How to Give Offerings:
Physical Offerings:
1. Present on altar first (if indoors)
2. Speak your intention — "I give this to [name] in thanks/in request for..."
3. Leave for a time — overnight or 24 hours
4. Dispose properly:
- Liquids: Pour on earth, into living plant, or at base of tree
- Food: Leave for animals, bury, or compost (never trash)
- Objects: Keep on altar, bury in special place, or give to flowing water
Non-Physical Offerings:
- Deeds done in their name
- Poetry composed
- Art created
- Acts of kindness
- Standing for values they represent
- Passing knowledge forward
- Living honorably
The Exchange Principle:
When Asking for Aid:
1. Give first (establishes relationship)
2. State your need clearly
3. Offer exchange: "If you aid me, I will..."
4. Follow through (ALWAYS — breaking oath is grave)
When Giving Thanks:
- After successful magic
- At festivals and holy days
- When receiving unexpected blessings
- Regularly, even without specific reason
What NOT to Offer:
- Anything illegal
-
Anything that would harm another being without cause
- Offerings you cannot afford (the gods don't want you to starve)
- Empty promises (better to offer nothing than to lie)
- Anything you're not willing to give freely
- Rotten or spoiled food (disrespectful)
The Oath-Bond (Eiðr):
When you speak an oath to the gods, ancestors, or spirits, you bind yourself by wyrd itself. This is not metaphor — the Northern worldview understood oaths as tangible threads in the web of fate.
Oath Structure:
1. Witness — name who hears your oath (god, ancestor, spirits)
2. State clearly — "I swear by [witness] that I will..."
3. Consequence — "If I fail, may [consequence]..." (optional but powerful)
4. Seal — pour offering, touch hammer/holy object, mark with blood-substitute
Breaking Oaths:
The most serious transgression in Northern culture. An oath-breaker (eiðsvikr) loses honor, luck (hamingja), and the trust of the unseen world.
If you must break an oath:
1. Acknowledge the breaking to the witness
2. Explain why (only do this for grave reason)
3. Offer substantial compensation (greater than original)
4. Accept consequences with dignity
5. Rebuild trust slowly through consistent action
Better practice: Do not oath lightly. Only swear what you can fulfill.
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XIV. Vǫlva og Útiseta — Seeress Work and Sitting Out
The Practice of Deep Seeing
The völva (seeress) held honored position in Northern society — she who could see the threads of wyrd, speak with the dead, and journey between worlds. Her practices form the core of Northern trance magic.
Útiseta (Sitting Out):
An ancient practice of sitting outdoors, often at liminal places, to receive visions and commune with spirits.
Traditional Method:
Location:
- Crossroads (where worlds meet)
- Gravemounds (to speak with ancestors)
- Boundaries (edge of property, shore, tree line)
- Sacred natural sites (springs, groves, unusual rock formations)
- High places (to see far)
Timing:
- Night (especially midnight or between midnight and dawn)
- Dawn or dusk (threshold times)
- Full moon or dark moon
- Holy days (Samhain/Winter Nights especially)
Preparation:
1. Ritual bath — cleanse physically and spiritually
2. Dress warmly — you'll be still for long periods
3. Bring offerings — mead, bread, silver
4. Protective items — iron, salt, protective runes
5. Staff or wand — völva's staff if you have one
6. Covering — cloak or blanket
Practice:
1. Arrive at location — ideally at sunset if sitting through night
2. Create boundary — trace protective circle or hammer-sign
3. Pour offering — to land spirits, asking permission
4. Sit facing north (or toward what you seek to know)
5. Cover head (traditional — helps induce trance)
6. Chant or be silent — galdr, rune-songs, or receptive silence
7. Open to visions — remain still, observe what comes
8. Record upon return — visions fade quickly
What May Come:
- Visions (images, symbols, scenes)
- Voices (spirits, gods, ancestors speaking)
- Knowledge (sudden understanding)
- Prophetic dreams (if you fall asleep)
- Animal messengers (pay attention to what appears)
- Nothing (sometimes the message is patience)
Safety Concerns:
- Physical: Weather, wildlife, human danger
- Tell someone where you'll be
- Bring warm clothes, water
- Know the area beforehand
- Spiritual: Unwanted entities, tricksters
- Set protections firmly
- Know your banishing techniques
- Trust your intuition — if it feels wrong, leave
- Ground thoroughly after
Modern Adaptation:
- Backyard or balcony (privacy matters more than wilderness)
- Shorter durations (even 20 minutes can be powerful)
- Daytime practice for beginners
- Indoor "sitting out" in dark room facing north
- Regular practice more important than perfect location
Seiðr Trance Work:
Deeper than útiseta, full trance seiðr involves shapeshifting, soul-flight, and deep communion with the unseen.
Warning: Advanced practice. Not for beginners. Requires training and understanding of trance states.
Basic Framework (Educational Only):
Setting:
- Sacred space well-protected
- Trusted companions or complete solitude
- High-seat (traditional) or comfortable seat
- Low lighting, candles
- Incense (mugwort, wormwood — caution: some are toxic)
Induction:
- Drumming (steady rhythm)
- Chanting (varðlokkur — ward-songs)
- Rocking or swaying
- Focused breathing
- Visualization of descent or journey
Journey:
- Soul-flight to other realms
- Shapeshifting into animal forms (hamramr)
- Speaking with spirits, gods, dead
- Seeing past/future threads (spá — prophecy)
- Retrieving lost soul-parts (healing work)
Return:
- Gradual, never sudden
- Grounding (food, touch earth)
- Recording journey immediately
- Rest and integration
Modern Safety:
- Never practice impaired (alcohol/drugs)
- Always have grounding plan
- Start with guided meditations
- Learn from experienced practitioners
- Respect that this can be psychologically intense
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XV. Fordæða og Vörður — Curses and Their Counters
The Shadow Side
To speak only of healing and light would dishonor the fullness of Northern tradition. The sagas tell of curses (fordæða), of níð (insult curses), of magic used to harm. We do not recommend such work lightly, but knowledge of it serves protection.
Understanding Harmful Magic:
Types:
Níð (Insult Curse):
- Public shaming through magic
- Níðstöng — curse-pole carved with runes and insults
- Accused person of ergi (unmanliness) or other shames
- So serious it justified killing the curse-maker in law
Sending (Sendinagar):
- Creating a spirit to harm another
- Often in animal form (gandreid — riding the fetch)
- Sent to cause illness, madness, or death
- Extremely dark work, heavy wyrd consequences
Binding (Bindingar):
- Restricting another's actions
- Can be defensive (binding from harm) or offensive (binding will)
- Knotwork, cord magic, freeze spells
Hexing (Illgærð):
- General harm-working
- Using personal concerns to cause misfortune
- Doll-magic, image-magic