Over 300,000 members in this subreddit, and yet…not a single Leech

[AlexandriaJane]

Greetings.

I know this is a bit much, but humor me for a moment. It’s important. ^(also, the good stuff’s at the end)

Type in “leechcraft” into the search bar. Please and thank you. Ok, good. Did you find anything? No? What about “leechdom”? I’ll wait. Ughhh, ok, still nothing. Hmmm…perhaps we can go with the original spelling of *læce*? No, of course that doesn’t pull up anything.

Maybe we’ll have better luck shifting gears to a different practice, then. What about *seiðr*? It’s that mysterious type of trance magic specific to witches in Scandinavia during the Viking Age. Occult enthusiasts have inquired about it here, before. Surely they have come to know of Neil Price, then? He’s the British archaeologist who produced the single best piece of academic analysis on the topic of *seiðr* to date. Hmm, hold on…nothing is pulling up. Is my search bar malfunctioning?

Nope, it seems to be working fine. It appears that, despite there being literal *hundreds of thousands* of users subscribed to this most witchy of subreddits, not a **single** post has been submitted which provides for a comprehensive detailing of these practices.

I want to change that.

A quick background of myself: I am reconstructionist hǣþen whose studies have greatly informed my own ritual practices. I am fairly close to finishing my bachelor’s degree in History and Religious Studies, so naturally, I have familiarized myself with a variety of primary and secondary sources regarding the magic-minded societies of old. There are several key books in my personal library which I have come to value as absolutely essential in developing an understanding of not only what magic *is* and *was*, but how one might go about practicing in a way which is respectful of diverse cultures and folk traditions in which you might not be familiar.

It is these sources which I want to share with you. Not because I believe that every part of your practice must have historical precedent, but because I believe that it is invaluable to be informed.

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**\*\*\*\*DISCLAIMER\*\*\***

My specialty is historical northern European witchcraft, as will be evidenced by the sources listed below. However, I am certain that much is to be desired regarding knowledge about the various magic and spiritual beliefs, observances, rituals, and wisdoms of diverse communities across the world, at least as far as this sub is concerned. As I cannot speak for these communities, I will let them do the talking, should they choose to do so. Otherwise, I implore you to educate yourselves to the best of your ability so that you aren’t stepping on the toes of any marginalized groups, especially those whose practices are “closed”.

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Now without further ado…onto the Reading List:

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* For information specific to leechdom:
* **Title**: *Leechcraft: Early English Charms, Plantlore, and Healing*
* **Author**: Stephen Pollington
* **About**: Pollington is an English researcher who focuses his writings on Anglo-Saxon England. His books come with extensive bibliographies and citations, all which I would encourage you to explore as you engage with this particular book. It provides a thorough breakdown of historical English ideas and methods for healing and leechdom. The text includes information on charms, herbs, curses, medical manuscripts, amulets, and oral spells. It also includes a section on the *vocabulary* of witchcraft, a topic I found of particular interest considering the value of linguistics to historical study.

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* For information specific to *seiðr* and Norse magic:
* **Title**: *The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia*, second edition
* **Author**: Neil Price
* **About**: This is probably my most prized from the list. Neil Price is a British archaeologist and professor at Uppsala University, Sweden. His revised edition of *The Viking Way* in invaluable to those who wish to educate themselves on old Norse religion, magic, and belief. While information on the art of *seiðr* is more than sparse, Price manages to produce a work of wonder by serving us nearly four hundred pages of comparative research. He sources various ethnographies, medieval Icelandic texts, archeological finds (amulets, wands, staves, ships, burial mounds), and more. He also includes a substantial amount comparative research on neighboring cultures and traditions, such as those of the indigenous Sámi people.

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* For information on the relationship between magic in medieval Europe and the interventions and influence of the Roman Church:
* **Title**: *The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval Europe*
* **Author**: Valerie I.J. Flint
* **About**: Flint was a British historian who wrote on the topic of magic in medieval Europe and its persistence in daily life in spite of the efforts of ecclesiastical leaders and governing bodies. Her book discusses divination, astrology, demons, angels, dreams, love magic, medical magic, and condemned magical activities. As with the previous two entries, she provides an extensive bibliography and heavy citations for the ready to explore.

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* For even more information on witchcraft in medieval Europe:
* **Title**: *Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages*
* **Author**: Stephen A. Mitchell
* **About**: Mitchell is a scholar and professor at Harvard University. His research pertains to Scandinavian culture and literature. In his book, he analyzes medieval law codes, Icelandic sagas, runic spells, Roman Church records, various other sources to piece together the scene for witchcraft in northern Europe. Mitchell pays special attention to the role of *gender* in magic, and takes care to examine the social attitudes about female-ness and systems of power throughout his study.

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* For those interested in the broader study of entities in the home and hearth:
* **Title**: *The Tradition of Household Spirits: Ancestral Lore and Practices*
* **Author**: Claude Lecouteux
* **About**: Lecouteux is a French scholar and philologist with his PhD in Germanic studies. His book on household spirits is a relatively easy read in comparison to the previous entries on this list. His book contains information on historical attitudes and beliefs surrounding spirits who reside within the household. He examination focuses primarily on Scandinavia, France, Germany, Russia/Siberia, and Romania, though he does touch on practices from other locations such as China and Africa. His book analyzes housing layouts, anthropomorphism, imps, elves, hearths, offerings, marriage ceremonies, appeasement magic, and more.
* For those interested in the broader study of entities *outside* of the home, see Lecouteux’s *Demons and Spirits of the Land*. It is similar in nature to his previous book, only now with a focus on the more dangerous spirits who reside within rivers, forests, mountains, lakes, and springs.

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Thank you for the read. I hope this list is able to assist you in your practices and studies 🙂

Discussion

[Lil-Diddle]

These are the posts i live for.

[TheMagnificentPrim]

You are the kind of people I love! It really is hard to find sources; I like for my own craft to be informed by historical practices as much as I can swing, so I thank you deeply for putting this together.

[TaterThought2]

This is the kind of quality posts we need. So sick of the “my family is cursed because normal things happen to us” and “how can I curse my ex–trust me–they deserve it” posts

Ever since that clock app this sub has devolved into whiny noonesense. We used to have deep discussions that *actually* improved the witchcraft in our lives. Honestly, it just feels like a high-school drama club at times.

I wish the sub would make a rule that all curse questions need to go into one thread.

End rant .

[nation543]

well this is neat. thanks for sharing.

[limo1911]

Thank you for sharing I just wonder how hard is it to get your hands on these books?

[freehorse]

Okay but listen, thank you for this post! I admit I’m embarassed that I first learned about seiðr from watching my husband play through Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. It resonated with me, but I was struggling to find a lot of reliable, written material about it.

And frankly I didn’t want to offend by asking around and being like, “yeah I heard about it through a video game”, lol.

Definitely gonna check out Neil Price’s work. If nothing else, just for the additional knowledge because artifacts are *cool*.

[Certain_Exchange9852]

Thank you so much for sharing this treasure trove of information!

[Robotuku]

I wanna be your friend. I’m also a reconstructionist (interested in Pict+Celtic+Germanic/Nordic) but I’ve struggled finding enough info in my research. This is so cool!

[putrefaxian]

Bless, I’m thrilled to see this post and have some new threads to pull!

[elliottristis]

i enjoyed this. like everybody said these posts are what we are looking for, actually reading about other practices and stuff, thanks.

[dragracesssss]

From a green witch/herbalist/healer, thank you so much! I didn’t even know about this! Thank you so much!

I’m metis, traced my origins back to Scandinavia, indigenous people of Canada, and Britain. Definitely going to take a look at these because I know a decent amount of indigenous magick and healing already. Thank you so much!

[Quelcris_Falconer13]

I work with leeches sometimes in the medical field (they re-vascularize tissue. So when someone has a trauma and has a flesh flap or skin flap, we put leeches on them)

I fucking hate bugs. I watched a nurse put them on a patient and one of the little fuckers tried to jump and nearly got me. I, a fully grown 30 year old man who works out a few times a week, jumped a mile high and screeched just a little bit

[msmusings-]

Thank you, thank you!

[NWAsquared]

This post. This is the way. Thank you, OP

[tryingtobecheeky]

You absolutely rock. Thank you for sharing this.