Wane Wyrds

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...