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January 14 – March 25, 2027
Join Norwegian-American culture bearer Kari Tauring for six classes exploring Norse spiritual traditions and the practice of Völva Stav.
We'll study staff rhythms, mythology, healing traditions, boundaries, plant lore, and more.
Kari approaches Nordic traditions without glorifying Viking violence or reinforcing patriarchal and white supremacist narratives, creating space for those who have felt excluded from Norse and Germanic spiritual studies.
Hybrid series with in-person and online classes. Join us for all six sessions or as many as you are able!
In-person classes will be held at Imani's Place, a community gathering space in the Folwell Neighborhood of North Minneapolis
We’re looking forward to gathering with you for Walking the Nine Worlds! Our sliding scale welcomes different financial circumstances and invites shared support for this winter’s learning. Choose the level that fits your resources.
Supported · $35 per class | $210 for all six sessions
A more accessible rate for those with limited financial resources. If this level makes participation possible for you, please choose it.
Sustaining · $65 per class | $390 for all six sessions
This rate helps cover the costs of teaching and hosting our classes. Choose this level if you can comfortably meet your needs and contribute at this amount.
Supporting · $100 per class | $600 for all six sessions
For those with room in their budget to give more. Your contribution helps make the supported rate possible and welcomes more people into the circle.
Every level offers the same full participation. We’re glad you’re joining us
Ancient Rhythms
January 14 -In Person -
Embody the World Tree using staff and stick rhythm. Stick rhythm is deep in Norse spiritual traditions. Völva means “staff carrying woman” in Old Norse. “Staving,” with a clean staff (stav) the size of a broom handle and a wand (tein) the size of a wooden spoon, we create the sounds and shapes of Norse creation mythology, runes of ice and fire. Ground in the roots and wells of the world tree and sing a bansul, a Scandinavian lullaby, about traveling through the nine worlds.
Nordic Plant Lore
February 25 - Zoom -
Going down the root with plant kin. In Old Norse cosmology, humans were made from plants. The soul part we share with plants is the part that returns to plants when we die. In the poetry, the tree was a metaphor for human and grove for community. Hear lore about juniper, a charm for the elderberry, and a horn or birch wrapped pine. Hear about the Kvann Project (Angelica archangelica), the older names of the plant, and the flute made from it. Learn a portion of the nine herbs charm from the Anglo- Saxon poem (year 900).
Nine Healing Goddesses
January 28 - Zoom -
The Edda poem Svipdagsmal name these nine female powers living on the Mountain of Medicine. The mountain holds the World Tree together. Learn through storytelling and song. Follow the staff rhythm and active visualization to locate them in your body! Hand Outs: Nine Healers by Kari Tauring Further Study “Soul Parts and Healing” Norway House Series
The Power of Breath in Prayer
March 11 - In Person -
Nordic horn ceremony appears in artwork from 15,000 BCE France. Drinking horns appear in the hands of powerful female mentors throughout Edda poetry. Horn ceremonial rules were laid out by Odin in the Havamal. Drinking and blowing horns appear in art and archeology with ceremonial significance. The use of signal horns is a pastoral practice used by Kari’s relatives in Norway until 1910. The world is made of sound (Ymir). Breath is a female healing power (Hlif). When we push breath through our bodies to create sound, we become the greatest horn of all! We will experience the differences in vibration between cow, goat, and bark horns and create community ceremony with each.
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Boundaries, Tools and Practice
February 11 - In Person -
Through story telling and art we go deeply into Nordic Boundary Setting tools Frigg Hand and Garden Gates used in Volva Stav self study program. We will learn about the oncepts of öorlog, frith, and grith, and the powerful female energies with these names. Explore the Frigg Hand and Garden Gates tools through art, collage, poetry, and personal interpretation.
Ceremony
March 25 - In Person -
We end our six sessions on “Maundy Thursday” of Holy Week. The intersection of Christian and Pagan spirituality is emphasized at Easter in Norse countries. Folk stories tell why witches retreat to the Blue Mountain on this night. The Saga song about Valkyries weaving on a grizzly loom takes place on Good Friday. We will enact a Finnish ritual for removing winter spirits from iron implements and a charm for blessing the witches when they return on Saturday! We will end with a Braggiful, a horn ceremony that allows us to announce the best things we have learned or done in the prior six weeks. This is the horn full that we will blow into the nine worlds! Bring an ancestral dish or drink to share.
Donyelle Headington and Folkways LLC presents
Three Recorded Sessions with volva Kari Tauring Available beginning December 10th, 2026
What is
Volva Stav?
Frith and Grith Introduction and Practice
Basics of
Norse Spirituality
Begin Your Journey Early
Three Recorded Introductory Classes
Available beginning December 10, December 17, and January 7.
Explore the foundations of Völva Stav, Frith and Grith, Frigg's Hand, and the language and spiritual traditions of Northern Europe.
Come for one class, join us for the season, or deepen your relationship with the practice of Völva Stav.