Galdr

[Emy]

Hi

So has anyone tried to use galder, or to "sejda" (perhaps Vinga can help me with the translation...). Galdr/Galder are sort of like runes, but with different symbols and they work while you hold them in your hand and chant/galdrar.

Now I know not all galders are easily made, and I am not sure you'd even want to make or use them, but some like the "önskegalder"/wishgalder could be nice don't you think? =)

Anyway what I'd like to know is if there is anyone who knows more about galdr and about how it works, when its used etc...

[Rick]

OK, this is my understanding of Galdr... it is the act of singing/chanting/speaking the names/phonetic sounds of the Runes... it is connected to "kundalini", or Sacred Breath... it's a most essential element of any sort of Rune working... I'm not sure what "sedja" is, unless it's the same as "seidh", or "trancing" to contact the dead, or spirit world, or Hella's realm, etc... Mad Vitiki, where are you???? I'll direct him to this thread, he'll be able to answer this better.

[Vinga]

"Seidh
The practice for which we have the most information is called seidh (nominative case in Old Norse, seidhr), which may come from a word meaning "to speak" or "to sing", or possibly be cognate to the verb "to seethe", derived from the rituals of salt-boiling (Grimm, III:1047). According to Stephen Glosecki,

The etymology of seidhr, however, suggests indigenous development, perhaps retention of Indo-European practice. The mysterious term is cognate with French séance, Latin sedere; Old English sittan, and thus with a large group of terms based on the Indo-European root *sed-. A seidhr, then, was literally a séance -- a "sitting" to commune with the spirits.
-- (Shamanism and Old English Poetry, p. 97)

In the literature, seidh refers to various kinds of magical practice, including an act of divination or prophecy performed while in trance. Other terms for the practitioner of seidh would be seidhkona, spákona, or for a man, seidhmadhr. A more general term for a male spiritual practitioner was vitki (in Anglo-Saxon, wicca or [fem.] wicce). At an earlier period, both men and women appear to have practiced this craft. Male practitioners of seidh included Ragnvald Rettilbeini (the son of King Harald Fairhair, who was burned by Erik Bloodaxe at their father's command along with the men who worked seidh with him), and Eyvindr Kelda, who was drowned by King Olaf. However the majority of those who practice seidh in the sagas are female. The strong feminine tradition makes this form of shamanism especially interesting to women.

Skill in seidh was a speciality of the god Odin. It is said to have been taught to the Aesir by the goddess Freyja (Ynglingasaga: 4) and parts of the practice probably originated with the Vanir cult. On the other hand, Odin was himself originally a shamanic deity, who seems to have acquired this magical technique in addition to his mastery of the runes and other lore. In part VII of the Ynglingasaga, we learn that --

Odin had the skill which gives great power and which he practiced himself. It is called seith, and by means of it he could know the fate of men and predict events that had not yet come to pass; and by it he could also inflict bane on men, or soul loss or waning health, or also take wit or power from some men, and give them to others. But this sorcery is attended by such ergi [a term meaning sexual, or spiritual, receptivity used as an insult] that manly men considered it shameful to practice it, and so it was taught to priestesses. . . .

and,

Odin could change himself. His body then lay as if sleeping or dead, but he became a bird or a wild beast, a fish or a dragon, and journeyed in the twinkling of an eye to far-off lands, on his own errands or those of other men. Also, with mere words he was able to extinguish fires, to calm the seas, and to turn the winds any way he pleased.

A passage from the Lokasenna is of especial interest, since if the verb in the second line is examined carefully, it may provide evidence for Norse use of the shamanic drum. Taunting Odin, Loki says--

But thou in Samsey wast performing seidh
And beating out (spells) like a Völva,
Vitki-like didst pass through the world of men,
In woman's wise, I believe.
-- (Lokasenna: 24)

Other practices identified as seidh include raising storms, journeying or battling in animal form, sending a nightmare to kill someone by suffocation in his sleep, and love spells, all things with which shamans in other cultures are credited (or accused of) as well. Journeying, both in the body and in trance, is a standard practice in Norse literature. Destinations vary, there are references to travel in Midgard (viewing other parts of the real world) and seeking Odin's Seat of Seeing in Asgard. However by far the most common use of the term seidh is in reference to a ritual in which the seeress (völva or seiðkona) sits on a platform or high seat (seidhjallr), goes into trance and prophesies for the community. It is this practice which Hrafnar has to date spent the most time in recovering.

The most comprehensive account of a seidh session (or indeed, of any Norse ritual) which survives is the story in section four of the Saga of Erik the Red, in which a Völva comes to one of the settlements in Greenland to prophesy for the community. The idea that physically elevating the seer will assist in vision also seems to be behind the tripod upon which the Delphic Pythia sat to prophesy, and perhaps the tree trunk which the Machi shamaness of the Araucanian tribe of South America climbs in order to declare her visions as well.

In former times the machi mounted a platform supported by shrubs (the rewe) and there, in prolonged contemplation of the sky, she had her visions... When the machi has returned to her senses, she describes her journey to the sky, and announces that the Sky Father has granted all the wishes of the community.
-- (Eliade: Shamanism, p.325)

The important features of the seidh rite in Erik's Saga are as follows: The Völva was an itinerant priestess, requested to come to the steading to divine for them when the current famine would end. Other texts suggest that formerly such priestesses travelled with a group of younger people, perhaps in training, but at this period the Spákona Thorbjorg alone remained. When she arrived, she was given an opportunity to get to know the place, and then fed a meal of the hearts of all the different kinds of beasts available (possibly a reference to a sacrifice, in which the rest of the meat would have been eaten by the others). In Irish tradition, an offering to the gods was also sometimes a prerequisite to prophecy.

To prophesy, the Greenland Völva sat upon a raised seat with a cushion stuffed with hen feathers. To enable her to go into trance, a special song, the vardhlokur, was sung by a woman, which summoned the spirits. As a result, the seeress prophesied the end of the famine, and also answered many questions for members of the community. She wore a special costume, consisting of a blue cloak ornamented with stones, a necklace of glass beads, a cap of black lambskin lined with white catskin, catskin gloves, and calfskin shoes. A belt supported her skin pouch of magical paraphernalia and a walrus ivory handled knife, and she carried a carven staff with a brass knob, also set with stones. The most significant aspects of this attire are probably the inclusion of different kinds of animal fur, especially the skins of the cat, sacred to Freyja, and the staff, which appears in a 6th century plaque which may depict a priestess, and is among the items forbidden to Christians. In Laxdælasaga, a seidh staff is found in a grave believed to be that of a völva."

- The Return of the Völva:
Recovering the Practice of Seidh
(article published in Mountain Thunder, Summer, '93)
by Diana L. Paxson
(http://www.hrafnar.org/seidh.html , read the rest of the article there)

For some other links on Seidr visit http://www.pacificnet.net/~spectre/seidr.html and http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/2171/seidr/seidr.html

As for galdr, check the back of the book you have with the önskegaldr (Häxmästaren), I believe there is a bibliography there which might be able to point you in the direction of a book or two about galdr. Galdr is a form of spellwork while Seidr is more a divination method...I couldn't find much info online about Galdr, but here's one article that I found quite interesting; http://www.teaser.fr/~lfontaine/nmh/ykart.htm

Hope this helps :)

[Rick]

Whew! :D

I couldn't have said it better myself (really!).

[Emy]

Thank you!

That was helpful... =)


Blessings

[Ellegon]

Vinga, the wise...I bow to thee in respect...that was well met. thanks!

Elle )0(

[Silver Venus]

Thanks Vinga that was brilliant for me to read too because I was asking these same questions a few weeks ago!!! Thanks!!

If your interesting in learning seidr heres site I found...which talks about runes too..
http://www.freyja.org/seidr.htm

[The Mad Vitiki]

vinga
your words are wise and much more ellequint than any i could speek please over look missspelled words

[Vinga]

:o you are way too nice, but I can't take credit for the above, I was simply quoting an article by someone far wiser than myself. I'm sorry I didn't give more obvious credit in my first post. The text was from "The Return of the Völva: Recovering the Practice of Seidh" (article published in Mountain Thunder, Summer, '93) by Diana L. Paxson .

[Flar's Freyja]

Bump