Well of Wisdom Seidh Ritual
by Gudrun of Mimirsbrunnr
I am a seidkona, meaning that I travel in
trance to the Three Wells of the Tree and retrieve knowledge for those who ask,
in an oracular fashion. There are many places to go for wisdom – to a specific
god, or to the realm of a certain type of spirit, or to a place that is known
for its oracular art, such as one of the Three Wells. Each well has guardians
associated with it, and the Well of Wisdom is guarded by old Mimir, the God of
Memory. I experience him as a severed head floating deep in the well,
surrounded by the floating skulls and bones of those people he has killed for
asking foolish questions. He is not an easy god to deal with, but for some
reason he has taken a fancy to me. Perhaps because I am always careful about
what I ask, and pay him well afterwards.
This ritual requires at least three people to do – a seidkona/seidmadhr (medium), a godhi/gythia, and a singer. (The addition of a drummer with a simple frame drum who can hold a steady, slow beat is useful as well.) The medium should not be asked to take on the job of running the ritual. They should be allowed to concentrate fully on their own job, which requires going into trance and allowing the power of the Well of Wisdom to come through them. When I have participated in this rite, I have always been the medium, so I will be speaking about my experience from that perspective.
Everyone who deals in trance has different ways of achieving it. I am not going to tell you how to get into a trance, because you might not use the same methods I do. However, it should hopefully be a method that you can do while sitting on the floor in a room, covered with a large piece of cloth. Sometimes my trancework at the beginning of this rite reminds me of Thorgeirr the Lawgiver’s adventure in “going under the cloak”, as there is a certain amount of sensory deprivation.
Mimir likes good liquor, poured into a hole in the ground. In worst cases – like the one time I was caught doing this rite in a city and had no way to get to an appropriate place afterward to pour out his offering – I used a storm drain while focusing on taking the alcohol to his well, and that seemed to work. The gythia for this rite should carry a few bottles along.
The most important items for this ritual are a mask and a large piece of shiny fabric – the size of a large blanket – with a hole in it. I made a mask for Mimir that is pale and skull-like, with long flowing white hair. I got a large piece of fabric – a king-size sheet, actually – that was made of a very dark green satin, almost black. That reminded me of the greeny-black water in his well. I cut the edges so that it was circular, hemmed them, cut a face-sized hole where my face would be, and attached the mask to it. The fabric becomes the water of the well, hiding the body of the oracle, and the mask becomes Mimir’s floating face. I fastened one sparkling blue artificial gem, shaped like an eye, over where my heart is when I wear the mask.
The sides of the well can be created from chairs in a circle facing out around the cloth, and a row of candles are placed around its edge, just out of range of the chair legs. I also place four large bowls of actual water around the edge, at my head and feet and to each side. Then I lay still under the cloth, my eyes closed but looking out through the mask, and put myself into trance.
There are two areas marked out for this ritual – the “well” area which I have just described, and the “opening” area, which should be only a short distance away. The singer will have to go toward the “well” and sing, and the medium should be able to hear the singer even in trance, so they shouldn’t be that far away. The gythia gathers the people at the opening area and recanes them and the space around them with mugwort, saying: “Be blessed and purified in the search for wisdom!”
Then the gythia says: “We go to visit the Well of Wisdom, guarded by Mimir the Wise. To do this, we will follow the path of the Tree to the mountains of Jotunheim, where the second great root burrows into the earth. There we will speak to Mimir – the God of Memory – who is a magical severed head floating in the Well. Be respectful – Mimir is dangerous, in spite of his condition. You may ask one question and one question only, and it must not be frivolous, so if there is nothing you want to know that badly, do not even ask! If you understand, raise your hand – we will walk there in silence.”
The people raise their hands, and the gythia begins to lead them on a circle around the edge of the room. Meanwhile the singer walks toward the Well and begins to sing Mimir’s song, calling him into the medium. If there is a drummer, they go with the singer. The gythia leads the people in a spiral, circling tighter and tighter, until they are standing in a ring around the well. They are told to sit backwards on the chairs, facing in and looking in over the edge. The singer continues to sing until everyone is seated, and then finishes the song and stops. The gythia calls out “We hail you, Old Guardian, Root of the Kjalar Mountains, Wise One of Jotunheim! We come to ask for your wisdom, should you choose to bestow it on us!” and pours liquor into one of the bowls of water (which should not be so full that the addition of liquor will make them overflow).
Ideally, if all goes well, Mimir then opens his eyes and speaks. Each person present may ask one question, and he will either answer it or he will not. If he answers, the questioner must pour more liquor into one of the bowls as an offering. If anyone is disrespectful, the gythia must have them removed immediately and offer more liquor in apology – Mimir holds grudges and does not appreciate being toyed with .
When he has answered everything that he intends to, the gythia gives him the last of the liquor and thanks him for his gifts. Then the party stands, each takes a candle, and they spiral out of the room. The medium is left to come back in silence, and then the bowls of water and alcohol are carried out and poured into some body of water (or down a storm drain, if need be, but very ceremoniously).