Witching the Plough on Plough Monday
Original Title: “ WITCHING THE PLOUGH ON PLOUGH MONDAYThe First Monday after Twelfth-Day Costumed Christmas traditions are quite common throughout northern Europe, as well as in England and Scandinavia. In some regions, Holda, Percht and Bercht play a prominent part in them. Indeed, vivid visual descriptions of her may allude to a popular portrayal, perhaps
The Fate of All
As we have discussed previously, the fate of all things is to die, but with that death comes renewal and even advancement. Perhaps this is a reason why we strive so hard to be creators—our life is a perpetual state of entropy as we age and get closer to death. However, death is not an
Understanding Fate
We have seen that the basic formula for a belief in destiny is that all things in motion have a destination, each destination then sets off a reaction, each reaction begins the next movement, renewing the cycle. This is antithetical to the notion of causation and motion, which is built upon the belief in linear
Fate
odisbook #doctrine Fate Everything that exists much reach some culmination, some point of meaning or purpose for that existence. To exist is to move forward, to forward, to progress or evolve; so if existence=motion, then fate=destination, a word that has its root in the term ‘destiny.’ We are not simply moving forward, we are all
The Alfar
As the Aesir deal primarily with the defense of the cosmos, the Vanir deal with its mechanics, and the Disir deal with its proliferation through fertility, the Alfar are the ones who actually drive the natural forces and entities that make up our universe. The sun is pulled by Sol in the lore, the moon
Idun
She is the daughter of Ivaldi and mother of Skadi with her brother, Volund. She later became the wife of Bragi. Idun is more widely known as the keeper of the Ellilyf Asa ‘The Gods’ Remedy Against Old Age,” which is the same as the Manna Mjotudr only here the fruits are consecrated for a
Frigga
Odin’s wife and mother of the Aesir—Thor, Baldur, and Hodur with him; she also gave birth to Frey, Freya, Blik, Blid, Frid, Eir, Hlif, Hlifthrasa, Thjodvarta, and Bjart with her brother, Njord. Such a close union is allowed among the Vanir (but not the Aesir), and we would see this as an aspect of divinity
The Vanir Gods Njord and Nerthus
Original title :CIRCLING THE WAGONS:The Vanir Gods Njord and Nerthus Although some scholars have pointed out possible foreign models for Tacitus’ account of the Nerthus cult, it is more probable that he based his account on native Scandinavian tradition. A divinity in a wagon is well-known in Germanic lore, thus there is little need to
Honoring Ancestors
We have seen the Odinist methods of paying tribute to the dead through the Helfaring, but one more duty is placed upon the living in paying tribute to the dead. This is figuring out how to honor them after they have moved on and become revered ancestors. There are three ways that this can be
Hödur’s supposed blindness
HÖDUR’S SUPPOSED BLINDNESS. To all that has been said of Hödur above, one statement in Gylfaginning stands in the sharpest and most irreconcilable contrast: the statement that Hödur, the warrior, dragonslayer, archer, and sportsman was blind! The uncritical manner in which Gylfaginning has previously been handled has enabled this statement to remain in mythological textbooks
