"Now many of those things are shown to me which I was denied before": Seidr, shamanism and journeying, past and present

BLAIN, Jenny (2005). "Now many of those things are shown to me which I was denied before": Seidr, shamanism and journeying, past and present. Studies in religion, 34 (1), 81-98.

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Abstract

One thousand years ago, the Lawspeaker of Iceland went "Under the Cloak" in quest of answers to problems of religious difference. This "out-sitting" has been interpreted as a kind of "seidr," potentially shamanistic practice of Northern Europe. This article discusses practitioner interpretations of evidence for seidr and its relation to "shamanism" in the old literature, revealing seidr as gendered shamanistic practice, involving ecstatic communication with spirits, journeying and shape-shifting, arousing mixed feelings in communities in which practitioners worked. The article explores ways in which people in North America and Britain are reconstructing seidr today as shamanistic practice with its own contradictions and contestations.

Item Type:	Article
Research Institute, Centre or Group - Does NOT include content added after October 2018:	Cultural Communication and Computing Research Institute > Communication and Computing Research Centre
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1177/000842980503400105
Page Range:	81-98
Depositing User:	Helen Garner
Date Deposited:	22 Nov 2010 16:48
Last Modified:	19 Mar 2021 00:45
URI:	https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/2792

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