#heldeity

[incorrectedda]

Hel: I dunno maybe the horrors would be less daunting if we were holding hands

Móðguðr: with each other or with the horrors?

Hel: I've got two hands

[helshound]

Hel Rosary Prayers

I feel like the catholics are onto something with this so I wanted in on the action. all the prayers are under the cut.

These sets of epithets are intended to be used ín the same manner as mysteries in the catholic rosary. The prayers following them correspond to the rosary beads as labelled, except for the closing prayer which is not inherently tied to a specific bead.

Cultus Epithets

Cultus of Peace

● Hel Feasthall - she of food, connection, community, and storytelling

● Hel Honey-Laugh - she who seeks and values genuine happiness

● Hel Gift-Giver - the generous Queen who cares for her people

● Hel Justice - she who rules fairly and judges wisely

● Hel Amity - she of peace and cooperation

Cultus of Opposites

● Hel of Hard Roads - she of the difficult path we need to take.

● Hel of the Lights - the lantern held out, the hope in the dark.

● Hel of the Antler Crown - her fierce aspect.

● Hel of the Flower Crown - her gentler aspect.

● Hel Half-dead - her paradox aspect, the mingling of her opposites.

Cultus of Strength

● Hel of Cool Comfort - she who eases the pain

● Hel Restful - who grants us peace in sleep and death

● Hel Ironclad - your death is hers and no one else's. she will protect you in death.

● Hel Perseverance - the strength you didn't know you had

● Hel Preservation - keeping us safe and well-protected in life.

Cultus of Transformation

● Hel of the Hospices - lives that will soon no longer be.

● Hel of the Veils - life, death, the boundary between them.

● Hel Conservation - scientific, environmental, spiritual.

● Hel Hailstorm - she in her cold Hagalaz aspect, apocalyptic change.

● Hel Lepidoptera - metamorphosis, transformation, growth.

(pendant) Lady, I come before you, ashen and unsteady, not to find my rest but to mourn. I mourn who I once was. I mourn what could have been. I mourn those who have no mourners. I mourn lives lost to madness and violence. When I began, I knew just what I was mourning. Each year that passes I know less. And yet I come before you, year after year. I come with offerings and song, marked as one of your people. And I mourn.

(first bead)

Hail to you, Hela, Grandmother Death.

Silent your wisdom, yours my last breath.

Reading our wyrd in cobwebs and lace,

Ancestor´s hostess, grant us your grace.

(second bead)

Hail to you, Hela, ender of strife.

Half fair, half rotten, mirror of life.

Cool is your comfort, equal for all.

Highways and alleys end in your hall.

(third bead)

Hail to you, Hela, Lady of Dust.

All wyrd will ever go as it must.

Carving our way on the edge of a knife,

Éljúðnir´s Mistress, teach us of life.

(decade beads) Hail Hel, the blessed keeper of our Honoured Dead. Exalted among the gods, you are with us from beginning to end. Our Lady of Solemn Remembrance, we ask you to lead us through another long night. Light our way in this night and all the nights ahead. 

(skull bead) You are half a life in darkness, half a death in day. But those who love you will have you whole – and in our night you will lead us home.

(rose + roots) Hel, my fulltrua. Hel, my Queen. Hel, my Mistress. Hel, my everything. Keeper of memories, bestower of lifetimes. Eternal twilight and stars. Hear my call and grant me your blessing.

(closing prayer) Night gathers, and you are by my side. I shall be with you till my death. I shall take no life, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die with your aid. I pledge my life and honor to Helheim, for this night and all the nights to come.

——— credit and information ———–

The hail mary-like prayer comes from alaskanlesbian, but I modified it to suit me better. Similarly, for the prayer to be said on the pendant I modified this prayer. The prayer for the first three beads can also be found here and is by someone I have actually met in person before ^^ The closing prayer is modified from the night’s watch vows from asoiaf.

Finally, I got the idea to imitate catholicism’s practice of meditating on those mysteries. For this, I used some of the cultus epithets from queenofswords (and added some of my own invention). There are many more than the ones I used here, so check them out!

If you decide to use this rosary format or if you modify it, feel free to let me know! I’m always interested in that kinda thing. 

Bonus: Hel modelling my rosary

[meseh-aha]

Hel... Is a great many things.

She is Death, in all its forms. Rotten or rotting, long dead bones whispering to the earth, Winter at its coldest. Quiet but comforting, a familiar presence in the void.

She is Necessity. For new beginnings, there must be an end. A necessary darkness as time turns to see the light once more. She is steadfast in Her thoughts and actions, not a single movement wasted.

She is Change, for what bigger change is there than Death? She is the shift from Autumn to Winter, the dying breath of a season. She changes the world around Her with Her mere existence, leaving brand new chapters to be written in Her steps.

She is Healing. She will strip you of your rot, your dead things, your grief. She takes sorrow, pain, misery, and She will bring their Death.

She is Comfort. As necessary as She is, She knows Death is painful for those still living. She is not cruel, She holds no malice. She does what She must, and She will hold you through it.

[skaldish]

Good evening! A friend of mine is very interested in Hel; do you know of any resources that help teach more about Hel and who she is?

Thank you muchly :)

I don't know any resources, but I have worked with Hel before. She's a death deity and psychopomp, and she's exceptionally helpful with grief-work and grief-processing. She's helped me move past things that were long-gone for me but I still clung to because I missed them. Hel was there patiently waiting for my invitation to step in, so we could begin the process of moving what had passed into her realm.

Death is not seen as a sudden process in Norse worldview. People are constantly growing and dying, very much like Yggdrasil. We need to clear out the dead flowers of ourselves to make room for new growth. It's just the way life is, and Hel is exceptional at facilitating this difficult process.

I know @queenofswords works with Hel and may have more written resources for you, but I also invite my followers to chip in with any leads as well.

[starstruckenemyduckmain]

I was just casually scrolling on tiktok and I found an astrology related video about Jupiter. I was like "it's my chart ruler, let's see what they have to say about it"

The girl mentioned that Jupiter represents where we expand, our luck, our optimism. My Jupiter, alongside my North Node is in my 8th house of death. I've been in life-threatening situations before, which I was very lucky to avoid. Also I did a spirit guide connection meditation once, and I was able to meet Hel, the Norse goddess of death. Can these two things possibly be related? If they are, I'm gonna freak out!

[lokeanwelcomingcommittee]

Hi! Does hel want to be in helheim?

The lore isn’t really explicit about it either way. Medieval Icelandic literature tends to give very few details about anyone's internal feelings or motives. We could speculate that she might be resentful over being exiled. Gylfaginning does describe her as “downcast and fierce-looking” (Anthony Faulkes translation.) However, we could also speculate that she enjoys ruling. Hel is not the Christian Hell, but a morally neutral underworld where the vast majority of people end up, regardless of how they lived their lives. They throw a feast for Baldr when he ends up there, meaning it’s not all doom and gloom.

But the question might be kind of moot to begin with, as it appears that at least some people might have understood Hel the goddess to be a personification of Hel the place. Helheim is a relatively modern term coined to make the distinction between the goddess and the place. The Old Norse texts just use Hel to refer to both.

Think of it like Aegir...he is a personification of the sea while also being literally the sea, with a name that just means "sea." It's not a matter of wanting to be there so much as, well, literally being there.

And as with all of Norse religion, there’s a very good chance that beliefs varied regionally and over time. There may not be one single “correct” answer.

While it's kind of old at this point and may not be 100% up to date in terms of recent scholarship. The Road to Hel by Hilda Rodereick Elilis (later Davidson) is a very accessible read that might be of interest to you.

- Mod E

[screechingtrashpanda]

Things I offer to Hel

-I offer her those moments in the cold where the tips of my fingers just start to lose feelings -I offer her the moments of the leaves crunching beneath my feet as the days become shorter -I offer her the moments where I reflect on those I've lost over the years and remember them fondly -I offer her the scents of lavender, cloves and patchouli, spicy and calm, serenity -I offer her my silence, the reflection of myself as still as water in the night -I offer her preserved flowers, may their inherent beauty reflect her and their preservation reflect her work -I offer her my loneliness, those moments that I forget I have my ancestors and friends behind me -I offer her my drive on long roads in the night, it may not be her road but I feel she enjoys the trip -I offer her the time I spend cleaning in cemeteries, returning the dead to their honor and respecting their history And finally -I offer her my hand, though she may grip with her coldest hand, I will still embrace her. Kiss the exposed knuckles and acknowledge her sovereignty. Though she may be cold, she is not made purely of ice.

[devoteetodeath]

Devotional Days to Hel

I wanted to make a post about what my devotional days are like. For those new to this blog I worship Hel, the Norse Goddess of the dead. I’ve been honoring her over a year; and this last October I devoted myself to her completely. That being said; Saturdays are the days where almost every part of my day is spent as a devotional to her. I start with my outfit choice of the day; I wear all black, or black-and-white. I veil my hair in addition to my outfit; the veil I wear is also black(though on rare occasion I will wear a blue one). From there I head over to the altar space I have for Hel; I light her candle and do an offering of rose incense and a libation-- today’s libation was coffee. I recite my prayers to her and spend time meditating before her altar which is then followed by divination. The cards I draw are to be my focus for the week to come. Afterwards I devote my yoga practice to her and do so before her altar space, allowing my mind and body to find a grounding and balancing energy. The rest of the day is spent reading books(or the occasional video) and focusing on death specifically and how I’m learning to accept death energy in to my life. I take some time to journal in my home-made Memento Mori journal. (I’ve only just started the journal, but I hope to share ideas pertaining to it soon.)

At the end of the day I once more mediate in front of her altar. This one being much more focused than the morning meditation.