About Nine Knotted Thread
My name is Spencer Pearman, I am based in Longmont, Colorado, and began studying Trolldom in 2022 under Johannes Gårdbäck, a former practitioner and current teacher in Sweden. I have been working with clients from all walks of life with a range of different needs and situations. Each client gives me an opportunity to learn and experience something new as this practice puts the needs of the client first. The methods, techniques, and materials then follow and shape themselves to the need. It is with great care that I craft a working and with genuine concern for the path of the person who is in front of me.
Practicing a tradition from a different land brings its challenges and rewards as Trolldom meets the spirits of the land here, and finds a relationship of reciprocity and respect for the existing traditions that still permeate the landscape. It is no accident the stream of this tradition landed here, and it is a passion of mine to allow this process to unfold through the practice of this tradition.
More on Trolldom
‘Troll’ references what is unseen or other, making this the ‘art of the unseen’. This term has been used interchangeably with many other terms throughout time and geography, such as ‘someone who knows a little of this and a little of that’ or ‘one with the gift’ and traces of these terms can be found in currents of American folk magic traditions that are still alive today.
The practice of Trolldom will look familiar to those engaged with other folk traditions. The specifics of each, arise from the particular landscape and history of a culture, but the relationship with the natural world, and its use to address the needs of people living within it, is something shared among many forms of folk magic. Trolldom is a brother/sister/cousin tradition to a great many traditions of the world.
A Living Tradition
Today Trolldom practitioners have a wide range of tools and perspectives available that people wouldn’t have had a couple hundred years ago. This puts the practitioner of Trolldom, and perhaps any folk magic practitioner, in a unique place.
Illustrator John Bauer
In one hand is a love and reverence for the tradition. A desire for its preservation and continuation. In the other is the need to adapt to the changing of time and do what works for the client.
In this is the art of the always-sifting complexity of a living tradition.
Trolldom Today
Today, we are more familiar with terms such as magic, spellcraft, witchcraft, and contemporary developments such as energy healing, spiritual herbalism, and other forms of spiritual practice. Regardless of the framework, something always seems to rise within us to meet our needs in whatever way we can. The tradition of Trolldom opens to everything that can be useful, incorporating elements of hypnosis, and spiritism. Even contemporary practices of today are finding a home within Trolldom.
When the essence of this tradition is held then the practitioner is not threatened by anything new or changing, and when the needs of the client is put first, the practitioner has nothing to prove about the tradition or their standing in it. It is only the work to be done and that alone speaks for itself.
The aim of Trolldom has always been to address the real needs of people using whatever is available, and this is how I conduct myself as a carrier and practitioner of this tradition.
My Approach
This work can be powerful and lead to a lot of change and growth in one’s life. As such, respect for the work becomes important in how a spell or ritual will plant itself.
One useful way to orient oneself is to think about the direction one wants to move towards. A spell or ritual can create a shift in that direction, and over time, however small that shift is, the movement can become significant.
Another way to think about spell work is making something more available in your life, taking something that has been good, something that has worked for you, and turning it into a powerful resource.
These are only a couple of approaches that one may find useful. Ultimately, what a “spell” or “magic” is cannot be pinned down and defined, only chewed on in different ways to see whether something useful comes from it. It’s always a gift for me to be able to see the different ways my clients interact with these workings to unfold their nature and growth. To watch the variety of ways people have learned to thrive within their reality and the ways their own wisdom guides them to grow beyond what they could imagine, when given the chance.
