Dean Kirkland, scarecrow, is an English shamanic practitioner and vitki  based in the UK. A practising heathen for over 25 years he acts as  goði (ritual specialist) for the Three Castles Heathen kindred which covers Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. 

​

​After completing a shamanic apprenticeship with the Sacred Trust  and subsequently being initiated into Andean shamanism, for the past 10 years he has been working with other people around Europe on the reconstruction of indigenous European shamanic traditions, particularly seiðr. Combining  practical knowledge of shamanic techniques with the latest archaeological evidence to try to be as historically accurate and as close to the way our ancestors may have done things as possible.  

​

But there are many gaps in the Heathen lore, and failing new evidence being found much room for interpretation. Therefore everyone's ways of teaching seiðr are different, there is no single definitive methodology.  So while at Scarecrow we  believe it's better to try to pick up seiðr as close to where the ancestors left off,  there is still room for the development of significant personal gnosis. However we aim always to tell which of our teachings are directly supported by the lore and which may involve more UPG or SPG,  though hopefully remain within keeping of the spirit of the lore.

​

We firmly believe that knowledge should be shared freely within the heathen community, and there should be no artificial economic barriers to this.  However  we also have certain costs we have to cover. So the majority of training will be by donation, just pay what you can. Where we have to charge course fees will will always try to keep these to a minimum, and some scholarship places will  always be available, just ask us about them.