Utiseta -- Sitting Out for Vision

The rite, step by step

1. 1

   Choose Your Seat

   Find your spot outdoors as dusk approaches or after dark. Traditionally, crossroads, hilltops, and burial mounds were preferred. In modern practice, any place where you feel the boundary between worlds is thin will serve. Sit facing north. Wrap yourself warmly. Place a candle before you if you wish, but darkness is traditional.

2. 2

   Ward Yourself

   Before opening yourself to the unseen, set protections. Say: 'I sit under the protection of [your patron deity or the Norns]. I am open to what is true and reject what is false. I do not invite harm. I sit within my own power.' If you have a staff, plant it before you in the earth. The volva's staff (gandr) was both tool and ward.

3. 3

   Center and Descend

   Close your eyes. Take nine slow breaths -- one for each of the Nine Worlds. With each breath, feel yourself sinking deeper into the earth beneath you. Imagine the roots of Yggdrasil spreading beneath your body, connecting you to all worlds simultaneously. You are at the axis of the cosmos. You are sitting where the worlds meet.

4. 4

   Ask Your Question

   If you have come seeking an answer, speak your question aloud -- once, clearly, then release it. Do not grasp for the answer. If you have come simply to listen, say: 'I sit out to hear what the worlds would tell me. I am listening.' Then be still.

5. 5

   Sit and Receive

   This is the heart of utiseta. Sit in stillness. Let thoughts pass like clouds. Pay attention to everything: the wind, animal sounds, temperature changes, sudden images behind your closed eyes, unbidden memories, physical sensations. Do not analyze yet -- simply receive. The spirits speak in many languages: symbol, sensation, sudden knowing, the cry of a bird, the direction of the wind. Sit for at least fifteen minutes. Twenty to forty is better.

6. 6

   Return

   When you feel complete -- or when the cold, fear, or fatigue become too much -- take three deep breaths. Say: 'I return from the seat of vision. I carry what was given. I thank the spirits, the Norns, and the land for what has been shown. I close the way behind me.' Stand slowly. Stamp your feet on the ground three times to ground yourself back in Midgard.

7. 7

   Record

   Write down everything you experienced as soon as possible, before the rational mind begins to edit. Include: images, feelings, sounds, physical sensations, memories that arose, any words that came to you. The meaning may not be clear tonight. It often becomes clear over the following days.

More rites of this path