This will serve as a digital diary and possibly grimoire just about my practice. I've been a pretty devout norse pagan or heathen or whatever you wanna call it for years now with Freyja as my main deity. I know the dirty history of the co-opted runes by nazis and other right wing groups - I am not one of those.
This is just an intro post, but I'll be writing about deconstructing wiccan/christian beliefs in terms of my own practice and many other things, plus adding my own photography here and there.
You can call me Alex. I'm a disabled 30 year old, non binary and asexual and I live by a fjord in norway.
As always; fuck AI, fuck capitalism, free palestine sudan and congo, acab, blm.
This is something that's been sitting in my drafts for a while and it's essentially; "Are we too focused on the gods? Or not enough?" which is something I think about from time to time. I have another draft of my personal cosmology that I'll post once I'm happy with it, but this post is an opinion and probably just some food for thought. So, let's go!
So, what sparked this? I think part of it is the fact that I started this journey in more witchy circles. The Witch of Wonderlust, MarshallWSL, Bente, ChaoticWitchAunt etc, and this post isn't to dunk on them in any way. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them but something most of these have in common is; they started worshipping gods/angels/things before going more into ancestral work, community based work, generally more.. I guess "down to earth" or "real" things, and I've asked myself why that is.
For me personally, I am wildly uncomfortable being perceived and I've also never owned any property so, openly practicing is limited to the inside of wherever I rent and the woods/mountains surrounding the place. I am very much a solitary practitioner that puts the gods kind of on top of the food chain. Now, I am aware that landvettir or land veneration and creating a bond with your local spirits is a good thing. Do I think it's necessary? No.
The reason for that is; I generally think relationships with spirits are transactional. If I don't plan on working with the gnomes in my yard or the spirit of who lived here before me, why would I venerate them? They survived before I got here, and they'll survive after I leave. Now, do I believe that I, as a practitioner, could get a better practice if I were to venerate them? Probably, but I don't know. And generally? I want that stuff to be on my terms, not the whims of whoever spirit lives here. If I ever end up actually owning a place with a garden or a yard, I will 100% start a relationship like that, but until that point I don't feel it's necessary when the gods provide what I need them to. Plant and animal allies are one thing, what I just talked about is another - see the difference?
Now, for the question I posed earlier. Do I think we're too focused on the gods sometimes? Yes, I think so. Especially in religions or belief systems that aren't polytheistic. I also think that some people (witchtok, yt shorts, IG "witches") rely on the gods (or front them) far more than really needed. Mundane before magickal is a saying for a reason and if you're neglecting the mundane, I don't really think the magickal can work properly. On the other hand, I think most practitioners could benefit from working with a deity (or multiple) as they're essentially the top dog of whatever domain you're trying to work within right.
As with everything; if you don't feel drawn to a deity, don't force it. And if you're not drawn to general spirits, don't force that either. I am a firm believer of figuring out things on your own terms but I also think it's interesting why people choose one over the other, as leaning either of them doesn't make you better than someone else. On the same line though, I generally don't really believe in being "chosen" by a deity. I don't think neither Freyja nor Skadi "chose" me in a formal sense, but more in a "that's my people" sense. And especially with the norse pantheon, then being more viewed as distant friends/cousins it makes more sense to me.
What are your experiences or opinions on this? Feel free to comment or DM!
Top Recommendations for Norse Pagans that aren’t Problematic.
There is a lot of books by people who are racist and part of far right side of Heathenry and I’m going to try my best and list the books I have that helped me on my path that isn’t problematic and have questionable intentions. Books and YouTube channels.
Anglo Saxon Socerery and Magic by Alaric Albertson. He is very knowledgeable in his work and path especially on runes which includes the rune poem to make your own interpretation and witchcraft side of things. He even talks about the Elves which I appreciate because not a lot of Norse authors talk about them. It’s more Germanic than Norse but I can’t see any problem adopting certain aspects since they are very similar. I will say he does take himself a bit serious at times but his information is so good and worthwhile. I have not read his first book on Travels through middle earth but it focus on more the pagan side.
Poetic Edda and Prose Edda: it’s what every Norse pagan needs. It’s the foundation of Norse paganism not bibles but myths and tales that can help along our journey. There is tons of translations, but my favorites are Dr. Jackson Crawford Poetic Edda and Anthony Fawkes Prose Edda. But look into other sagas as well like Volsung which Dr Jackson Crawford also wrote about.
Beowulf. More of a Germanic tale but again includes it has roots of Germanic sorcery, traditions, religion like the concept of Wyrd (Fate), the runes, and values within his society like loyalty and mythical creatures. Again there is many translations even Jrr Tolkien did a incompleted version of Beowulf but I think Tom Shippey finished that version I could be wrong. Nonetheless explore more than one, the oneI have is by Seamus Heaney.
Grimm Fairy Tales this mostly German Folklore but it’s still quite important to learn about in German folk magic, creatures and entities in German folklore tends to be very real to the practitioner in their spellwork.
The Way of Fire and Ice by Ryan Smith a very progressive outlook in Norse paganism, he talks about creating communities in Norse paganism and calling out and denouncing Nazis in the community how Norse Paganism is inclusive and how to be open to all types of people. But he has a beginner approach to the deities, beliefs, values within Norse paganism.
Look into a lot of academic sources that’s where you will find a lot of information on Norse paganism and religions.
Tacitus Germania - A Roman historian talking about the Germanic tribes their culture and customs.
Saxo Grammaticus history of the Danes
The Viking Way by Neil Price it goes good in depths about magic in Scandinavia like Seidh
Dictionary of Norse Mythology a quick guide to northern myths, if you are trying to find a specific god and you don’t have time to look up in a book it’s in there with great information to each one.
Children of Ask and Elm: History of Vikings by Neil Price on Scandinavian culture during the Viking age
Some YouTube Channels
The Norse Witch: Bente lives in Germany and their channel encompasses all of Norse paganism more around magic. They do interviews with other Norse witches of folk magic like Icelandic and Danish. Even gives good book recommendations and advice on general spellwork as well!.
Dr Jackson Crawford he is an author but he also has a YouTube channel. He was a professor in Colorado on Norse culture, mythology, and language and now is a full time YouTuber. He did a series of videos on the runes which are more historically accurate. Discusses the myths and the language and what do they mean. Jackson Crawford isn’t a Norse pagan nor he doesn’t care if you are one but just letting you know he isn’t coming from a pagan perspective.
The Welsh Viking also like Jackson Crawford but still has really great knowledge on Viking culture.
De Spökenkyker who is a channel that focus on German Folk magic living in Germany who is a practicing German Folk Witch.
Please feel free to add on any recommendations that are helpful and useful to the Norse pagan Community!
Update:
Just adding new sources from the comments that I really enjoy I have been notfied that some YouTubers aren’t that great after all. You may find other people’s reblogs with their names but I have edited them out. But here’s some more reminder these are good perspectives and ideas as well in the community that aren’t problematic it’s okay to listen to these folks and gain some perspective or historical insights of course let me know if I’m mistaken or they are problematic that I didn’t know about.
- Welsh Viking (YouTube) and his more historical like Jackson Crawford in that sense
- Mathias Nordvig (Author) - Notably Astaru for Beginners
- Arith Harger (YouTube)
- Call of The Runes by Walter McGrory (his teaching of the runes is really great and includes the rune poems)
- Elves, Witches, and Gods by Cat Heath - If your interested in magic especially Seidr Cat does a great job of explaining her practice again HER practice it’s following someone’s example but you can adapt into your own practice of course.
- A Practical Guide to Asatru by Patricia M Lafayllve - She has interesting points and a good read.
These some of these authors utilise their knowledge based on history and their own practice and I think it’s okay to read or listen to them.
Gentle reminder that not all pagans (ancient or modern) are witches —and even when they are, magic may not necessarily be the focus of their practice — and altars aren't just workbenches for spells.
Falcvanger’s towers claim my song,
These to Freyja’s right belong;
Who chief presiding at each feast,
Appoints his place to ev’ry guest:
Half of the slain by her’s possest,
But Odin daily claims the rest.
More pagans need to internalize that most deities will be antagonistic in some myths and protagonistic in others, and neither of those portrayals will completely capture their actual character when you start worshipping them.
And to clarify (since ya'll need that, apparently), that includes people who are transphobic, homophobic, pro-eugenics (i.e. social darwinism anti-vaxxer people), anti-immigrant, racist, etc.
Ya'll don't belong here, paganism is not a safe place for you, and I don't want you interacting with my blog.
No TERFS, no conservatives, none of it. Freedom and equality for all.
Well, then, that was fast. This is a follow-up to my last post, grab some mjød cause this is.. a change hah.
I talked about Skadi reaching out and Nyx possibly fading in my last post and well, you see the picture. Skadi has gotten her own altar space now where Nyx once was.
Phew.. yesterday was a pretty wild ride, but I've seen it coming for a while. So, let's rewind in case you didn't read the last one; I've been feeling Nyx phase out of my life for a couple of weeks now, possibly longer. The more I think about it the more I am pretty sure it started when I essentially pledged myself to the norse gods and got my armring, but even before that Nyx was distant. Not bad distant just.. not quite there anymore. I did a reading a while ago to see if she was still around and the answer I got boiled down to "waiting". I guess now we know what she was waiting for!
Listen, anytime I see practitioners "collecting deities like pokemon" I roll my eyes. I don't believe anyone is special enough to be constantly "chosen" by whatever deities are around and I find that particular way of advertising that you're a spiritual person.. pretty bullshit. With that said; I do believe that deities can reach out. Most of the time though, you need to make an effort to reach out to them first.
I've been a practitioner since give or take 2018, or, that's when I started to take whatever gifts I have seriously anyway. The first deity I approached was Queen Isis of the Egyptians, and we ended on natural and good terms when Freyja took over a couple of years later. Nyx I think.. has always been around, but I didn't dedicate an altar space for her until 2022 I want to say. And now the time has come to say goodbye to her.
I'm prefacing this with; I don't do jump cards in Tarot. To me, jump cards are just sloppy shuffling and I'm not a big fan--however. I did a reading yesterday to confirm if Nyx is leaving or not and 2 cards "jumped" out. 3 of Pentacles and 2 of Wands, which essentially means, the departure was already in motion before a formal decision was made. I pulled another six cards after that as that felt like the correct number and all of them together basically said; we are leaving on good terms, this is a natural ending that was already in motion but she does want a formal goodbye. So I carved a final candle for her and cleared her altar this morning.
It's a little heavy, because she's been with me for many years, but me pledging myself to the norse gods is a choice I am standing by, and I wouldn't have wanted it another way. I think she felt that. But, that doesn't mean our relationship wasn't good. She taught me a lot, helped me with my insomnia issues, rituals, spells etc, and I will always love her (and probably still leave some offerings for her here and there). She is the night after all. She was there long before the gods and will be there long after <3
So.. what now? Well, now my second altar is dedicated to Skadi. Setting it up felt.. natural. Good. It also means I have more learning and researching to do. She is not a deity I ever thought would knock on my door. I hate winter and the cold, I despise the three months of pure darkness up here-- it's very much the opposite of the deities I usually approach, though, given where I am in life and what her myths stand for, it makes sense. I'm looking forward to getting to know her and to see if my outlook for winter changes when she's around hah. Many people say she's quite the serious deity but other upg accounts share that she's playful too, just secluded. A bit like The Hermit card and Strength combined I suppose which.. is a joke that generally makes me laugh. The Hermit is my zodiac card, and Strength has been a card present in almost every reading I have ever done for myself sooeee, yeah.
Here's to Skadi, and a very new adventure with a deity I would've generally never chosen if she hadn't reached out first. (I mean this in a good way, if I didn't want to work with her I wouldn't have said yes and set up her altar.) People call her "the Artemis of the norse pantheon" but I have a feeling there's more to her than that.
I don’t think people realize just how many USChristian attitudes get passed around in Heathenry, so I compiled different statements and behaviors I’ve seen over the years that reflect Christian notions not original to Heathenry. These examples are illustrative rather than definitive, since I’m only somewhat familiar with different Christian frameworks, but it should be enough to give you the picture:
General Christianity
“The first and most important thing you need to do to practice Heathenry is read the Eddas.”
“You must worship Odin even if you don’t want to, because he’s the head god.”
“The point of being Heathen is to live life in a way that grants you entry to Valhalla.”
“Valhalla is the good/awesome afterlife and Helheim is the bad/boring afterlife.”
“The Æsir are good and the jötnar are evil.”
“Odin is like God, Loki is like the Devil, and Baldr is like Jesus.”
“Odin is more powerful than the rest of the gods.”
“Ragnarok is the End Times.”
(“Us vs. them” attitudes.)
(Not knowing what to do with the the goddesses in general, regardless of one’s gender.)
Catholic-Specific
“To be Heathen, you must serve the gods.”
“We can’t truly know the gods, only attempt to understand them through the Eddas.”
“The gods are distant and don’t care about our personal needs or lives.”
“We must act as the gods’ ambassadors on Earth.”
“Making sacrifices should be painful. That’s why it’s called a sacrifice.”
“Ragnarök is the End Times and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
(Treating the Hávamál as scripture.)
(Using medieval Icelandic law-tracts as a stand-in for Heathen religious orthodoxy.)
(Observing strict worship and insisting others do the same.)
(Adopting a very feudalistic relationship with the gods; lord/servant dynamics.)
Protestant-Specific
“Showing devotion to the gods is done by acting as their hands and feet on earth.”
“You must think about the gods all the time and involve them in everything you do.”
“Why should we merely ‘work with’ the gods when we can worship them?”
“Ragnarök is the End Times and we must prepare to fight on the side of the gods.” OR...
“Ragnarök is the End Times and we must help fulfill it.”
(Behaving as marginalized on the basis of their faith.)
(Reacting badly when confronted with new information about Heathenry.)
(Making bold or even standoffish declarations of faith.)
If you come from a Christian background and hear someone make statements like this, you’re probably going to feel pressured to come up with a counterargument for why it’s okay for you to disagree. What you actually need to do is dismiss the premise entirely. These arguments aren’t reflective of Heathen truths and you don’t have to argue with them as though they are.
This is also not a dig at those who’ve made these statements / done these behaviors before. It’s not exactly second-nature for us to break out of the habit of believing in a specific idea or behaving in a specific way when we believed / behaved that way for most of our lives. However, it’s still worth understanding how specific to Christianity these things are and trying to move away from them.
It’s up to you if you want to point out the nature of these arguments to the people making them. But if you do, I recommend doing so tactfully, with a clear head, and with a very clear understanding about what makes the premise Christian in nature.
Let me know if you want clarification on any of these points and why they aren’t reflective of Heathenry. I’m happy to go into it.
There was no universal Scandinavian religion, or Slavic, or Celtic.
They were multiple mini cultures with changing and differing views.
That’s why we have different beliefs on who was the ‘High God’ in the Norse myths and physical evidence that we have left. Tyr, Freyr, Odin; have all been the High God in different cultures. Because people didn’t collect under orthodox and shared religion in a pre Christian world the way they do now.
You can now make a more collective religion, but saying there was always one, is a mistake at best and pseudo history at worst.
Good morning, welcome back. Something very interesting happened to me yesterday which I want to share. I call this segment "what the fuck is going on" because I am so far 4 for 4 in getting very clear messages from goddesses but I've also been struggling for some weeks to identify this one.
As always, settle in, grab some mjød or tea and let's go!
So, as I've mentioned before, Freyja is my main deity--but she wasn't the first. The first was Queen Isis from the kemetic/egyptian faith, and she left when Freyja took over. It was a good ending, a bit sad but we both felt it was time to give the reigns to someone else. So how does Nyx fit in here?
I'm not gonna bore you with how this all came about but it felt like she was always around to a bigger or lesser degree, she is the personification of night after all, older than most gods, and as someone struggling with insomnia, there came a point where she revealed herself and wanted a separate altar space, which she got. Now, the thing is, where I live above the arctic circle, the sun doesn't set for 3 months during summer. The tradeoff is, it doesn't rise for 3 months during winter either, and with it being the summer months now, it kinda felt like she was fading a little, which.. duh, there is no night. Obvious, right? Yes and no.
I did a reading and the general gist of what I got back was "waiting". Which again, makes sense with the night not being present but.. it didn't feel correct. I called on Freyja too to see if she was present and she was, very clearly, but Nyx felt.. distant. And the only time I've felt this particular distance before is when Queen Isis was on her way out. Now, there can be many reasons for this;
1 - My intuition is off, happens.
2 - The night not being present, very possible explanation
3 - Nyx pulling back due to me, essentially devoting myself to the norse gods (see the post about my arm ring), possible
4 - Someone else stepping in, we'll get to that.
So, what's going on? A name kept popping up. Can you guess it by the clues of where I live already? I'll give you another one; she's a Jotunn. I was very confused (and still am to a degree) because the frost giant and goddess of winter showing up was not on my bingo card for this year, especially given the fact that I absolutely despise winter. I did some reading and confirmed something with a friend of mine too and given where I am in life, the things that are settling/changing it would make sense that it's her right? Thankfully I have ways to confirm stuff like this so, we did a rune pull.
I called to Skadi and asked her to confirm it for me. Which runes did I pull? Isa and Raidho. I said at the beginning that I am 4 for 4 on.. not so subtle ways of gods letting me know they're here. Now, one confirmation isn't good enough for me, so I pulled out my oracle deck of dark goddesses, which Skadi does have a card in, and asked her to confirm it through that as well. I shuffle and pull, but I got a feeling it was the bottom of the deck. The first card I pulled was Nòtt (yes, this is hilarious to me), then I flipped the deck and there Skadi's card was.
I wish I was making this up. The tag on Nòtt's card also is "mystery" which.. yeah the joke writes itself.
Now, a couple of problems; I know fuckall about her which means I have basically 0 offerings ready, and secondly; I am out of altar spaces. Here's the weird thing tho, it felt like she almost.. wanted to take over Nyx's altar, she came on very strong with that but I'm not getting muscled this easily hah. I carved a candle for her and put her runes and some crystal chips I have in a glass and that's about all I have for her now. I will have to confirm with Nyx if this is truly her leaving or if this is temporary so.. stay tuned I guess?
Above is the candle I carved for Skadi and one I did for Freyja cause Freyja hasn't gotten on in a while. She gets very specific ones which unfortunately are seasonal so getting them outside of fall/winter seasons is basically impossible.
If anyone here has a relationship with Skadi, please do inbox me with your experiences or comment on this cause I am very much lost when it comes to her. I just wanted to share this because it's always fun when someone new comes around, and me essentially pledging myself to the norse gods, it would make sense for someone to step forward, and maybe someone else to step back, but yeah, stay tuned I suppose.
This will be a bit of an everything post, personal stuff, magickal etc and a little rant so, get some tea or mjød and settle in! <3
I have digested my vacation aa little more, gotten some sleep and you know, it was about time to redo my ward and protection. Plus a little sweetening jar!
I have a whole post in my drafts about the shit I've been through in my life and.. we'll see if I post it but, I realized what I needed was help to slow down.
Back to basics so to speak and, it's funny really, on my vacation someone sometimes said "det gjelds ikke" which, roughly translated means "this one doesn't count" and they said it in the context of waking up too early and then going back to sleep. Like "me being up right now doesn't count, don't perceive me" and man.. it's so simple but, that stuck with me for some reason.
My life has generally been me running around like a headless chicken for 30 years and not knowing what to do with myself. Between autism and ptsd and chronic depression life often gets too much but being away for a bit, with the people I was with who generally have a different (and slower) outlook on life? Yeah, I needed that. And I'm gonna do my best to learn from that as well. Y'know, when you grow up in a bad environment, slowing down is really hard. And by slowing down I mean feeling safe enough to breathe out and up until my trip to Alta, I didn't know how to do that.
Took 30 years but we got there in the end hah. Not that everything that's wrong with me is automatically cured now but, seeing people not stress and still live a good life is not something you see everyday I feel. The acceptance of being left alone cause it's too early and I wanna go back to sleep or the acceptance that sometimes you wake up at 3am cause you went to sleep at 5pm, stuff like that. I know it's simple, but my brain didn't understand that until this vacation.
~~
Anyway, before I yap myself into everywhich corner again; I redid my protection jar and also made a sweetening jar for the first time. Both seemed appropriate. First time incorporating runes into these as well, with Freyjas blessings of course, Nyx also felt present for a bit which was nice (I know she isn't around much currently given the whole no night outside situation up here hah).
A lot of people make protections jars just for the spiritual or mental, but I'd recommend making it protect you physically too.
On a different note, someone I know said to me the other day; "I try to stay away from "dark" magick.. I'd rather just stay in the light" and.. it took a lot from me to not go off on a tangent. Just to be clear, I don't believe in the 3-fold-law or any of that shit. If you just wanna do protection and "love and light" spells, be my guest but we won't be friends. Witchcraft is deeply personal but neglecting half the spectrum isn't.. good, imho.
That said, I don't think you should go around hexing and cursing everybody you see but, sometimes it's needed. Retaliation doesn't make you a worse person, because a lot of times it's deserved and the whole "taking the high road" is sometimes just a fear response. Fear of not being taken seriously or whatever.. pre-installed religious thinking someone has. Also, the whole "harm none" thing a lot of practitioners do? Naaaaah. You're over here asking for money or whatever and expect to just get it without the universe/your spirits/deities paving the way and maybe trampling on someone in the process? Especially if you want something done fast? There is always a price to pay, that's why you bring offerings that are appropriate for what you're asking for.
The gods don't need our help, what they do need is fuel though, and one thing I can tell you from personal experience;
If the offering isn't enough, they will take it from you.
Or the spell won't do anything, one or the other. That has happened to me many times, and for me that looks like; sleep is getting worse for "no reason" and other stuff like that, so, bring offerings appropriate for the ask and if your protections are good enough (aka you have your basics covered, whatever that looks like for your practice) you don't have to be afraid of a, quite literally, made up 3-fold-law.
Okay, that was maybe a bit mean. I know wicca is big but also.. I don't follow that path. I have other rules I need to stick to, so, eh.
My protection spells are never just protection, they have retaliation built in by design, and it doesn't make sense to me not to have that, because why only block something and then having to put the ward up again when instead you can create a feedback loop that renews itself and is a return-to-sender as well?
Okay, I'm done ranting now hah, sorry.
A little treat for anyone reading, I'll let you know what's in my sweetening jar (the important bits anyway);
- Vanilla sugar and normal sugar, with some rice and oats and some protective stuff as a base (rice and oats for prosperity, sugar for speed)
- Cinnamon sticks and some rosemary
- A piece of paper with your full name on it + a personal item of yours
- Rose pedals & a rose quartz
- A petition to whatever deity or spirit you want to invoke + what you want the jar to do
- Then fill it up completely with honey (I'm serious, drown everything in it) then seal with either a pink candle or a white + red one like I did
Now, why drown it in honey? Because honey is sticky, and you don't want this jar to burn out quickly now do you. Honey is slow, but lasts waaaay longer in a magickal working, and again, it sticks. And we want the good shit to stick.
I mainly made this as a.. "Sweeten my life and also help me slow down" jar, because the gods know I need the latter hah.
Oh, also, put it on your working altar and leave it there after. You also don't want any wet ingredients as the stuff in there can rot if not mixed properly.
Okay, I've talked for long enough, enjoy your day or evening wherever you are and as always; fuck AI, fuck fascism, free palestine and congo and hail Valfreyja, queen of the Valkyries, Vanir and Æsir.
I was on a well deserved vacation in Alta, Finnmark and, while these four pictures will never do this trip justice, I'll do my best to explain to you what you're looking at! So, grab some tea or mjød or whatever you have and have a seat!
Ooooookay, hi, hello there.
Like I said above, these 4 pictures will barely do this vacation justice. This is about as far north as you can get and the nature here is just the beginning. I'm not even gonna try to keep this short this time cause I have a lot to say. Lots of impressions and things we've visited, the tldr of those pictures are:
1. Olufsenhuset, a house from the WW2 days at the start of Alta World Heritage Rock Carving Museum
2. One of the many rock carvings dated to be 2000-7000 years old, depicting the Sami peoples "Reindrift" aka reindeer herding, fishing and daily life
3. A picture from Juhls Silver Smith in Kautokeino founded in 1959 by the danish-german couple Frank & Regine Juhl. The woman in the picture is *the* Regine btw.
4. Two sami people executed around 1857, (the movie Kautokeino Opprøret is linked heavily to this story) the heads were sent to Oslo for experimentation and science, but their family got them north again later. The church didn't agree with having them in their graveyard so they were so petty as to bury them right outside sanctified ground (but still within graveyard property) which is where you can still find those graves today.
Where do I even begin? So, the two people I visited are both born Sami and trying to find their way back into their culture after the assimilation. The husband was my guitar teacher way back when and it's the first time I visited them (he is also a jazz musician and I'll link his stuff at the end of this post!). My goal with this visit was to just be a maximum tourist as I needed to get away for a bit, what I didn't expect was to get more than one history lesson, but man it's been fun, and a little heavy at times.
The rock carving museum/hike was really cool. Seeing the history of the people that lived here way before christianity and war, I was also pretty lucky that the weather was nice and I have a ton of pictures I might post at a later date. Going to Kautokeino which is a massively historical location as well was also really nice and I got to ask a bunch of questions about Sami heritage, the problems from back then and the problems today and I am still digesting all of it. As for the way this place feels spiritually? It has a STRONG spirit, and I don't mean that lightly, even so much as picking up a pinecone from the ground, it tells you immediately to put it back (or maybe it did with me because I am of german descent at the end of the day hah). I listened of course, but the land here definitely knows its history and the spirits are well aware of who walks on it, which is nice. It's good.
I do apologize for this post being a bit all over the place but as I said, I'm still digesting and taking everything in. One of the things that stuck with me the most listening to JK and his wife's stories about being Sami and finding back to their heritage was; one of the biggest problems being not being Sami enough. Which to me sounds.. kinda bonkers. I have the background of an immigrant so, trying to fit in and be "norwegian enough" is a familiar issue, but hearing from them that the "actual" Sami people tell them they're not Sami enough because they don't speak the language well, even though their entire family line is Sami was.. really sad. JK himself doesn't really care too much about this as he knows he has Sami blood and lineage, but the problem is still there unfortunately.
What are my personal impressions tho? I love it here. As packed as our schedule was, I never felt stressed a single second of this trip and that is largely thanks to JK and his wife. They're probably some of the chillest people I know and it's subbing off on me hah. The views are stunning, the weather has been nice and getting away from my usual city was the best decision I've made in years. The past months have been pretty rough in terms of mental state but coming here, walking in untouched nature, sleeping and waking up whenever I want and seeing all the sights has been an experience. I'll probably make another post in a bit once my brain is done absorbing but, for now, here is JK's website where you can find his current and past projects, and his stuff is also available on any and all streaming platforms including youtube!
I have been in a very depressive rut for over a month now, mainly a reaction to something that happened months ago (we love delayed processing) but getting this in the mail made me smile.
I've been a Freyja devotee for about 3 years at this point and the time felt right to make it "official" so to speak. Stainless steel, made by someone in spain, I cleansed and dressed it in Freyjas incense and oil, and while she knows I devoted myself to her many moons ago, I renewed that devotion today with whatever energy I currently have. It wasn't the grandest of rituals or the grandest of gestures but, I sat by her altar, shared some mead and just told her that I am hers.
Nyx is the second deity I work with, though she is seasonal (figures, given I live in total darkness for 4 months out of the year), and just like Freyja is the one that gets to choose first on the battlefield; I choose her first as well.
I talked a lot in my previous posts about how norse paganism is very removed from structure and doctrine and how that sometimes can be scary if you're used to institutionalized religion, though today is a perfect example of not having to be perfect. If you can barely focus on the next hour, there is no point in trying to make a grand ritual or offering happening. Those things take your energy and that is part of the point, but if there is no energy, the gesture becomes empty and might as well not have been there at all (in my opinion). So some mead and a conversation is okay. If that is all you can muster.
This is to the Æsir/Vanir Goddess. The most beautiful, the one who chooses first and rides her chariot through the sky. To the goddess of war, seidr, love, sex and Valkyries. This is to Valfreyja.
