Terrible bragging about a birthday gift lol

So, awhile back I mentioned that my husband did months of research and created a collection of Heathen charms and prayers for me. After he gave it to me for my birthday (and it was like being courted all over again; ^___^ though the man now knows more about Heathen lore than I do. Yesterday I was complaining that in the cultivation of virtue I’m my own worst enemy and he quotes the “Havamal” at me…in Old Norse. lol), I chose some art and a friend formatted it and I had some personal copies printed. This will never be available for sale. The art is for my personal devotional use only. The book is for my own use only but I can’t help but share my new Zauberbuch. It is…you know, I don’t have words for how incredibly moved, awed, and absolutely delighted I am by this. Look. it is awesome. ^_^

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

Wodinic Wednesday Q&A

Happy Wednesday, folks. Once again it’s Woden’s Day and so, I’ll be doing my Wodinic Wednesday Q&A for my readers. Until 10pm EST tonight, I’ll keep this blog open to reader questions. Please don’t hesitate to ask questions on whatever topic you think I might be able to tender an answer (for example: Odin, Heathenry, Norse Gods, devotion, spiritwork, mysticism, occult practices, my academic field –early Christianity, specifically pain and the body, eunuchs, asceticism, etc. ballet, and anything else you might be interested in). I’ll do my best to answer or direct you to where you can find an answer.

Now for a few other interesting things.

Firstly, I went to see the movie Cabrini this past week. It was absolutely fantastic and I highly recommend it. It really gives both a glimpse into a powerhouse of a woman who became the first American saint, but also a heart-wrenching glimpse into what life was like for Italian immigrants and the poor in the late 19^th/early 20^th century in New York City. The acting was Oscar worthy in my opinion. My only complaint: this woman who emphasized prayer in everything she did was never shown praying (save perhaps once and then it’s really ambiguous). There were moments where prayer and her connection to her God should have been emphasized and weren’t— ostensibly to make the film more accessible to non-Catholics. It was a lost opportunity to highlight the piety that drove her and this omission got rather annoying by the last third of the movie. Even with that, I highly recommend the film. This saint has a shrine, and it’s one of the few in the US that has first class relics (her body – minus her heart which was sent to Italy). I have a fascinating with bone chapels which this is not, and by extension bodily relics, which this has. When I went to see the movie, my husband and I had the theatre to ourselves, and this was good, because watching the dramatization of what this woman had to go through in order to found what became Cabrini hospital had me cussing a blue streak! I keep an eye out for movies that present religions and devotion positively and while this is not a Heathen movie, it did that and it’s such a rarity in today’s media I wanted to recommend it.

Secondly, here is a short Instagram video about mindfulness. I’m not at this point by any measure, but I like the anecdote the woman tells. It makes me realize how far I have to go in moving mindfully in the world. Thank you to my friend, Mary Ann for this one.

Finally, I’ve been thinking about one of our healing Goddesses, Aurboda. She is the mother of Gerda and in my particular tradition considered particularly skilled in pharmacology. I think because I’ve been making salves lately, I’ve been praying to Her more than usual, so, here is one of my prayers. It’s written in a style that I first discovered in Mechthild of Magdeburg’s “Flowing Light of the Godhead” and it really works for me:

Prayer to Aurboda

We praise You, Aurboða, companion of Eir, companion of Mengloth, great in the ways of healing.

We praise You, Aurboða, wise and pious in making offerings to the land and the spirits therein. They are Your allies and a source of Your power. Yours is a bond of mutual respect.

We praise You, skilled in herbs and medicines, great apothecary of Lyfjaberg, Whom even other healing Powers consult.

We praise You, Canny Seeress, Who knows the ways of reverence, Who easily untangles the snarled skeins of wyrd and reads them rightly.

We Praise You, Mother of Gerda, Who raised Your daughter in the ways of Power, a jewel in the hall of the Mountain tribes, Carrier of Your peoples’ sovereignty.

Oh Wisdom beyond Measure!

Oh Mighty Healing Power!

Oh Tree of richness and plenty!

Oh Caretaker of the land!

Oh Protector of all the spirits of the earth!

Oh Jewel of Prophetic Wonder!

Mighty Apothecary of the Gods, ever and always do we praise You! Hail to You, Aurboða! Teach us ever and always we pray, to make good offerings, to walk in the ways of respect and reverence, and to honor the land that has shaped us, every day of our lives.

**********

That is all for now. I might not get to your questions until late tonight, but I promise to answer them before the day is done.

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!).

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.

Buy on Amazon

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!

Buy on Amazon

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/

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.

Buy on Amazon

Candle Lighting Offered

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. 

I’ll do this all week through Sunday for folks who wish it.