Wane Wyrds

FREYR Key Words/Concepts FRITH PEACE GROWTH MALE SEXUALITY FERTILITY SACRED KINGSHIP “Freyr is the most renowned of the Gods; he rules over the rain and the shining of the sun, and therewithal the fruit of the earth; and it is good to call on him for fruitful seasons and peace. He governs also the prosperity of men. ”                (Gylfaginning XXIV,Brodeur) “ Frey is best of all the exalted gods in the Æsir's courts: no maid he makes to weep, no wife of man, and from bonds looses all.”                     (Lokasenna 37, Thorpe) Though Njord may be the true patriarch of the Vanir gods, it is Freyr who is most commonly viewed as foremost among the Vanir masculine gods. His name itself means “Lord,” a role which he encompasses beyond compare in the Vanir pantheon of gods. Freyr is a god associated heavily with the Norse concept of frith , a term with no equal ...

Do we really need to speak about the importance of UPG? It gets tiresome so quickly in the modern day heathen community. I have distanced myself considerably from online heathenry in all its forms lately for a variety of reasons both practical and necessary. I am out of the loop so to speak for several months now. My greatest interactions have been merely a glimpse into a discussion here and there when it pops up on one of my feeds. As a newly minted social worker, the majority of my study time has been dedicated to social rather than religious concerns lately. I can't deny that even in a short time, my lens has changed considerably. I am living a very different (and better) life now than I was when I first began this blog, and my beliefs have evolved much farther beyond what they were then. UPG is the "fuck" of the heathen vocabulary, or atleast seems so sometimes. Like fuck, for some it is a naughty word, and for others it is sacred. For a few it resides somewhere ...

Tonight I was reading a fairly dated (1982) academic essay called CONCENTRIC DUALISM AS TRANSITION BETWEEN A LINEAL AND CYCLIC REPRESENTATION OF LIFE AND DEATH IN SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY by H. A. MOLENAAR which I found to be seriously lacking on several points, but I digress. The essay is concerned mostly with Scandinavian cycles of death and its opposition to life, and it explores various ideals of the underworld presented in the myths. What I found most interesting about the essay was its short discussion of marriage as an opposite force to that of death, ie marriage as "life-giving" versus death as well, death.The author explored several examples of marriages and proposed marriages within the myths, the majority of which, no surprise, centered on the Vanir gods. There was some discussion in the paper of the inability of giants to secure goddesses as brides and bring them and their powers into their own world, yet it is common for male gods to bring giantess brides into t...

This post is intended as an illustration of one instance in which my practice as an earth based elemental witch melded with my faith as a Vanatru. I practiced witchcraft before I was called by Freyja, and to this day I believe there was a reason for this. I am aware that the idea of elements has no basis in historical philosophies related to the Norse culture. All the same, I felt powerfully drawn to the Vanir and Freyja in particular. I studied her lore for a year before I decided that this was the path for me. Part of the reason for that is what I learned about her and the history of seidr and magical art in the Northern regions of Europe. I should preface this discussion by explaining some of my beliefs about the elements. I use the system of four, earth, air, fire, and water. In my personal philosophy, the element of earth is primary, as every other element can be found within it. The most independent element (arguably) from the elemental earth I see as the element of wind. To...

It always amazes me the amount of judgment heathens place upon each other when it comes to the "rightness" of another's practice in the context of historical relevance. It really is a fool's argument no matter how you address it. I'm not saying that every practice should be respected here. There are most definitely those out there who are practicing harmful, questionable forms of heathenry with a heavy dose of bigotry and political extremism. I think we can all agree that it is damn right not only to question but to dismiss and shun such traditions. I am addressing more so the inane amount of quibbling over detail that goes on within pretty much every heathen forum there is out there about who is more "real" of a heathen than the next. It's ridiculous. Snorri "Unbiased" Sturluson  I preface this by saying I used to be the same way when it came to certain groups within heathenry. Once upon a time I was another Nokean voice in the crow...

The magical practice of seidr is closely associated withe the Vanir due to the lore of the goddess Freyja. Within the the lore it is stated that when Freyja came among the Aesir she taught Odin this magical art. It is also mentioned that the practice of seidr was considered "ergi" or unmanly, which some have suggested is due to the fact that in some ways this may indicate a passive or receptive sexual role. There is some indication that the practice of seidr my have involved ritualized sexual acts involving penetration with phallic objects that may have given rise to this association with receptive sexuality. The simple fact of the matter is that all we have left in evidence of these practices are mostly suggestive anecdotes or innuendos rather than solid evidence. The term seidr can mean many things depending on how one approaches the topic, but one of the more common meaning given is the term "seethe" or "seething" which would suggest a burning or boil...

This post falls more under the general witchcraft subject than anything particularly heathen. Out of disappointment with some recently purchased scent sachets for clothing and closets, I decided to make some of my own today and was very happy with how they turned out. My intentions were entirely practical until I started putting them together and realized that I had plenty of herbs and materials on hand to give them a bit of a magical kick. When I completed them I thought about sharing my experience in a post, particularly for those who are not out of the broom closet or prefer their own practices to be kept to a minimum level of awareness in regards to others. Photo: istockphoto.com/Monika Adamczyk These sachets are very simple to make and can be combined with a great many items for almost any purpose on the magical spectrum, from healing to cursing, with little chance that anyone would suspect they are anything other than a practical item. I will share the instructions for two...

The Blot, or more correctly punctuated blót, was a common Germanic ceremony in sacrifice to the gods. It is one of the most well known religious rituals of the Germanic people and was well documented within the surviving literary works of the Norse people. The world blót is an interesting one in the linguistic sense, and scholars are often debating about its origin and meaning. It is believed to be derived from the Proto-Germanic "blotan" which means to sacrifice or worship. Alternative theories connect it to other roots with meanings such as blood, flame, bubble, murmur, etc. By Rebecca Radcliff (Hljod.Huskona on Flickr.) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons The components of a blot were really quite simple, though their performance was time consuming. The first step was the sacrifice, usually of an animal. There is also some minor evidence pointing to a possibility of human sacrifices involved in blot, particularly aro...

I want this post to be very measured, and to make certain that my own thoughts about the validity or value of Pop Culture Paganism are not used as an assault or attack on those who practice it. So I start this post by saying that the opinions and thoughts contained here will reflect my own thoughts on the topic, and are in no way intended to be taken as a form of judgment against anyone and their own beliefs and practices. King Arthur of Britain by Howard Pyle 1903 (Public Domain) Man, Myth, or Fictional Character? We can quibble... It is entirely possible to hold your own beliefs on what has value while acknowledging that what has no value to you may be the bread and butter for someone else. My views on Pop Culture Paganism are similar to my views on mainstream Christianity in this way, yet one cannot help but see the vast distance between the values that they transmit within our culture.  I feel that every person in entitled by human rights to hold their own beliefs ab...

Hi everyone! This weeks post will be a continuation of the Vanir 101 series I started with the Basic Symbols of Freyr post. I will eventually try and post one of these for all the Vanir deities on a monthly basis, perhaps more often. In this post I will look at some of the basic symbols of the Vanir Goddess Freyja. In entirely unrelated news, I wanted to let everyone know that I will be on vacation for the next three weeks beginning Weds, so it will be a about that long before another post is up. Hope you enjoy the post! Symbols of Freyja The Brisings Necklace (Brisingamen) Brisingamen is the quintessential symbol of the goddess Freyja. The necklace was created by four dwarven brothers, and believed to contain magical powers of regeneration and fertility. These four dwarves may have been connected to the four directions, and the necklace itself symbolic of earth and its creative power. Freyja paid for this necklace by agreeing to sleep with each brother for a sin...

It's been hectic lately but I wanted to share some new things of mine, and some changes her on the site. There are some new writings on the Vanir gods that I have published both on my own and through another site that I want to share with everyone so you know where to find them. The first news is that I have published a new ebook on Amazon called Lore of the Vanir, a brief overview of the Vanir Gods . You can find it here at  Amazon: Lore of the Vanir Lore of the Vanir is basically a section of a larger work in progress that I decided to release on its own. It is a basic overview of the lore and attributes of the Vanir gods as individuals, as well as what I call the wights of the Vanir, which are non-Vanir beings closely related to them. There is also a section regarding questionable connections, with short overviews of some more obscure Germanic figures that some believe may be earlier forgotten Vanir deities. At the end is a couple pages of terms that I felt were import...

       Once upon a time I wrote a rather shitty post about Tumblr Lokeans . I decided today to remove it from the blog because in the year since I wrote it some of my perspective has changed, and I want my blog to reflect that. I also removed it because since I wrote it I have harbored some guilt and shame over how it might have contributed to negative opinions about Loki worship in general. There was some initial backlash against the post, but to be honest it was minor and I really haven't heard anything about it since about a month after it was published. I am not removing it because people were angry with it, or expressed disdain against the post. I am removing it because my own perspective has changed, and also because I felt that some of what I implied was outright hurtful to some, though that was never the intention. My inner voice every time I thought about the Lokean post for the last year...      Looking back, I can see that much of that...

In Part 1 of this series I explored the idea of trees as magical companions and spoke briefly about some simple ways to connect with them and form some sort of relationship to these natural beings. In this part I will explore connecting with them as sources of energy and talk about a simple healing ritual I have used with my own sacred tree that has worked well for me in the past. Trees as Energy Sources: Subtle yet Potent Trees, and plants in general, are in my mind very powerful vehicles for the flow of energy in nature. Particularly the energy of earth. They are some of the few living beings in nature that have access to both the external and internal energies of the earth, and as such are often symbolic of the cyclical flow of nature between life and death. Trees have access to both the creative and destructive aspects of earth.  The energy of earth is often viewed as much more subtle than that of the other elements, given that it is a quiet process, we cannot fe...

This post was written as part of a series on Elemental Earth Witchcraft. The term Earth Witch is used within the post, but can apply to any person who works with nature and the earth on a spiritual/magical level, and most definitely can include both Vanatru an other heathens.  Tree Magic   Yggdrasil, The World Ash            The tree is a natural living object which is perhaps most symbolic of the earth and its elemental energy. In myths from around the globe, the tree is depicted as a structure of support for the cosmos and the realms which reside within it. It is also deeply connected to the concept of fecundity and the flow of energy and life in the natural world. The image of the split section of the tree illustrates the cycles of the earth, and the cyclical movement of creative energy from dormancy to full bloom, life to death.           Outside of the potent ...

I feel like I have been posting more sort of exploratory stuff here and on my various social profiles, so I decided to do this post on the Vanir God Freyr. In the following post you will find a list of symbols or objects associated with Freyr, and the context within his lore. Such symbols can be used in a variety of ways, be it in ritual, prayer, art, or simply as a concrete means of connecting with the god Freyr. Symbols of Freyr The Boar The boar has far reaching connections within Vanir myth, and is connected to both Freyr and Freyja. Most notably, one of Loki's gifts to Freyr is the boar Gullinbursti, or Golden Bristles. With his glowing mane Gullinbursti is mount of Freyr, and allows the god to travel safely throughout even the darkest of realms without becoming lost. His glowing golden bristles light the path safely to the destination. The Antler The Antler is the weapon of Freyr, with which he used to slay the giant Beli and will used during Ragnarok in ...