My favorite areas of magickal study and practice are the wild and woolier ones. Although my background is rooted in traditional western occult sources, the territory I love is out past known documentation and established practice. I like FAFO magick – the kind where we take threads from historical sources and try to braid them into something coherent through experimentation. And then, I like to take my braid and share it with others in order to add to the field. I am most interested in magick I can do rather than contemplate, and I strive to create replicable patterns that can then be used by others.This tendency means that I regularly get how-to requests, which is how today’s blog came to be.
Útiseta translates to “out-sitting” (also sitja uti – sitting out) and is a form of mystical information-seeking that appears in historical Scandinavian and Icelandic written sources. In the Heathen revival, it is a technique that many of us are trying to redevelop. But, as with a lot of contemporary Heathen material, the information available on útiseta ranges from New Age drivel to appropriated techniques from other cultures to an oversimplification that simply describes útiseta as meditation.
As a revivalist, I look to history, written records, and archeological analyses first. The foundation we build contemporary Heathen practice on matters. A strong, stable, historically rooted foundation connects us with our ancient kin of faith as well as systems of magick spiraling back to 500 BCE or earlier. It makes for a coherent structure, which makes for better magick.
So, when a friend asked for a clear instruction list on how to perform útiseta and how much time to allot for it, I just couldn’t help myself. Here’s the answer, in way more detail than you probably want.
Where:
Let’s start with what we think we know about where útiseta happened. Útiseta appears to have been performed outside:
“Sigurd went up the mountain and sat there for three days and three nights, and was alone until he saw lightning flash in the mountains. Then he fell to this place and came to a ruined city, where he took up arms.” – Saga of the Volsungs (Völsunga Saga)
“They sat outside during the night and wanted to know their fate.” – The Saga of the Sworn Brothers (Fóstbræðra saga)
And not just outside – útiseta was regularly performed on grave mounds.
“He sat on a burial-mound and saw nine valkyries ride past.” – Helgakviða Hundingsbana I
“Wake up, Gróa! Wake excellent lady!
I awaken you at the doors of the dead.
If you remember, you invited your son
to come to the grave-mound” – Gróagaldr
One conclusion we can draw from these sources is that útiseta was performed outdoors in a way that brought the practitioner into contact with liminality. Wild places like the top of a mountain, places associated with the dead like burial mounds, and timings associated with magick and the movement of spirits like the darkest hours of the night are all examples of liminal sites and timings.
Speaking of timing, útiseta appears to have been a lengthy process. Three days and nights, all night, and a full day and a night in the case of Thorgeirr Thorkelsson:
“And when people had returned to their booths, Thorgeirr lay down and spread a cloak over his head, and lay like that all day and all night, until the same time the next day.” – Íslendingabók
Why:
Útiseta was performed for different reasons. In Grógaldr, Gróa’s son Svipdag sought a way out of a predicament he found himself in. Gróa, his dead mother, responded by teaching him 9 charms or galdr from the grave mound. In the Voluspa from the Poetic Edda, Odhinn consults a dead seeress who appears to be performing útiseta. He seeks knowledge and the seeress predicts the world’s end at Ragnarok, including Odhinn’s own death:
“I sat alone
When that ancient one came to me
…
I saw more and more,
Looking out over all the worlds
…
I know much wisdom
I see deep in the future,
All the way to Ragnarok,
A dark day for the gods” (Crawford)
In Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, the man sitting on the burial mound was previously nameless. The valkyries in his vision give him a name (Helgi) and also teach him of his purpose in life.
In the Saga of the Sworn Brothers, the protagonists sit out to know their fate.
Potential motivation for útiseta also appears in late period documentation that made the practice illegal.
“All men who violate pledges of peace and security given between people in cases of killing, they are úbótamenn [severe criminals – outlawed with their possessions confiscated] having forfeited their rights to peace and property, land and movables, odal-land as well as other land…for sitting
out at night to call forth trolls and thus promote heathen worship… the king lets be punished for the purpose of peace and cleansing the country for miscreants.” – The Older Gulathing Law
“If a man sits outside to awaken trolls or perform heathen rites, he is outlawed.” – Gray Goose Laws (Grágás, Konungsbók)
So, a short list of reasons to perform útiseta includes: to receive guidance, to learn magick, to know the future/one’s fate, to worship/perform rites, and to awaken trolls (beings associated with the practice of magick).
How:
And now we get to the hard part. Based on the written records of útiseta, we don’t know the specifics of how this was done. Did people carry offerings with them? How about figurines representing spirits? Were there any preparations beforehand?
Although the practice of útiseta was outlawed, one way this form of information-seeking evolved to meet the letter of the law takes the form of the Swedish årsgång. The årsgång is a walk taken at night around the turning of the year (Christmas and New Year’s Eve are both recommended as potential timings) in order to know how the year will go. We do have some specific information about how the årsgång was approached. Some of the written instructions include:
- Fast the day of the årsgång, especially the noon meal
- Do not tell anyone where you are going
- Do not greet anyone once you have begun
- If you are doing an årsgång with other people, you cannot walk more than 2 abreast
- Do not look back
- Be silent
There are other instructions for the practice of årsgång, but the ones listed above seem most consistent with what we know of the historic practice of útiseta.
So, let’s put it all together. What follows is my own reconstruction of útiseta based on attempting to be in co-creative, respectful dialogue with the past. You absolutely will find different reconstructions online, and some of them will contradict my own take. Inclusive Heathenry is a revivalist religion, which means a plurality of forms. If my own reconstruction doesn’t fit for you, perhaps another person’s will.
Know Why You’re Going
Determine what you hope to accomplish through útiseta. Do you seek knowledge of the future? Contact with your ancestors? Spirit allies? All of this is possible, but it changes the supplies you’ll bring and where you’ll go.
Select the Location
Útiseta takes place in liminal spaces, outside the civilized bounds of one’s backyard. For the most effective communication, one should seek to be away from one’s normal sphere of influence. This may mean looking up parks that allow camping or talking to friends who have access to land that includes wilderness areas. As a beloved friend says, you should be a little scared while you’re practicing útiseta. The entire point is to come into contact with the unseen.
Determine the Timing
Útiseta is not a quick process, nor should it be. There is deep wisdom to be gained through navigating the boredom/frustration/anxiety that occurs while we are waiting. In a culture that focuses on instant gratification, útiseta is a technique that roots us to the deep past and a different way of living. At the very minimum, útiseta should take 6 hours or so. For most of us, it is an all night vigil.
Since a lengthy period of time is needed for útiseta, remember to make plans for your biological needs (water/snacks/bathroom) over the course of your experience.
Prepare your Supplies
Specific supplies will vary depending upon the purpose of your útiseta and the season/timeframe, but some options are:
- Blanket or cushion to sit on
- Flashlight and bug spray (if needed – I live in Maryland and our bugs are vicious)
- Journal, pen, and battery/rechargeable reading light
- A small trash bag for any trash you find on your way/at your site
- Cloak or jacket (even in summer, it can get quite cold around dawn)
- Offering for the landvaettir (wherever you go, there will be land spirits)
- Supplies for a fire if you plan to light one (this is highly variable, many of us feel the darkness is more helpful for útiseta but in some areas and times of year a fire is the safest option)
- Object or offering related to the spirits you hope to contact
- An ancestral item for the ancestors (photo, jewelry, or other touchstone) and offering
- Representation of desired spirit to contact (norns, valkyries, trolls, etc) and offering
- Supplies to support worship – physical representation of spirit(s) and offerings
- Water (if you plan to drink)
- Food/snacks (for afterwards if not during)
Prepare for Útiseta
In the days or even weeks leading up to útiseta, spend time in contemplation about what you wish to learn or accomplish. Begin making offerings to and meditating on any spirits you are trying to connect with.
Inform one or two emergency contacts where you will be going and make a plan for checking in. For example, “if you haven’t heard from me by 7 AM on Saturday, please come check on me/send help.”
Gather your supplies together and package them in a form that is easy to carry (like in a backpack or satchel).
If fasting is medically safe and something that supports transcendental experiences for you, fast the day of your útiseta starting at the midday meal if not before.
Begin
Become silent and set your intention. Speak to no one (unless no other option is available) on the way to the site of your útiseta. I personally recommend leaving before full darkness in order to arrive at your location safely.
When you arrive, make an offering to the landvaettir, honoring them for allowing your presence in their space.
Set up your supplies – place your cushion or blanket, preset your flashlight, journal, pen and cliplight, and set up any figurines/representations/other items you brought to support your experience.
If you are including a fire, build and then start the fire.
Make offerings to the spirits you seek. You can recite litanies of praise, make entreaties, or simply express gratitude.
Sit. Allow your awareness to expand into the place you have selected. Pass through the attempts your brain will make to distract you. Simply breathe and focus on your goal. Deepen.
When revelations and insights occur, jot them down.
If you experience spirit contact, write down all that you remember of that contact after it concludes. You may experience multiple rounds of contact over the course of a night.
When your útiseta is complete (when the sun rises, or when your predetermined time has elapsed), express gratitude to all spirits you encountered over the course of the night and the landvaettir of that location. You can make additional offerings if you have the supplies for it.
Pack up all of your belongings, making sure to leave the space in the same condition (or better) than you found it.
Depart the space and carefully make your way home, checking in with your emergency contacts. Gently reintroduce food to your system and drink plenty of water. Rest if you are able to.
After Útiseta
One of the interesting aspects of revelatory and transcendental experiences is the way they sometimes take time to fully integrate. I’ve had the experience of a spirit message or encounter only making sense 6 months after the fact, or longer. Allow your experience of útiseta to support and inform your practice, but try not to fully interrogate it. There’s a danger in too much examination – we can limit our experiences by deciding too early what they meant. Let the experience filter into your life in the various different ways it is meant to. Make art about it. Journal about it. Dance or take long walks about it. And then return to the wilds when you need to.
May your visions be blessed. May your spirits guide you. May you always return safely home.
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