Imelda Almqvist
When you meet teachers so full of knowledge, usually they are dead so you can only read their books!
When you can work with someone like Imelda in person you should grab the opportunity!
- Katharine Lucy Haworth, Shamanic Practitioner, UK
I can totally see you teaching at Harvard!
— Manca Geberl, Slovenia
Your book Sacred Art is much better than The Artist's Way. It is more scholarly. I like the exercises in both, but the text of your book was more valuable to me.
- Terry Clarbour, US
Thank you deeply for being in my life and worlds! I am the woman I am today through your fearless direction and invitations to explore, heal, and expand. You have to keep teaching!!! Your knowledge must be shared and the internet provides that vehicle especially when the world shuts down!! If teachers like you are silenced and unseen, even by a virus, we will find ourselves in the Dark Ages again!!
-Valarie Budayr, NM, US
Thank you for being such a wonderful teacher that I love crossing oceans and time zones to work with you!
- Megan Anderson, US
Your book on the spiritual traditions of the Low Countries is a wonderful contribution to cultural soul recovery, finely streaming together your poly-linguistic research and your depth of experiential work.
-Robert Moss, Way of the Dreamer, mossdreams.com
Finally, can I just say your research and scholarship is outstanding!
-Trevor Greenfield, Publisher/Editor at Moon Books, Formerly John Hunt Publishing, now Collective Ink
WHAT IS NEW?
My latest book: PORTALS, PATTERNS AND PATHWAYS (A handbook for Rune Magicians, Star Gazers and Myth Makers) was published in May 2026 and has received wonderful reviews so far.
The best place to follow me (by far) is Substack, where I send out two thoughtful (and often thought-provoking) articles a week on a broad variety of topics. Subscribers are invite to submit topic requests and subscribing is FREE!
Requested by many people, I am teaching an online course, in the Autumn of 2026:
THE NINE! A webinar series devoted to the Nine Maidens of Lyfjaberg.
Hosted by Christian Thurow, the dates are: 8 September, 6 October and 3 November 2026, 8 - 9:30 PM BST.
SHAMANIC HEALING For shamanic healing sessions I wholeheartedly recommend Sjoukje Gummels! She is trained by me personally and her website is Threads of Healing!
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Hello and welcome to my website! My name is Imelda Almqvist. I am a Forest Witch (also a part time Arctic Witch), Völva and Rune Magician. I earn my living as an international teacher of Sacred Art and Seiðr/Old Norse Traditions. I am also an artist and author of 11 books (so far but more projects in the pipeline). In addition to non-fiction books, I write and illustrate shamanic picture books for children (The Green Bear Series).
My paintings can be found in collections all over the world. You may have seen me in a TV program called Ice Age Shaman, in the series Mystic Britain, on the Smithsonian Channel. I am the author of:
- NATURAL BORN SHAMANS: A Spiritual Toolkit for Life (Using shamanism creatively with young people of all ages), 2016
- SACRED ART, A Hollow Bone for Spirit: Where Shamanism Meets Art 2019
- MEDICINE OF THE IMAGINATION: Dwelling in Possibility, 2020
- NORTH SEA WATER IN MY VEINS: The Pre-Christian Spirituality of the Low Countries, 2022
- PORTALS, PATTERNS AND PATHWAYS, A handbook for Rune Magicians, Star Gazers and Myth Makers, 2026
- THE SECRET GARDEN OF THE BONE MOTHER: From Dismemberment to Rebirth in 20 Paintings
- THE GREEN BEAR SERIES: The adventures of Lars and Linnea!
My online school, PREGNANT HAG TEACHINGS, was permanently deleted in September 2025, see:
SEIÐR AND OLD NORSE TRADITIONS at my
FOREST SCHOOL IN SWEDEN (pictured on the right!)
My most recent Seiðr Cohort graduated in June 2026. I am not planning a new intake, but I may teach some modules as stand-alone courses in the future.
I am passionately re-visioning my professional life! For years I have operated under the archetype of The Pregnant Hag (the older woman who knows how to retreat and rebirth herself, simultaneously acting as a birth and death doula for initiations unfolding in our world). I am currently working with the Norse blueprint of the "Peripatic Völva" (Vǫlva in Old Norse) who travels from settlement to settlement, takes the High Seat and provides spirit guidance for communities.
I also have a strong interest in working closely with the spirits of the land and local deities, wherever I find myself. I recently coined the term Feral Teacher for a much looser way of working: arriving in a location (of my own choice) and calling together a group of people interested in working with me for just one day, as directed by the spirits of place, maybe even offer a High Seat Ceremony "in the wild". I am currently planning to do this in Iceland, Summer 2027. Updates will appear on Substack!
BELOW: SOME FAVOURITE ARTICLES ON SUBSTACK (Just click on the image to read the piece!)
AND A SELECTION OF RECENT ARTICLES ON SUBSTACK:
CONNECT WITH ME!
My personal FB page (reached the friend limit years ago but all posts are set to "public"):
Regular Instagram: almqvistimelda
Art only page: imeldaalmqvist
I set two admins slots a week to respond to emails. I only rarely check DM's on social media platforms. They are not a reliable way to contact me.
