Voluspa: Seidhr As Wyrd Consciousness [Paperback]

This work suffers from one over-riding flaw: a mis-understanding of the All-father and a resultant mis-understanding of the Voluspa. For those who don't already know, the Voluspa is a work of prophecy recording a question and answer session between Odin and a dead volva (witch-seer-prophetess...kinda) that he summons to ask about the Wyrd (fate...kinda)of the Gods. Seidr is a northern "shaman-like" process of investigating the nine worlds and, obviously, their Wyrd. So...you can see why I had to purchase this book based on the title alone. Seidr IS Wyrd-conciousness...the direct experience of the inner workings of the worlds. And the Voluspa is THE most important piece of Seidr we have as it concerns the ending of the worlds.

But early on I realised that Ms. Desmond was not going to discuss the Voluspa as it stands but through her own particular lenses of Theosophy and more obvious eastern philosophical influences. Everyone has such lenses and I wouldn't desire to deny Ms. Desmond hers, but I, personally, am Odin's man and looking at the Northern Gods through the lenses of Pure-Land Buddhism and eclectic paganism does me almost no good and furthermore, in this case, led to her errors of understanding.

She begins by defining seidr as a form of magic identified with Odin. Actually, what Odin knows of seidr he learned from the goddess Freya. While Odin is definitely a great traveler between the worlds, for this task, even he consults an expert.

There is also a recurring suggestion that Odin distrusts women and finds their uncontrolled sexuality "distasteful". Anyone familiar with Odin's travels would recall that most of them involve some sexual exploit also. Odin seems to be a great lover of women and appreciative of their sexuality. It is Ms. Desmond's Theosophy that demonizes sex, not Odin. (Which is why she states on pg 64 that "The most dedicated of seidhus will refrain from regular sexual relations, knowing that the body's sap, once depleted, takes time to replenish itself.")

On pages 30-31, she advocates the use of "hemp" as an anodyne...seriously? "Hemp?" Her source for that little piece of Nordic Wisdom is "Siva, the Hindu Supreme Being."

My final complaint is Ms. Desmond's perpetual insistence that she is right and other ideas are simply not worth considering. OVER AND OVER she uses the word exclusively...and uses it strangely...uttering such phrases as "...Seidus, exclusively, like shamans must be left bare and exposed, as a corpse..." pg. 11; "...exclusively, the Ensi did not want to mix their force with Jotunic form..." pg. 43; "...exclusively, Gullveig-Heid, 'golden brilliance' is Earth Mother..." pg. 61. And other places I don't want to look up, right now. And...by the way...The Ensi (most of us call them the Ase) mixed their force with the Jotuns all the time. Thor's mother is a Jotun and the mother of his sons is a Jotun. And I'm convinced that Heid is Freya...not Earth Mother.

I'll hope that the use of "alter" instead of "altar" is an editor's mistake.

Lastly...Ms. Desmond may be well respected in her circles, but she is not "Vinland's Volva". Exclusively, this work should be avoided by students of the Voluspa.

Voluspa: Seidth as Wyrd Consciousness, is one of the most frustrating books that I may have ever read. Granted, I'm not a scholar on her level, but the book is written only for people who are.

Desmond shows in this book that she has an amazing grasp on the scholarship of the lore, and a great deal of insight into the shamanic practice of Seidth. After reading this book, however I'm just not sure what I learned about it.

I consider myself to be pretty decent with language and vocabulary skills, but this book leaves me at a loss. The vocabulary is thick and off-putting, as Desmond prefers to use the most esoteric terminology possible in any situation. She introduces terminology without bothering to define it. As a heathen myself, I've read a decent number of books which use terms like wyrd, orlog, maegen and the like, but I've sure never heard of tivar before. If you decide to take on this book, make sure you bring a dictionary.

There is so much information and knowledge, but it feels like it's coming completely from left field. She makes broad generalizations based on specifics, but lists no particular rationale for why she feels that way. For instance, why does she choose to refer to Ymir as Aurgelmir, and what basis does she have for changing his name? Why does she assume that there must be 12 Hlidskalf-like ledges around the 9 worlds based on the fact that she knows of two?

She cites sources in a way that doesn't explain why she is using them, so the basis for the information is lost. For instance, on page 21 she states, after introducing Ymir "Connectedly, this relates to the Indo-European model of sound as the first of all things created, in conjunction with Fire and Ice (1)." OK, fair enough. That's a citation that I can understand. The following paragraph, however, contains a lot more information that is not cited : "Aurgelmir (Ymir), exclusively, is the triple enclosure, father to Thrudgelmir, grandfather to Bergelmir. These three are resonance chambers..." That, surely, was not to be found in the poem's lines, nor does it relate to the previous source in any way, nor have I encountered information like this elsewhere. How do you know the names of Ymir's children? If it's a UPG, fine, but please, please mention that so that we know! This is easily the most frustrating aspect of this book.

While Voluspa is an intense study on the poem of Voluspa, it is a frustrating read for anyone who is interested in approaching the subject from a purely scholarly level. This book intermingles a great deal of scholarly knowledge with what I can only assume is a great deal of UPG. Unfortunately, based on the way that she has cited this book, there's no way to tell which is which, and that is what leads me to give this book a low rating. If she would only have cited some of her sources!!!!!

I heard such good things about this book and was very eager to read it. However, my excitement evaporated with every turn of the page. While the author seems to have a thorough knowledge of the lore involved, and an above-average grasp of the academic perspective, it did little to outweigh the ongoing conjecture. The book is rather one-sided in presentation of the mysterious topic of seid and much of it is just opinion without any real supporting basis.

I can appreciate the author's attempt to illuminate, but for individuals who are looking to immerse themselves in seid as it is shown in the sagas and Edda, this book misses the mark. The author would be better to omit the `seid' from the title and text and simply present it as a treatise on her own speculative soothsaying practices based loosely on the Völuspá.