One of the exercises I have my apprentices do is travel to the nine realms in trance. Upon giving the assignment I am invariably asked if that includes Hel. Well yeah. How else does one perform seidr if they don’t travel to Hel? Hel is where our ancestors dwell. The source of great wisdom. So after any initial misgivings my apprentices show their true brave side and take the journey.
These journeys are always a trip into the unknown. No matter how prepared you may be there are just too many variables to account for. You can never be quite certain who you’ll run into. It could be a major deity like Odin in Asgard. Or Hella in Hel. Meeting Hella the first time can be a bit intimidating. She’s quite a force of nature! She appears to me in the midst of a windstorm. Lots of heated air blowing about. But that’s about as scary as she gets. At last the windstorm dies down and all becomes unearthly still. Then she appears. She’ll ask me my business with her. I tell her and most times things move along smoothly. I think because I bring meat for her dog she takes me seriously!
So even a trip to Hel can be realitively unremarkable. Just another task in the life of a Vitki. I urge all of you to take this trip. You never know what wisdom awaits you. Until you try!
