Nine Worlds of Seid-Magic: Ecstasy and Neo-Shamanism in North European Paganism

This accessible case-study of Northern European shamanistic practice, orseidr, 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. Drawing on ethnography, religious studies, anthropology and sociology, the book examines the phenomenon of altered consciousness and the interactions ofseid-workersor shamanic practitioners with their spirit worlds in historical and political contexts. Written by a follower ofseidr, this study not only investigates, but also addresses those new communities involved in a postmodern quest for spiritual meaning.