Understanding Historical Viewpoints First
For the Erulian, the act of Seiðr (pronounced Say-thur) is a very unique and different thing then the modern perception of “Germanic practices of Heathenism” may imply. I have described Seiðr on the Resources and Information page in a very brief and incomplete manner. Most would tell you that this practice is a hidden thing, to be disguised and distrusted as it is “unmanily” or “outside the bounds of proper practice”; “uncivilized” even.

This is because of the change in society with the practice of Viking Age warrior cults. These men believed that to do anything hidden and not upfront in the eyes of the folk and the gods, and not to live by the sword, it was considered cowardly and a “woman’s” practice. THIS IS NOT to say that women were considered cowards, or deceitful as a whole during the time period; this is however to say that women did not “do as men do” and since could deal with the things no “of a man’s world” it was allowed by women and not viewed negatively when done so (unless used to “steal” a man’s power).
This is a sad fact that this perception is left to us as the Edda’s and Saga’s are all in a literary sense the only references that we have to such practice of that era. However, it should be noted that the Saga’s and the Edda’s deal most often with the warrior culture and sociopolitical structure of the kingdoms and the warriors that created them; not with the common folk practice of the Teutonic and Scandinavian peoples most of which would be considered “Sieð magic”.

The final “nail in the coffin” as it were to the perception of Sieðr as anything positive is the introduction of the Christian presence in the newly unified Scandinavian nations. To consolidate power as well as appease the christian church, it became necessary to become baptized. Turning away from the old Gods, who by their very nature represent personal freedom; to the new idea of One King appointed by One God who demands loyalty. To further this, the peoples were forced to accept the stigma of female oppression, and thus ANY form of female power (this being primarily Sieðr), was looked upon as a corruption against the male (and thus the churches) control. This, in no small part played by Olaf Trygvisson.

With all that being said, we can now move forward and wipe clean the sinister ideology of the uneducated look at Seiðr and start understanding where the Erulian draws their power from.