Friday, July 27, 2012

About Goddess Hel

About Goddess Hel Image
"HEL" IS THE NORSE GODDESS OF THE DEAD AND THE UNDERWORLD. SHE IS THE YOUNGEST CHILD OF THE TRICKSTER, "LOKI", AND THE GIANTESS, "ANGRBODA". SHE CONTROLS THE SOULS OF THE WICKED AND THOSE WHO DIE OF SICKNESS OR OLD AGE. SHE IS USUALLY DESCRIBED AS A HORRIBLE HAG, WHO WALKS THE LINE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH. HER FACE AND BODY ARE THOSE OF A LIVING WOMAN, BUT HER THIGHS AND LEGS ARE THOSE OF A CORPSE, MOTTLED AND MOLDERING.

THE GODS HAD ABDUCTED HEL AND HER BROTHERS FROM "ANGRBODA'S" HALL aND CAST HER IN THE UNDERWORLD. " ODIN," THE KING OF THE GODS, APPOINTED HER TO THE POSITION OF QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD. HER JOB IS TO NOT ONLY TO RULE THE UNDERWORLD, BUT ALSO TO JUDGE THE SOULS THAT COME TO HER. SHE RULES OVER LARGE MANSIONS AND OVER THE MANY SERVANTS IN HER REALM WHICH IS ALSO CALLED "HEL". THE GATES OF "HEL" ARE MASSIVE, AND THEY OPEN AND CLOSE AS THE DEAD APPROACH...SHUTTING BEHIND THOSE WHO PASS IT AND THOSE WHO WILL NOT OPEN TO LET THEM OUT AGAIN.

AS THE GODDESS OF DEATH AND QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD, SHE IS A CONSTANT FORCE IN OUR LIVES, LIFE-CHANGING AND NEVER-ENDING. HEL IS THE LEAVES THAT FALL FROM THE TREES IN AUTUMN.... THE GRANDMOTHER WHO GOES TO SLEEP AND NEVER WAKES UP. SHE OPENS HER ARMS TO US AT THE MOST CRUCIAL TIME IN OUR LIVES...SHE, THE FORCE BEHIND THE LIFE ALTERATIONS THAT SHIFT OUR WORLDVIEW. "HEL" ALLOWS US TO MOVE FORWARD IN OUR LIVES, LEAVING OLD, OUTWORN IDEAS AND CUSTOMS BEHIND. SHE IS THE IMPETUS AND THE REASON FOR TRANSFORMATION. IT IS HEL WHO THINS THE VEIL BETWEEN THE WORLDS.

"HEL" IS PERHAPS ONE OF THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD AND MISINTERPRETED GODDESS ASPECTS IN HISTORY. SHE HAS BEEN GREATLY PERVERTED THROUGH THE YEARS BY PATRIARCHAL DOMINATION AND ULTIMATELY USED BY THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH AS A SCARE TACTIC TO FRIGHTEN THE MASSES INTO RIGHTEOUS ACTS. TO GET THE REAL STORY, WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE EARLY NORDIC PEOPLE AND LOOK THIS DEATH GODDESS IN THE FACE.

Labels: greek gods and goddesses of olympus  greek gods and goddesses roman names  celts religion  mayan gods and goddesses  the greek gods and goddesses list  love witchcraft spells  masonic rituals  ancient roman gods and goddesses list  candle magic supplies  

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Asatru Black Sheep Of The Pagan Community

Asatru Black Sheep Of The Pagan Community Image
You don't run into a lot of Asatruarar in the Pagan community these days. Well, actually you don't run into much here in the North East except shamanic Wiccans, but we'll let that stand for now. Asatru is the modern revival of the ancient German, Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian, and Icelandic Pagan religion. It's been around for almost as long as public Wicca, but it has grown at a much slower rate and is rarely seen interacting with the "normal" Pagan community.

The word Asatru comes from the roots "As" a God who is a member of the Aesir, and "tru" which is from the same root as true or troth and means loyalty. We are those persons who are loyal to the Aesir or more likely to the entire Norse pantheon. Some Norse Pagans will use the word "Odinist" to describe themselves, but in America the largest group using this term is a white supremacist front. The Asatru Free Assembly and now the Asatru Alliance have used Asatru to indicate that their members are those Norse Pagans who concentrate on the religious aspects of Norse Paganism rather than those who use it as a political tool.

Race is the one item which you will hear come up most in discussing Norse Paganism. The Nazi party was very strongly pagan oriented, not only using Germanic magickal symbols such as the swastika, but also using folk festivals and other items of pagan Germanic culture to unify their population. Some groups have continued this practice and use our religion as a front for political action. In addition "real" Asatru has largely been adopted by working class people in conservative areas of the country such as the south and southwest.
Just as many Wiccans, well educated and brought up in liberal areas, espouse progressive political ideas, many Asatruarar espouse conservative political ideas including a latent racism. (You might also want to note that a lot of Wiccans from similar backgrounds are also racist. The educated probably are as well, but they're good at hiding it.) At this point in the development of Asatru, race is an issue which sits in a very tightly lidded pot on the back of the stove. It's influence seems to be slowly lessening. As one person put it
"Adolf is out and the Eddas are in." The religion is the main focus and many Asatruarar, including myself, simply ignore the racists knowing where our own hearts are.

Race is hardly the only difference between the Wiccan community and the Asatruarar. The entire range of values is extremely different. I suppose I should apologize for lumping all the beliefs of the Wiccan community into one, but the fact that I would need to apologize says a lot about the differences between the two religions. Asatru has a certain set of values and beliefs and establishing and discussing what values are appropriate for Asatruarar is a common practice. This is not to say that there are rules to Asatru. Quite to the contrary, Asatru, like Wicca, believes in total human freedom. However, Asatru feels that freedom must be checked from within by a strong sense of values and personal honor. Wicca espouses a lack of beliefs and reliance on personal conscience. It is, in fact, taboo to discuss "Wiccan values." In practice Wiccans tend to mirror the values of the hippie counterculture. However, these values are social rather than theological. Asatru goes back to the Sagas and the Eddas to seek its values. What emerges is a philosophy very close to right wing libertarianism. Asatru posits strong men and women with a hard and fast code of honor who are free to affect the world around them without outside restrictions. Like the political philosophy of libertarianism this has the downside of abandoning those who are for one reason or another less able. The particular issue of where one persons freedom ends is one that has yet to be addressed by Wicca because the personal philosophies and liberal conscience of most Wiccanshave made the issue academic.

Theologically there are extreme differences between Asatru and Wicca. Most importantly Asatru is a form of classical age Indo-European votive religion, where Wicca is a private religion based on the shamanic and ecstatic practices of the pre-Indo-European peoples such as the Picts. It's not just Wicca done with Norse deities and a different form of circle. The entire method of "doing religion" is different. For example, a great deal has been written about "Pagan" religious practices such as trance, magick, etc. However, these are more appropriately the functions of a mystery religion. The original forms of Pagan religion had these aspects, but they existed within a greater system of religion, just as modern religions have inner orders such as monastic paths within an open Christian church. For example, the basic Asatru ritual involves pouring a "blot" as an offering to a God or Goddess. In essence it's not a real "exciting" ritual. There is little or no chanting or consciousness alteration. In many ways there is very little difference between the ritual and a mass in a mainstream church. You believe in this God or Goddess and you need their favor, so you pour some mead in their name.

That is not to say that there are not mystery religions or magickal practices within Asatru, but these are more properly paths within the whole of a religion rather than the main focus of a religion. Rune magick is a common practice in Asatru as is Seidhr, a Norse shamanic practice. However, these paths occur within the greater whole of Asatru and there are many people who merely attend the regular blots as they would attend church services in other religions. In fact, there are many people within Asatru who are distrustful and made nervous by the whole idea of magick!

One of the features of the classical age temple religions in contrast to Wicca is that we have a written mythology. There are a few pieces of written lore in Wicca such as the "Descent of the Goddess" and "The Charge" but they are few and far between. Asatru, thanks to the tolerant people of Iceland (which became a Christian country largely for trade reasons), has the most complete body of Pagan mythology outside of the Greco-Roman. This has both good and bad sides. A set of lore to look to can provide a great comfort. It gives you something to do on those long cold nights i.e. read it. However, there is also the temptation towards ossification and even Asatru has a few "Eddic Fundamentalists" who insist if it isn't in the Eddas, it isn't "correct." The differences in a path with a written mythology cannot be overestimated. It lends an entirely different flavor to the religion and has many effects which are not immediately noticeable.

Asatru is a religion which concentrates very strongly on a single path. Wicca has been applied to every pantheon and culture under the sun from Celtic to Santerian and many groups mix and match favorite deities from different mythos into a "pantheon" specific to their coven. On a purely utilitarian level, I would argue that if you work with a specific pantheon and cultural mythos you will get greater results because the symbol set matches completely. When using say Celtic and Greek deities together you need to make the choice as to whether you will use the three Celtic worlds of land, sea, and sky or whether to use the mediterranean four element system. In Asatru, you don't need to make these choices. It is a singular religion backed up by many written sources. The adherence to a singular cultural metaphor is very important to Asatruarar. There are boundaries on where our religion extends. This is one of the reasons that you don't find many Norse Pagans at mainstream gatherings. Many do not think that the Wiccan community has much to offer them. (Another large reason is hostility based on the assumption that all Norse types are automatically racist.)

There is a movement within Asatru to bring the movement closer to the mainstream Pagan community. One part of this is that there are now a sizeable number of Asatruarar who were once Wiccans and we have roots in the mainstream Pagan culture. Another important reason is the rapidly growing volume of poor quality "literature" being released by the mainstream occult press about Norse Paganism. Many of us would like to correct some of the stereotypes of Norse Pagans and make people aware that there is an alternative to Wicca with Norse deities. Right now the Pagan community is extremely mono-cultural. As Norse Pagans become more involved it will be a true test of "diversity" as many cherished but flawed stereotypes get smashed against the huge hodgepodge that is Paganism.

Labels: all about greek gods and goddesses  ancient occult books  egyptian gods and goddesses names  egypt gods and goddesses list  egyptian gods and goddesses pictures  psychic love spell  free candle love spells  magic secrets  real wishing spells  

Monday, July 9, 2012

He Came With The Blessing Of The Geats 8

He Came With The Blessing Of The Geats 8 Image
Modern Heathens take great pride in personal independence, refusing to bow before distant authorities or divine masters. This is not surprising, many who follow Heathen practices do so out of personal choice full well knowing their decision will push them to the fringes of modern Western society. The choice to follow any polytheistic practice, in an age when monotheism is the norm, is a small yet fundamental act of rebellion. For whatever reason the initial decision is made those who continue on a path that guarantees social marginalization at best do so because their existential needs are not served by modern, conventional spirituality. This same spirit of defiance sounds out strongly in Heathen lore. The duty to resist oppressive circumstances is a powerful theme in Germanic Lore.To first understand the importance of resistance and rebellion one must first examine the cyclical nature of Germanic cosmology as presented in the Eddas. In the beginning of the sagas there was nothing but fire, ice, and a great void. One day the fire and ice boiled out into the gap, collided, and from the primordial void and chaos a new order emerged centered on Ymir. When Odin and His two brothers, Vili and Ve, struck down Ymir They used his body to create a new order where the Gods and humanity would flourish. Throughout the sagas They do battle with destructive giants and monsters like Fenris and the Midgard Serpent to keep Midgard and the Nine Worlds safe. In the Final Battle of Ragnarok the Gods take the field against their old foes one last time in spite of their pre-ordained doom. From the destruction of Ragnarok, as it was when fire and ice collided and Ymir fell, a new bright world will come from the ashes of the old.In each cycle of destruction and rebirth new, more prosperous worlds are built from the bones of the old ended in chaos and destruction. The new worlds are born because of an upset of the existing status quo. The great yawning void, which had existed for time unknown between the realms of fire and ice, had been the center of the existing order until the great elemental forces poured in and filled it. Ymir and the frost giants had lived in relative prosperity unchallenged until Buri's grandsons Odin, Vili, and Ve struck him down and used the body to create a new world(1). Ragnarok begins with a three year ice age ending with Surtr's immolation of the World Tree. Every great cosmic change is catalyzed by disruption of the existing order. These changes are used as the means to initiate greater, more meaningful transformation.Cosmic change does not come about for its own sake in the lore. While the lore is silent on the Gods' motives for slaying Ymir we can make some inferences from the lore. The primordial world in which the sons of Buri lived is described as extremely bleak. All that existed was Ymir, the cow Audumla who fed the giant, and a lot of salty ice(2). The new order built from Ymir's body is lush, fertile, and full of promise for the Gods, humans, and wights(3). Whatever the motive the end result was replacing the old, stagnant order with a new, more beneficial one for the Gods and the inhabitants of the Nine Worlds.

Beowulf's saga shows the same theme of liberation from oppressive circumstances. Following Grendel's first attack on the hall of Hereot the Ring-Danes did whatever they could to fight back and repel new attacks4. Conditions became quite grim:

"All were endangered; young and oldwere hunted down by that dark death-shadowwho lurked and swooped in the long nightson the misty moors; nobody knowswhere these reavers from hell roam on their errands."(5)In spite of all this they never stopped their war with Grendel, who "ruled in defiance of right"(6).When Beowulf left Geatland he did not come seeking wealth or riches but to volunteer for the battle with Grendel(7). He came with the blessing of the Geats(8) only requesting of Hrothgar that he do it himself with his men(9). The same theme re-asserts itself at the end of the saga when Beowulf, in the twilight of his years, personally seeks out and slays a dangerous dragon menacing his people at the cost of his own life.

The history of the people of the Old North is rich with stories of resistance and defiance of the mighty. The first and best examples come from the days when Rome ruled the world. In the first century AD Hermann of the Cherusci organized a coalition of tribes in defiance of Roman colonization of their lands. At Teutoburg Forest they destroyed the Roman army ending the first and only serious attempt by the Empire to conquer Germania. In the centuries that followed the Germanic tribes refused to let Rome rest fighting a series of bloody wars with the Empire. These were wars fought not by wealthy warrior-aristocrats or professional mercenaries but farmers, artisans, and merchants defending their homes and families. It is doubtful they had any serious hopes of destroying the Empire, a monolithic entity that cast a long shadow over the Rhine and Danube for centuries. What is clear is the fallout of the Empire's presence in the form of forced tribute, slave raids, punitive expeditions, and Rome's proxy wars reached a point where they could not be tolerated. In the face of deprivation, war, and slavery the Germanics consistently chose the risks of resistance over the certainty of submission.

The same defiance of oppression stands strong from the Empire's fall to the final Christianization of Scandinavia. Germanic tribes, facing conversion by force and coercion, refused to give up the old ways. With the exception of Iceland's conversion in 1000 AD every attempt to impose the Cross on the people was met with dogged, bloody resistance. From the Saxons' defiance of Charlemagne's invasion to Svolder when a coalition of Danes, Swedes, and Norse brought down the Christian tyrant Olaf Tryggvason and Stiklestad when an army of free common folk ambushed and slew the Christian king Olaf II the folk never gave up without a fight. When "conquered" they rebelled fiercely and often.

The message of resistance and rebellion is a powerful theme in the lore of the Northern world. When faced with oppressive conditions heroes, Gods, and ancestors alike pushed back, refusing to submit in the face of near-certain defeat. Many times when they made this fateful choice it was not with the certainty of victory behind them but as a challenge of impossible odds. Whether it is the Gods at Ragnarok, Beowulf facing the dragon, or the Cherusci at Teutoberg they chose defiance over submission and surrender.Also published at Ryan's Desk

1. Gylfaginning V, trans. by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur2. Gylfaginning VI3. Gylfaginning VIII-IX4. Beowulf 170-178, trans. by Seamus Heaney5. Beowulf 159-1636. Beowulf 1447. Beowful 194-2018. Beowulf 415-4189. Beowulf 431-432

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Rune Meditation

Rune Meditation Image
One form of meditation I would like to share is a form I like to call Rune Meditation. Similar to other meditations it involves focusing on breath, sitting upright with the added difference of using the runes once the mind has been quietened.

The use of runes is different to many forms of magic, they are tools of the mind and spirit and allow us deeper communications and meanings beyond what we see. In a way they are a way of us communicating better with our inner self or spiritual self.

Meditation is one way of initiating this form of communication.

RUNE MEDITATION GUIDE


In order to practice Rune Meditation firstly find a quiet place where each day you can meditate for more than 15 to 20 minutes, free from stress and daily thoughts. Then make a comfortable spot in which you can sit for longer than 15 to 20 minutes sitting upright..

Spend that time meditating for at least 20 minutes like I say, do this by relaxing and focusing on a relaxed breathing pattern. Do not force your breathing instead take steady long relaxing breaths that are comfortable with you..

Consciously as this happens slowly allow your body to fall deeper and deeper into relaxation until you are in a more quietened state of being. In another word a meditated mind.. When in this state pick one rune at random without looking from the rune bag in front of you until you find the rune that feels right. Select it and then take from the bag or from where the runes are located in front of you.

After picking relax and go further into the meditation while also focusing the mind on the rune in hand. While holding let yourself go deeper into meditation and allow images or visions to flow that may be caused by the rune, in another way allow the rune to con-veil messages to you about your spiritual path. This maybe in the form of images or visions, meaning of the rune chosen on your path to self discovery. It may be a premonition, it maybe about change, it maybe good news or bad, each meaning and interpretation is a inner viewing of your path in a way to your spiritual self.