trollkunnig: 7/1/11

This Saturday morning I decided to make a visit to The Root Doctor.

For those who don't know The Root Doctor office is located in the deep forests of Värmland right by the foot of the great mountain Ransberg (Literary meaning is the berg of Ran!)

Indeed a name that conjures up my thoughts of mysterious places.

The road up to the doctors office goes right past the mighty river Klarälven, so even the drive there was quite spectacular. As you drive past the mansion of Ransberg and passes the old smith house on your right side with a small lake on your left, it feels like you have traveled back in time, to an age were conjure doctors were as common in our countries as they are in most of the rest of the world.

As a drive closer to the house on the winding road I see colorful prayer flags high up in the air, as if to greet me. Nd I know I have reached a magical place, by the roadside I even see an old wooden statue with striking eyes. I can tell it's been there for a very long time, guarding the place.

Then the two wonderful conjure doctors come out to great me.

I'll tell you about the doctors first out are Miss Benedikte, she is warm and kind, and when in her presence you know you are in the company of magical power. She tells me about her many different altars as she points them out, one more strikingly then the other. As the high trees and the deep forest are all around us, I get the feeling that the whole yard is a church, sacred space, out in the nature. Dr Johannes comes out from the office to great us. He has probably been busy with work for one of their clients. These two workers are highly sort after, and I'm grateful that they take some time out of their busy schedule to spend time with me.

The office is large and the walls are filled with spiritual supplies. There are candles of all sorts and lucky mojo supplies, as well as the Root Doctors own custom-made supplies on the tables.

Dr Johannes shows of his Spiritus.

A spiritus is a magical spiritual object highly sought-after in the old days, and perhaps even today. For the clients who long to own such a special and enchanted object, The Root Doctors are actually able to craft them for you. There are strong power in these spirituses, although they might not look much to the world, for untrained eyes at least.

As we head over to the house we walk into the forests for a while, there is a natural sacred natural spring only a few meters from the house.

Tools of the trade

Here are some of the tools and supplies used by the two Root Doctors, since the doctors work in both Scandinavian Trolldom tradition and African-American Hoodoo the implements of their trade is varied. Some tools we see here are for example Miss Benediktes divinatory tools, among her many other skills, she is also skilled in the traditional technique of stöpa. When you do stöpa you pour a liquid such as tin in water, this causes shapes to form. These forms are then read in a traditional method to see what is ailing the client.

There is lots too see at The Root Doctor, especially since Trolldomskapellet, literally the Chapel of Trolldom, has opened this week. It is temporarily set up in another house, since the chapel is undergoing some renovation work. I'll tell you more about that in another post.