The Nordic Ways

“In early times, when Ymir lived, Was sand, nor sea, nor cooling wave; no earth was found, nor heaven above, one chaos all, and nowhere grass.”

[drekisdottir]

I did a new art!

Based on the interpretation of historic helmet finds with boar figurines on them as being an aspect of protection, I have designed this boar with a simple runic protection spell written on it. The runes say in modern English "Powerful boar, please protect me + defend me from danger".

As always, you can get it on my Redbubble here:

A Viking knotwork boar. The runes say "Powerful boar, please protect me & defend me from danger".

[the-nordic-ways]

Mythologies are the foundation of the spiritual experience of nature. Spirituality is a path in which one seeks and recognises principles and structures in nature which the human spirit is able to contact and communicate with.

Spirituality is the opposite of religion since it is based on experience and not on belief and doctrines.

[the-nordic-ways]

What makes a religion real? Philosophical ramblings

There are so many religions out there, from all over the world, and people have been trying to convince each other that the religion they believe in, that their god – or gods – are the one and only, the true god/s. Millions of people have died because of that, many sacred places burned to the ground. But what makes a religion, or rather a belief, real? The question is not, whether your deity is something you can physically grasp, it’s not about whether a god physically exists in this world, but about whether you believe in it. To me, the world and how we perceive it is a subjective matter. I do not think that there exists an objective reality out there, no true right or wrong. Each person lives in their very own universe with his or her memories, personality, experiences, skills, interests, believes. Each and every universe is highly individual and will forever be unique. If you believe in, let’s say, the Norse gods, they exist in your head. They are real. In your universe. The pure act of believing in the Norse gods brings them to live and makes them real to you. They do not have to be actual beings out there, and that does not make them less real. Just as dreams do not have to be less real than our experiences when we are awake. Sometimes it is even hard to distinguish a waking experience from one in a dream. Religion is a highly individual matter, and even if several people believe in the world tree Yggdrasil, the way they are going to picture it in their head will be different. The way we picture Valhalla will be different. Sometimes, people think, they should only worship gods from one religion and feel bad when they are drawn to other gods, from other cultures. But why shouldn’t they be able to coexist? It is your universe, your religion. You own your religious believes. You perceive the world how you think it is right. Why should we draw lines and borders when they only limit us? It is not always about whether something is historically correct or not, how should we even know that it was? Often, there is a single person behind a historical book. They collected stories from many people or wrote from their own experience and knowledge. What I want to say is, create your own universe. Religion is not objective but exists in your mind and therefore can never be the same as anyone else’s. Do not limit yourself just because other people say something is incorrect, they do not write your story.

[the-nordic-ways]

For thousands of years people have believed in higher beings. Beings that are much bigger than any men would dare to imagine. But yet they believed that the spirits which run through the clouds are not so different from us, yet with a might that is unpredictable.

We are the children from the spirits of the sky and their blood runs through our veins. We are the spirit made flesh with the wind in our lungs, the rivers in our veins, the fire in our hearts and the earth beneath our skin.

[the-nordic-ways]

The sacred grove

It used to be common for many old religions to practice their believes in nature, or for nature, to pray outside under the sky or the protecting branches of the trees, to put up shrines in a deep forest or on a mountain. Not only with the Christians and their church disappeared the culture of honoring the gods in nature, also the Romans already build temples for their gods. In the norse religion, the sacred grove has always been the place to gather and to pay respect to the gods. It was when Christianity took over Scandinavia that the today famous stave churches were build, though with elements and decorations that clearly came from heathen times, but still were Christian places.

In the old testament we even find a passage that clearly motivates Christian people to destroy sacred heathen places: “Tear down their altars and break their columns and burn with fire their sacred groves.”

Luckily not every person who had another religion than the Norse one had the will to destroy, but rather to document it. Tacitus, a Roman historian, wrote in Germania: “The Germanic peoples thought it to be indecent to imprison the heavenly powers behind walls or depict them in human form. Groves and forests, they rather hallowed.”

Of course, the original text has been written in a time, where the Norse/Germanic mythology was in early stages, or better said, when the primary religion of Germanic peoples was still animistic shamanism.

The sacred grove is a place of healing and a spiritual site, a temple of nature where the trees are gods and a shelter for magical plants and animals. It is not a certain corner of the woods; it is rather a state of mind. One who can sense the sanctity of the woods sees the sacred grove – not with the eye but with the heart. The forest is a place of healing and salvation; it is sacred so that it remains and does not take harm. We must use the forest in moderation; only exorbitance destroys.

Keep reading

[the-nordic-ways]

Jelling stone, Denmark

“King Haraldr ordered this monument made in memory of Gormr, his father, and in memory of Thyrvé, his mother; that Haraldr who won for himself all of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian.”

ᚼᛅᚱᛅᛚᛏᚱ ᛬ ᚴᚢᚾᚢᚴᛦ ᛬ ᛒᛅᚦ ᛬ ᚴᛅᚢᚱᚢᛅ

ᚴᚢᛒᛚ ᛬ ᚦᛅᚢᛋᛁ ᛬ ᛅᚠᛏ ᛬ ᚴᚢᚱᛘ ᚠᛅᚦᚢᚱ ᛋᛁᚾ

ᛅᚢᚴ ᛅᚠᛏ ᛬ ᚦᚭᚢᚱᚢᛁ ᛬ ᛘᚢᚦᚢᚱ ᛬ ᛋᛁᚾᛅ ᛬ ᛋᛅ

ᚼᛅᚱᛅᛚᛏᚱ (᛬) ᛁᛅᛋ ᛬ ᛋᚭᛦ ᛫ ᚢᛅᚾ ᛫ ᛏᛅᚾᛘᛅᚢᚱᚴ

 ᛅᛚᛅ ᛫ ᛅᚢᚴ ᛫ ᚾᚢᚱᚢᛁᛅᚴ

  ᛫ ᛅᚢᚴ ᛫ ᛏ(ᛅ)ᚾᛁ (᛫ ᚴᛅᚱᚦᛁ ᛫) ᚴᚱᛁᛋᛏᚾᚭ

[the-nordic-ways]

Save the Scandinavian department at my old university

Due to among other things budget cuts the university where I used to study Scandinavian and Finno-ugric philology, more and more humanities departments face being shut down for good. This fate is already sealed for the Finno-ugric department and is now a threat to my beloved Scandinavian department. I think that it is important to preserve smaller studies of different countries and cultures and give future students the opportunity to choose and study these subjects. Financial matters should not stand in the way to preserve, pass on and expand knowledge of studies that are, unfortunately, slowly dying out. I am extremely greatful to have had the opportunity to study Scandinavian and Finno-ugric philology as I think that these studies are highly interesting. The knowledge I have gained during my time studying is still relevant for me today and still inspires me to learn more in this field on my own. It would bother me deeply to know that other people who would like to study the same thing would be denied the opportunity in the future - or at least would not have a lot of options to choose from as far as the choice of universities goes. If you want to support the cause to preserve the Scandinavian department, click on the link below to sign a petition and share this post to show that we care about preserving knowledge of languages, cultures, literature and lore! https://www.change.org/p/dekanat-der-philosphischen-fakult%C3%A4t-der-universit%C3%A4t-g%C3%B6ttingen-g%C3%B6ttinger-skandinavistik-erhalten?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_28480838_de-DE%3A3&recruiter=1175447829&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=share_petition

[the-nordic-ways]

Remember to sign the petition today! It takes only 2 minutes of your time and really helps the scandinavian faculty at my former university. You’ll find more information in German and English if you click on the link above!

[the-nordic-ways]

Save the Scandinavian department at my old university

Due to among other things budget cuts the university where I used to study Scandinavian and Finno-ugric philology, more and more humanities departments face being shut down for good. This fate is already sealed for the Finno-ugric department and is now a threat to my beloved Scandinavian department. I think that it is important to preserve smaller studies of different countries and cultures and give future students the opportunity to choose and study these subjects. Financial matters should not stand in the way to preserve, pass on and expand knowledge of studies that are, unfortunately, slowly dying out. I am extremely greatful to have had the opportunity to study Scandinavian and Finno-ugric philology as I think that these studies are highly interesting. The knowledge I have gained during my time studying is still relevant for me today and still inspires me to learn more in this field on my own. It would bother me deeply to know that other people who would like to study the same thing would be denied the opportunity in the future - or at least would not have a lot of options to choose from as far as the choice of universities goes. If you want to support the cause to preserve the Scandinavian department, click on the link below to sign a petition and share this post to show that we care about preserving knowledge of languages, cultures, literature and lore! https://www.change.org/p/dekanat-der-philosphischen-fakult%C3%A4t-der-universit%C3%A4t-g%C3%B6ttingen-g%C3%B6ttinger-skandinavistik-erhalten?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_28480838_de-DE%3A3&recruiter=1175447829&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=share_petition

[the-nordic-ways]

Snorri Sturlasons kongesagaer - “Stormutgaven”

[the-nordic-ways]

[the-nordic-ways]

“Everything that lives has a soul, because ensoulment is life. The soul gives structure to the matter. When the soul breathes life into matter, it begins to live. When the matter dies and loses its structure, the soul leaves the body.”              – Der Heilige Hain, Christian Rätsch

The beyond is the place where souls travel to when they leave the body. The soul is the bridge between the worlds. Shamans have learned to travel to the beyond and return back to this world, even though the journey can be dangerous. They found the bottleneck between the worlds; they have overcome death. In northern Europe, the Germanic and the Finno-Ugric cultures believed that this bottleneck of the worlds, the entrance to the netherworld, lies deep inside a lake, in caves or streams, at least in the times of animistic shamanism. Some claim that the Germanic word of the soul means: “the one who belongs to the sea”. That would mean that the bodyless souls live in the world sea that surrounds Midgard, a place that is also home to the undead and other creatures like the Midgard snake. The sea of the souls. The sea, or a lake is a mirror above which the souls float and is a reflection of our earthly world; the netherworld – mirror-inverted. In animistic shamanism, the netherworld does not contain good or evil, it is merely filled with conditions and traits that the individual considers to be either good or bad and interprets them according to that feeling.

Those who read the Edda know, that we owe Odin our soul. He gave it to us, when the gods created the first humans somewhere on a beach in Midgard. There are many theories out there about what that means to us, having a soul. That principle, that can’t be measured, that people believe makes us human. I would go as far and claim that the principle of the soul is the centerpiece of any religion which makes it so fascinating to learn about.

 The idea of the soul is a very complex subject that varies within the Germanic culture and has changed almost constantly throughout history. Which is why I am going to post several articles about this subject, looking into the history of the souls, how people interpreted and understood it, the principle of the soul in shamanism, the connection between the soul and death and its journeys when we dream.

[the-nordic-ways]

“Young was I once, I walked alone, and bewildered seemed the way; then I found me another and rich I thought me, for man is the joy of man. “ - Hávamál 

[the-nordic-ways]

What makes a religion real? Philosophical ramblings

There are so many religions out there, from all over the world, and people have been trying to convince each other that the religion they believe in, that their god – or gods – are the one and only, the true god/s. Millions of people have died because of that, many sacred places burned to the ground. But what makes a religion, or rather a belief, real? The question is not, whether your deity is something you can physically grasp, it’s not about whether a god physically exists in this world, but about whether you believe in it. To me, the world and how we perceive it is a subjective matter. I do not think that there exists an objective reality out there, no true right or wrong. Each person lives in their very own universe with his or her memories, personality, experiences, skills, interests, believes. Each and every universe is highly individual and will forever be unique. If you believe in, let’s say, the Norse gods, they exist in your head. They are real. In your universe. The pure act of believing in the Norse gods brings them to live and makes them real to you. They do not have to be actual beings out there, and that does not make them less real. Just as dreams do not have to be less real than our experiences when we are awake. Sometimes it is even hard to distinguish a waking experience from one in a dream. Religion is a highly individual matter, and even if several people believe in the world tree Yggdrasil, the way they are going to picture it in their head will be different. The way we picture Valhalla will be different. Sometimes, people think, they should only worship gods from one religion and feel bad when they are drawn to other gods, from other cultures. But why shouldn’t they be able to coexist? It is your universe, your religion. You own your religious believes. You perceive the world how you think it is right. Why should we draw lines and borders when they only limit us? It is not always about whether something is historically correct or not, how should we even know that it was? Often, there is a single person behind a historical book. They collected stories from many people or wrote from their own experience and knowledge. What I want to say is, create your own universe. Religion is not objective but exists in your mind and therefore can never be the same as anyone else’s. Do not limit yourself just because other people say something is incorrect, they do not write your story.

[the-nordic-ways]

Does anyone out here know anything about protection against fire in Norse magic (preferably Seith) or Icelandic magic? Runes, staves, incantations etc. I know that many of you are a fan of Loki, who is, among many other things a god of fire, but I have been in a quarrel with him for quite a while.  I would like to protect myself against the trickster, I just have not found anything in Seith magic or Icelandic magic that specifically protects against fire. Any ideas?

[the-nordic-ways]

The Helm of Awe I wore before the sons of men In defense of my treasure; Amongst all, I alone was strong, I thought to myself, For I found no power a match for my own.

- Fáfnismál

[the-nordic-ways]

From the Sorcerer’s Screed. 

“I wash my enemies’ hatred off me, the pillage and wrath of wealthy men.”

May the Helm of Terror wash off the hatred and protect you against your foes in these times and beyond!

[the-nordic-ways]

It’s a tragedy that Norse paganism will possibly always have the bitter aftertaste of white supremacy.

[the-nordic-ways]

Vikings - blond, blue-eyed, white?

Most of the people have a certain picture in mind when they hear the word Vikings. A picture that is not more than a cliché. Recently, scientists have identified the DNA of 298 people who lived in Northern Europe from 2400 B.C. to 1600 A.D. – the largest mapping of “Viking”-DNA so far.

The Viking period has been a turning point in history, where Northmen travelled the world and were in contact with numerous cultures. The classical Vikings that lived from 750 to 1050 were not a homogenous people, but surprisingly diverse with regard to ethnicity. It was rather common for Vikings to have dark hair and mixed genetics with southern European influence. And during the Viking Age the diversity grew, especially in parts of Scandinavia that were large trading points. Just in some parts of Scandinavia, especially in Norway, people maintained most of their original DNA for about 6000 years.

Did the Scandinavians have blond hair, blue eyes and a light skin color in pre-historic times? Maybe. But when we talk about Vikings, we talk about people from Scandinavia in the time of the Viking Age. And in that age, those Vikings  were a diverse people. Vikings had intercourse with people from many different countries and took them home with them. Often as slaves, yes, but the genetically mixed Vikings were as much a part of the community as any other Viking, it was normal.

Mixing DNA with other peoples and cultures has been NORMAL since pre-historic times. There are no “pure races” as some people would like to think. People have always migrated due to climate, food, or reasons that we do not know. People who dress themselves as “Vikings”, who use the symbols of Norse paganism and who try to “protect” that culture from certain groups of people have no idea what they are talking about. It’s petty. The cliché Viking look is an illusion created by white supremacists and is in no way historically accurate. The fact that they are even dressing with a “Viking helmet” with horns is just hilarious. Know your shit, goddammit.

(Foto: Västergötlands Museum, SWNS, NTB)

The information was taken from an article from forskning.no. If you can read Norwegian, read the whole article HERE. If not, I am happy to translate, just let me know.