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30% Off My Books at Lulu – CyberMonday
Edward Butler comes to the rescue (I’d have missed this deal otherwise).
Today many of the books I’ve published through Lulu can be purchased for 30% off sale, this includes a large number of my devotionals.
Just head over to LULU and use PROMOCODE: CYBERMONDAY30
Deal only good for today (December 2, 2019).
Bookversary! Honoring Sigyn: The Norse Goddess of Constancy
First released in 2011, later followed up with a revised and expanded edition the next year.
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.
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2eZPhnO
In Praise of Sigyn
I need to post something a little more wholesome after my last post — I’m sitting here shaking still. I’ve read monastic rules, I’ve read accounts of christianization but I just never, ever connected all the dots until today and it’s nauseating. So…the cure for that is prayer, to our Gods, to our Glorious Ones, to our ancestors and all those holy spirits who sustain us. Today, for me, that is the Goddess Sigyn.
In Praise of Sigyn
by G. Krasskova
You are unyielding
You will not be moved.
Let others rant and rave and curse.
Where love has rooted itself in Your heart
even the might of the mountain is weak.
You are fierce: a she wolf defending Her own.
No one expects it of You, Sweet Sigyn.
Because You do not wear Your might
as others might wear gleaming jewels,
no one thinks You strong,
a force with which to reckon.
Yours however is the power
that grants no acknowledgment
to that which would turn You from Your course.
You are His North Star, forever constant,
a gleaming beacon, His only comfort
a whisper of half forgotten joy
in the abyssal eternity of the cave.
Your eyes are on Your task,
Asgard truly should fear,
and then pour out offerings
to whatever Powers the Powers honor
lest You turn Your heart to justified vengeance,
on the day You and Your Husband
rise from the pit.
Vengeance is rarely Your way, however,
it is often too great a luxury to nurture in Your heart
in light of the work You must do.
Some sacrifices after all must be made
and You are pragmatic.
Vengeance will not return a murdered son.
Vengeance will not remake a shattered God.
Your way is simply to endure,
which is not so simple at all;
to endure and hold in Your burning heart
the knowledge that nothing lasts for ever.
There is only the wyrd woven
strand by black and bloody strand,
in the crucible of necessary choice.
There is only a strength beyond courage
and the heart and character of valor
plucked from amidst the weaving.
To You, Lady, I bow my head.
Lady of Enduring Grace,
Lady of Valor,
Lady of Victory.
(Her shrine today, with a few simple offerings)
It’s the 10th Anniversary of Sigyn: Our Lady of the Staying Power🎉
Bookversary today!!! 🎉🎉🎉
Time has flown, and it’s so hard to believe it’s been 10 years since this devotional first published. My mutti was deeply devoted to this goddess, and this Goddess has been part of so many blessings that have filled my life. Long may Sigyn be Hailed and Honored. 💖
Sigyn, the Norse goddess of constancy and compassion, is the second wife of the Trickster God Loki. She gathers broken things, and people, to her breast to heal. In this book, Galina Krasskova reveals the beauty of this little-known Goddess whose name means Victory Woman. With prayers, poetry, personal and group rituals, this is a manual for all those who would offer to devotion to this gentlest of divine figures.
Amazon: https://amzn.to/32nTZCA
What do you do for your devotions to Sigyn?
Sigyn – QOTD
I’ve been meditating on Sigyn quite a lot the last few days. My husband has a poem about Her in his new book (which will be available shortly) and I want to share a line from it that so perfectly encapsulates Her power:
“She is as old as the mountains and as young as yearning.”
However She chooses to present Herself, this, more than anything else I’ve ever read on Her, or at least that i’ve read in a very long while, so beautifully describes Her.
A Prayer for Sigyn
You are unyielding
You will not be moved.
Let others rant and rave and curse.
Where love has rooted itself in Your heart
even the might of the mountain is weak.
You are fierce: a she wolf defending Her own.
No one expects it of You, Sweet Sigyn.
Because You do not wear Your might
as others might wear gleaming jewels,
no one thinks You strong,
a force with which to reckon.
Yours however is the power
that grants no acknowledgment
to that which would turn You from Your course.
You are His North Star, forever constant,
a gleaming beacon, His only comfort
a whisper of half forgotten joy
in the abyssal eternity of the cave.
Your eyes are on Your task,
Asgard truly should fear,
and then pour out offerings
to whatever Powers the Powers honor
lest You turn Your heart to justified vengeance,
on the day You and Your Husband
rise from the pit.
Vengeance is rarely Your way, however,
it is often too great a luxury to nurture in Your heart
in light of the work You must do.
Some sacrifices after all must be made
and You are pragmatic.
Vengeance will not return a murdered son.
Vengeance will not remake a shattered God.
Your way is simply to endure,
which is not so simple at all;
to endure and hold in Your burning heart
the knowledge that nothing lasts for ever.
There is only the wyrd woven
strand by black and bloody strand,
in the crucible of necessary choice.
There is only a strength beyond courage
and the heart and character of valor
plucked from amidst the weaving.
To You, Lady, I bow my head.
Lady of Enduring Grace,
Lady of Valor,
Lady of Victory.
(by G. Krasskova)
a prayer for Sigyn
I was reading a book recently that talked extensively about a Jewish prayer drawn from the book of proverbs. It’s a praise poem that husbands are meant to say to their wives every Friday night meal. It begins with the words “woman of valor” and i was quite struck by that. I have, in my own devotions, used that term for Sigyn for many years.
Sigyn: Woman of Valor
A woman of valor,
who can find?
Her value is greater
than any duergar-made jewel. She enriches
Her husband’s hall.
She is the sanctuary of his heart.
She strengthens and supports him all his days.
With her at his side,
he shall lack in nothing.
She is the guardian of their hearth. Her hands are industrious,
Her heart is willing.
She fills her home with delight.
She does not tarry in idleness,
but nourishes all who are within her care. She is diligent at the spindle,
and keeps the keys of her husband’s hall. She maintains a fruitful, frithful home and her heart is ever strong.
Those under her care have nothing to fear. She sets her hands to the distaff,
she holds the spindle in her palms.
She clothes and feeds her household
and their pantry is never bare.
She is courageous,
Strength and honor are her clothing, She meets the future with courage. Her lips bestow wisdom,
and Her tongue is ever kind. Constancy is Her brightest jewel.
Her children praise Her.
Her husband adores Her.
She surpasses all women in honor. Her piety is Her shield.
Her sweetness of heart Her strength.
All temporal beauty fades,
but the mighty heart
of a valorous woman is forever.
Let Her home be full of abundance, She adorned with every blessing.
Always, Her works will praise Her.
(by G. Krasskova; reposted from an older blog)
Submission to Sigyn’s Agon
“For Sigyn”
by P.S.V.L.
In Her bowl is collected
the bile of a thousand angry Deities
the poison of a thousand fiery serpents
the tears of ten thousand lamenting women
But also
the love of a heart a thousand strong
the devotion of souls ten thousand standing
the sighs of wind and caves a hundred thousand years old
The heaviest of burdens
in hands gentle and dainty
but battle-hardened with care for her task
repeated for millennia
Let us honor Her
and the One She also honors
by Her holding of the bowl
collecting love and sorrows mingled together
Two Submissions to Sigyn’s Agon
Remember, Sigyn’s Agon ends at 9pm EST tonight!
“She Endures”
By J.M. Gorham
Drip
Drip
Drip
~Splash~
Salty Tears
Venom Burns
Sweat Beads
Waves Ripple
Lady of Devotion
Lady of Sacrifice
Catching Venom
Drip
Drip
Drip
~Splash~
Her arms shake
His eyes meet Hers
Love washes through Her
Devotion fortified
Her muscles Stiffen
Strength flows through Her
Once again, His Hero
~Splash~
Her flesh burns
Venom biting
Her pain turns into Love
Drip
Drip
Drip
Enduring
Devotion
She Remains
*************
To the Lady of Endurance
by Amanda Artemisia Forrester
Some may find it strange
That You are named Victory Woman
When You have endured so much pain
The death of Your sons
The imprisonment of Your beloved Husband
Starvation and cold that you suffer at His side
As You hold the bowl over His head
Catching the poison as it
Drip
Drip
Drips
Into eternity
Until the final day comes
When Loki will be released
The dead rise
And the worlds will end.
But still You stay by His side,
Through the tears have long since dried on Your fair cheeks.
Those who think it strange have not endured pain and loss as we have
My small pains may not compare to Yours, sweet Lady,
But I understand that just continuing to stand tall is a Victory
When You have lost so much.
Sigyn, Mourning Mother,
May my humble prayers comfort You in Your pain.
Sigyn, Lady of Constancy,
May I have but a fraction of Your endurance
To face my own meager troubles.
Sigyn of the Cave,
Let me hold the bowl for You,
For just a few minutes.
Submission for Sigyn’s Agon
Confession
by Dr. E. Kelly
I made a mistake once
And took You for the loser girlfriend of a loser God.
You could sew my lips shut for saying so
Certainly the same thing’s been done before
And that punishment was for insulting a dwarf
Much less a Goddess
You, however, are merciful
You are mercy Herself
Seething grief and rage corrodes like venom
Dribbling, well-earned on Your husband’s forehead
Tit for tat, tit for tat, tit for tat
This is the sound the drops make as they fall
You interrupt that righteous anger of the Aesir
You interpose yourself
Lifting a bowl to catch the drops of liquid pain
You come between crime and punishment
And He can breathe
A moment’s peace
When every bond is broken and all Hel breaks loose
When He comes crazy-eyed and howling at the helm of all that was held down
I’ll be glad You spent so many thousand years at His side
Practicing compassion
Hail Sigyn
