Hundreds of years of Christian misinformation on the spirit world has led to the belief that there are only two types of spirits on earth: trapped human souls, and non-human demonic entities. The reality is much more complicated than that.
The Norse had a belief in spirits that were connected to the land as well as their clan or family. They believed these entities to be guardians of their lands, of their kin, and they may have even been tied to or connected with the ancestors.
As well, they believed that the spirits of their ancestors blessed their lands and made them fertile, which is what their decaying bodies would have done. Pleasing and honoring the ancestors as well as the gods ensured a bountiful harvest, and that required a balance with nature.
Theres a diverse sub-set of unique and potentially powerful and dangerous entities, some benevolent, and some not so much, that extends into the 9 realms of the World Tree and beyond. It’s almost impossible to get a scope of the grand scale of the spirit world, especially when compared to our own. These entities have come to be known as different things in different places the world over.
Spirits also have diverse reasons for being here. They might belong to the land, or may be wandering. They could be guarding something, lending power to something, exploring, they could be trapped in some cases, or could be living off of something. Each spirit has it’s own wants, desires, and needs. For example: most spirits that I would label demonic are part of a class of entities whose job it is to basically bring elements of strife to disrupt order. They feed off of chaos, and often endanger humans and trap other souls in order to feed. They can be tricky to deal with, but without them our world would not function. They are a necessary part of our world’s spiritual ecosystem. I believe this interplay between chaos and order, or as I prefer to think of it, creation and destruction, allows our planet and all it’s realms to continue it’s existence in relative peace. Demons are kind of like the wild fires of the spirit world. When things get too gummed up, demons come in and wipe things out, allowing for new energies to move in and grow.
These realms of our world are like interwoven layers of the same massive fabric, each one is it’s own thread, with it’s own rules, but very much tied to the larger whole. Most people go their whole lives without ever realizing the fabric is there, but some lucky few of us, for one reason or another, are called to step beyond the veil and try and understand the unseen worlds.
One thing I am absolutely certain of is this: The Spirit World and it’s inhabitants belong here, just as much as the rest of us. The more we understand, or try to understand, about the spirit world the more we will understand and appreciate nature itself. It’s going to take a lot of time a lot of healing to mend the rift between us as humans and the nature and spirits we rely on. But with dedicated individuals I believe our future can begin to look more aligned with the needs of our natural world. As we attempt to understand the different diverse elements that make up our witchy world, we can seek to communicate with our planet in a new way. We can listen to the things she tells us she needs, and maybe together we can start a movement for her that will echo on for generations, creating real and palpable change. Maybe we too can become part of the host of spirits trying to right the wrongs of human destruction.
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