The Seidhr - Shaman Mirror
Dennis Myers
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September 1, 2013
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The Seidhr - Shaman Mirror An opinion exists proclaiming that ancient religious practices known as seidhr and shamanism are inherently different. These alleged differences lie within a minimizing interpretation of numinous flight, lack of interaction with the dead, and concentration in the use of divinatory practices that relegates seidhr to common magical practice, (Eliade, 2004. p. 386-7). Careful study of the practices indicates that additional criteria be employed to make an accurate evaluation. Seidhr and shamanism display a primal system of shared beliefs, determined by cultural necessity, evidencing no discernible distinction. To begin to understand seidhr and shamanism it is necessary to uncover and appreciate the equivalency of mythic initiation rituals. In the Poetic Edda Oðinn, the prototypical male practitioner of seidhr performs self-sacrifice to gain wisdom. A Vanic goddess known as Freyja taught Oðinn the art of seidhr, (Davidson, 1988). He is hung on the world-tree, Yggdrasil, (Oðinn’s Steed), and receives a spear wound resulting in death, and the retrieval of mysteries, or runes (knowledge), (Hollander, 1990. p. 36, ST 138-41). Here, Oðinn sheds a prior understanding and undergoes passage into a new existence where the spirit and mundane worlds become one. In Siberian shamanic oral tradition, there appears to be no defined ritual, but as Eliade (2004), asserts: “-admission to some “secret society” always presuppose a series of rites that can be summarized in the convenient formula: death and resurrection of the candidate” (p. 64). A congruent myth of the Siberian Yakut depicts an eagle taking the shaman’s soul, placing it into the branches of a tree, and devouring it, (Davidson, 1988. p. 145). Whether the cause is a dream, extreme pain, or other traumatic experience, there is a transformation leaving the seidhrmann and shaman somehow spiritually different. This transcendence gives a shaman the ability to journey to other planes of existence. Transport is accomplished in several ways, but the most common method is on horseback. Oðinn rides a horse, Sleipnir, who has eight legs. In funeral ceremonies, pallbearers (until recently there were only four pallbearers) carry the dead symbolically to the grave on an eight-legged horse. Another method of travel central to shamanic practice is the use of the world or cosmic tree. The shaman will climb to the heavens or descend into the underworld as the need requires, (Davidson, 1988. p. 19, 118). Shape-shifting into a bird, horse, or other animal provides another parallel means of traversing the realms of existence. One account has Oðinn turning himself into a snake, and an eagle to steal the “Mead of Inspiration” from a giantess. A final look at the main points of contention leads to conversations with the dead. Locating a dead ancestor or tribal member is another common shamanic activity. One popular Scandinavian myth, the Voluspa, depicts Oðinn, a previously noted practitioner of seidhr, visiting a long dead Seeress. He forces her to provide him with information concerning the beginning of the cosmos, the death of his son, the end of the world, and its subsequent rebirth, (Hollander, 1990. p. 1-13). Eliade (2004) declares that: “Divination and clairvoyance are part of the shaman’s mystical techniques,” (p. 184). The inference made from this is the descent into the world of the dead to gain knowledge or information belongs within the shamanic sphere of activities. Often, the shaman must retrieve lost souls from the underworld, or escort the recently dead safely to the underworld. To permit these astonishing spiritual feats require the shaman and seidhrmann to attain a state of ecstasy, an altered state of awareness resembling a trance or frenzy. There exist two corresponding methods practiced to achieve this trance-like state. First, the vibratory sound or rhythm of; drums, dance, poetry, and song, when repetitive will cause the listener to attain an ecstatic state. As an example, modern humans can achieve something analogous to this exhilarated mood just by listening to a well-liked song, or listening to a meaningful poem. A second, and universal, method concerns the use of mind-altering hallucinogenic substances like alcohol, hemp, or peyote. Oðinn’s shape-changing theft of the Poetic Mead was a shamanic action to acquire a tool of inspiration, (Davison, 1988. p. 40). Once the initiate becomes skilled at the methods of practice, he or she becomes a shaman and assumes the responsibilities of the position. The shaman exists to care for the community. These duties possess many forms such as healing, or representing the community’s spiritual needs to its deities. Healing through ecstasy is a special task of the shaman, (Eliade, 2004. p. 182). Ancient people did not have the medicinal and surgical knowledge that humanity enjoys in the modern world. From their perspective, disease came from an angry soul or a sorcerer, not an invisible little bug living in the water supply. The only way for them to combat the disease was to employ the shaman to take flight, track down the “evildoer,” and affect a ritualistic cure. According to Eliade (2004), the shamans were: “-sent by god to defend humanity against disease-” (p. 391). The practitioners of seidhr, as healers, also employed runic galdor to cure disease, (Hollander, 1990. p. 37. ST 146). When matters that involved the community’s wellbeing arose, the shaman contacted spirits or deities to pose the issue, and retrieve an answer. It would have been unthinkable to go to war without consulting the runes, (Tacitus, p. 109 Ch.10). In times of drought, the community would prevail upon the shaman to enlist the gods help, (Davidson, 1988. p. 118-9). The final issue centers on how similarities permeating the religious beliefs of such wide spread cultures occurred. To address this, a quick study of Indo-Aryan and Asian influences becomes necessary. During what has become known as the “Migration Period,” diverse cultures encountered each other. Meeting new people often results in the bilateral exchange of information. Skills such as fashioning bows and arrows or making bronze get shared. Along with these practical abilities, people would share their world and cosmological views. Pursuant to Eliade (2004): From earliest prehistory, southern cultures, and later, the ancient Near East, influenced all the cultures of Central Asia and Siberia. The Stone Age in the circumpolar regions is dependent on the prehistory of Europe and the Near East. The prehistoric and protohistoric civilizations of North Russia and North Asia are strongly influenced by the paleo-Oriental civilizations. (p. 500)
However, another school of thought developed by C.G. Jung (2004), postulates that there exists in all humans, archetypical, unconscious, and universal thoughts. These ideas, not unlike dreams, naturally occur deep within the psyche. Jung (1990), suggests that similarities encountered throughout mythology come from an innate, primal memory all humans are born with (p. 151-5). Accordingly, shamanism and seidhr sprung from mans unconscious, developing independently. With the progress of time and the ability to travel farther and farther from tribal homelands, humans encountered new ideas, and integrated them into their world-view. Many scholars recognize the authority of Eliade as unsurpassed; however, there exists a misleading quality in his conclusion that seidhr constitutes anything other than shamanism. Additionally, study shows that the terms seidhr and shamanism are interchangeable by reason of collateral functions if not language. Placing emphasis on frequency, or degree, of practices rather than social requirements diminishes the substance of seidhr and shamanism and the religious-spiritual importance to their respective communities. Definition of shaman does not reside with an observer; rather, it arises from the observed community’s needs. Additionally, the seidhr and shamanic practices stem from blended sources that include intuition, shared prehistoric world views, and mythologies differing only in names and sometimes functions of deities as a result of cultural evolution. There is evidence of initiatory ritual synchronicity within the practices of seidhr and shamanism, fulfilling Eliade’s test of death and resurrection, (Eliade, 2004). Once hierarchical distinctions and dogma become eliminated, and serious – neutral – review undertaken, an understanding that what humanity believes, from earliest times, is common to all, and therefore, equally valid. If one explores deep enough into religion’s universal symbolism, it becomes evident that not only are practices of seidhr and shamanism the same, it discloses that religions share many basic components of belief.

References
Davidson, H.R.E., (1988). Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. Syracuse University Press.
Eliade, M. (2004). Shamanism, Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Bollingen Series LXXXVI, Princeton University Press.
Hollander, L.M. (1990). The Poetic Edda. University of Texas Press, Austin.
Jung, C.G. (1990). The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Princeton, Bollinger.