Wane Wyrds

Tree carved sculptures of the Norns, Jutland, Denmark I am a little pressed for time this week so I thought I would write a quick post about the distaff, and it's historical and traditional use as a female tool of sorcery and magic, specifically within the tradition known as Seidhr. Seidhr is the magic art of sorcery that Freyja, Lady Vanadis, taught to Odin. Some believe that these teachings were part of what enabled Odin to take up the Runes, thought this is only speculation. The distaff is a traditional women's tool used on a practical level to hold unspun fibers, keeping them untangled during the process of spinning yarn. though some were attached to spinning wheels, the older version was simply a staff with the fiber twisted and tied about the top. This all sounds very mundane but the process of spinning, weaving, and knotting has a noted connection to magic and fate throughout Norse folklore as well as that of other Scandinavian cultures, s...

Heathen Temple This is a subject that is truly important to me, and one that is truly close to my heart. It is relevant to anyone of a religious or spiritual nature, and especially to pagans and heathens. For me, devoting time to my Gods would be like rule numero uno of any meaningful spiritual practice. Why is it so important to devote ourselves to the Gods? The most common argument is that we simply need to devote ourselves, given the predominance of Christianity in the last centuries of western culture. In other words, the pagan and heathen gods need our attention because they have been neglected so long. But what does it say about our beliefs about the Gods when we feel that they are somehow less powerful for our neglect, or that they need us? As a person of heathen faith, I do not feel the Gods need me to devote my time and attention to them in order to make them relevant. Indeed, I would not even begin to suggest such a thing to my Lady Freyja, for fear of her reaction. ...

An image from the Gundestrup cauldron featuring the God Cernunnos, found in Denmark  Something I have always found interesting as a heathen is the sometimes blatant refusal to lend any credence to comparative mythology between Celtic and Norse cultures. There is a similar attitude with Roman and Norse myths, but even this doesn't seem like as much of a leap to some heathens as a comparison of the Norse with the Celts. It has always seemed strange to me to completely ignore the widespread trend of cultural blending given it's predominance throughout most of human history. Yet how many of us, even in the postmodern age, are still drawn to that which is exotic and different from what we know? How many of us hold extensive collections of art and decor very different from our own culture? How many of us have been attracted to men and women with "exotic" features, how many of us have felt the inexorable pull of a foreign accent drawing us closer to attraction? As an...

So I had to share cause Im super stoked! Today I finally aquired a book I have been dying to read for nearly two years now. The Book is "Visions of Vanaheim" by Svartesol. Many Vanatruar that I know have recommended it to me since I found Freyja, for sheer amount of information it contains. It rings in at over five hundred pages. I am eager to see what the fuss is all about, and intend to discuss the contents I find relevant and share with you all in the coming months. I also read something interesting in it already. The first essay serves as an intro to Vanic practice, and discussed the possible linkage of the Wanes or Vanir to Anglo Saxon faiths more closely than Germanic and Scandinavian  traditions. I find this a bit questionable but think I will be looking into this issue more deeply. I never thought that I had any blood connection to the Gods, but I do have some ancestors direct from Britain. I am defo interested in finding out more, as my knowledge of Germanic hea...

Disablot: there is reference in some historical sources that men might be sacrificed to the Gods every 9 years as a part of the Disablot in ancient times Since many pagans celebrated Imbolc in the past few days, I thought I would write about the heathen holiday that corresponds, which is called Disting within Asatru and other heathen faiths. Disting in modern times is traditionally held in correspondence with Imbolc on Feb. 1st of each year, though in ancient times the date itself was not set in stone so to speak. The old ones followed the cycles of the earth and the signals of the land and skies to determine these holidays, which varied slightly from region to region. A Disablot blessing Disting is a blessing day, and marked the time of the year when winter's end was in sight, if not materially finished. This was a time of cleaning and preparing the tools, clearing the land, and sweeping the hearth in preparation for the coming planting season. It was also a time of w...

Modern etching of Havamal 143: Freetha on deviantart In Norse Paganism, as well as many other ancient pagan religions, blood played an important role in the spiritual process. I wanted to take a moment to talk about a couple of the spiritual rituals of heathenry that involve blood, as well as blood as a symbol. To the Norse, the blood is a sacred. Sacred in that it possesses the vital energies which constitute life. And this possession of life extended not only on a personal level, but a cosmological one as well. One's blood was not only a personal power source. One's blood contained both ancestral as well as divine powers. The Norse believed that their people were the actual flesh and blood descendants of the Gods. The God Heimdall was believed to have fathered the races of man, and many royal houses claimed that they were the children of specific Aesir and Vanir Gods. This was not a symbolic belief, but an absolute truth for the Norse. One's blood was a blending of...

It is widely believed in Norse mythos that women as a whole are naturally gifted in magick and prophecy. I won't go into detail here because that could be a book in and of itself, but suffice to say even a skimming of the Eddas and Sagas will illuminate the reader to this view. I am more interested in speaking about my own experiences and how the process of birth created a fundamental change in my spirituality. There was much horror involved in the process, and in some ways I felt as if there was a rift created in my spirit whenever I became a mother. I think this process explains some of the reasons that females in the northern tradition have traditionally been assumed to be naturally prophetic. In shamanic cultures worldwide, there is evidence for a traditional process of "facing death" in order to become a true shaman, and in turn create the ability to communicate with the spirit world. A ritualized or ceremonial death on both the physical and astral plane unloc...