Great Video

Heathens call it Wyrd.

This is what Frigga weaves. This is what Odin manipulates. This is what the Norns embody.

Our ancestors knew all of this, they just didn't describe it in scientific terms. They used the language of mythos to describe the same thing. But they knew it just the same.

Hail, hail, hail.

We ARE one.

Musings on Loki

I had a lot of thoughts on Loki today that I wanted to journal about.

I was reading D. Jason Cooper's book "Esoteric Rune Magic" today, and in the section on the Perdhro rune he wrote that this is the rune associated with Loki, and that invoking Loki was good only for lies, trickery, deception, destruction and all kinds of vile, nasty things.

I think this shows a tremendous amount of shortsightedness on the part of Mr. Cooper to write such things, esp. when I consider that he included in his listings for further reading the very Poetic Edda itself.

Many Pagans have a very unfair view of Loki. Most people in general, if they are familiar with the Norse Gods at all, assume Loki is evil and bad and basically the Norse version of the devil.

This He is not. He is, in fact, blood brother to Odin Allfather -- and Odin Himself willingly entered into such a relationship with Loki, knowing exactly what Loki was and what He was like.

Odin and Loki are not blood brothers as we humans usually understand that word, meaning two people with the same parents. There is a specific oath Odin swore, that ale would never pass His lips unless Loki was also served at the same time; this underscores the importance the Northern people put on hospitality as one of the highest of virtues. It rather reminds me of what Christ said when He said it's easy to love your friends and family, but loving your enemies was a whole other story...and yes, Loki can be tough to love sometimes, but not impossible. Abe Lincoln said he got rid of his enemies by making them into his friends, and I think this is the sentiment behind Odin's vow about never drinking without Loki present and also being served.

And bear in mind that Odin is the Lord of Asgard. He is the big cheese, as it were.

Anyway, Loki was not born one of the Aesir. Loki is a Jotun, a fire giant from Muspellheim. It's interesting that Odin swore an oath of blood brotherhood with one of the beings that is usually inimical to the human race and to the Aesir; I'm sure Odin thought that He could put Loki's talents to use on behalf of the Aesir, and if nothing else Odin knew He couldn't just turn His back on an entire race of beings, esp. considering that at the Ragnarok the Aesir and Jotun will fight and all the World Tree, the Yggdrasil, will be utterly destroyed. Odin will fall to Fenris-wolf, as the wolf falls to Odin. Heimdall goes head to head with Loki, and they destroy each other.

Of course, there is a happy ending to all this; from the ashes of the old world rises a whole new world, with new deities and new opportunities. Even many Heathens forget about this part of the story.

Not all of what Loki does leads to bad things, but He does often resort to questionable means to get to it, and He really challenges people to think about whether or not the ends justify the means. If nothing else, His blood-brotherhood with Odin (the God that can be said to represent sheer awareness and consciousness itself) suggests that Loki and the chaotic nature He is given to is just part of the territory of the human mind. With awareness comes the ability to trick and play games.

Some of the beneficial things that Loki has turned up include Odin's magical arm-ring, Draupnir. This arm-ring, every 9th night, produces 8 new rings exactly like itself. This ring is what Odin laid on the funeral pyre of His son Balder, and I have a sneaking feeling that what this is all about is Odin giving Balder the power of regeneration; Odin did also whisper a rune or "mystery" into Balder's ear before setting the pyre aflame. Balder later emerges from Helaheim after the Ragnarok arm-in-arm with His brother Hodr, the blind God of Fate who, along with Loki Himself, had slain Balder. There is a theme of reunion and forgiveness there.

Something else that Loki gifted the Aesir with was His own son, Sleipnir, Odin's 8-legged horse.



Loki had shape-shifted into a mare so as to seduce Svadilfari, the magnificent stallion that was helping one of the Jotun rebuild the wall around Asgard that had been damaged during the war between the Aesir and Vanir. This Jotun (whose name escapes me right now) said if he could complete repairs of the wall in a given amount of time, he wanted the Moon and Sun for his own, as well as Freyja as his wife. Loki agreed to this, and the Aesir were pissed with Him for that. But Loki said, "Oh there's no way he can get it done." But he almost did, and so Loki had to do something to put a stop to it. It was His idea to let the Jotun work on the wall, after all. So He turned into a mare, seduced Svadilfari, the job wasn't completed in time, and Freyja didn't have to marry the Jotun. The colt born of the union between Loki and Svadilfari was Sleipnir.

Personally, I find it significant that Loki actually worked to undermine another Jotun, on behalf of the Aesir. That to me suggests and least a certain amount of loyalty from Loki.

Freyr's magnificent golden boar Gullinborsti, as well as Thor's hammer Mjollnir, Sif's long golden hair, and Freyr's magical ship Skidbladnir which could be folded to pocket-size were also some of the wonders that Loki acquired for the Aesir. Loki can be generous.

Loki is an agent of change, sometimes beneficial, sometimes not. That's not exactly demonic, but most people fear change. I know I'm not always comfortable with it. Especially when I don't know what is on the other side of that change.

I can see why Loki is also a fire etin/jotun. ("Etin" is a Germanic term, if memory serves -- "jotun" is old Norse, but they both refer to basically the same kind of being.) Fire is an element of transformation, and is dangerous to handle.

I wouldn't take Uncle Fox too lightly, though. (Uncle Fox is one of Loki's nicknames.) He can be pissy. Read in the Poetic Edda the story "Loki's Flyting" also called the Lokasenna. It's a poem that reminds me a LOT of Eris not being invited to the wedding banquet of a certain king and his new queen. Eris created trouble for the guests by rolling a golden apple into the hall, upon which was inscribed "Kallisti" meaning "For the fairest."

Loki was cast out of Odin's hall from a feast, and He was very upset, and He returned to remind Odin of the oath He had sworn. He then began a ritualized insulting of every last one of the Gods and Goddesses there, speaking very openly about all the scandal He could drag up about each one there. It got ugly. After that He went away, and began plotting how to get back at the Aesir. He found a way -- He destroyed Balder and instigated the Ragnarok.

I think the stories of Eris and the Lokasenna both remind people that it's very dangerous not to be open to the forces of change, chaotic as they can be. Hubris is often the downfall of kings and nations in a lot of myths and stories.

Something else that got my attention about D. Jason Cooper's book was that he thinks that Idunna's apples are apples of immortality. This they are not. The Gods consume Idunna's apples because they keep them perpetually youthful, but not immortal.

If the Gods were immortal then there would have been no point behind Frigga going through the Nine Worlds to extract promises from everything to not harm Baldur, and the entire Ragnarok could not possibly occur. And if the Ragnarok can't occur, then there's no point to have Loki trussed up on a rock with the guts of His own son as his bindings, the venom of a snake dripping from above into His face (courtesy another jotun, Skadhi), and Fenris-wolf (another of Loki's offspring, along with Hela Herself) also trussed up with a sword holding his jaws open.

No, the Gods are definitely mortal.

I have to wonder if on some level or another, Loki knows that the change He brings is often very necessary to spiritual growth, to maturity, to learning. That's why He does what He does, and sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it will bring one screaming to one's knees in utter agony. But it's life.

What would life be if everything stayed the same all the time? Boring as hell. And not very challenging.

That would be life without Loki Laufeyson. He can be hard to get along with, He can be barrels of fun. There's just no telling what will happen next with Him.

A Response For Cat

Cat Chapin-Bishop left me this note:

You write, "Part of that might be a Frigga thing. Heathens know about Frigga and silence," and I am filled with curiosity...

I know that I pretty much keep what Norse mythological elements crop up in my Pagan workings to myself; I'm just tired of being told that my visions don't fit the Eddas. (If a spiritual life that is consistent with written material were my primary concern, why wouldn't I be a fundamentalist Christian, I wonder?)

I'm not saying I'm fond of shoddy scholarship. But I do find a certain heavy-handedness among a fair number of Asatruir--along with the tendency to shout at the gods during ritual, as they are presumably hard of hearing...?

"Axetru"--yeah. Or "Norse Fundamentalist"--something I've sometimes irritably been inclined to say, to characterize things I find annoying in the Heathen community.

Nonetheless, Heathens have a lot of strong and beautiful elements to their practice. The gods themselves, of course... a more down-to-earth approach to community and to ritual than is often found in Wiccan circles, at least. I wonder if it is possible to hold out against the borg-like assimilationism of eclectic Wicca, but without quite so much heavy-handedness?

Maybe it's time for someone to begin speaking out for hospitality and graciousness among Heathens? That would be nice. And not out of character for the religion, as I understand its history...

Perhaps this blog will become one such voice? I hope so. I'm certainly enjoying your writing so far.

I blush, Cat. I hope it can become one such voice. Oh, I'm given to flights of temper at times, as is any human woman, and I hope I can be forgiven for it if it does pop up. I'm a Sagittarius, after all! But I don't really mean any harm when I accidentally step on people's toes.

You inquired about Frigga and silence. Oooh, that's a huge lesson that I think She has for me. Let me try to explain as best I can.

Frigga Allmother is associated with silence for a couple of reasons.

First, a small snippet of dialog from the Lokasenna:

LOKI: Quiet, Frigg, you are Fjorgyn's maid and have ever sought dalliance, as when you, Vidrer's woman, clasped both Vile and Vi to your bosom.

FRIGG: Had I a son such as Balder here in Ager's hall you would not escape the sons of the Aesir without being badly beaten.

LOKI: Well, Frigg, will you that I tell more of my harmful runes? I shall work it so that you shall not again see Balder riding to the halls.

FREYA: You are mad, Loki, ranting your evil doings; Frigg, I know, knows every being's fate, though she herself says naught.

By the way, this is why I do not maintain that Freyja and Frigga are but aspects of each other; right here shows that they are separate Divine beings.

But yes, this is part of where Heathens get the traditional association of Frigga with silence and not being inclined to be an outspoken Goddess.

There's another even deeper situation that taught Frigga about silence. It involves how She lost Baldur. Here's how I understand it:

Hela desired Baldur for Herself; after all, Baldur was handsome and strong and the very picture of Nordic manhood. She sent Him dreams of Her desire, and this disturbed Him. He mentioned these dreams to His mother Frigga, and She became very concerned for Him; She did not want to see Him leave Her for Helaheim.

Frigg took it upon Herself to travel all throughout the Nine Worlds, extracting from every living being a vow that it would never harm Her precious Son Baldur. There was only one thing She missed - the mistletoe. Stories differ on whether She just accidentally overlooked it or thought it too small to be of any consequence. Either way, the mistletoe never gave a vow to not harm Baldur.

Well, when She was done with this task, the Gods decided to have a little sport one day and They all gathered to throw weapons and such at Baldur, and They were laughing as each weapon or stone or whatever bounced off of Him. Loki was also present for this, and he watched for a little while, thinking carefully about what he was seeing.

He then went off and disguised himself as an old woman, and wandered over to Frigga to ask what was going on. She told him the whole story, and She even mentioned that the only item that had not given its pledge to never harm Baldur was the mistletoe. "But," Frigga reasoned, "it's such a tiny plant anyway, so it won't matter."

Loki as old woman nodded and then made his excuses and was off.

He fashioned a dart with mistletoe on it, and then went back to the field where the Gods were still having Their fun - all except Hodur, the blind God of Fate. Loki strolled over to Hodur, and said, "Well, what's all this? Everyone is enjoying the sport but you! How can they treat you like this?"

Hodur responded: "Loki, I am blind - I cannot see to throw anything at Baldur, so of course I can't really participate."

Loki said: "Nonsense. I will guide your hand, Hodur. Here, I have a dart right here you can use." And he placed the mistletoe dart in Hodur's hand - which he guided right towards Baldur.

And yes, this dart killed Baldur.

Naturally, all the Gods were completely beside themselves, and vowed to destroy whomever was responsible for this. Loki, for his part, had managed to slip out unnoticed.

Hermod, for his part, borrowed Odin's horse Sleipnir and rode to Hel to try and ransom Baldur back - this is almost a whole other tale, but it did not work out (and yes, Loki's hand was in that too).

But it comes down to this: the one thing that Frigga strove the hardest to avoid, wherein She expended all that energy going through the Nine Worlds to get those promises from everything to never harm Baldur, was the one thing that came to Her.

From that situation, She learned the part of the "witches' pyramid" that says "...and to know when to keep silence." If She had never told all the other Gods that Baldur was "invincible" then They would never have been out on that field chucking weapons at Him for sport...and Loki would never have seen it all...and Loki would never have disguised himself as the old woman and got Frigga to tell him about the mistletoe...and he then would not have known to fashion a dart with mistletoe and to use Hodur to launch the dart that killed Baldur.

But Frigga does also teach forgiveness in this situation.

In order to demonstrate that She bore the mistletoe itself no ill will, She declared that when couples meet under it at the turning of the year - Yuletide - they should kiss as a sign of Her love. (Frigga's name means "the Beloved" or as Frigg "Beloved" and some do take Her as the love Goddess of the Aesir, where Freyja is the love Goddess of the Vanir.)

And that's how the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas/Yuletide came to be.

So there's another way that Frigga came to be associated with silence and not permitting loose lips to sink ships, as it were. That is rather a very long answer to that query, and there is even yet more (esp. concerning Frigga's handmaid Fulla, who is the Allmother's most trusted confidant) but I will have to write more of that later.

:whew: hahaha

I had a giggle at the comment about shouting at the Gods during ritual. That was funny. I do have to admit that sometimes my Joe's voice has a big, bold resonance to it when he does the hammer rite to hallow the sacred space. But hey, he's a big guy with a big, rich voice and big hearty laugh (I'd even go so far as to say it is a laugh like warm melted chocolate, sweet and sensual and sexy) so it's ok. I s'pose the shouting thing is an attempt to put on a bold and brave face before these Gods. Or maybe it is a way to inject some enthusiasm into the rite, and that's not so bad.

Unfortunately, I must confess that in a very large percentage of Wiccan rites I've been to over the last 20 years, the energy has been very low. It's almost like people are afraid to really let go and get thrilled about what they're doing. The energy to me has invariably felt nervous and like: "oooh, this is ritual, we have to be more solemn than even the folks down at St. Mary's, no giggling or laughing or having fun" etc. You get the idea. So I guess the heathens really are making a definite statement of "this is who I am, this is how I roll, and I will not be embarrassed or ashamed of it, I will not hide it, here it is for all to see! BOOYA!" LOL!

Believe me, my dear Cat, I count myself so very fortunate to have at my side a beautiful Odinsman (his name is Joe) who has not lost his sense of humor by any stretch of the imagination - he is the first to laugh at everything (especially himself) when things get absurd. He's also found a nice balance between respecting the lore and the historical tradition and being a progressive heathen, open to innovation and creativity. He's not a slave to the past, not by a long shot. He's great to learn from.

And he has the prettiest brown eyes...

Um.

:blush:

Anyway, if Heathens get a little crazy about the lore, just remember that they really do believe that they are protecting something that is very valuble - the traditions of real people who came before us and some of whom were martyrs to the heathen ways. Maybe you've heard of Raud the Strong and how Olaf I of Norway killed him when he would not accept baptism? It was really grisly.

That's why many Heathens do get worked up about it. Real blood was shed for this. We know the names of some of those people and some we don't. I can have some sympathy for that viewpoint, for a few reasons that I'll have to dive into another day.

Beacuse it's 1am and I think I need to crash. I'm very tired. More later!!

Brief Update

I really should update here more than I do.

But I've had quite a bit on my mind of late that I'm going to just sit on for a while, until the right time to reveal it comes.

I also sometimes feel there really isn't much I can add to the already huge pile of heathen information out there; I am quite literally humbled into silence.

Part of that might be a Frigga thing. Heathens know about Frigga and silence.

I'm just one heathen. Sort of "alone" where I am at that. I do have a pagan networking group I am part of, but it is for all pagans, not specifically Norse/Germanic heathens.

There is a heathen group a couple of hours away from us, but I must confess to being very reluctant to get involved with most heathen groups because of what I call the "axeatru" element. This is the attitude of "Asatru and heathenry are justifications for being an extremely rude, boorish, arrogant asswipe and if you don't like it I will take this axe and beat the snot out of you!"

I really don't like that kind of attitude.

That's why I've been so enjoying the videos put out by Dan Lawspeaker of the Heathen Freehold Society of British Columbia. He reiterates what my boyfriend has said - that the Germanic people were no more and no less violent than any other people of their time. They had other things on their minds.

After viewing the HFSBC videos, I have the impression that the group there is centered, calmly confident, without a need to fall into the hyper-aggressive thing that apparently American heathens are wont to do. I don't see a lot of this coming from European heathens either.

I must confess that there are times when the whole axeatru thing leaves me feeling very out of place among heathens - I'm a mellow individual with no real calling to be a "warrior" or whatever. I'm a philosopher. I'm a mystic. I am inclined to study and pursuit of wisdom.

Isn't there a place for me in the hall too? It would only be just and right and true (and hospitable) to welcome all into the hall, no matter their niche in life.

I think U.S. heathens need to learn more about hospitality. They have the militant thing down only TOO well.

Now let's see if we can do the Allmother proud and enable people to feel truly welcome and safe among us.

The Wheel Is Turned

Well, at least this night.

Solstice vigil went quite well. Had a great turnout. The kids from RE were there, having an all-nighter. Many new people turned up for at least part of the vigil - and huzza, we made it to sunrise!

And it wasn't too cold this year; down into the upper 50s. The fire was welcome. My feet really enjoyed the fire. LOL!

Hail Sunna! Hail Freyr! Hail the mighty and bountiful Earth, sustainer of us all.

Yuletide peace to all.

Now...let's keep these festivities going until Hogmanay...after I take a nap.

Trip Down Memory Lane!

What a brilliant video!!

Practical Paganism

This is a very worthwhile essay by Hrafnkell; there are many specific passages in it that I strongly agree with.

The statement "every form of Paganism should come with homework" is one I can heartily support, although I think what type of homework should be specified. I'd say "history homework" myself personally. More on this idea later.

Steve McNallen on Asatru

I quite like this video - simple, direct, clear, to the point.

New Blog

My new blog!

I'm going to try to customize this...