TRUE NORTH is the North according to the Earth's axis as opposed to the Magnetic North (when you use a compass)
For pandemic reasons this program has been extended to Autumn 2021, meaning that no new 2 year program in Sweden will start until Summer 2022 earliest.
No dates have been set and formal registration for future programs is not (yet) open. However I am open to receiving expressions of interest and those will receive an advance notification when dates are set.
Please note that the Seidr/Fornsed foundation course is a prerequisite you must complete before you can apply for the 2 year program!
And NO, this course can and will NOT be taught on-line BUT I AM CURRENTLY TEACHING A BRANDNEW SERIES OF ON-LINE SEIDR CLASSES IN MY ON-LINE SCHOOL: PREGNANT HAG TEACHINGS! Please join me there! Recordings of classes will remain available.
Wow!
Working deeper with the runes - each one revealing more and more about itself and how each is linked with another
The Norns in their whirling well of water stepping forward with their knowledge
My mind was blown with Imelda’s story of the runes- it just hit me in heart deep within me it made so much sense like a coming home. I was truly wowed by it
My favourite moment? Too many to mention
Working alone, in pairs, in ceremony a deeply immersive experience diving deep into this well of knowledge
Don’t hesitate jump into that well!
-Lyn Hill, UK
Not for the faint of soul. This program has an intensity that starts as a gentle trickle and ends as a tsunami of love wisdom passion and a spiritual awakening unlike anything else I have experienced. A combination of “theory” and experiential adventure, group discussion and individual exploration. Imelda brings her life and love of the Northern Way into every drop of content. Hail aesir och asynjur.
- Kelly Wyrd, Canada
From the moment we entered the sacred forest and land at True North in Sweden, we were called into our ancestral Norse heritage. The two year seidr program has expansively grown my skill sets and knowledge of this ancient Northern European tradition. This is a course of living knowledge and unfolding, a way of life, as we embrace the subject matter deeply. Imelda brings a deep knowledge of the topic from her own scholarship and research but more importantly from her own experiences of actively living the knowledge for the past 20+ years. I highly recommend this course if you have an interest and calling to Seidr and Northern traditions.
-Valarie Budayr, US
Since I was 14 years old I have dreamed of a house in Scandinavia, in a place where the Forest meets the Sea and where you catch glimpses of trolls and elves going about their business. A place where rare wild flowers grow and the language of plants remains a native tongue. In 2016 this house turned out to exist and called us.
This house is set in vildmark (literally "the wild", in our case pristine ancient forest land) stretching for miles in all directions and situated a brief walk from a lake called Sibbofjärden. Technically speaking this is not a lake, but a fjord, because it is connected by a small canal to the open sea (and the Stockholm archipelago with its 3000 islands). My husband owns a small boat for explore this watery Eden. We have called our boat Otter's Ransom, honouring the Norse sagas!
For any shamanic teacher having access to land where students can work completely undisturbed for days on end is a priority concern. Sweden operates a law called Allemansrätten (freely translated as The Public Right of Access), giving people the right to walk and even camp on land everywhere. (There are some rules regarding private dwellings and grazing animals etc.)
In the immediate surroundings there are many Bronze Age sites: grave mounds, rune stones, ship burial sites and standing stones etc. Uppsa Kulle is right on the doorstep (see the picture in the header above on the far right!)
A one week introduction course to Seidr/Fornsed has been offered once a year since 2014. In May 2016 the people who participated in that course made a strong request for a 2 year practitioner training in Seidr and Northern Tradition studies, allowing people to work in all areas of shamanic practice within an indigenous Northern European tradition. In other words: a professional training in all aspects of working as a seiðmaðr or seiðkona.
This project (this dream, this passion!) is my response to that request!
Please note that I will next teach the Seidr/Fornsed Introduction course in London 27 April - 1 May 2020. A course description is available!
Please note that starting in November 2020, these modules will also run in the US (East Coast) in the greater Philadelphia area, sponsored and coordinated by Susan Rossi (for more information you can contact her on: flyingtotheheart@gmail.com)
Four modules
Changing the Weave & working closely with the Norns and the Völva, advanced work with the runes, working with spells, blot, Edda-work
Working with the seven aspects of soul (önd, hugr, vard, fylgja, hamingja, hamr and gand)
Working with land and forming a relationship with the inhabitants of all realms of Norse cosmology
Working with the Maidens of Lyfjaberg and exploring indigenous Northern European shamanic healing techniques and traditions
Exploring the Norse realms of Death, the mysteries of the Maiden with the Mead, the Disir and Alfar (female and male ancestral spirits) and ancient Europeans ways of working with the souls of the dead. To balance things out we will also look at fertility rites and magic!
THE SYLLABLE FOR THE CURRENT PROGRAM AND ALL RELATED DOCUMENTATION IS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
In the future Module #1 as it stands now will split into two separate modules:
>>The Vitki or Rune Magician - Advanced Rune Studies
>>Working with the Norns and Changing the Weave
Meaning that there will be 5 modules in total
This is in response to feedback from long-term commitment students who have requested more time to sink deeply into topics - as both are vast fields of learning!
I am also in discussion with the current group about offering stand-alone advanced modules (e.g. Ancestral Healing Work in the Northern Tradition)
I have already made the same change to the parallel program running in the US:
VIKING BLOOD - The Advanced US Program
Just above and below you will find some videos made for my current students at True North, introducing the Runes, Rune Stones, Scandinavian Petroglyphs and Sitting Out on a Grave Mound (Utiseta) - Enjoy!
Click on the image above to see the art film
MOTHER NIGHT - REINDEER MOTHER
Click on the image above to see the art film
Cultural heritage on the doorstep:
Bronze Age sites
In the immediate surroundings there are many Bronze Age sites. grave mounds, rune stones, ship burial sites and standing stones positively "litter the landscape"...
The King's Grave Mound of Uppsa Kulle is right on the doorstep, just outside Tystberga!
These carvings are quite different in appearance from most other petroglyphs found in Sweden. Some are shaped like cups (indents) where it is believed offerings were made to the spirits and gods! They were discovered relatively recently (in 1984). Another hypothesis is that they might represent star constellations - this resonates with guidance I myself have received, sitting out there!
Area of outstanding natural beauty
TRUE NORTH is set in vildmark (technically "the wild", in our case a pristine and remote location situated in the forest. Deep forest stretches for miles in all directions.
A short walk takes you to a nearby lake. The local wildlife is abundant. You will encounter deer (and less often elks and wild boar) on a daily basis! Sea eagles are often spotted flying overhead. (The current group of students have encountered both a lynx and wolf!)
In May 2016 I received a strong request for a 2 year in-depth practitioner training in Seidr and Northern Tradition practices, allowing people to work in all areas of shamanic practice within an indigenous Northern European tradition. In other words: a professional training in all aspects of working as a seiðmadr or seiðkona.
Thia request from the Fornsed students brought on a period of serious contemplation at my end. As a shamanic teacher I am well aware of the great need for people to have access to quality training in indigenous European wisdom traditions.
Early peoples have always traveled and we know how far the Vikings traveled. Today there are many people all over the world who have a percentage of Norse blood and Scandinavian ancestry. Going on the volume of emails I receive, many of those people now hear the voices of their ancestors (in their dreams, in their blood) and wish to learn about The Northern Tradition.
For several decades it has been fashionable for people to study e.g. Native American or Peruvian shamanism - even when they have no ancestral ties to that culture. This has brought us a global awareness of the issue of cultural appropriation: white people pushed native peoples off their land and obliterated their traditions - and today we stake claim to their traditions and teachings - but not always with their encouragement and permission. This causes "bad blood". A "stolen" spirituality will lack integrity and power!
A very similar thing is happening with so called ayahuasca tourism". people flying to South America in large numbers to try ayahuasca (and not always in safe sacred properly supervised ways).
Personally speaking I want no part of this. I do not practice any form of Native American spirituality myself. I have never tried Ayahuasca. or peyote I have grave concerns about many aspects of this "spiritual industry" mushrooming. Personally speaking I do not feel any inclination to try practices not anchored "in my blood or bones", supervised by the Elders and ancestors of my heritage.
However, as a Northern European teacher I DO feel that it is my sacred duty (as a walker between the worlds and door opener for others) to offer indigenous material from Northern Europe in a coherent format, with access to personal supervision for those who want to do this work on a professional level.
That was the vision which birthed this course.
The energy signature of this course has already attract the right people and called them together. I trust that process! It has never failed yet!
Imelda Almqvist, last updated 13 September 2019
Location
True North is 9 km from Tystberga, 25 km from Nyloping and 1 hour south of Stockholm.
This program is non-residential meaning that you need to find accommodation of your choice in the surroundings. There is a wide range of offerings from very affordable youth hostels to B&B options and hotel options (various star ratings) in nearby Nyköping.
Hours
We will generally work from 9,30 a.m until about 9.30 p.m. (10 p.m. latest) with a lunch break and dinner break. The evenings will generally be dedicated to ceremonial work.
Prerequisites
This professional program is for people who have completed the 5-day Seidr/Fornsed Introduction Course with me in London.
Seidr is a set of ancient Norse magical practices. Traditionally speaking those include the following ,methods and paths:
- Seidr used for Divination & Changing the Weave
- The Thirst for Knowledge & Wisdom Competitions
- Making power objects, sacred art and other forms of magical crafting
- "Blot and Blod" (Offerings and Blood)
Ceremony, ritual, offerings, Wheel of the Year
- Galder - magical songs, incantations and spells
- Uteseita: sitting out (not unlike Native American concept of a vision quest)
- Shapeshifting and Berserking