Seid (also seiðr, seidhr) was the form of shamanism practised by pre-Christian Norse and other Germanic cultures and continued in modern times by people who practice the reconstructionist beliefs of Ásatrú or heathenry. Practitioners of seid were predominantly women (Völva, or seid-kona, lit seidh-woman). Although there were male practitioners (seidhmadhr, lit seidh-man) as well, seid was considered unmanly. The gods of Norse mythology were also practititioners of seid. In Anglo-Saxon tribes, practitioners of seid were referred to as wicca (m.) or wicce (f.). The Church opposed such activities and wicce evolved, as did the völvas, into the modern witch.
Forms of Seid
As described by Snorri Sturluson in his Ynglinga saga (sec. 7), seid includes both divination and manipulative magic. The type of divination practiced by seid was generally distinct, by dint of an altogether more metaphysical nature, from the day-to-day auguries performed by the seers (menn framsýnir, menn forspáir).
The Practice of Seid
In The Saga of Eric the Red, the seidhkona (or Völva) in Greenland wore a blue cloak and a headpiece of black lamb trimmed with white cat skin; she carried the symbolic distaff (seidstafr), which was often buried with her; and would sit on a high platform, (this needs to be dealt with properly in terms of the concept of the frame). In Örvar-Odd's Saga, however, the cloak is black, yet the seidkhona also carries the distaff (which allegedly has the power of causing forgetfulness in one who is tapped three times on the cheek by it). The colour of the cloak is less significant than the fact that it was intended to signify the otherness of the seidkhona.
During seances the seidhkona would enter a state of trance in which her soul was supposed to "become discorporeal", "take the likeness of an animal", "travel through space", etc. This state of trance may have been achieved through any of several methods: narcotics, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, etc.
Chanting was also involved in the creation of the state of trance, and there are a number of kennings which compare the sound of battle to seid-chanting.
Seid in Mythology
An example of seid in Norse mythology is the trance undergone by the völva, Vala, or seeress in the prophetic vision given to Odin in the Völuspá. The interrelationship between the Völva in this account and the Norns, the fates of Norse lore, are strong and striking.
The goddess Freya is seen as an adept of the mysteries of seid, and it is said that it was she who initiated Odin into its mysteries. In Lokasenna Loki abuses Odin for practising seid, condemning it as a unmanly art. A justification for this may be found in the Ynglinga saga where Snorri opines that following the practice of seid, the practitioner was rendered weak and helpless.
Another noted mythological practitioner of seidhr was the witch, Groa, who attempted to assist Thor, and who is summoned from beyond the grave in the Svipdagsmál
Origins
Shamanism is a tradition which has been maintained all over the world and it is probably of prehistoric origin. It would thus be futile to find any particular origins. It is likely a continuation of the shamanistic practices of the Indo-European religion. Some scholars, however, (e.g. DuBois) draw a Balto-Finnic link to seid, citing the depiction of its practitioners as such in the sagas and elsewhere, and link seid to the practices of the noajdde, the patrilineal shamans of the Sami. Note that the word (Finnish) seita or (Sami) sieidde is a human-shaped body formed by a tree, or a large and strangely shaped stone or rock and does not involve "magic" or "sorcery."
In the Viking Age, seid was considered ergi (shameful) for men, as its manipulative aspects ran counter to the male ideal of forthright, open behaviour.
Contemporary Reconstruction
Diana Paxson and her group, Hrafnar, have put in a lot of work reconstructing seid from available historical material, particularly its oracular form. Jan Fries traces seid as an inspiration for his "seething" shamanic technique, though he is less concerned with precise historical reconstruction.
Sources
See also: spae-craft
Last updated: 08-01-2005 07:36:32
Last updated: 08-27-2005 00:32:06
