Description
Book SynopsisThis accessible study of Northern European shamanistic practice, or seidr, 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 examines the phenomenon of altered consciousness and the interactions of seid-workers or shamanic practitioners with their spirit worlds. Written by a follower of seidr, it investigates new communities involved in a postmodern quest for spiritual meaning.
Trade Review'It is good to see this degree of academic research applied to one of the more neglected aspects of our native spirituality and magick. Highly recommended.' - The Cauldron
'... this is an extremely honest attaempt by Blain to remain true to both her academic training and her faith as a seidr preistess.' - Jan Henning, Wood and Water
'Jenny Blain's Nine Worlds of Seid-Magic: Ecstacy and Neo-Shamanism in North European Paganism is a rich and engaging addition to the growing literature on Neopagan religions and modern-day shamanism.' - Nova Religio
Table of ContentsPreface; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction: Shamanism, Ecstasy and Experiential Ethnography; 2. The Saying of the Norns; 3. The Greenland Seeress: Seidr as Shamanistic Practice; 4. Approaching the Spirits; 5. The Journey in the Mound; 6. Re-evaluating the Witch-Queen; 7. 'Ergi' Seid-men, Queer Transformations?; 8. The Dance of the Ancestors; Notes; Bibliography
