The way from agnostic to Völva

I thought I’d take a moment to describe the evolution of my path, as there are many new ones out there who might wonder what happens later. The truth is that we continue to evolve. I was born into a family with only one religious person, this was my grandmother on my father’s side, and I never told her about being a witch. The others I don’t care if they know. But out of respect t her, I chose not to maybe upset her by telling her. I was baptized at home by a protestant priest, because of tradition, I also went through a Christian confirmation because of tradition, and because there was no real alternative.

The real story began back in the early 90′s with me researching herbal medicine. I was first and foremost interested in painkillers, as I couldn’t afford conventional medicine. One day I stumbled upon an old black book. I don’t mean a book from the 60′s, I mean one from the 1400′s. This book intrigued me to the level that I started looking for more. Fortunately I lived in Sweden at the time, where they’ve preserved a lot of such books, and th library in the city where I lived had about 20 of them. Needless to say, I read each and every one from start to finish. This is how I found out that I was a witch. Harry Potter was years into the future, and I’d never heard of others like me.So I wasn’t approaching the subject because of popularity.

After working and researching on my own for 9 years, I stumbled across a pagan forum on the Internet. That was a real revelation for me. There were others like me! I soon found out the Wicca wasn’t for me, and I settled on being an eclectic witch without working with deities. I called myself Pagan, Witch, and maybe going so far as Hedge Witch. I was in fact dead set against working with a pantheon. This has since changed.

In 2003 I dedicated myself to the Fornsiðr, or Asatru. It all depends n what you feel like calling it. I did this after a long period of soul searching. The ways of the Norse have intrigued me since I was a child, so it felt natural that I choose the old ways of my people. Not only because of my early interest in the Norse people. but also because this is where I was born and grew up, and this is where my family has always lived. This year I joined the The Asatru fellowship Bifrost. Not only to pledge my allegiance to the path, but also to prevent a Christian burial for myself, which my dad was forced to have because my Mom didn’t have the money to be able to choose.

The last few years, I’ve been calling myself Heathen, Asatru and Witch. I still put myself within the categories Pagan, Witch and Hedge, but now I find myself drifting towards a more shamanistic practice and the title of Völva. It surprised me that my path would uproot itself this late, but since I’ve read quite a bit on Paganism, I know it’s pretty common to continue to evolve.

I’ve intensified my research into the subjects of Seiðr, Galðr and of course the Völva. This week I’ve read about 200 pages on the subject and asked just about every heathen I know for info. One of the women in my blotslag, which knows a bit about Seiðr, has agreed to teach me. I’m not going to push for more than she’s willing to give though, so I’m asking on all the forums and social websites I’m on for more info. I’ve gotten the offer to ask questions of Lilleulv at Hedningene.dk, and I’ve gotten some info from brainwise on Twitter. I’ve also talked to our hovgydje.

For those of you who know me, you know I can never get enough info. So if you know anything about the Völva or Seiðr, let me know. I will write about the Völva, Seiðr, Galðr and other Norse subjects on Heksebua, as soon as I can get around to it, and I feel I’ve got enough info to get it right.

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