#devotional month

[curlingsilverhorns]

Month of Devotion for Loki

Hey everyone, July is Loki's month for us devotees. I'm taking the ideas from the post from @lokis-little-candle-flame . They made a wonderful post that gives ideas for devotional writings for almost every day of July! This is my first entry! Happy July, everyone! 1. Isa- Stagnation, The Calm Before the Storm: Who were you before you met Loki? What was your life like?

It was interesting before I met Loki. In all honesty, looking back at the wildness that much of my life has held, yet seeing as how I’ve walked away relatively unscathed a lot of times or in the long run got lucky, I think that they have held power in my life for a lot longer than I realize. Even as I write this, I feel the truth of that statement. Loki has been with me for a very long time. It just took me a while to notice, even longer to understand.

Before formally introducing myself to Loki, I will admit I was similar in many ways, a contradiction of a person. Two very different sides of personality clashing within one soul. All of me has always wished and loved chaos, yet I have not always been chaotic. I have long been worried about what others think of me and how I am perceived if I am too much.

Even now, I struggle with the same issues, but I suppose before Loki, I was alone. Indeed I felt as if I was. While that may not have been the case, it was the pervasive emotion that flowed through as an undercurrent in all that I did. I felt misunderstood, stagnant, powerless for the most part.

I am not sure I very much like who I was before I met them; Loki has, in my heart of hearts, helped me do the one thing I dreaded the most. Acknowledge my faults AND act on them. I am no longer the person who just saw their faults and made excuses for them blindly. While I may still try to avoid my faults now, I do my best to acknowledge them fully. I take time to analyze them and where they may come from, why I do what I do.

Before, I just existed in constant fear and self-loathing, not understanding or wanting to. I thought myself above self-reflection, thinking that I had nothing to reflect on. Loki came to me to teach me my power and strength while also showing me the ugly parts of myself and forcing me to face them. I can no longer just run and hide.

Before Loki, I was a coward.

In many ways, I still am. But every day, they help me move forward from the coward I used to be. I love them with all my heart, soul, and mind. Without them, I would be a lesser person. With Loki, I can build proper strength in myself.

[curlingsilverhorns]

Month of Lokean Devotion

6. Dagaz- Breakthrough, Revelation: Describe a lesson that Loki has taught you.

Throughout this admittedly almost short partnership Loki has already taught me so much. One of the largest lessons though I think was to overcome my fear. Not to ignore my fear and not feel at all, but to feel it fully and then overcome it. I could be afraid all I wanted but I could not let it leave me stagnant.

I could second guess, and wonder and question but not forever. At one point or another, I would have to make a choice. And Loki also did their best to teach me to live with whatever choice it was that I made. That is a lesson still in progress but I have noticed that I have gotten better with accepting the consequences of my actions, with understanding that my choices are my own for better or worse. I have learned and am still learning not to agonize over what should or could have been, because I had already chosen what happened.

I need to focus more on the here and now. Not the past where I beat myself up over past mistakes. And not far flung into the future where I can pretend everything is okay without actually doing anything about it. Mindfulness in the here and now, and understanding my wants and needs in the here and now. That’s what Loki is teaching me.

[curlingsilverhorns]

Month of Devotion - July 1st

For weeks, months, and years I ran from you.

I ran from your fiery gaze and knowing smile

I didn't want to face it, myself, the world

I wanted to hide in my comfort and smother myself in darkness

But finally I gained a mote of courage and opened up to you

And you came in like a lightning strike

Hot and bright and LOUD

Your claws in my shoulder and mouth at my ear

“You're one of mine,” you said with such certainty

You forced me to open my eyes

Your fire burned me from the inside until I broke out of my ashen shell to start again

Your scarred spitfire smirk

Set my soul aflame with a single spark

Dancing and jeering and caressing you lead me

No matter how difficult or strange I follow

And when it all becomes too much and it feels as if I will be crushed under the world

That smirk becomes a smile

Those jeers turn into comfort

Your curl around me and pet down my tear stained cheeks until I smile

Hail, to Loki

To the Skytreader, to the Firestarter, to my Saviour

[curlingsilverhorns]

Month of Lokean Devotion

5. Ansuz- Communication: How do you like to speak to Loki? How does Loki send messages to you?

Loki speaks almost directly into my mind. I am clairaudient but not in the regular way I think? I’m not sure as I’ve never had anyone to compare it to. I can hear them, most of the time, I hear their words in my head. Sometimes there are no words, only feelings or their image.

At times I visit them in whatever in-between they are in and interacting with them. I sometimes trance to speak with them and my astral self is directly in their hands.

Message wise, I largely get those large feelings. Intuition or gut wrenches that lead me one way or another. Many times I also hear a sigh in my head or a chastising hum whenever I begin to slip off track of my goals. It shakes me out of my imposed hedonism and reminds me to focus on the here and now.

[the-grey-hunt]

There are many aspects of Loki; Dagulf Loptson describes some here. Of those listed, which “road(s)” do you think you work with the most? Is there another aspect that you see that isn’t listed?

I’ve been trying to talk to Loki better (working on divination....) but I think I think of him most often as “Ver Sigynjar“ - it’s translated as ‘husband of sigyn’ but it implies the parental/fatherly role he occupies. I’ve always thought of loki with his children sort of...hovering in the background. Like, whenever the subject of Him comes up, it’s implied (to me) that his children are attached and it’s not something you can just forget about him (especially Vali and Narvi, who are connotated more so than the others with the kenning of ‘sigyn’s husband’).

I know there are more destructive aspects, like the World-Shaker, which i saw under a different name in the link, but that’s never been the Loki i work with.

[the-grey-hunt]

Make a list of things you do that make you feel a connection with Loki or other deities you work with (meditation, prayer, going for runs, writing, etc.). How can you incorporate this more into your daily life?

Sometimes i just talk to him. Like, go from ‘hail loki’ as a hello to ‘sup i hope you’re having fun i’m doing [thing]’ etc, etc. he’s a casual dude - or at least i haven’t gotten any sign that he wants a more formal kind of prayer. I wear this necklace i got as a present a lot - it’s a little tree that i think of as yggdrasil, so i try to wear it as much as possible. i write a lot of loki stuff too, but not a lot of it ends up on the metaphorical paper. i keep meaning to do my best to write more, but...life :/

[the-grey-hunt]

“If I were to make a symbol that meant Loki just for me, it would look like this…”

Oooh, i might make a sigil that incorporated his name (laguz, isa, etc) or maybe how i picture him? something in a little circle made out a red braid, maybe. definitely runes in there somewhere. Also some metallic gold pen, because i feel like he’d like that. I’ll draw it and post a picture to go with this!

[the-grey-hunt]

Write about Loki’s relationship with his partner(s), Sigyn and/or Angrboda.

I fucking love Sigyn, okay, and I think it’s a shame that there’s so little record left of her. She’s so nice! Loki is, admittedly, a dick (coughhecheatedcough) and here they are, at the end of the world, where he’s in terrible pain and imprisoned and she comes and helps him out! What kind of lady does that? The nicest lady on the face of the earth, that’s who.

And, keep in mind, both children she had with him died. And not just died - were killed. I know Narvi (Nari? Narfi? Who knows) is definitely their kid, and I think it’s at least heavily implied that the Vali who gets turned into a wolf is, too - and Sigyn could easily blame this all on Loki, since both of those kids’ deaths were a direct response to him killing Baldr, and remove herself from being associated with that.

But no.

I saw a post, a while ago, that said something along the lines of, “If the first thing that Loki does, upon breaking out of his horrible prison, is to help end the world...what kind of things was Sigyn saying to him, while he was trapped?” Sigyn was literally the only contact he had with an actual person, and his only reprieve from being drooled on by a very, very poisonous snake. Loki’s probably the only family she’s got left (who tf knows who her parents are). And here she is, literally devoting herself to helping him? Either she loves him a lot or is willing to put the cheating thing behind her in order to convince him to help her get revenge on Asgard.

I really, really wish there were more Sigyn stories.