described as a form of shamanic practice, in contrast to the more directly magical
workings of galdr-magic, although in fact there is a great deal of shamanic practice in runic magic as
well, and the two overlap somewhat. The working of seidhr-magic originated with the Vanir and was
brought to the Aesir by Freyja, who taught it to Odhinn.
Historically, seidhr seems to have been thought of as less respectable than galdr-magic, and
certainly as unmanly. In the Lokasenna, Loki taunts Odhinn with having woven spells and flown about
like a witch, "were these womanish ways, I ween".[1] A seidhkona (female) was feared, but respected; a
seidhmadhr (male) was looked upon with contempt as well as fear. This attitude probably stemmed from
the fact that the Germanic women were always thought of as closer to the worlds beyond Midgardhr and
the workings of the Norns, and that the magical workings involving faring forth into the other realms and
fore-seeing that-which-should-become were largely kept from men. Consequently, over the course of
time seidhr became classed simply as "women's magic." It is also true that visionary ability is more easily
awakened in women than in men, and that seidhr, like many shamanic forms, may have involved the
temporary feminization of the male practitioners.
The term seidhr is used here to cover a number of related arts:
faring forth from one's body, usually in the "hide" of an animal or with the aid of the fetch; sending the
fetch out itself; performing works to directly affect the mind or soul of another while out of the body;
sitting out in a circle at night to hold conversation with various spirits and beings; and the trance of the
spakona or spamadhr (ill- translated as "prophetess," "prophet"), the faring to the Well of Urdhr for the
sake of seeing the patterns of what is becoming and what should be ~- fore-sight much surer but harder to
achieve than the reading of the runes, being shown as visions rather than a casting, which depends on the
vitki's ability to read and understand and which thus may be easily mis-read. The word “seidhr" is related
to the root for "seethe," and it is thought that part of this practise involved the boiling of objects for
magical purposes while singing magical songs (perhaps part of the origin of the "witches' brew" of
folklore?) There has not, however, been much study done in recreating this aspect of seidh-magic, and it
was not well thought of even in heathen times.
FARING FORTH
The first of these crafts, faring forth in the shape of an animal, is the most commonly written of
among the seidh-skills. The Heimskringla mentions that "Odhinn could shift his appearance. When he did
so his body would lie there as if he were asleep or dead; but he himself, in an instant, in the shape of a
bird or animal, a fish or serpent, went to distant countries on his or other men's errands." [2] It is also
described how another wizard went forth in the shape of a whale to scout out Iceland for an invasion, both
judging the earthly lay of the land and testing the strength of the guardian spirits of the land (see Chapter
18, Landvaettir). This tale shows that one of the advantages of seidhr is that when one is faring forth, one
is able to see all manner of things which are hidden from the eyes of the body. This practice has survived
long past the coming of Christianity in most Germanic areas. Tales of witches going forth in the hides of
other creatures were not unusual as late as the sixteenth century, when the well-known witch Isobel
Gowdie confessed to having gone into the skin of a hare or a cat.
Faring forth in an animal hide should not be confused with the berserkergang, although both have
been classed as forms of lycanthropy. When one fares forth, one keeps one's human mind and only the
shape changes. In the berserker fit, one is altogether overcome by the beast within, and dressing in the
animals skin is merely an aid by which its spirit can take one over. The two workings are similar in many
ways, but one is a magical means to a number of possible ends while the other is an end in itself and
belongs properly to battle-magic and the mysteries of Odhinn. Also, the berserkergang, being limited to
one type of animal, would seem to call upon the might of the fylgja, while one wight can take many forms
through simple shape-changing. This is further discussed under Outdwellers.
128