Bookversary! A Child’s Eye View of Heathenry

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Leap Day bookversaries are extra special. My book A Child’s Eye View of Heathenry originally released on February 29, 2012.

Learn the facts about this little understood collection of religions by one of their most prolific authors, in a format easily digested by adults and young readers alike. A children’s book aimed at presenting the facts of modern Heathen belief. This is the first in a series of Children’s Books presenting the facts about modern religious belief systems.

Features color images.

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Wodinic Wednesday Q&A

Y’all know the drill, folks. Ask your questions and I’ll do my best to answer them. I have an early meeting so it might not be till later tonight that I get to answer, but I will do so before the day is done. I”ll keep this forum open until 10pm est for questions.

I do this to honor Odin as knowledge seeker. Perhaps pour out an offering to Him today if you are so minded. Happy Woden’s DaY.

Bookversary! Honoring Sigyn: The Norse Goddess of Constancy [Revised & Expanded]

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Today marks the bookversary of my published book Honoring Sigyn: The Norse Goddess of Constancy [Revised & Expanded] originally released by Spero Publishing on February 26, 2012. The book is a revised and expanded edition of the same book first published through Lulu Publishing in 2011. 

A devotional dedicated to the Norse Goddess Sigyn, including original prayers and poems to Her. Honoring Sigyn includes the mentions of Her for The Lore, as well as considerable material derived from the practices of women who have served Her in the modern era. This new expanded revision also includes recipes and much more!

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Our Gods are still being honored.

The Theodosian Code 16.10.11 tells us that on this day, February 24, in the year 391 CE, Roman Emperor Theodosius I decreed the closing of the temples and shrines. In the next few years there were further erosions to religious practice including the destruction of those holy sites, and the punishment of those polytheists who tried to worship their Gods.

Over 1600 years later and the Gods and Goddesses are still worshipped, new temples and shrines are being erected. Theodosius, you failed.

So on this day, let us post pictures of the new temples and shrines, post pictures of your altars to the Gods and Goddesses. Greet the Gods by name, lay offerings out to them, give them your prayers. Long may the Gods be hailed!

My shrine to Mani and the House of Mundilfari (there’s a huge section for Sunna, Sinthgunt, et Al. to the right not visible in this pic.

QOTD

Thinking About Malocchio

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So, the other day while at work, I got hit with the eye. I didn’t realize it at first, but later started – out of the blue- to get a blistering headache. Thing is, I hadn’t gotten the full power of the eye, something I’ll discuss in a moment. Because of this, I was able to shake off the migraine very quickly, something that never ever happens.  When I got home, and explained how I’d suddenly been struck temporarily ill, my husband asked if I had gotten hit with the evil-eye. I went to divination and Hermes confirmed that absolutely I had been, but that I’d dispersed most of it. Here’s the thing, I didn’t realize at the time, that I’d thrown back most of the power of the eye. Here’s what happened (though I’ll paint a broad picture to protect identities because I do wish all involved well). 

Now, I can’t cast the eye. In order to do so, one has to be passive aggressive and usually envious, jealous, or otherwise vindictive. I’m aggressive-aggressive lol. If I have a problem with someone, I come right out and tell them. Most people who can throw the eye aren’t doing it on purpose. They have a minor gift and deep resentment. I’ve written a small book that goes into more detail about the eye here.  A few days ago, at work, I happened to run into a colleague and a few of his students late in the afternoon and being professionals, we bantered. I know however that he is not only deeply hostile to me, but at one point was scrolling back years on my blog to find dirt on me that he could report to the administration. So, while we were friendly, there was that underlying hostility. My colleague said, as we were bantering in front of other students, “I call her [inoffensive and even funny nick-name here].” I said, laughing, “Trust me, I’ve been called worse.” To which my colleague responded as though he were joking but with veiled hostility, “I keep my true thoughts for my office” I just looked him right in the eyes, smiled, and made a hand gesture (not the one you think, you filthy animals lol) and said, “Right back at you.” Something about that combination of word act and gesture dispersed 90% of the power of the eye, the rest of which I dealt with by means of a quick prayer. I’ve been hit with the eye a couple of times, but I’ve never been able to disperse it so quickly or in this particular way. I’m perplexed. I never thought it would work that way, for all that certain gestures, like the manus fica, — not the gesture I used– are traditionally said to banish it.

What have your experiences been, if any, with the evil eye? Have you had similar experiences? Word-acts (by which I would include prayers, invocations, charms) are very powerful things. I have just never had things come together in such a way as I describe above before. 

Now, as a corollary to this, I have recently had some insights into using nazar charms (especially jewelry). Odin sacrificed an eye into Mimir’s well to gain wisdom. His eye and by extension eye charms can be powerful warding charms against malocchio. I took several of my nazar earrings, pendants, etc. and dedicated them all to Odin, blessing and charming them in the way that is traditional in my House. When I put one of these charms on, I say the following prayer: 

“Eye of Odin, plucked for power, ward me now from every evil. Hail to You, Blindi, Báleygr, Gunnblindi. Hail to You, Herblindi, Hoárr, Vinr Mims, Hail to You, Odin. May I be worthy of this protection. Alu”

I have several brooches and necklaces with nazar charms on them that I’ve dedicated in this way, saying this prayer every time I put them on. I used to dismiss evil eye lore as just superstitious folk lore but the past decade has been vastly educational and I’ve found – the hard way, I might add – that our ancestors knew things and a lot of that folklore is surprisingly spot on. 

If you’ve had experiences with malocchio, I would very much like to discuss in the comments. 

I love this image. I found it here: https://odindevoted.wordpress.com/2013/06/16/valknut-eye/

Wodinic Wednesday Q&A

As always, I shall be taking reader questions today here in the comments. I’ll keep it open until 10pm EST tonight — I may answer late but I will answer.

I do this to honor Odin as seeker of Knowledge. May He ever and always be praised.

Bookversary! Full Fathom Five

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Today marks the bookversary of my published devotional book Full Fathom Five: Honoring the Norse Gods and Goddesses of the Sea originally released on February 21, 2008. The book is currently out of print, but you can find copies on the resale market.

Full Fathom Five is a devotional dedicated to the Norse Deities of the sea: Ran, Aegir, Their Nine Daughters and Njord. It is the first full-color devotional from Asphodel press, with beautiful photographs and illustrations on nearly every page. It offers a moving compilation of poems, prayers and personal accounts from people who love and honor these Gods. Respect for the ocean and its bounty is also discussed by those who have found that loving Gods of the sea means preserving that which is Their body. For anyone seeking to develop a relationship with these Gods, seeking a means of deepening a pre-existing relationship or for those who simply want to learn more, this devotional is a worthy addition to one’s book hoard.

Features color images.

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Contemplative Living Series – Shiva’s Rule – I will strive always for mindfulness and clarity of soul.

As always, I want to begin with the disclaimer that Rules for the Order of the Horae, including this  rule, may be found here. I’m not part of this Order, but I am using their rules as a jumping off point for these explorations of contemplative and/or devotional living. Please note, these rules were originally intended for a contemplative community. I’m expanding upon them, beyond the boundaries of contemplative living, in ways that I hope will be beneficial to devotion in general and living a devout life in particular. 

I give this rule to Hoenir, one of the three creator Gods in our tradition. As a creator God, Hoenir gifted us with cognition, firing synapses, our minds, our ability to reason, our intellectual curiosity and, more and more I am coming to think, our capacity to sense the holy. The cultivation of that latter capacity is really important for cultivation of virtue, for developing oneself as a human being in relationship with the Holy Ones, and also, for finding the right way to fill our moral hunger, and for becoming a good and honorable lineage carrier. 

I think this rule is about mindfulness and doing the work. That’s such a slippery platitude sometimes, isn’t it? “Doing the work.” Wtf does that mean? I think for me, and the way that I would teach this to my students, it means not giving up and always, always seeking for greater understanding of the holy Ones. It means seeking always to live ever more fully in a way that honors Them. That means dealing with one’s own issues, acknowledging both our good and less than good motivations and seeking to better them. It means confronting our fears and the slimy, twisting, envious, nasty little parts of ourselves too and clearing out the spiritual detritus. Sometimes it might mean getting secular therapy and reevaluating how we care for ourselves on a physical and health level. 

At its heart as well, this rule is about developing discernment and using it in our daily lives, our spiritual lives, and how we engage with the Holy Powers. This rule comes last in the set because, I think, it encompasses the work we put into the other eleven rules and those other rules help us here in this work toward our Holy Ones. I think that this is a “rule” that we can all follow and should: spirituality, our lives lived in devotional relationship with our Holy Ones is not something static. It is ever evolving and we are ever going – hopefully!—more deeply into understanding. That understanding encompasses us, our world, our devotional lives, the Holy Ones. We are working toward ἁρετή – excellence and goodness. That’s not a one and done. It’s a lifetime’s practice. 

This concludes my contemplative living series, at least insofar as the Rules of the Order of the Horae go (there are only 12 rules). What would you like me to focus on next? Odin’s heiti (something I’ve wanted to do for awhile) or various Orphic aphorisms and sayings of note? Let me know and I’ll get started.  

Happy Tuesday, folks. 

Candle Lighting Offered

I’m reposting this and offering it again. IN fact, I’ll post this every so often, but this is an open offer. I will do this whenever people ask:

For those who wish, I will light candles for you this week. These are not my usual setting of lights, but slender tapers that I buy from a Bulgarian monastery. They’re pure beeswax and burn beautifully. They have extra blessings worked into them by the monks. I am charging $7 for the candle. If you want me to light and pray for you, PayPal me at Krasskova at gmail.com and then email me at the same email address telling me who or what you want me to pray for. Our world is so terrible right now on so many fronts. I firmly believe the best way to respond is through prayer and devotion.

That is all. I know several of you have emailed me with questions and for consults. I WILL be getting back to you this week, most likely after Tuesday. My apologies for the delay. I often neglect my own health in this work and it caught up with me this past week. I’m fine, but after a couple of migraines, I needed to take a rest. Now I’m playing catch-up, so I appreciate your patience!