Hello my dear friends, my name is Arith Härger and today I'm going to talk about Spinning and Weaving and its use in Seidr
The previous videos was about Seidr and I kept telling you spinning and Weaving was an important art within the magical practice of Seidr
I didn't explain that particular subject because I wanted to make a video just for it, which is this one
But before that, let me just remind you, that I don't think Seidr should be ladled witchcraft,
because the term itself lacks a deeper understanding of what it actually means
Witchcraft is a wide spread term which means nothing and means everything,
everything that can't be explained and seems magical in nature, goes into the bag of Witchcraft, even if it isn't witchcraft at all
So labelling seidr as witchcraft it's forcing people to accept it as a term and not actually feel the need to understand it
Let me give you an example
We archaeologists do like to label things as ritual/religious/spiritual when we don't have an immediate understanding of what things are
I remember being on a dig site, prehistoric context, and it was found a cylindrical-shaped object
small size, made of bone with a weird shape, almost anthropomorphic,
and immediately was labelled as a ritual object of devotion
It was a prehistoric ear-piercing, a type of jewellery
So when we give to something a wide-spread term which means absolutely nothing in particular,
but at the same time means every possible thing in existence even what we don't know about,
we are not giving the proper value to the thing itself making people settle with an empty explanation,
and so we do not really know the purpose of things nor how to use them
Well... let's start this video
To understand this concept of spinning and weaving in seidr,
first we must turn to the idea that each one of us is born with a life-thread, metaphorically speaking
In Norse tradition, this is called the örlog
Örlog is an old Norse word meaning "primal law",
the things that came before us that are stable, constant and can't be moved or changed,
the events that have been spun and can't be un-spun
But, unlike Wyrd, fate, it can be altered, but it's not easy to change
We can change our attitudes and emotional responses, and we can choose to spin our life's tapestry differently
Think about örlog as a strand, a string, each one of us has one,
it's our own life, but it's not alone, there are others around us, who came before us or are here right now
These threads weave together to create the tapestry of the community
It goes back to our deepest ancestors which, in Norse tradition, are the gods themselves
These connections create the web of wyrd, the web of fate
In many pagan cultures, and obviously in the Norse culture, the spiritual existence is divided in parts
Our own body is part of our spiritual existence
Part of the spirit is inherited, it has been passed down through our ancestors,
other forces around us which influence us directly are part of the spirit and thus are part of us,
our own individuality is another part of the spirit, etc.
Within our own life-thread we have many threads, many strings which will also connect us to other strings, from people, animals, the world itself
So all these threads have had influence from past and present events, memories and emotions, and one day will influence future lives
But the concept of Wyrd, fate, which is created by the örlog, by different strings, isn't something completely fixed, unaltered
I think it's important to say this because when speaking about the Norns, the Norse goddesses of fate,
there is this shallow idea that they weave the fate and everything is fixed,
and that shallow understanding completely denies the complexity of the concept of fate in Old Norse societies
The Norns weave the first layer, the things that no matter what, you cannot change
because whether you like it or not, there was history even before you were born
You, yourself, are made of the stuff of the ancestors, you are a direct part of the spiritual existence of your parents
so you are attached to loads of things that can't be changed, the primal law I've spoken of, the first layer, the primal layer
But when you exist, your own individuality will create and spin, and weave new events, new emotions, a new history, you are your own Norn
With this explanation, and no worries, I will probably make a video about the concept of fate in Old Norse societies
But for now I gave you this simple understanding about fate so you can start to understand the importance of spinning and weaving in seidr
Because it's about directly using seidr as a form of altering events, by re-weave the strings, touching the tapestry of fate
In a more scientific understanding it's like touching your own DNA
Seidr, as I've said, can't be labelled as witchcraft, nor can it be understood as just being in trance through shamanic techniques
Seidr is a mixture of magical arts of chanting and invoking, traditional science and shamanism
Seidr in itself was about spinning the mind and send it forth to attract or do things
As you might have noticed, being an archaeologists, I do prefer to explain things using scientific sources, but seidr goes beyond that
so I'll try to explain as much as I can with something more emotional
something more humane so you can understand by comparing it with your own emotions
Seidr is about attracting things
Desired objects, persons and resources
In many literary sources, especially Icelandic ones, it is as if the victims are pulled by an invisible rope-
This rope is the will of the practitioner of Seidr, sending forth its mind
Which doesn't necessarily have to be an ecstatic activity
The practitioner of Seidr can send its mind in the shape of an animal or any other shape,
which leads us to the sources which include either shapeshifting in seidr activities or the use of Fylgjur,
helping spiritual entities most often in the form of animals
The word Gandr might also give us a better understanding of this spinning in Seidr
Gandr is also the designation of giving shape to the mind that the seidr performer could send forth
Gandr, Gand, Gondull and göndull, are words connected to cords, strings, spinning, twisting
Gandr is always closely connected to the art of Seidr, because the performer of seidr could send forth a mind emissary through spinning
through bending the will and focusing it into the desire of creating a shape of its own consciousness and send it forth
As I've said, the Norse concept of the soul divides it into many parts, and this was sending part of the soul, part of the spirit
After all, the Fylgjur themselves, the spiritual entities, are also part of our spiritual existence
In Norway a magical projectile is often called Gand, and it comes in a whirlwind, the spinning of wind
The whirlwind spins resemble a rope or thread, and it was used to attract something, a desired object
and if a knife was thrown into the whirlwind, the sorcerer who created it was killed or injured
It's no coincidence Tolkien's character Gandalf is a Wizard and his name is the Norse word for Elven Staff or Wand
This wand or staff was used by the volva, a practitioner of seidr
The Volva used a ritual distaff in hand to enter in an altered state of consciousness to travel in spirit through the nine worlds
The distaff is a tool used in weaving
And probably this spinning activity helped entering in a trance-like state, like dancing wildly in circles, the constant tiring rhythm
But this is when I also have to make a boundary here, because when we speak about shamanism, the consciousness is of relatively less importance,
because if you are conscious, you cannot have out of the body experiences,
you have to be unconscious, trick your brain that you are unconscious so it can let you out
This is why I don't like to label seidr as just trance work
Because as I've been telling you, this activity, to send forth the mind, send forth part of the spiritual self-
you have to be conscious, otherwise you cannot send your own mind
In Seidr, different techniques were required for different purposes
If your purpose is to have a spiritual journey, travel in spirit, then you require a trance state, and you are not conscious
your brain thinks you are unconscious and it lets you out
You are still attached to your body and your brain works, but he has the impression that you are unconscious so it will let you wander about
But in seidr when sending a mind emissary, to attract things, you have to be conscious because you are sending your mind,
a part of your spiritual-self and not the entire spiritual-self
A bit complex I know, but you have to understand that Seidr isn't just about being in trance
In truth, most of the time, it requires great concentration and be very much conscious of what you are doing
Let me give you an example of this mind emissary, because it comes in the sources, both historical, mythological and folklore
I've talked about this before
A small magic creature that sucked milk from other people's cows and brought it home to its owner
In Norway was known as Smørkatt and in Sweden as bjära
I talked about this before, if I'm not mistaken, in the video about Cats and witches in a Norse perspective
because this magic creature came in the form of a cat, most of the time
Well, in Iceland it was known as tilberi or snakkur
This creature looked like a ball of yarn, and in Finland it was partly made of spindle or spindles with yarn on them
These shapes are all variations of linking yarn to something, the use of tools and resources for the work of weaving
If this creature was injured or killed, so was the person who created it,
much like the concept of magical projectile in the form of a whirlwind I told you before
Thus this is an example of the mind emissary the practitioner of seidr conceived by spinning a thread
Obviously it seems very strange this entire concept of sending the mind in the form of a ball of yarn or a thread
This explanation may very well be just metaphorically
What is implicit in here, the thread or the ball of yarn, is that the practitioner of seidr could send forth its mind by spinning its own will
by focusing its will, concentrating it into some kind of force, a spinning force like the wind, and send it forth, send that force
The Megin, which is spiritual force, spiritual essence residing in us but also in objects we create and come in contact with,
is also part of the spiritual-self
Maybe that's it
Spinning this force and giving it shape and send it. Metaphorically making a comparison with the work of spinning and weaving
Magic wind could be conceived as a sorcerer's mind sent forth, like the whirlwind case
For instance, in Old Norse magical and spiritual concepts, one's breath is one's mind, spirit or soul – ǫnd/önd
Old Norse ǫnd which is spirit, and "anda" which is "to breathe"
There is a close relationship with these words
A good example of this is a Saami legend about a sorceress whose husband is a merchant and he's far down in Norway
The sorceress goes into the top of a mountain with her distaff in hand, the tool which the spinner attaches the spinning material
and she sings, she lets out her breath in ritualistic chanting and sends forth the winds to her husband so he can arrived home faster
Apparently the sorceress spins the wind and pulls her husband back to her
The entire concept of spinning and weaving, pulling the strings, is implicit in this legend
In many accounts across Norway, Sweden, Findland, Iceland and Lapland, magical winds are created by something spinning
Another example I would like to share with you
In Sweden there is an account of a woman who has cords with which she can draw away the fish in the sea and take milk from cattle
The cords have knots and in each cord there are evil spirits, and if the woman unites the knots, she can send the spirits to wherever she wants
She sends them to gather butter and calves from other farms
This is a 16th century tale but the concept of using a cord, working with spirits, sending them to do something, is still implicit in this tale
even taking milk and cattle from others, just like the magic creatures made from threads and balls of yarn
Of course with the passage of time the tales change, get all mixed and the ideas disperse and the meaning is lost along the way
Quoting Tolkien: "History became legend and legend became myth"
The truth was once much clearer,
but seen by the eyes of outside people who do not practice such traditions, inventions are created, mystical explanations
labelling things as witchcraft and the entire meaning is lost
All these tales seem very silly, but behind them lies the truth
The myth is the distorted truth which changed through the ages like the game of the broken phone
You say a phrase and it arrives at the end completely distorted
Seidr was about spinning and weaving
Spinning the mind, bending the will, focusing on one purpose, be aware of the parts of the spirit
using chanting techniques, invocations, altering events by forcing our own will upon life itself and the life of others
This type of magical work, much like any other type of profound wisdom, wasn't easily acquired
and those who had it, didn't give it away so willingly, freely, easily
To achieve such a state of wisdom it cannot be easy
People have to earn it, work for it, otherwise they won't get it
If it's given to you, you won't know how to use it, unless you have learned by working with it, by learning the hard way
This is why wisdom most of the time comes in metaphors, myths, comes in codes
That's what mythology is, cultural codes with hidden knowledge
If you read it as fantasy, you will never understand it as something more than just that- just tales
But if you see what's behind these codes, the truths in disguise, then you will acquire the wisdom our ancestors hid from you
which is in plain sight in the tales, but not that easy to get unless you work your mind to achieve it
As I've told you before, Seidr was women's magic
I've talked about the volva and her use of a ritualistic tool, a distaff, the tool used on spinning work
So naturally, symbolic or cultic distaffs are found in women's graves, mostly of the Viking Age
So in those cases we may be before practitioners of seids
However, people were also buried with their tools, representing their functions in life, their social statues,
and to take such objects with them to continue their work in the afterlife
But there are some cases of distaffs made of metal and these may be the ones that indicate an actual practitioner of seidr,
these may be the real Seidr staffs
For instance, in Eriks Saga the staff of the sorceress was made of metal
This could be an account to differentiate distaffs for the actual weaving work, from the ones for magical uses
Such staffs are found almost exclusively in women's graves and they are very elaborate,
too beautiful to be used in the constant household industry
In the early Middle Ages, not much in Scandinavia but on the continental area
working with wool or any other kind of textile work, but especially weaving, was believed to be a way of exercising supernatural powers
Maybe because of the mind concentration required, which at a certain point the movements become almost mechanical and the mind drifts somewhere else
Just another reminder to reinforce this link between textile work and the art of seidr
Now, I would like to finish this video with something I don't feel very comfortable with, and a lot of people tend to leave this one behind
The use of sexual activities in magical practices
I'm well aware nowadays there are men practising seidr, and even in the Old Norse societies there were men doing it,
and I'm not saying everyone had sexual activities within seidr,
but there is a great chance that in most cases, for women, sexual practices were used in the art of seidr
I'm not speaking about sexual intercourse
I'm speaking about the sexualisation of rituals, something more sexual in nature and behaviour
Let me explain
Seidr, as you all know, was seen as something unmanly, effeminate, and men who did it had a bad reputation within the Norse society and were labelled as Ergi
t was an insult, calling them unmanly
Obviously, the work of spinning and weaving was associated with women,
along with other activities men weren't supposed to do, so by doing it they were labelled effeminate
But I think there was another reason why men weren't supposed to do it and it was shameful
Because the main reason why men couldn't do it was because it was shameful, indecent
I mean, was it really that bad a men doing a woman's work? That indecent?
Or was something else we don't know precisely because it was so shameful for men that it was wiped out from the sources intentionally?
Because let's face it, the sources were written by men
As I've said, the practitioner of seidr could send a mind emissary and could be called gandr
The Old Norse word gǫndull, which derives from Gandr, could mean Penis
In Icelandic pornography gandur is a common word for penis
In Modern Icelandi göndull not only means coarse yarn but also penis
So it is quite possible that the thread, string, rope, element in seidr, this mind emissary, has a sexual symbolism
The term used for this mind emissary can either be a rope, thread or a penis
I mean, Gandr is not the name of the male part, it's a name given to it
Lick nowadays, we say cock for penis
It's an animal but also the word for penis
Or one-eyed Snake, nothing in that word is the proper name for penis but it's a name given to the male part because of the shape
In here, Gandr, might be just that, the shape of the rope resembles a penis,
better still, the shape of the distaff used in seidr rituals resembles a penis
It was okay for women to use seidr and not for men, because men weren't supposed to be touching male body parts
Homosexuality in Old Norse societies was allowed, it wasn't a crime or a sin, but it had restrictions
I'll talk about that on another video,
but maybe with the introduction of Christianity things changed and the art of Seidr was probably highly condemned
not only because it was labelled witchcraft but in the bible it's quite specific that no men shall lay down with other men, let alone touch a penis
It's quite possible that in seidr included doing sexual or symbolic sexual acts with the distaff
A common way of holding the distaff is suggestive, between the legs
Compare that with the sexual connotations of witches holding their brooms, between their legs when riding them
There may have been sexual symbolism implicit in seidr, something quite normal for women to do in Norse society, but not for men
This might have been the actual reason why men were seen unmanly, dishonourable, a great shame if they practised seidr
They weren't supposed to be ridding anything but horses
Laugh all you want but it's very plausible
Alright my dear friends
I know this was a complex subject, I've given you so much information and concepts, your mind is probably spinning right now
and you are almost in a trance like state
Well, rest for a while until my next video
I hope you have enjoyed this one and, as always, tack för idag!
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