Join the Lineage of Staff-Carrying Seers

Participants will be introduced to the history, cosmology, and modern practice of oracular seiðr – a trance-mediumship practice from the Germanic/Norse regions of Europe. We will approach seiðr from a mystical standpoint – engaging and exploring aspects of universal spirit presented through a Nordic framework. This training, like all my offerings, is open to people of all ancestral backgrounds.

Participants will take initiatory journeys to Yggdrasil and the most compassionate aspects of the tutelary deities of seiðr – including Freya, Hella, Odin, and the Norns – and will be initiated into the High Seat oracular practice. We will explore the use of the staff as a medicine ally, song as a trance-journey method, and how to apply seiðr practice in service to our communities. Participants will be able to incorporate seiðr methods into existing spirit practices and, potentially, serve as practitioners on community High Seats. Additional practices, time permitting, include aspects of galðr (giving voice to spirit) and útiseta (sitting out in nature for insight and revelation).

As part of this training we will cover some essential elements of trance-mediumship. Mediumship is a practice of merging with other forms of consciousness, in this case the most compassionate aspects of the deities of seiðr and the ancestral völur (staff-carrying seers). As oracles (from Latin orare, to speak) participants practice giving voice from a place of connection with the compassionate spirits. We will practice conscious, consensual mediumship. Practitioners will be expected to maintain personal sovereignty and accountability at all times. The relationships we will foster with the deities are ones of respectful and reciprocal partnership.

This retreat will be focused on the process of engaging oracular mediumship one-on-one as well as when sitting on a community High Seat. Participants who have not taken my Gather at the Well course will need to complete a series of preparatory processes via recorded video before arriving at the retreat.

Prerequisites: This is not a training for those new to spirit practice. Participants should have proficiency with entering altered states of consciousness (journey methods, active dreaming, ceremony, meditation, etc.) and spiritual protection and containment practices. Participants must also have a strong connection to their core self and be in good mental health. Ancestral lineage healing is recommended as it clears and strengthens the ancestral field, making your ancestors a supporting and potentially knowledgeable addition to your practice.

If you’re interested in this training and don’t have the prerequisites, or aren’t sure if you qualify, follow steps one and two for applying below and we can discuss what may be needed for you to qualify.

Questions? See FAQs below for more info, or contact me directly.

For her the Father of Hosts chose rings and jewels for her wise speech and her magical divination. She saw widely, so widely into all the worlds.

Spákonufell – The Mountain of the Prophetess, Iceland

 

Retreat Schedule: TBA

Location: TBA

Air Travel:

Lodging: Participants will be responsible for finding lodging in the area.

Number of Participants:

Rate:

For all of my courses I am currently offering a limited number of reduced rate slots for those in countries with unfavorable exchange rates (if the full rate is financially prohibitive), those from disenfranchised groups, and those experiencing economic hardship. Email me (livingvoicemedicine@gmail.com) if you would like to request a reduced rate with a proposal for what that rate would be in USD.

Registration Deadline: Payments are non-refundable or transferable after the registration deadline. If a minimum registration isn’t met by this date, this event may be cancelled and rescheduled. Do not make irreversible travel plans before this date. If the minimum registration has been met and openings remain, applications can be submitted after this date.

Covid policy: There are no covid requirements, though participants are asked to not attend if experiencing any symptoms of covid. We will be meeting inside. Participants accept any risk of exposure this entails.

Questions? Contact Maris

Frequently Asked Questions

When you say this is not for beginners what does that mean?

This training is designed to initiate people into self-directed practice without the need for additional support or supervision. It assumes basic proficiency with using altered states of consciousness for visioning purposes, and the ability to maintain healthy boundaries.

Considerations in deciding if it is for you include: How comfortable do you feel interfacing with the spirit world on your own? How good are your boundaries? While it’s always useful to have good mentoring, are you dependent on mentoring or are you solid on your own?

If you’re not yet solid on your own, it may be recommended that you do private mentoring and work on your ancestral lineage healing as that process includes the development of foundational skills.

If you’re not sure if you qualify and feel called to do this, send me an email with your questions.

What do you mean “only the most compassionate aspects” of the deities?

To answer this question it is helpful to explain a distinction found in mediumship work (more on mediumship below) between the pure essence of something and the field of something. The field of a deity includes the essence of the deity plus all of the projections and associations made by humans about the deity. So the field of Odin includes all the ways he has been portrayed in literature and by various cultures and people over time. The pure essence of Odin, his most compassionate aspect, does not include the input of the broader field. So when we access “only the most compassionate aspect” of Odin we’re filtering out the human projections and other human contributions to the field.

When working with deities, we can work with “only the most compassionate aspects” of them in order to get the most beneficial representation of their energies, and the aspects of the deities that are most invested in helping us here in the middle world. This in no way waters down the input from the deities; it makes them safe and healthy to interact with.

I’m familiar with mediumship as talking to dead people. Is that what this is?

No. Mediumship in this case is the sharing of conscious space with other conscious beings or energy fields. Mediumship as it is known through mainstream culture is usually more akin to a specific type of psychic reading, though they are not mutually exclusive.

In this retreat you learn what we call conscious mediumship, which means that you learn to share your conscious space with the Norse deities while remaining conscious yourself. This way you maintain sovereignty and personal accountability, and benefit from the wisdom and blessings that come through. It is also consent-based meaning the deities will respect your personal boundaries and will leave when asked. The relationship we develop is one of allies and not subordination to the will of a deity.

This form of mediumship is based on principles of resonance and attunement. You can, for example, be a medium for the quality of objectivity; you can attune your conscious field to resonate with objectivity thereby enhancing your ability to be objective. When you attune mediumistically to a deity you resonate with the qualities of that deity and amplify those qualities within yourself; another reason why it is important to interact with only the most compassionate aspect of the deity.

OM DUM DURGAYEI SWAHA