In Nordic Tradition, Seidkonas were the practitioners who communicated with and called forth spirits. They dealt in the Unseen and the Dead. Using a specific set of tools, including Galdr – the song of the Runes, they performed rituals, going from town to town, to aid the people there. From war to healing, the Seidkona stood between the worlds influencing the Web and serving as a messenger.
I have written on the practice of Seidr and the Seidkona a few times before, and also the realities of modern Seidr in Snakes in Norse Mythology and the Art of Seidr. It has been a very influential part of my own practices and Death Emissary work. We talk a lot about Seidr from a “what” perspective but not as often as to the purpose behind it – why are we performing Seidr, and what does that look like in times like these.
The Healer and The Warrior
The purpose behind the work of a Seidkona, when working for other people or communities, in its most simplified version, could be seen as Healer and Warrior. From agriculture, to illness, to general prosperity, and facing battle/ conflicts, the Seidkona could be called upon to come and petition the Unseen, shift and weave the energy, and serve as messenger between, for the desired outcomes of the people.
In my own practices, we work a lot in Dualities, not from the perspective of polarization but from a collaborative and harmonious alignment between the two sides. It is a balancing act between the sides, not in equal measure, but in the right measure for the task. Sometimes you need a little more shadow side than you do the light, and vice versa, but both are necessary because one does not exist without the other. In every work there is both healing and battle, destruction and creation, to weave new outcomes upon the Web and in the world.
The Nordic people call them Seidkona, other cultures have different names for this kind of practitioner. In the end they are a practitioner that works in both death and life, destruction and creation, the Unseen/Spirit worlds and the physical, The Warrior and The Healer.
Battle Magic
Around the world, people are facing battles and war. It does not look the same for all of us because we are in different places, experiencing different threats, and shouldering different consequences. We all have different skills, capabilities, and connections that we are approaching this from. We are also not all on the same side – there are magical and spiritual practitioners on both sides. We also have our own skills, magical allies, traditions, bonds, and approaches. This means Battle Magic is going to look different depending on who you are. There are some commonalities though…
Aggressor and Defender
In every battle there is an Aggressor and a Defender. This isn’t about sides per say, but what is driving the battle for them. Although these are simplified down for the sake of article space, you will get the general gist.
The Aggressor will be working from a place of greed, dominating others for their personal pleasure or benefit, to take from another just so they can possess it, focused fully on the self – their desires, not needs – without care to the consequences for others. They are driven by vengeance, personal gain, and self-serving emotions. The Aggressor makes the first move.
Defenders are focused on protecting that which is sacred to them – including people, beliefs, places, and so forth. They move from a place beyond just themselves, thinking of the “whole” instead of just themselves. They are focused on a Guardianship aspect, but once the battle has started, they will make moves both in defense and offense, but always based upon the moves of the Aggressor and from a place of guardianship.
You may have Aggressors and Defenders on both sides of a conflict the longer a conflict goes on. This is because the followers of each side are influenced by their leaders. Some on the Aggressors side may be conditioned to see a threat to them that wasn’t really there before the battle started – or threats created due to the actions of their leader but seen as coming from the other side. Some on the Defender side may eventually start moving from a place of vengeance instead of Justice and Protection. It is not a long stretch when they live in a society that equates Strength with aggressive behaviors.
The leaders are the driving force of the battle, they set the tone of each side, and set the energy their side is working from – but people are individuals and make personal choices within that.
Like Energy likes Like Energy
Energy is attracted to similar energy, so if you are working from a place of Guardianship, the spirits, entities, energies, nature, and people working from the same place will be drawn to that side. Same goes for those who are working from a greed/ self-gain perspective will be drawn to the Aggressors.
This means that our allies, both Seen and Unseen, will be different. We will attract those who want to work from the place we are working from and for the goals we are working towards. If you are working from a place of hate and dominance for pleasure – your allies will be reflective of that. Both sides may be using the element of Fire, but how we use it will be different – rooted in our core movement of Defender or Aggressor. Both sides may be working with Fae, Land Spirits, and the Dead, but who we are specifically working with will be different because it will depend on the alignment of that particular Fae, Spirit, or Soul.
The energy that forms your battle magic will feed one side or the other, depending on the energy – not always the intent. This is hard for some to grasp so I will try to make it simple. If you are a Guardian yet fueling your magic with hate – that energy of hate will be drawn to and feed the opposing side, because hate is a fueling core of their movement. It is why you may not see your desired effects from your curse, because you fueled it with the emotion of hate. Because the opposition is is working from that emotion, thus your energy just gets absorbed into it. Instead of hate, focus on emotions that align with protecting.
The opposite of hate would be love, but it is not sending the other side love – it is using that emotion to fuel protection from the other side. It is empowering and giving your side boons to do that work. It is destroying what needs to be destroyed in order to protect what needs to be protected. Love in Battle Magic is both creation and destruction, can strengthen or weaken – depending on the need and mode of the work. I think the idea of positive emotions, especially love, has been extremely distorted by some new-age foo-foo ideas and the deep societal conditionings of “strength is being aggressive – love is being passive.”
Intention and Duality
Intention directs the spell, but if the energy/ emotion behind the intention, that is fueling the intention, does not align with it, the spell fails. The intention, fueled by emotion, is what creates the frequency and vibration, which in turn manifests/ weave/ creates the desired effect. If your intention is to protect something, yet the emotion fueling it is anger and hate – what do you think the vibration of that will look like? What side do you think it will feed?
In Battle Magic, if you are primarily fueling the intention with hate and your opposition is core movement is from hate, you will inevitably be feeding the other side energy– because like energy likes like energy. If hate is the primary fuel for the Aggressor’s side – As a Defender, your few intentions being fueled by hate will just get adsorbed, with the hate you sent actually making them stronger because their pool of hate is where they are working from.
This however does not mean we, as defenders, never use aggressive emotions, we do, but in a different way. In Battle Magic we are shifting and transmuting energy from one side to the other. If we want to open a path for our side, we must also block a path on their side. So our spells are a combination of positive and negative, not in equal measure but the measure required for the result needed.
Ending Thoughts
This was just some thoughts and considerations on Battle magic and the aspect of being both Warrior and Healer at the same time, from my perspective and experience. As I said, we are all different and what this looks like in actual practice can look very different. It gives some places to start and considerations to explore for yourself.
Battle Magic has become a largely discussed topic recently due to current events. It is something covens and groups are starting to focus on more, because we are magical practitioners and magic is one way we battle. It is also this month’s upcoming workshop in the Crane Practitioner group. So, for those who may be new to this kind of magic, this gives you some perspectives to consider and thoughts to explore. Hopefully other writers here will share some of theirs as well. We are not going to publicly share what we are specifically doing – but we can share ideas, perspectives, and frameworks to help others get started.
Offer
Due to the current state of things and some needs in the our community I am adding another session for my Spirit Walker course and putting an offer out there…
Next session starts May 1st and will run through August. The classes will be Thurs at 6pm CT with Live post discussions – everything will be recorded and placed into the private discord server along with a variety of extra learning materials and serve as a place to connect with other participants and the instructor one-on-one – in an effort to try and accommodate any schedule.
The cost is $250 for the full course – with that being said, there are a lot of people who could really use this, who I also know are facing economic struggles/ uncertainties right now. So, if you can pay for it I am asking that you do, as this is how I am able to support my family – but if you can’t, email me, as I am opening a lot of free spots this session for those who need it. For full details you can go HERE – my email is also at the bottom of that page.
Yes, I realize some people may not be honest, and some people do not see value in free things – thinking it isn’t worthwhile, but I whole heartily believe in this work and have seen how it has changed people’s lives and practices in so many positive ways – and I also see the need, so here we are.
Although Battle Magic is not the purpose of this course – the lessons, frameworks, and skills in this course directly relate to this kind of work from a foundations standpoint.
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