I thought I’d take a moment to describe the evolution of my path as a heathen witch, 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 for her, I chose not to maybe upset her by telling her.

I was baptised 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 the 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 and took a lot of notes.

This is how I found out that I was a witch. Harry Potter was years into the future, and I’d never heard of any other modern witches or Wicca. 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 that 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 Heathen, Fornsiðr, or Asatru tradition. It all depends on what you prefer to call 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 Scandinavia. 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. (But I’m not folkish. I believe anyone can find and follow this tradition, regardless of heritage.)

In 2010, I joined The Asatru fellowship Bifrost. Not only to pledge my allegiance to the path but also to join a community of like-minded people and 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.

For the last 15 years, I’ve been calling myself Heathen and Witch. I found myself drifting towards the role of the wise woman for a number of years. Working more with nature spirits, and what you can get from Nature, than gods and goddesses.

I intensified my research into the subjects of wights, elves, other nature spirits, Seiðr, and Galðr, plus a couple of non-related female deities. Both the myths, the anthropology, and the archaeology.

I’ve read every scientific report I could get my hands on about the subject of Seiðr and asked just about every heathen I know for info. I’ve also read a number of Scandinavian books, and a few of the American books, although I feel many American authors twist and mix up the info that’s available.

One of the women in my blotslag, who knows a fair bit about Seiðr, agreed to talk to me about it and we had an interesting conversation. I’ve talked to Lilleulv at Hedningene.dk, and I’ve gotten some info from brainwise on Twitter. I’ve also talked to our hovgydje, Rig Svenson, Lorrie Wood, Diana Paxson and Yngona Desmond.

I learned a lot from the group Seiðr session with Einar Selvik from Wardruna as well. I feel most of my learning has come from the actual practice, though. My own journeys to the other realms.

It surprised me that my path would uproot itself that late, but since I’ve read (and written) quite a bit on Paganism, I know it’s pretty common to continue to evolve.

Lately, I’ve been going more with the flow, working in whatever way feels right. I’m still working within the realm of Asatru because that’s what feels right for me. 

As you most likely already know, if it feels right, it probably is 🙂

I am an eclectic, heathen witch. This means I have my own take on heathenry (or Asatru) which supports my values. I don’t believe in black or white magic. The magic is the same, the intention with which it’s performed is what makes it acceptable or not.

My main areas of ‘expertise’ are intuition, herbs, runes, and amulets. For others, I do readings using runes, playing cards and Tarot and I create all kinds of amulets. The amulet could be a piece of wood with a rune on it, a bag with herbs and maybe a crystal, or a piece of amulet art. I’ve also made everyday objects into amulets by altering them slightly with a magical rune or herbs.

I also have a large website with tons of information on paganism, herbs, runes, witchcraft, and crafts; The Witch’s Library. I’ve had this site since 2003, it was previously called Heksebua (unfortunately, this domain was later purchased by a porn company, so don’t go there).

I’ve written a book about the uses of weeds (medicinal, magical, culinary, cosmetic and other uses plus some fun facts). The title of that book is ‘Wonderful Weeds – The Forgotten Resource‘.

2 Comments

  1. Wulfcempa

    Enjoyed this post. My journey has been similar… lots of evolution. But, like you, I was enamored of Norse mythology since childhood. Unlike you, I don’t live in their homeland! 🙂 But my ancestors did.

    Hail to the folk!

    Reply
    • linda

      Hail 🙂 I’m fortunate enough to have been born and raised in Sweden and I now live smack dab in the middle of Norway 🙂 (for those who don’t yet know).
      Let me know if you need any help with that site 🙂

      Reply

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