Understanding Wyrd (Fate) - From a modern day Seer, Völva & wyrd walker/workers perspective
In the old Germanic and Norse faiths, fate wasn’t a straight line.. it was a weaving. The Norns, three ancient beings, tended the loom of existence, binding every life into the mass web of reality.
But fate was seen in layers:
Orlög - the “primal law,” deep patterns set before birth, shaped by ancestry, clan, and cosmic forces.
Wyrd - the weaving of your own deeds, choices, and consequences within those larger threads.
The ancients believed that while no one could escape their orlög, the way they walked it - the wyrd they spun was always shifting.
The Old Wyrd Workers & Völva
In those days, wyrd walkers and workers were sought for guidance. The most revered among them were the völva, seeresses who carried staffs (seidstafr) and practiced seiðr - the craft of prophecy and weaving of fate.
The völva did not simply “predict” the future. She read the threads - past, present, and becoming. Through trance, chanting (varðlokkur), and ritual on the seiðhjallr (high seat), she revealed cycles unfolding, warned of chaos knots, or showed the way toward growth.
The Völuspá (Prophecy of the Seeress) in the Poetic Edda gives us a glimpse of such voices. There, a seeress recounts the beginning of creation, the deeds of gods, and the destined end at Ragnarök.
Weaving the Threads
Wyrd (Old English for “becoming”) isn’t about predestination in the modern sense. It’s not a script written in advance. Instead, it’s the interlacing of choices, actions, and consequences threads that knot together into patterns.
Each deed spins a new strand. Some threads are strong and bright.. others are thin, dark, or frayed. Yet all are woven into the whole, touching and crossing with countless others.
Your wyrd is yours, but it’s never separate. Every gesture, every word, changes the weave.. both your own and those around you.
Understanding wyrd/fate
To “understand fate” is to see the web..
As a wyrd worker this is how i see others threads of wyrd... I see what came before, what choices a person is going to make and what threads have been spun for that person's path. The threads overlap, interlock, fray and create new paths based on choices from the past and the present effecting action in the current.
All of these decisions effect a person's wyrd or fate path.. as individuals you make multiple paths untill you get to your 'fated milestones' within your orlog.
Fated milestones, are large events that happen in our lives that are predestined for instance the birth of a child, the death of a family member or friend, but they are also events that are destined to either pass a growth cycle or plummet into a chaos cycle of repetition. In each weft you also have what I call small fated events, but these are generally caused by your decisions in the path, they are the knots in the wyrd created as your going along.
What i mean by this is.. - the threads that are woven and the paths you pick leading up untill the wheel turns determines what happens next in the cycle..
What are Cycles?
Cycles are what ultimately are the time frame for our growth inbetween each fated milestones. When a milestone is hit the wheel turns again..
What paths you choose determines how intense, how chaotic, how nice, how accomplished your next cycle is and also how the main event will play out. Wyrd and the wefts are very complicated.. Sometimes you are given major lessons in your wyrd paths and these are to do with learning from your mistakes and growing as an individual.. the ultimate decision in whether you become wiser or if you end up creating a chaos cycle of repetion.
What are chaos Cycles?
Chaos Cycles are basically repetion of similar events or continuous case of bad luck so to speak.. chaos Cycles are born because you have not learnt from the past cycle.. you've either decided to continue being ill towards others, alow selfishness and ego to be forefront, not seen the bigger picture, focused only on the negative of what's around you or just basically decided to turn your back away from what the gods are trying to teach..
This is why over half the population of the world ends up stuck in repetion. There might be a desire to learn but when it comes to deep within the soul? The true intent is still not there.
Chaos Cycles of repetion in wyrd can also happen not necessarily because you are bad, it can happen because the Gods are trying to teach you a lesson in order for you to become wiser from it.. This can be because you need this skill set in order to benefit others and you have a much wider purpose in your orlog.
Types of wyrd paths
Wyrd paths are really complicated to understand but im going to try to explain it the best way I can..
Basically, each person in this current moment has multiple wyrd paths that they can choose to go down until that fated event. Some of these paths are -
• Some are Good
• Some are chaotic
• Some open doors to other ventures
• Some create new opportunities for the future
• Some create bad experiances for the future
• Some create growth
• Some create relapse and repetition
These paths that are woven become your decision from the norns in which you decide to go down on. But.. its not as simple as staying on one path, you as a person can actually end up going on a different path, blending the paths, fray the paths or even have the norns create multiple new wefts as your going along.. it all depends on what you do in the current and what you have done in the past to get to that fated moment.
Wyrd, Orlög & Ancestry
In the Norse mind, no thread was ever spun alone. Orlög (the deep law) was woven long before your birth, through the deeds of your ancestors and the choices of your kin. Some blessings, talents, or protections you carry are strands gifted from them. Some burdens, wounds, or repeating cycles are also inherited.
To work with wyrd is to honour both. You carry the golden threads as strength, and you untangle the knots left by those who came before. When you heal, your descendants inherit a brighter weave.
Wyrd in Community & Kinship
The Norse saw wyrd as not only personal but communal. A single deed could ripple outward into the whole tribe, shaping the fate of kin and community. Honour strengthened the weave for all, while dishonour weakened it.
This is why kinship, oath-keeping, and loyalty were sacred - every thread supported or endangered the whole web.
How to prevent chaotic cycles and repetion?
To prevent falling into chaotic cycles, you must become aware of the patterns you are repeating. Wyrd is shaped by choices .. so when you consciously shift your intent, you shift the thread.
Ways to prevent chaos cycles -
• Self-awareness; Reflect on past cycles and recognize where you’ve repeated harmful choices.
• Accountability; Take responsibility for your role in creating the pattern, rather than blaming only fate or others.
• Learning the lesson; Chaos cycles exist to teach. Ask yourself -what am I being shown here?
• Conscious choice; When faced with a similar situation, choose differently than you have before. This weaves a new thread.
• Balance ego with humility; Chaos thrives when selfishness, pride, or negativity lead. Align instead with compassion and growth.
• Spiritual connection; In Norse thought, the gods and ancestors guide us through wyrd. Listen to the Gods.
Remember -
chaotic cycles aren’t punishments, they are lessons. By facing them with awareness and courage, you cut through the weave of repetition and spin a brighter thread into your wyrd.
Ragnarök and the Turning of Cycles
The Norse understood even the end of the cosmos not as a final doom, but as part of the weave. Ragnarök (the fall of gods and the burning of worlds) was also the beginning of renewal. From the ashes, a new sun rises, green earth is reborn, and life continues.
In this way, the ancients saw every cycle of wyrd, no matter how dark, as ultimately leading to growth, rebirth, and becoming.
Living With Wyrd Today
Though we live in a modern age, wyrd is not a distant concept. It is alive in every choice you make, every pattern you repeat, and every thread you weave into your community and your descendants.
Ways to walk consciously with wyrd today:
✨️ Journal repeating life patterns and reflect on their lessons.
✨️ Honour ancestors through memory, offerings, or spoken words.
✨️ Pause before choices, asking which thread you are strengthening.
✨️ Seek wisdom in silence, meditation, or prayer to the gods.
By weaving with intent, you walk more closely in step with the Norns and the flow of wyrd itself.
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Wyrd & Flame 🔥