Wane Wyrds

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...