We made an introduction when we first started this blog, but we wanted to make it a little more up to date! Below, you'll find a brief introduction of us, but below the cut, you'll find some information on the blog itself!
We're the Crow Collective, we are a DID system. However, we will switch between I/me/my pronouns and we/our/us pronouns. You can use they/them pronouns when referring to us, and just call us Crow.
We are 19 and currently studying anthropology at college. We have goals of being an archeologist when we enter our career field, but we're open to possibilities. We also want to be a published author!
We don't talk much about our personal practice and craft. This is a boundary for us, so while we're happy to answer certain questions, we will decline any questions we are not comfortable with.
Our inbox and asks are open, so please feel free to send us questions or comments. Please note the following:
We are not a teacher. We are not the end all be all final say on anything related to what we post. ALWAYS find outside sources, cross reference, look at things skeptically, and make up your own mind.
With that out of the way, look below for more information on what we plan to do with the blog!
We hope to do a lot on this blog. The following list enumerates our goals. So these posts may or may not happen, but they're a starting point for what we'll be sharing.
Deity Spotlights
Rune Study
Exploring the Myths
Looking at Holidays
"Hot Takes" and Opinions
Cosmology
Ritual and Spell Ideas
Resources for Further Research
Answer Questions
Our aim is to look at the myths and Heathenry as a whole from a holistic and historical point of view. However, we do not consider ourselves reconstructionists.
We are completely open to other beliefs and ideas; we do ask that anyone interacting with our blog does so in a kind and constructive manner. Not just with us, but with others as well.
We hope you'll stick around! We try to post about every other day, but we also work on bigger projects that can take us away from posting super regularly.
As stated previously, don't hesitate to reach out to us!
To everyone who follows and interacts with our blog! We have 30 followers, which may not seem like a lot, but we're grateful for every single one of you and for everyone who likes, comments, and reblogs!!
I was thinking about how daunting it can feel when you first dip your toes into the world of heathenry. We don't believe there's a one size fits all answer, but we're going to hopefully provide some beginner advice and resources! Always remember to do what works for you!!
Things to Consider
Learning isn't the same for everyone, so what might work for us might not work for you. This is why it's so important to consider how you're best going to absorb information. Below are some questions to ask yourself before diving too deep into research!
Am I am auditory learner?
Am I a visual learner?
Do I need pictures or other exciting elements to keep me engaged?
Can I focus on difficult texts without getting distracted?
What is my general reading level?
What knowledge do I already have?
What kind of things do I want to prioritize learning?
What resources will I have access to?
However you answer these questions is fine, there's no right or wrong! However, these should help guide you when selecting resources, especially starting off.
Another thing to consider is where you're going to keep notes. Whether this is a virtual document, a notebook, flashcards, or something else, keeping notes will help immensely!! Don't make our mistake of not taking notes and having to do the research all over.
One final consideration that I think is often overlooked but extremely important: do you have anyone who you can talk about your research with? I'm not saying to find a "coven" or group of some sort, but being able to talk about what you're learning can really help retention of information and will help you stay motivated.
Resources
Below are some resources, please note:
We are not affiliated with any of these links. We may not even like the whole website or everything the author says. IT IS ALWAYS IMPORTANT to use critical thinking, to cross reference, and to utilize more than one source!
This should be used as a starting point!
We like the episodes we've listened to of this podcast!! If you can learn through audio only, it's great to have on in the car!
Norse Mythology for Smart People provides an accessible, entertaining, and reliable introduction to the Vikings’ mythology and religion, wit
We've used this website for years! Very good information, though the writing style may be difficult for people who struggle reading text that is more academic in format.
Learn about Norse Gods, Elves, Dwarves and Giants in the Nine Realms. From creation to the devastating end in Ragnarok. (Incl. Edda Poems)
Also a good site! More relaxed in tone, but still full of information!
Real expertise in Norse language and myth, free of both ivory tower elitism and the agendas of self-appointed gurus.
We have yet to watch any of Crawford's videos. However, we're reading his translation of the Poetic Edda now, and he is a highly recommended scholar!
Hopefully some of this can help you! Always do what works in your life! We are but one heathen, and we don't know everything. Learning is a process. If you'd like to reach out to us, please feel free!!
We love to pray to Norse deities, so I thought we'd talk a little bit about prayer in our practice. Not all heathens or pagans pray. Prayer should be an individual practice special to each practitioner.
One major thing for us with prayer is that we always ask for consent before praying for someone. We will not pray for someone if we do not have their consent.
We pray either nightly or every other night. Sometimes, it's more of a general prayer for well-being, and we don't address it to any specific deity. However, if we have a specific request or thanks, we direct it to the relevant god or goddess.
If we're praying for health, for example, we'd address it to Eir. For justice, we'd pray to Tyr. However, if you want to pray, pray to who you're comfortable with whether it's technically in their domain or not.
One question we've gotten is, "How do you pray." This is another instance where you should do what's best for you. For us, it's basically very intentional thinking. We don't bow our head, we don't sit or kneel, we simply think our prayer. Sometimes we'll say it outloud, but we don't believe it is necessary.
We also don't have a specific structure really. We usually start with something "invoking" whatever deity we're praying to, if any. And then we say the prayer. Finally, we say a thank you.
Whether you pray or how you pray should be 100% up to you. We believe prayer can be powerful, but it is not necessary to be a good pagan or heathen.
If anyone would like to add anything or ask questions, please feel free!
Jötunar (singular Jötunn) in Norse Mythology and texts is often translated to "giants" or "a giant" depending on how many you're talking about. However, this is not a literal translation.
We've been listening to this amazing podcast:
The host makes it very clear that the Jötunar are not gigantic in size. In fact, they come from the same source as the gods. In the myths, they are physically indistinguishable from gods and humans.
I'm not sure (or just can't remember) where the idea that the Jötunar are giant comes from, but it's not accurate. The Jötunar, to my understanding, are just another tribe of beings. Similar to the Aesir and Vanir.
I'll hopefully be doing more digging into this, but I wanted to make people aware that I will try to avoid using the term "giants" unless I'm quoting something.
The following post is about some thoughts we've had and have finally been able to put into words.
We were listening to a podcast (which had been really great so far, we might make a post and link it sometime in the future), and the host said something to the effect of "I wish the ancient norsemen wrote down their beliefs and traditions, and that they codified their religion." We agree that that would have been amazing for us today, but we also had some other thoughts.
Primarily, the lack of codification is actually kind of a nice thing in some respects. While having more information about how they experienced their religion in ancient Norse society would be great, I think it's also really beneficial that Heathenry doesn't have a super strict creed. Many people practice Heathenry because it gives them that religious freedom to define their own practice.
Also, I feel like we can learn a lot about their beliefs and practices based on the lack of written sources. To us, it shows that individual practices were highly dependent on their clan and community, and on their family. I think it gives us insight into how diverse the religion was across the region.
Of course, the lack of primary resources has made reconstruction of the ancient religion impossible to do 100% accurately, but we can still extrapolate information from what we have and what we don't have.
I'd like to hear other people's thoughts on this as well!!
(Note: Freyr's mother is a highly debated topic. We know that his mother was likely his father's sister, but there is debate over what her name is)
Quick Facts:
Tribe: Vanir
Domain: Fertility, Prosperity, and Peace
Parents: Njörd and Nerthus/Njörun
Sibling: Freyja
Spouse: Gerðr
Child: Fjölnir
Mythologically Backed Facts (VPG)
Freyr is a god of fertility, prosperity, and peace. He was born a Vanir to Njörd and Njörd's sister, but moved to Asgard as a baby after the Æsir-Vanir war. Both his parents were Vanir, with his father being considered ruler of the Vanir. With Gerðr, he had one child, Fjölnir. Fjölnir is said to have become the king of what we now call Sweden, making him the first of the Ynglings, and many people consider Freyr the father of the Yngling dynasty (more on that later).
Lord of Alfheim: When Freyr moved to Asgard as a baby, the Æsir gifted him Alfhiem, realm of the Alfar (elves), as a present when he got his first tooth. While there aren't many attestations about this story, or about Alfheim and the Alfar in general, this is a pretty important part of his mythology. Some people will call him the King or Lord of the Elves.
Father of the Ynglings: Freyr, as the father of Fjölnir, is said to be the father of the Yngling dynasty. To my understanding, this dynasty is the first known dynasty of Sweden, and of Scandinavia as a whole, but they ruled in modern day Sweden. The Ynglings would claim that they were decendants of Freyr, possibly to maintain their rule (although this is slight speculation on my part).
Gullinbursti: Made from gold by the dwarf brothers Brokk and Sindri, Gullinbursti is Freyr's boar. Gullinbursti is said to move through air and water faster than any horse. As a symbol of Freyr's rule over prosperity, Gullinbursti is an important companion of Freyr.
Skídðblaðnir: This magical ship, made by the same dwarves who made Gullinbursti, is Freyr's ship that can hold all the gods and their gear while also being able to be folded up and fit in a pocket. This important item of Freyr's also goes back to his roots as son of a sea god.
Gerðr and Freyr's Love Story: If you're interested in reading about their story, please read our Deity Spotlight about Gerðr located here.
Our Experiences (UPG)
Surtr and Ragnarok: At the end of the world, when the gods must face the Jötunar in Ragnarok, Freyr will face Surtr. However, because he gave up his sword to win Gerðr's hand, Freyr will be slain by the Jötunn.
We have worked with Freyr for several years now. He is a big part of our practice and craft.
He is a very kind deity, but he can push his practioners to be their best selves. He loves nature and agriculture. He likes shades of green, yellow, some browns, and blues.
Like with Gerðr, we'll take nature walks with him. We've offered him sea water, and we've also offered him coins because of his association with prosperity. Also due to this association, we did a good luck spell with him once.
He has a very rich mythology and history, and he is very cool and fun to work with. He can be "quiet" sometimes. For instance, he may not answer questions through tarot unless you word them exactly as you mean. He also might not give as many cards as a "chattier" deity such as Loki.
As always, if we get anything wrong, please let us know nicely! If you have any questions, feel free to ask!!
For further reading, feel free to view this article. Always remember to take things with a skeptical eye and cross reference, but the article has a lot of good information.
When most people think of Odin and Loki, they think of father and son as they are characterized in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
However, in Norse mythology, these two deities do not share any parentage. Odin is the Allfather and leader of the Æsir. Loki is a jotunn destined to bring about the end times, Ragnarok. So it surprised me when I found out they are blood brothers!
In this post, I'm going to explain why they're blood brothers and some suggestions on how this can influence your practice if you should wish.
The concept of "blood brothers" indicates that Loki and Odin would swear and oath of brotherhood and then mix their blood to seal the pact.
Though there is no account of Odin and Loki performing this act in the Eddas, there is direct evidence that it happened in the poem Lokasenna.
If you don't know what happens in Lokasenna, I will explain that in a future post. However, just know that the following quote is Loki speaking.
Lokasenna - Verse 9:
"Do you remember, Odin,
When in bygone days
We blended our blood?
You told me then
That you would never taste a drink
That was not served to us both."
(Taken from Jackson Crawford's translation of The Poetic Edda)
Based on this section of the myths, we can see that they are blood brothers. However, what does that mean for their relationship, which is fraught with tension all throughout the myths.
It's quite hard to find sources on this type of oath in ancient Norse society. I'm not even sure the people did pacts like these. But we can extrapolate some information from the Eddas, and we can infer based on our experiences in modern times.
The text says that Odin shouldn't accept a drink (some translations say ale, not drinks) unless one has also been offered to Loki.
While researching this, we also thought of sibling relationships like we see them today. Lots of siblings have squabbles and fights, but they often still have love for each other. They may have a lot of differences, but there's still a bond.
And in my opinion, that's the biggest takeaway. I think it can help explain their relationship from a different stand point.
They aren't just enemies destined to destroy each other in Ragnirok; they are a pair with a complex relationship and history.
So, if you want to incorporate this information into your practice, here's a suggestion!
If/when you make a liquid offering to Odin, also offer one to Loki.
Obviously don't do this if you don't want to, but I know people who do this!
As always, please be nice when commenting! If I made a mistake, I'd love to learn. And send any questions or ask my way, I'd love to answer!
The Value of Worshipping Loki, Fenrir, Hel, or Any Other "Evil" or "Scary" Deity
If you've spent any time in Heathen spaces, I'm sure you've seen people who claim that Loki and their offspring are evil and / or not worthy of worship. While I can understand this line of thinking st the surface level, I don't think it takes certain factors into account
1) Downfalls Of Mythic Literalism
Taking the myths as true stories is, in my opinion, unhelpful in worshipping the gods. These stories have been written down by humans after they were passed down orally. There's always going to be human bias in these telling and retellings because humans aren't perfect.
Claiming that Loki is evil is saying that humans know the gods and can decide if they are "good" or "evil."
The myths and stories are just that: stories. They aren't the end all be all of who the gods are.
2) "Good" vs. "Evil" Is Unhelpful
The concept that Loki is evil and the other gods are good is such a black and white way of looking at Norse Mythology. A vast majority of humans are neither purely good nor purely evil, so why should the gods be subject to this sort of ridicule?
In reality, things are always gray, there isn't much that's black and white.
3) Chaos Is A Part Of Life
The gods often reflect the realities of life, and let's be honest, life is messy and chaotic. Embracing chaos can be helpful in getting through rough patches.
Loki is a god of chaos; chaos is a part of life. Therefore, some may find benefit in working with or worshipping them.
4) It's Literally None Of Your Business
If everything I have said previously does not inspire you to leave Loki devotees or devotees of "evil" deities alone, please realize that other peoples' practices aren't your concern. They aren't hurting anyone. They aren't hurting you.
I think all of us need to remember that everyone is fighting their own battle. Picking a fight with someone over who they worship or work with is not kind, and you're unlikely to change anyone's mind.
Even in this post, I'm not trying to convince you to worship Loki or his children. All I'm trying to do is remind people that kindness goes a long way.
I hope you found this post informative or helpful in some way. If you have any questions or comments, send them my way!!
Being so afraid of being wrong that you can’t move is actually the worst thing you could do for your practice.
You aren’t imposing on anyone.
You aren’t insulting the Gods. Arguably, you don’t actually know what would be considered insulting unless you’ve actually asked Them.
You’re not going to be beaten up and told you are the worst devotee ever.
You aren’t going to be told by any Deity you are morally imbalanced or impure.
The only thing the Gods are actually concerned with is the ability to get you to listen to Them which means peeling away layers and layers of trauma, biases, and patterns that take you away from Them. They would not forcibly remove you from Their attentions just because you wanted to try something new or do something that no one else is doing.
The ultimate goal of any Divine relationship for either side should always be to draw nearer to Them, not be pushed away because your discernment is inaccurate while you are learning.
Heathens don't have to read both Eddas in their entirety to be good/proper Heathens.
Allow me to explain...
If you've never tried to read the Eddas or haven't seen how they're written, this may be a little surprising.
The Eddas are very old texts; some of them were originally written in now-dead languages. There have been many translations over the years, and some people have a perffered translator or a specific translation they like the most.
Because of this, the Eddas are written in a way that will seem very foreign to most people. They include vernacular which is often confusing. The language and sentence structure is so completely different than modern English, making it a hard read for most.
Even I, who has spent hours examining the Havamal and specific stories in the Eddas, want to bang my head against a wall during my read through of the Eddas.
I was discussing the difficulty of the Eddas with a friend who has dyslexia. We talked about how they can feel academic in nature. While I don't have dyslexia, and I've always enjoyed a reading challenge, the Eddas truly try my patience and commitment sometimes.
While understanding the stories in the Eddas is a great thing for all heathens and Norse pagans to do, claiming that you need to read them cover to cover is a little ableist. It can be virtually impossible for some people to read the Eddas, whether due to dyslexia, learning disabilities, focusing problems, or any other reason.
Not to mention, the Eddas aren't and should not be considered a holy book. They were written by humans. Humans are flawed and have agendas and biases. To dictate that heathens must consider these tales as solid fact is misinformed at best and manipulative at worst.
TL;DR -
There is value in the Eddas and in understanding them, but treating them like a holy book that all heathens must read cover to cover is not helpful.
So, I was researching the Younger Futhark runes this evening. This is a complicated endeavor because there's a lot less information online about Younger than there is about Elder Futhark runes. However, I came across a comment left on a blog/article, and I feel the need to explain why it's a wild take and why I personally don't like this kind of thinking.
The comment reads, "Thought - Staveless runes are proof that aliens and humans were in contact."
This is one hell of a take because "staveless" runes are a simplified iteration of the Younger Futhark. ("Staveless" is actually very misleading on what this version of the runes look like, but we're not going down that rabbithole for now).
Back to the comment, though! The idea that aliens are so vital to the evolution of human development is detrimental, in my opinion. It reduces human achievement and progress to something that is only accomplishable by other beings.
That doesn't take into account that the evolution and development of language and writing systems is so important to human history.
Theories involving aliens and past civilizations has also always irked us. Often, we see aliens being used to explain extraordinary things done by historical civilizations with a disregard to the people that actually did then. Take the pyramids, for example. They were built by people who were treated horribly, but they're a marvel to look at considering what kinds of tools they had. To simply say that aliens had to have been involved is to ignore the people who suffered and toiled relentlessly to accomplish the construction.
Do I think beings from other galaxies could exist? Absolutely! But crediting human accomplishments to beings that may or may not exist is wildly misrepresenting history.
Of course, these are my opinions. I'm not trying to ridicule the commenter or people who believe that aliens have come to earth. I simply think we should reframe our thinking when it comes to civilizations from history that have done some really cool things!
This is not meant to be an informational post beyond sharing what veiling looks like for us and our practice.
What is Veiling?
Veiling is the act of coving your head/hair. This is most commonly done for religion and/or cultural reasons. However, there are many reasons to veil. A common veil you may hear about or see is a hijab. The term hijab is for Muslims. However, the style is not necessarily closed, so long as the wearer is respectful.
Why Do We Veil?
We veil for several reasons!
Religion
We are primarily heathen, and not many heathens veil. However, we feel very called to cover our hair. It's kind of a reminder that the gods are all around us.
Modesty
We prefer to be modestly dressed. This isn't always possible to the extent we wish, but covering our hair helps us feel more covered.
Protection
We are an empath, so veiling helps us protect our energy. It just helps us feel more inside our own bubble, if that makes sense.
Medical
We have trichotillomania (aka compulsive hair pulling). This is obviously not good for our scalp, so having a physical barrier helps us to not pull our hair.
More About Our Veiling
We mainly veil in public. We let family see our hair, and if we had any friends, they'd be allowed to see our hair too.
We veil in many styles, and it usually depends on the type of scarf and our outfit.
We don't dedicate our veiling to one deity. Instead, it's more of a devotional act the the pantheon as a whole. It's very hard to explain in general terms in a tumblr post.
Questions?
We'd be happy to answer questions, so feel free to send asks and whatnot!
Hello! Today, we're going to be looking at the runes. This is the introductory post for our rune study, which will be an in-depth look at each rune individually.
Before we get to that, we need a little history and background, so this is an introduction. There will not be any divinitory meanings explored today. We are simply looking at the runes and learning about their history.
Different Runic Alphabets
Many heathens are aware of two runic alphabets, Elder Futhark and Younger Furhark. However, there are more runic alphabets than just those. Some other alphabets are the Germanic Futhork and Medieval runes. While there are many runic alphabets, this blog will primarily explore the Futharks.
Elder and Younger Futhark History
As one might guess, the Elder Futhark gets its name because it came before the Younger Futhark. I have found some discrepancies over when Elder Futhark first appeared. That being said, somewhere in the 1st or 2nd century, Elder Futhark began being used by the Norse people.
By the Viking age, so around the 8th century, Elder Futhark turned into a different, shorter, alphabet that we now know as Younger Futhark.
Differences in Elder vs Younger
As stated before, Younger Futhark is much shorter. In fact, Younger Futhark is only 16 letters long. This is much shorter than Elder Futhark's 24 runes.
Another difference is that Younger Futhark has 2 different versions. They are often called Short-Twig and Long-Twig. Both of these versions mean the same thing. It's kind of like modern-day cursive versus print handwriting.
Were the Runes Just Alphabets?
This is a hard question for us to be 100% sure on. We have had some sources and people tell us that the ancient people did not believe the runes to have a deeper meaning than being characters in a writing system.
However, this is slightly contradictory with the mythological story we have about the runes (more on that below).
It is possible that they believed the runes held a deeper meaning, but did not use them for divination as we do today.
Odin and the Runes
In Norse mythology, Odin "discovered" the runes while he hung from the world tree, Yggdrasil, for nine days and nights after he impaled his heart with his own spear. It's said that the runes came to him from the Well of Urd, which is the source of fate.
Many people say that Odin put himself through this dangerous event because he knew the runes held great meaning and wisdom.
In Conclusion
The Elder and Younger Futhark are very interesting pieces of history and of the heathen path. I hope this post helped explain their history and background. I'm excited to start our in-depth study of the runes! We will start with Elder Futhark and then move to Younger Futhark. Below, you'll find quick charts of what the different Futharks look like!
(Some people translate the ð to a d, and some to a th. We use a d because it has yielded more search results.)
Quick Facts:
Tribe: Jötunn by birth, Vanir by marriage
Domain: Fertility and Abundance
Parents: Gymir and Aurboda
Spouse: Freyr
Child: Fjölnir
Mythologically Backed Facts (VPG)
Gerdr is a goddess of abundance and fertility. She was born a Jötunn, one of the giants, but she is considered a Vanir goddess thanks to her marriage with Freyr (more on their love story in a bit). Both her parents, Gymir and Aurboda, were Jötunns. With Freyr, she had one child, Fjölnir. Fjölnir is said to have become the king of what we now call Sweden, making him the first of the Ynglings.
Gerdr and Freyr's Love Story: One day, while sitting on Odin's throne, viewing the nine realms, Freyr saw a beautiful Jötunn, Gerdr. I have seen sources disagree on if Njord, Freyr's father, or Freyr himself sent Skirnir, but either way, Skirnir was given Freyr's magical sword in exchange for him wooing Gerdr for Freyr.
Skirnir tried to persuade Gerdr into coming with him to meet and marry Freyr, but it is said she refused. Skirnir is then said to have resorted to threats, under which Gerdr agrees.
Once they wed, Gerdr became a Vanir goddess. It is also said that Freyr will die in Ragnarok because he gave up his sword.
My Experiences (UPG)
We love working with Gerdr. She is so sweet! She is a big part of our practice, along with Freyr. For us, she has a very kind and loving energy. We often compare her vibe to a gentle wind rustling through tree leaves.
We take walks with her out in nature, we have a candle for her, and we cook with her! We've found that she really likes shades of green, golden yellow, and certain shades of brown.
She is very understanding and an amazing deity to work with.
As always, if we get anything wrong, please let us know nicely! If you have any questions, feel free to ask!!
What are they? What's the difference? And why are they important?
Simply put, the Eddas are collections of stories about Norse mythology. They are the closest thing we have to a primary source for the tales that ancient Scandinavians told. Since the people who originally told these stories passed them down orally, these texts are not 100% accurate. However, as with everything, they are based on truth. Thus, we must look at them with a critical eye.
There are a couple of important differences when looking at the Eddas. The Poetic Edda draws from the Codex Regius and has several versions. The text tells the tales of the Norse gods and heroes, and the stories themselves may date back to the 8th century. However, the Codex was written in the 13th century. The author of the Codex is unknown, and some people believe that it was put together by several people. There are several translations available today.
The Prose Edda, on the other hand, was complied by, or possibly written by, a 13th century scholar known as Snorri Sturluson.
It is important to note that these texts were written down after the Chirstanization of the area. Therefore, there is probably a lot of bias in these tales.
These texts, along with the Sagas, are the best known texts for Norse mythology. This is why most modern Norse Pagans and Heathens read, or want to read, these texts.
Our thoughts on them
We are currently reading (and annotating) a pdf of the Poetic Edda. After that, we will move on to the Prose Edda. We have chosen the Jackson Crawford translation.
We are very excited to dive deeper into these texts! We always keep in mind the potential biases present, and we hope to report back to yall with some insight after reading!
If we made any mistakes, please let us know! We try to research and fact-check as much as possible, but we are human.
