Blog Archives
A very nice article on the Goddess Coventina
I suspect She was more honored by Germanic tribes than we realize given that the make-up of the Roman legions at this time would have been good part German. She’s ours — and Her cultus a beautiful mess of Gaulish, Celtic, Roman, and German devotion. May She be hailed! I wish I knew Her more.
Bookversary! Feeding the Flame: A Devotional to Loki and His Family
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Originally released on April 28, 2008.
“Feeding the Flame” is a devotional anthology of prayers, poems, rituals, and more gathered from around the world in the honor of Loki and His family. In this book, readers will find not only Loki and Sigyn, but also Angurboda, Odin, Glut and all of Loki’s children equally honored. It is a celebration of devotional consciousness and an offering of love to a very complex family of Gods.
The book has been retired, and thus is out of print under this title, only available on the second hand market. Might I suggest you look to my omnibus devotional on Loki and his family, Consuming Flame. It includes the texts of “Feeding the Flame,” “Honoring Sigyn,” and “Sigyn: Our Lady of the Staying Power” with a significant portion of new material venerating Loki, Sigyn, Angurboda, and Their Children.
Buy Consuming Flame on Amazon
The OOP Feeding the Flame on Amazon
Bookversary! Walking the Rainbow Bridge: A Collection of Heathen Poetry
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Originally released on April 27, 2020.
Walking the Rainbow Bridge is a collection of poems written over several years by a devotee of Odin, each one a glimpse into the many ways in which we are taken up by our Gods and spirits and returned, transformed, to the beauty and struggles of our own lives. These words call out to divinity while taking strength in the power of beloved ancestors, forming a bridge between the human and the holy. They challenge, guide, and invite the reader to open themselves to the lightning touch of the living Gods.
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My Daily Prayer These Days…
I place my trust in the God of the Gallows.
I place my trust in Odin.
ALU.
Odin by Sam Flegel
Bookversary! Essays in Modern Heathenry
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Originally released on April 9, 2012.
At a time when contemporary Heathenry is in the midst of a dramatic internal schism, when fundamentalism, hostility, and religious xenophobia are being put forward within the American Heathen community as the dominant interactive paradigm, “Essays in Modern Heathenry” offers a critique of these current religious and social trends and seeks to provide historical context, through the lens of Religious Studies, for the tensions so glaringly present in the community today.
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Prayer to Erda
So, today we had a 4.7 earthquake in the Bronx. I was driving in when the earthquake occurred, and I didn’t feel it, until I got out of the car. I wouldn’t walk a straight line. It felt like deep in the earth there was a thrumming, a rhythm, a vibration, a movement. It’s only as I write this, more than three hours later, that I’m finally starting to feel settled again. But the earth beneath my feet, where I ground, when I send my senses down feels raw and apt to lash out again. With a solar eclipse happening in just a few days, I would urge offerings to the House of Mundilfari (which as Nott’s daughter, Erda is a part). I would also suggest staying close to home and well-grounded and warded during the eclipse. Our ancestors did not necessarily see these events as times of ritual celebration, but quite often as times of danger and very ill-omened. Whatever you choose to do, folks. Be safe.
Prayer to Erda
Be at peace, Great Goddess, be at peace.
Sweet Mother Earth, Who holds the bones of our ancestors,
Erda, Goddess, stay Your mighty hand.
Daughter of Nott, Who has heard the last whispered prayers
of the dead as they fall,
Whose essence is knit into our very bones,
please hear this prayer.
Show us undeserved mercy,
Most gracious holy Power,
and seize Your peace again.
Hail to You, Erda,
Great Goddess of the Earth.
(make an offering of water or incense to Her).
A Feast-Day For Loki
For decades now, my Household has marked April 1 as a feast-day for Loki. We didn’t come up with this idea — it was filtering through the Heathen community (the parts that that rightfully venerated Loki) by 2000. Nor is this His only feast day. It is however, lovely day to celebrate Him.
Ten for Loki
We praise You, Lođur, Who blooded our souls, shaping the suppleness of our spirits.
We praise You, Liars’ Bane, spitting forth the gnawed upon truth that burns illusion away.
We praise You, Vé, God of the sacred enclosure, Holy fire, cleansing, breaking, breeding monsters to scour our world clean.
We praise You, Loptr, unwearying Sky-traveller, journeying forth, bringing initiation to the unexpected.
We praise You, Gammleið, Who consumes the body on the bier of victory, cremation’s fire, bringing the soul home.
We praise You, Inn Bundi Áss, Bound and fettered, heaving beneath the worlds, spitting venom, bound with the viscera of Your son.
We praise You, Inn Slægi Ás, cunning thief, stealing and restoring, burning with creative fire, libertine, free of every chain.
We praise You, Hveðrung, Roaring world breaker, destroyer of all, cleanse us free.
We praise You, Læva Lundr, Old spider in the Tree of deceit, weaving Your web, forcing our hand, demanding that we dance for glory.
We praise You, Ver Sigynjar, Husband of Sigyn, sacramental flame, protector of all who are fragile, broken, and small.
Oh Blazing Hearth-fire.
Oh Scarred lipped Glory.
Oh Inescapable Net.
Oh, ever and never Bound.
Oh Seeker of Heights.
Oh Bitter Edge.
Oh Sigyn’s Treasure.
Oh Ymir’s Bane.
Oh Brutal Destruction.
Oh Incandescent Rebirth.
Ever and always do Your people Praise You, Loki.
(Copyright Galina Krasskova)
Loki by Arthur Rackham
Bookversary! Devotional Polytheism
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Originally released on March 15, 2015.
Devotion is the heart of polytheism. It makes our traditions live and grow, infuses them with joy, and opens doors for our Gods to come through. Devotional practice is the most important work any of us will ever do. In this book, priest and spiritworker Galina Krasskova guides the reader through the beginning steps – from the most basic spiritual exercises, to engaging with deities and ancestors through prayer and offerings, to ensuring receptivity in body, mind and spirit. She warns of the challenges on the path and gives advice on how to surmount them. She presents ritual ideas for daily use as well as throughout the year, using her own tradition of Heathenry as an example. She follows the thread of devotional practice from the shrine to the world at large, examining how to carry a love for the Gods into one’s everyday life. And most importantly, she speaks passionately of the necessity for devotion in cultivating a meaningful and reciprocal relationship with the holy powers.
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A Goddess just for March
(and maybe part of April. This is a repost of an article I posted several years ago):
In addition to Ostara (Eostre), there is another Goddess once honored at the beginning of spring: Hreðe. She is mentioned once by the chronicler Bede and Her name likely means “fierce.” There’s also an Old English adverb hraðe that means quickly. Because of this, I tend to think of Her as ‘fast and furious!’ After all, of those who honor Her, many see Her as a warrior Goddess and I certainly don’t dispute that. She has a Presence at once joyful and ferocious. For me, She really is the quintessential March Goddess – Her nature that of an Aries all the way. The Anglo-Saxon Hreðmonath – basically March/April—was named after Her.
I wish we knew more than that, but having so very little yet tantalizing information allows us the freedom to build Her cultus anew. Just this year, devotion to Her is really starting to become part of my personal practice. I look forward to deepening that practice as we move into Spring.
Here are three prayers that I’ve written to Her over the years. I’m sure more shall come.
To Hreðe
I say hail to Hreðe, Mighty Goddess!
With explosive force, You banish winter.
With enervating drive, You push us
into the rejuvenating arms of Spring.
Cleanse me, Glorious Goddess,
of all those things that hold me back.
Unfetter my mind, heart, and will,
that I might set my feet unswervingly
on the road to victory.
Hail, Hreðe, ever-victorious in every struggle!
To Hreðe
You come feral and joyous,
laughing and dancing with the winds,
playing tag with Mani
under the sweetness of a sugar moon.
Herald of Eostre, unfettered, unbound,
You roar across our world,
with the lion winds of march.
Our flags and chimes whip and sound
with the force of Your passing.
You surround us as we move,
our offerings in hand,
across our rightful land.
Make the fields flourish.
Make the earth fertile,
The delight of Your voice
urges us on;
and we cry Your name
driven forward by the irresistible gusts
of Your whirling exhilaration.
Hail, Hrethe, now and always,
ebullient, fierce, unmatched in exuberance.
Hail.
(By G. Krasskova)
My Adorations to Hreðe may be found here.
Artwork by C. Noelle. prayer card available here. (Though my shop is closed through the weekend so I can catch up on orders!).
Gangleri's Grove 