The Pathwalker's Guide to the Nine Worlds

by Raven Kaldera

The Pathwalker's Guide to the Nine Worlds is the first written exploration of the ancient Norse/Germanic cosmology not by academics and mythologists, but by the experiences of northern-tradition spirit-workers astrally visiting the Cosmos of the World Tree and the Nine Worlds that surround it. Written as a travelogue and etiquette-primer for would-be worldwalkers, and centered around the author's experiences on a nine-day walking tour of the Nine Worlds, this is the first book of its kind ever published.

Genres: Paganism, Nonfiction, Magick, Religion, Magic, Spirituality

462 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

A female-to-male transgendered activist and shaman, Raven Kaldera is a pagan priest, intersex transgender activist, parent, astrologer, musician and homesteader. Kaldera is also the author of "Hermaphrodeities: The Transgender Spirituality Workbook" from XLibris Press. The founder and leader of the Pagan Kingdom of Asphodel and the Asphodel Pagan Choir, Kaldera has been a neo-pagan since the age of 14, when he was converted by a "fam-trad" teen on a date. Since then, he's been through half a dozen traditions, including Gardnerian, Dianic, granola paganism, Umbanda, Heithnir, and the Peasant Tradition. He is currently happily married to artist and eco-experimentalist Bella Kaldera, with whom he co-founded the Institute for Heritage Skills.

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a must read if you are a Rokkatru, sedirworker, or interested in Northern shamanism. With that said don't expect facts. This manual is all personal gnosis from Kaldera's point of view. I have found this book to be informative and a much needed guide. I say that because Kaldra works with the same "entities" I do. Overall his personal gnosis confirms my own. Most of the realms that I have visited through my pathworking is either similar or exact detail. There are many differences direction-wise, but overall I agree with most of what Kaldera has to say about Yggdrasil. But if you were to read this book 40 years later it could be wrong. The most important information is in Part 1: Walking Between the worlds. Kaldera explains what pathworking is, how to do it, and what the etiquette is. If the reader only takes one thing from this manual it would be, "if you don't have a good reason to go there, don't". (18) Simple.

Overall to me this book is necessary if you plan to pathwork through Yggdrasil.

[Yex · Rating 4 out of 5]

The primary value of this book is a wealth of personal gnosis relating to the author’s direct experiences in traversing the 9 Worlds of Norse cosmology. Its primary strength, as well as its primary weakness, is the author’s affinity for the Jotnar, and his devotion to the Death Goddess Hel. He speaks on matters pertaining to these entities with intimacy and eloquence; but the forces of the 9 Worlds that are in conflict with his spiritual allies are at best filtered through his own idiosyncratic lens, and at worst glossed over hastily. In particular, the sections on the Alfar and Alfheim (which is my own area of primary interest) rely almost entirely on the words of other spirit workers, and his account of his journey to Alfheim is disappointingly brief.

I don’t blame him for this; I doubt he could have written the book any other way. And what information there is on the Elves, drawn from others who work with them, is invaluable. It’s just that my own orientation is somewhat at odds with the author’s. Nonetheless, this is a great document of his own path, and especially as a reader approaching this material from a different perspective, the author’s wisdom imparts great compassion for some of the less accessible forces in the Northern Tradition.

[ThymeOperator · Rating 2 out of 5]

Skips around a lot, extremely subjective, and not the right vibe for me at all. Felt like a rushed jumble of just about every standard magical practice (like shielding), with no real focus. Didn't feel specifically linked to anything Nordic. Quit at page 100.