Transcriber's Note (TN): I see that the word can be written both seiðr or seidr, but I'm just coping and pasting the "right" way.
[Video opens with Stephanie seemingly trying to turn the recording on/work the camera for the first second. Notably does not make eye contact with camera beyond first sentence. I don't know if she is reading a script she has off to the side.] Hello again and this is the Trans Masc Druid. In the first video that I posted, um, I had said that I wanted to take the channel in a bit of a new direction, and part of that is introducing some of the... new paths I have taken in my craft. Um, one of the things that I have been exploring recently is what is known as seiðr. Now there are not a lot of sources out there that exactly define what this is, but I have found an excellent book that gave me um, a very good introduction to it.
It is [spoken while holding up a book titled
Elves, Witches & Gods. It has numerous sticky tabs poking out the top of the book] this one [unintelligble as she adjusts her hold the book so we can see it] there, by Cat Heath. First of all, the person's name is awesome, two of my favorite things. [small chuckle] uh but, it's been... a really eye-opening uh, book on a lot of the um, the old magics of heathenry. But as to the definition of what seiðr is, [opens book to a marked page, lowers it out of sight] it says that there's conflicting sources and from the old- the Vikings, and- but, um, and a non lot was preserved just- just as with druidry.
But here [raises open book into view], um, it says that [reads from the book, which I located and copied verbatim for clarity] "The seiðr of the sources is a multifaceted art, that included not only the elements of prophecy and seership that we see today, but also the manipulation of luck, weather, and the minds of others. Practitioners were also reputed to be able to find hidden things (both in physical locations and in the minds of others), call fish and game, and heal the sick. They could summon spirits for questioning and perform acts of shapeshifting. But as with all forms of magic, the same mechanisms that enabled the good could also be used to work ill. Seiðr was both beneficial and malefic, and practitioners were viewed with no small degree of ambivalence by those around them. The seiðkona seems to have- [deviates from text] and then- that is a woman who practices. [resumes reading] The seiðkona seems to have most commonly worked alone, but there were also those who worked in groups (most commonly with family members)."
And the author says that so far they've only been discussing female practitioners, however there were also male practitioners. "In fact, the earliest mention of seiðr appears in a poem allegedly written by a seiðmaðr [deviates from text] a seiðr man, [resumes reading] by the name of Vitgeir. Men who practice seiðr seem to have faced far more censure than their female counterparts than there are multiple accounts of them being burned alive in groups. Ynglinga Saga tells us that the seiðr is generally thought- taught to priestesses because it involved "great ergi" (shame, abomination) for the men who participated. Unfortunately, the matter of ergi and why it was considered so shameful is still not particularly clear, despite many years of theorizing by scholars and practitioners alike. Some point to the fact that Óðinn, a god particularly associated with seiðr, wore women's clothes while using seiðr. Others connect ergi to attitudes about homosexuality and social taboos against men taking the passive role in sex. Regardless of who was doing seiðr, there was always the implication of sexual deviance and promiscuity." [closes book and puts it down next to her.]
So that is where, [moves hair back] um, that is the definition of the craft, but also um, a bit of an explanation of why it was considered uh, very taboo for anyone of any gender but especially men to practice this craft. And as fate would have it, I find the craft just as I truly begin identifying as a non-binary man. BUT [moves hair back again] I feel like it plays into a lot of um, [scratches other side of head and fixes hair] not only my gender exploration but my um, exploration of um... my sexuality and my gender relating to it. Um... [pauses with eyes closed, as if she's trying to figure out where she's going with this shit] On that note, um... [does the weird tongue lip licking thing, but very briefly and less disgustingly than in the over video. Also blinks a couple times as if she's trying to remember, again] being that it was historically, how I mentioned the ergi, the shame, the societal stigma of the seiðmaðr or being at the margins of society, um, well look at where we are today, with, in regards to the LGBTQ community, anyone deemed um, not sufficiently straight or cis enough is being attacked with a whole new furor, being pushed to the margins of society. So um, with that in mind, I- I feel like it's fated that I find this- this craft, um, right about this time um, this point in time, and in this point in my life. Um, I am living alone, I can explore myself, my gender, my- my sexuality, um without worrying of what um, my family can figure out about it and um, and I started my uh, [scratches head] gender transition uh, about three months back, and towards the end of January. So um, my life personally, and the-[gestures with hand] the world politically seem ripe for someone that is deciding to delve into the seiðr.
It mentioned that they're not exactly sure... Scholars are debating over exactly what constituted, um, practicing the seiðr. Um, if you were um, someone who stuck to the art of prophecy you were referred to as a völva [pronounced like "vulva"]. And you know how that sounds, it doesn't actually refer to, um, genitalia but it refers to, um, it means someone who, um, a woman who carries a staff. And I myself- despite not being a woman- have created various staffs. So again there's another point of where I- I feel um, it's the right time, um, for walking into this path. The god that is traditionally associated I- I said that- that Óðinn learned the seiðr. Who did he learn it from? He learned it from Freyja, who is a fertility goddess. And by practicing seiðr she was um, engaging in a bit of social taboo um, you see even the- even the gods invite a note of um, not being fully accepted in society by practicing uh the seiðr.
And so um, Freyja and her- her different aspects of um... being a wild witch of the woods and teaching um, this art invites her own um... [camera bounces a little bit, she speaks next part while shaking head slightly] kind of slutshaming um, by practicing the seiðr. And um.. and then we get to the art of prophecy and divination itself. I am taking upon myself to learn the runes and um, have been working on- have been working in bind runes.
Bind runes is when you combine two different runes to suit a magical purpose. In another video, I will go more in depth with how I am working with the runes and coming up with the bind runes, um... But the runes itself um, are magical, used in a divinatory sense and also um... They can be used in other spell workings um, let me just show you really quickly [stands up and places laptop aside, we can see her stand to grab something offscreen. As she does, a white door and the pole of a floor lamp, with a decorative vine wrapped around it are visible. She grabs the rune thing and picks the laptop is and returns it to the original position]
One of the workings in the book [softly and briefly clears throat] that I did was to... select a piece of wood that could serve as a spindle. And even though it's not [clears throat again] even though it's not um, actually spinning yarn on it, the symbology of um, spindles and weaving are very important to the seiðr because um, as mentioned you can um, part of the practice can involve manipulation of luck, energy, and um, Norse mythology, um kind of like, um, Greek, involves the three um... three old women in Norse mythology, they're referred to as the norns [I don't care to look up what this should be] and one of them is named Wyrd, which- it's spelled differently, w-y-r-d, and they are involved with spinning everyone's fate, including the gods. So with that in mind, I created [grabs and shows us the thing] the spindle. The runes I selected on it are um, [points to each] the Mannaz, uh [it sounds like she said "tier"] forgive me, I forget the name of the third one, but um... [stops pointing at runes and moves hand back to the white part of the stick, speaks notably more animated] Stuart, has- don't ask me why the name- why that name- where it came from, it just popped into my head when I was looking at it one day, so um, that seems to suggest that he truly did come to life, and he- he helped me name him. I did this ritual um, to bring him to life, to give um, to- for- [untelligible] breath of life into him, to give him um, orlug [I don't know what this is supposed to say] which is um, his own story so now his- his story begins as a- as a part of my craft, and um with the runes that I gave him, uh, he's going to... My idea was to um, to include victor- protection... Victory, protection, and uh Mannaz for the people. So I intend, if it should ever happen that um... Some big protest, um, against fascism breaks out around here, I would find some way to wear him or carry him into that battle, and he would give myself and my allies protection and victory. [TN: I would be appreciating the hilarity of this statement, but I am so done with editing this shit I'm just annoyed and my sanity is draining.] So that was my rationale for uh, giving him life and creating this ritual spindle. [Sets Stuart the ritual spindle aside]
So um, haven't done much so far with seiðr but my intention with these vlogs was to um… be a resource, because there's not a lot- I [moved hand to shoulder] can attest to the fact that there's not a lot of information out there about this and um, so a bit of- be my own resource, for anyone looking to learn about this um… and to share even the tiniest bit of what I'm working on. So in another video in the future, I'll talk about where I am with the runes and um, bind runes and um, another practice of um, Norse magic that is known as the Galdr which is magical singing, the singing and chanting of the runes, because I've [autistic emphasized expression] barely scratched the surface of this. Uh, but, I still wanted to show what I'm working on and um, show all of you- I don't know who is going to watch or care about any of this I- am going to be posting the videos around, but to show um, anyone who might stumble across these, what I am working on and um, a bit of my- my spiritual path and how it's evolving. So, uh, going forward, I'm going to delve into the runes, into the Galdr, and when pride month comes along um, June, I'll go a little bit more in depth of what um, how I explained the
ergi the um, inviting the stigma of being a seiðmaðr and a little bit of my transitional journey and how I find myself as a non-binary man who is loving other men. So. But that is a bit of a glimpse into what I've been working on, with more updates to come with the Trans Masc Druid.
) to make any coherent thoughts but yarrow has been so heavy on my mind that i had a dream about her.
maybe i should go touch grass
