When we go back to Norse teachings of things like Seidr we start to ask the question if witches today are also shamans?
I have long been on the witchcraft circuit and come across many people who call themselves shamans. Certain people undoubtedly are, and some are not. It takes much more than wearing a few beads, feathers or fur to become a shaman.
So what is a shaman? A shaman is a man or woman who can, in an altered state of consciousness, connect with other dimensions and the spirits that are there to gain insights into the future or wisdom from the past. Or, in some cases, shapeshift into other beings, particularly animals.
Photo by imustbedead on Pexels
There are many stories of witches being able to shapeshift. In the British Isles, this was recorded mainly in the form of hares, bats, ravens, crows or sometimes deer. But when the wolf still roamed these Isles the wolf was another form a witch might take.
Witches are renowned for being able to communicate with animals, this can take the form of a kind of telepathy and a certain deep resonance that comes naturally to the witch. Witches love Nature and Nature loves witches. The mark of a true witch is that deep connection with Nature for that is where she draws her magic from.
I never felt that I was a shaman until something strange happened one day that set many shamanistic things into motion.
I was on a certain hilltop where there are neolithic barrow mounds overlooking the village of Avebury in Wiltshire UK. It was a lazy sunny afternoon and I had walked some miles and decided to rest in the shade at the foot of one of the trees on one of the barrow mounds.
I sat for a while just gazing out over the beautiful countryside all ablaze with the colours that early summer brings to England. I felt very peaceful inside and almost sleepy. The sun was warm, and the larks were singing in the fields around me.
The next moment I felt fully awake, it was a strange feeling, not a normal one. All of my senses suddenly became so acute that at first, it was almost painful. I could see at a distance more clearly, and I could smell everything around me as if each smell had been magnified a thousand times. Then my hearing became so acute that I could hear people’s voices from way down in the stone circle as if they were almost standing next to me instead of being a couple of miles away.
I never felt that I was a shaman until something strange happened one day that set many shamanistic things into motion.
Then I suddenly felt very hungry. A raw hunger that filled me with an urge to hunt. I didn’t think about it, I just felt it. And an excitement overcame me and I found myself going on all fours, and instead of being clumsy like humans are on all fours, I could move swiftly. I ran around the hilltop, looking here and there, smelling the air. I don’t know how long this lasted.
Then, a tractor went by on the track over the other side of the hill, and it ‘snapped me out’ of my trance and I found myself sitting back underneath the tree and panting. My heart was racing. My normal senses were flooding back in and I sat for a while a little disorientated.
So why did that happen? I don’t know. But it was a powerful experience that I will never forget. For in those few moments I had felt like a wolf. And thereafter I could resonate with animals and birds in a greater way than I ever had before. It is true that I had been doing certain magical practices before this event, but I had not willed myself to shape-shift.
Quite a few other things concerning shape-shifting happened after that. And I will tell you that one of the experiences I had was that the Irish goddess The Morrigan came to me in a dream. In the dream I was standing in my own kitchen, it was nighttime, and because the lights were on in the kitchen I could see my own reflection in the windows, and I could see her standing next to me, she was tall, raven-haired and fiercely beautiful.
She said, ‘Stretch out your arms.’ And I did, but instead of arms, I had Raven’s wings. Then my whole head and body turned into a Raven as I flapped my wings. I flew through the window and went out into the night.
After that, I felt such a sisterhood with Corvids that I really find it hard to put into words. I have always loved them. But now it is as if we are as one, they and I. They flock to my garden, and they follow me around in the wild.
I would like to hear from others who read this about their experiences with shamanism if they have had any. Or of any witches out there who have also had any shape-shifting experiences.
Blessed be,
Sonia
Sonia Smith is a Traditional Witch and Magician. You can find her books here and here.