Spirit-work Practicum: Effluvia

I should have titled this “all the shit I wish I’d known when I was initially thrust into spirit work.” This particular piece A) involves bodily effluvia including menstrual blood so if such conversation squicks you, dear reader, you might want to skip this one; and B) is relevant to any spiritual technician working within our traditions – vitkar, spirit-workers, shamans, et al. This post came out of a group conversation several of us had quite recently. A new spirit worker was having some trouble and asked a couple of us about it. It also occurred to me, that so much of the daily minutiae of doing this work is stuff that we just pass on by word of mouth. It would never have occurred to me to write about this, not until this recent conversation. 

Firstly, here is a rule that I teach my students about all the bodily crap that can happen to us as spirit-workers (and believe me, it takes a tremendous toll on the body): even if you are 110% certain that whatever physical issue you’re dealing with is a result of spiritual attack, reaction sickness from overuse of one’s gifts, purification, or the type of modification we can undergo in this work, or any other spirit-thing: GO TO THE DOCTOR. Just because something has a spiritual cause, doesn’t mean that it can’t also manifest as physical sickness or injury. Always, to the best of your ability, go to the doctor regularly. Check anything new, especially pain, bleeding, seizures and the like. Do not neglect proper medical care. I was a ballet dancer. I’m very, very in tune with my body – all the more so having lived with chronic pain for decades. There are times where I am absolutely certain that whatever I’m experiencing is a matter of spirit-work, I always (or almost always) go in for medical check-ups. Our bodies are the means by which we’re able to do our work. In the Northern Tradition, the physical body is also part of the soul-matrix. If we don’t take care of ourselves, our sacred work will suffer, as will we. It took me over forty years to learn that one and I still struggle with it!

Secondly, spirit work can be kind of gross. It has powerful effects on the body again because our bodies are the means by which we work, the conduit through which spirits and Gods work. It’s an incredible privilege to be able to do this work, but some of the realities of that are gross. Bodies are sometimes gross too. That’s just how it goes. 

So, effluvia. I will say right now, that one of the first things a spirit worker should invest in is a mattress protector. Seriously. One of the things that we learn to do is to create ordered space. This is what I do when I purify and make offerings and sit down and do all the opening prayers before divination. I actually think that spiritual technicians (let’s just use this as a catch all for vitkar, spirit workers, shamans, magi, etc. all the various types of technicians we have in our tradition and its sister traditions.) are meant to be ordered space all the time. That’s one of the reasons that purification and spiritual cleanliness is so important. Those doing this work, pull in pollution and deal with evil spirits and bottom-feeding spirits that might otherwise plague their communities. They are modified by the Gods and trained to transmute this poison and banish those spirits – which can leave pollution with which the spirit worker then also needs to deal. 

When a spiritual technician does any of this, he or she is pulling that pollution into his/her own body and transmuting it, usually by grounding it. Well, that means we have to expel the remnants. For a woman there are four ways one can expel pollution physically (for a man three): vomit, diarrhea, pissing, or menstrual bleeding (this latter can occur well outside of one’s regular cycle. Yay >_<). Our bodily functions are used to purify our spiritual bodies. This is hugely important: there’s nothing like waking up in a pool of your own effluvia because you’ve done a major exorcism or something similar. I’ve known more than one spiritual technician to whom this has happened. It’s frightening, but as I have often counseled: “better out than in.” We are – and really, I think anyone is, whether spiritual technician or not – carefully calibrated microcosms of the cosmic architecture crafted by our Gods.  It is natural to respond to breaks and damage in that architecture. We react to what is in our space. 

This bodily response makes sense. Pollution is antithetical to ordered space. Ordered space, and this includes the body of the spirit worker, will repel or drive out pollution. There are only so many physical ways this can happen. It underscores that this work deals with real entities, real powers, real consequences. So, keep that in mind and add a mattress protector to your home linens and a change of clothes to your travel kit. 

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/

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!

Species Lunation 1 – Thank you, Dver, for this marvelous idea!

NOTE: Please keep in mind that I will continue offering this prayer/candle setting of lights though Sunday night. 

I’m copying Dver in this (sorry, Dver, but it’s such a fantastic idea!) and I’m finding that it has been centering me more in my practice of late. I wasn’t sure how it would work for me, or if it would work, but I find I’m paying much more attention than I have in a very long time to what tools and items I use in my devotion and my spirit-work, how they feel, where I acquire them, and why I use them. It’s increasing my mindfulness and in the rush of work that I find myself in right now (spirit-work, pastoral work, academic work, teaching), that is a very good thing.  Dver’s latest post was the push I needed to share my own. For January, for the first lunation, I chose silver. I had been working more with silver in various aspects of my personal life and conjure work so it was a logical place for me to begin.

I tend to start any exploration of a new tool by exploring how it feels energetically. This is, I will admit, a spirit-worker thing. It’s also that I’m very kinetic in my learning style and how a thing feels in my hand will absolutely determine whether or not I can work with it. Eventually, of course, I work my way around to researching my object of choice, but it always starts with feeling and sensing out the esoteric qualities of the item in question.  How does it feel? Not to sound too woo-woo but: what is its energy? The first thing that came to mind with silver is a line from a Fellowship of Isis ritual: “As gold speaks to the sun, so silver speaks to the moon” and I do, in fact, associate it with Mani and the moon. Silver is soothing to me. It speaks of solitude and balance, quiet, and magic. The priestess who trained me was a silversmith so my earliest associations with this metal place it in a ritual context (and I still have the piece that she crafted for me, for my initiation, which I keep on my main shrine). On a practical level, my ancestors, ever concerned with my household’s well-being have pushed me to keep a small stash of junk silver (1), so I have quite a few old silver coins (2). As a conjure woman I learned early on what I think we all learn in that system: that silver is used for luck (especially silver Mercury dimes), purification, and certain types of warding (3). Some traditional charms will specify a certain metal, stone, or color be used and sometimes it doesn’t matter. Gods know that knowing how to make a good substitution is the heart of conjure, but sometimes using precisely what a recipe calls for really helps add a certain oomph to the charm. I find that when something calls for a silver dime or some other type of silver there really isn’t a good substitute. 

I use ounce rounds of silver as gifts in sacred symbel. They are something of a traditional gift. It shows respect for the person receiving the gift and silver itself in addition to being monetarily valuable has a place in our tradition as wergild. I’ve written about the ritual of symbel here for those interested. I’m not sure if I associate silver with a particular Deity – aside from Mani – but I wouldn’t hesitate to use it for protection or purification. I do find it very cleansing and almost all the warding and protective jewelry I have is made of silver. Carrying a silver dime or a charm that incorporates silver can ward off malefica. It acts like a shield against smaller bottom feeding spirits. 

There’s something that I find particularly fitting about beginning this cycle of lunation meditation, as I’ll call it, with silver. It is the moon’s metal, a gift that carries the mediated power of the sun, the power to purify, to ward off evil. It represents ordered space and used properly in conjure, it has the power to redirect one’s luck, removing all malign influences. Silver purifies and it even has some antibiotic properties. It’s not something that I would use instead of antibiotics, but I have had very good results when I was ill with using colloidal silver. I have also found that silver removes a certain type of miasma – this may involve carrying it, or aspersing in water which has been let to sit with a piece of silver in it. Maybe this is why there is so much folklore about silver being used to ward off vampires and kill werewolves and the like. 

I remember when I was small, my father taught me to collect silver dimes when I found them in circulation. I had a green china teapot—no idea where my parents got it – that he or my mom gave me, and I kept my collection of silver dimes and half dollars in it. I don’t remember what happened to it but thinking about silver reminds me of these small pieces of knowledge that I gained from my dad, who was born in 1917 and lived through the depression, served in WWII, Korea, and kept his many sadnesses to himself but was a constant, quiet presence in the house as I grew – not something I always appreciated then, but a point of connection now. 

I concluded my time meditating on silver by making offerings to the animating spirit of this sacred metal and to the Gods that have led me this far in my life’s journey. 

Notes: 

1. Any American coin minted 1964 and earlier is 90-99 percent silver. If you find a quarter minted 1964 or earlier keep it! It’s worth more than just 25 cents! When I was a kid, I’d still sometimes find silver half dollars and silver [Mercury] dimes in regular circulation but that’s very, very rare now. It happens sometimes but it’s rare these days to even find wheat pennies in random circulation anymore. Anyway, check the dates on your dimes and quarters. You might be able to make an extra buck or two. 
2. I buy them from dealers on etsy, sometimes from Apmex, though I’ve a few favorite shops on etsy that offer junk silver coins for below the standard listed rate. If you plan on buying silver coins, keep an eye on the going rate and be wise in your purchases. I won’t buy silver form Apmex or another dealer like that unless it’s under $23/ounce. You can get junk coins on etsy for much, much less. Flea marks and antique markets are also good venues because sometimes one can get really lucky, but again, don’t buy above the market price. Regarding my ancestors, they’ve also pushed me to have pin money stashed away (and they get really pissed off when I tell my husband where it is. He’s wonderful and would never in a million years touch it without asking, but there are plenty of women in each of our ancestral lines who were stuck, or who depended on their stash for survival. It’s something that calms some of them and something that they read as me being prepared for the future. It’s a small thing to do for them. They also pushed me to turn part of my storage room into a pantry and keep a year’s supply of dry goods. That was not so easily done! It’s not that our ancestors don’t understand how the modern world works. They do, which is precisely why, I think, they often want to make sure we’re prepared the old-fashioned way, in case everything goes to hell. It speaks volumes for what many of our forebears endured. 
3. It’s not actually Mercury featured on the dime, but “Lady Liberty” wearing a Phrygian cap. Still, for conjure people, we call it a Mercury dime and I do strongly associate this particular coin with Hermes. It’s one of the first things I’d use in a luck, money, or gambling hand. 

Rune Notes: A Brief Note on Laguz

A bit of POV on one of the runes that I was meditating upon yesterday:

My immediate impressions of Laguz are that it contains rushing power like a flood. rushing power that can open up any closure, push through any dam, and also create change and rapid shifts in the wyrd. It can cleanse — washing whatever or whomever it touches clean and free of pollution in a powerful rushing flood. Laguz is also a tricky rune; it’s sneaky, it shifts before one realizes a person’s attitude or a situation has been shifted. It can swerve the will – and that includes helping one stay the course when one’s own will falters. It can attract and …not coerce but gently shift the perception and will of another. It opens up ways to luck; as such, it works very well with fehu. Fehu is more direct though: fehu IS luck whereas laguz can move luck. Laguz is force that doesn’t feel like force but make no mistake, it can power a grouping of other runes powerfully (though differently from raido). 

There is something in the greening and living and falling of leaves in laguz, of balance, of the force of vitality in the living world. Laguz is part of that. It connects strongly to all the waters of the world, esp. the force and uncontainable, uncontrollable might of the oceans. There’s a quickness, a deep wisdom, a connection not just to the Well of Urd but especially to Hvergelmir one of the primal rivers rushing from the moment of creation beneath Yggdrasil and into Helheim. In this way, it has a unique connection to creation. We forget that about Laguz but that is part of its deepest nature, and its connection to divine order. 

What else do I sometimes see in this rune? Often I get images or a sense of a little serpent medicine, water snakes, ocean algae and plants that cling and dance. Laguz is purification and cleansing -purification of any and all pollution including on the threads. Its purification can literally shift the luck of a person or situation in one go. Presence-wise, it is in the waters but also in the air and trees and plants…..it’s in everything, and we can influence a person gently through this rune (not that I’m suggesting that!), because water is in us too. 

Most importantly it’s a powerful rune of blessing and it has a long, long reach. It can bless and cleanse the land. This is, I think, one of its primary purposes: blessing and when it blesses it purifies. 

That was the end of my rune session yesterday. 

Interview Questions about the Runes

I was contacted recently by a Germanic philologist who, in preparation for an upcoming book, asked me a number of questions about how I, as a practitioner, view the runes. I asked if I could post them here, received permission, so here y’all go.  I thought it might prove interesting to folks. The only part I didn’t include was the final question, which was a request for my academic bio.

1. What are runes for you? Are they magical symbols or a profane writing system? 

The runes, while yes, they were used as an alphabet are so much more than just a writing system (and I would say the same about the Greek letters and the Hebrew – and probably more systems as well, but those are the ones with which I am familiar). The runes are a family of spirits that never were and never will be human. They were brought forth by Odin when He hung on Yggdrasil and are both part of His sacred retinue and the living, conscious effluvia of His deepest, most sacred mystery. So, they aren’t just magical symbols – the actual symbol is a means of communication with the spirit and one of the ways to give the spirits doorways to our world – why I think it can be used in writing—perhaps as a ceremonial magician might call it, a name sigil for the rune, but the rune spirit itself, the sentient, amoral creature pulled forth from the Gap when Odin broke Himself on the Tree, that’s something far larger than any symbol or letter. They are worked into the architecture of creation like firing synapses. 

2. Do you think they are inextricably linked to the Norse tradition? 

Absolutely. The Elder and Younger futhark are Odin’s. They are extensions of His mysteries, brought forth by His sacrifice on the Tree. Personally, while I think anyone of any ethnicity or color can be Heathen (I’m not folkish. The Gods call whom They call and that is a beautiful thing), I think the runes should be restricted not just to Heathenry/the Northern Tradition, but specifically to specialists like spirit workers, diviners, vitkar, etc. They are *mysteries*. 

3. Who can follow Nordic spirituality? Is ethnicity necessary? Or being physically present in Scandinavia? 

I think whomever the Gods call – regardless of race, ethnicity, or geography – can follow Nordic spirituality. As far as geography goes, there were always geographic differences in polytheisms (we do not have a universalizing mandate like the Catholic Church – and even there, there are regional differences in a way) so I would not expect the various denominations of Heathenry in the US or South America, or Japan or wherever to look like Heathenry in Iceland, or Sweden, or Denmark, or Norway, or England, nor that to look like Heathenry in Germany, or France, etc. but anyone can honor the Gods, honor their ancestors, develop relationships with their land spirits…anyone can be Heathen with that piety in place. I think judging or excluding someone because of their race or ethnicity is the epitome of stupidity. 

Now, I would want to divine to make sure that someone coming from a non-European ethnicity didn’t have obligations to their ethnic /ancestral Gods – but even if they do, that doesn’t mean they can’t be Heathen. Polytheisms are ever and always flexible. My only concern would be to make sure such obligations were fulfilled so that they could embrace Heathenry and devotion to the Holy Ones – both their own ancestral Gods if they’re called to it, AND the Nordic Gods – honorably and freely.

4. What are the most common misconceptions people have about runes? 

Well, I’m living in the United States and that is surely going to color my answer. We have scholars who insist they are not anything magical or esoteric and we have Heathens who would dispense with the runes wholesale because a handful of misguided neo-Nazis (who do not generally honor the Norse Gods I would add) have co—opted runes like othala. Also, there are those who just think the runes are inert tools. I strongly object to all three attitudes (and the first is why my medieval degree isn’t focused on Norse studies – I have enough aggravation dealing with the modern Heathen community than to add academic aggravation on top of it!). We all cringe when we see news broad casts that show modern American neo-Nazis using runes like othala and now those of us who have runes tattooed or cut into their flesh get tarred with the same brush. I try to look at any confrontations as learning/teaching opportunities, but it is problematic. People not Heathen, see the runes as connected to Nazis. I hold a Fellowship in Jewish studies as part of my theological work and at one event a person – very scared and nervous – brought a professor over to ask me about my runes which were visible on my forearm. Those runes mark initiations and vows to my Gods. This person was really, really scared but I’m glad she brought the professor over because it gave me the opportunity to explain that I am a polytheist, devoted to the Norse Gods, and each of these runes marked an initiation. They had absolutely nothing to do with Nazism, which I find utterly abhorrent. Still, there’s educational work and reclamation to be done here. We cannot sacrifice our sacred symbols to evil. 

5. What role do runes play in Nordic spirituality? 

Well, they contain the mysteries of a God and a such can open us up not just to Odin but to the Gods in general. They are useful in shifting the threads of wyrd, in working luck and woe, and most of all in divination. They can be powerful spirit allies. All of this is the work of spiritual specialists but the runes tap into the forces of creation and destruction and everything in between. They’re power brokers. For a spirit-worker (rather like a traditional ‘shaman’), having such spirit allies enables them to do the work their Gods hand them more effectively. We do the work our Gods put before us and sometimes that involves powerfully moving wyrd. That would be impossible without the help of the runes, who are worked into the very patterns of creation.  

Also, divination is such a tremendous gift. We can communicate with our Holy powers via this gift and make sure we’re in right relationship and sort out any troubles. That’s a powerful grace. 

6. What do you think are the main problems with misconceptions about runes? And what could be the solutions to these problems in your opinion? 

Well, it’s like I tell my theology students. We need to be religiously literate. Lack of knowledge leads to fear, fear leads to hate, hate leads to prejudice, and that can lead to violence and discrimination. We need to educate ourselves and I think Heathenry writ large could do a better, much better job at outreach and education. We really don’t provide enough pastoral guidance to our newcomers, and we let political differences (conservative vs liberal) get in the way of working together to educate outsiders to our traditions. The education and communication is the best thing we can do. 

7. How important is the philological study behind spiritual dissemination? 

It’s useful. My earliest academic training was in philology. I find such analysis grants me great insight into my Gods, Their epithets, our sacred stories. Here’s the thing though: the stories were recorded by Christians and the philology is a doorway. We’re dealing with the map and its markers not the actual territory. The actual territory of faith and tradition needs to be worked out – to steal a quote from the bible – in fear and trembling (and sometimes delicious joy) before one’s Gods. It’s important not to mistake one for the other.

8. What do you think are the consequences of the use of runes by nazis? 

My first thought with this question is that if someone is actually a Nazi they have more problems than just mis-using the runes. They are morally and ethically misguided and spiritually polluted. The way they use the runes is spiritual appropriation. They are taking gifts given by Holy Powers and twisting them out of true in a way that is damaging to our traditions as a whole. They should remember: eventually all debts come due. With the runes, most of all. 

Rune Talk: Perthro

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So these are quick notes from rune study sessions with my House students. I let each student pick the rune he or she wants to study on any given day (after they have certain basics down pat) and a couple of week ago, my assistant Tove asked me if we could discuss perthro. Here are my notes from that session.

 

 Perthro

Of the three rune poems, it only occurs in the Anglo Saxon. 

 

Peorð byþ symble plega and hlehter 

wlancum [on middum], ðar wigan sittaþ
on beorsele bliþe ætsomne.

 

Peorth (Perthro) is a source of recreation

and amusement to the great,

where warriors sit blithely together

in the banqueting hall.

 

(my translation: )

Perthro is symble and laughter

to the exultant, where warriors sit

in the feasting-hall blithely together

in good faith.

 

(ætsomne also implies “in good faith/covenant”)

 

As a Heathen, one word immediately jumps out at me from that rune poem: Symble. This is a word used for one of our most formal of communal holy rites. In Anglo-Saxon, the word means either a feast or banquet, entertainment, or a solemn service. For Heathens today, it is a sacred gathering where not only do the people come together in community to share a meal (1), but the Gods and ancestors are formally honored. Symble for us isn’t just a banquet, it’s a sacred, hierarchical (2) gathering, meant to formally restore the bonds of community, just as Urða’s well restores the tree. That restoration occurs metaphorically at the Tree and Well itself. The drinking horn borne around the hall during symble is representative of Urða’s well, and the whole banquet becomes a highly charged type of wyrd-working. Therefore, as a rune worker, this rune immediately makes me think of the Well of fate, and how in community our threads of wyrd all engage. We’re all connected; we all influence the threads; we all intersect. Part of perthro is learning how to make that pleasant and productive long term.

The rune poem talks about warriors feasting, making merry in the hall, and amusements, and I’ve often seen it translated as gambling, or some sort of casting of lots, though personally, I don’t see that in the OE.  The movie, “The Thirteenth Warrior” actually captures what’s behind this rune extremely well.  A warrior walks with death at his shoulder, he has no reason to fear because he will not die one moment sooner than what is decreed by the threads of his wyrd and the will of the Nornir.  This is, in many ways, true of us all. This is law– the threads of wyrd, are visualized as law that is laid down, layers of law to which one is bound.  I often describe wyrd as causality and consequence.  One can engage in jovial amusements in the face of the unknown if one trusts ones wyrd, one’s luck, and ones Gods.

  The wyrd does change, but there is a scaffolding that does not. That scaffolding is a measure of all the things our ancestors have one and not done, of what our Gods intend for us, of the things we are charged with learning and doing in this life.  Our thread within that scaffolding, our orlog, is what defines us–not because it exists, but because we are forced to fight against it, to work with it, wrestle with it, to recognize our limitations because of it, and find ways to surmount them.  A person is defined by how he or she meets his or her individual wyrd. Wrestling with that force, one so intimately tied to the Tree and the Nornir, is the start of becoming a fully realized human being. It’s one way to start defining oneself, building character, and learning what it means to That is why fate is such a powerful force in our tradition.  Perthro taps into all of that, and it points to crossroads and interstices in our wyrd where we must make a choice, where our decisions matter going forward.

Perthro also powerfully taps into the Nornir and the work They do, which includes nourishing the Tree. The unmaker and forces of unmaking are always attacking the tree, but the Nornir heal it daily.  It is appropriate that perthro would come up in the Anglo Saxon poem because even after Christianization, there was an inherent sense that wyrd – fate – the first of the Nornir, stood almost equal to God (3).  So, sure, we can say that this is the casting of lots, but what does that mean for us?  It is the reading of fate, and to read a man’s fate means nothing. What matters is how he or she meets that fate.  That is what shifts wyrd.  That is why perthro is associated with a dice cup. Dice were used in divination at least as far back as Ptolemaic Egypt. Perthro throws the dice and we have to choose how to respond to what falls.

So, when we delve into this rune, we are touching on one of the core mysteries of our tradition, and that’s why perthro can be so hard to reach into and untangle –because it’s not enough to know the threads of one’s fate. This rune will come at a crossroads where there is a choice to be made, or at a place where what is important is how one chooses to respond. That choice is up to us and not something that can be predicted.  In this way perthro comes up when the wyrd is open, unwoven and is waiting for us to make our decisions, plot a course of action, or to see how we respond when someone else’s wyrd collides into ours.  All of this makes this rune complicated and quite often difficult to read.  It’s not a blank wall though or a STOP like Gar. Rather, it’s a bottomless abyss  and you never know what you’re going to get when you approach it. It’s the space in which the whole of our collective wyrd is lain.

If you are throwing it into a series of threads , if you choose it to galdr, it can force those moments, speed those moments, it can even show you interstices through which you may slide. When perthro comes up in this way, you have to look carefully and cannily, taking into account how it interacts with surrounding runes.

Nornir, Frigga, Hyndla, and Saga may choose to come through it.  (Of course other Gods my also do so, but These are the Deities I most associate with this rune).

Perhtro is a direct line to the well of Wyrd: every choice that will ever be made, every success, failure, everything in between, whispers of every possibility, every leaving of the threads; everything  that is not fulfilled and everything that is.  It is every bit of wyrd ever woven and every bit of wyrd yet to be.  This rune puts a tremendous amount of obligation and choice on the querent.  One of the reasons it comes up as a dice cup because partly because of the Christianization people forgot about the well, and with a dice cup there is a conscious choice to throw it, and then you have to step up and live with the results, and that is what makes you and hones you.  This is a rune that is particularly deeply inflected by the runes that comes before it and after it.  It can mark truly significant crossroads, challenges in the person’s life.  

How does perthro help heal the Tree and how do we partake of that process? It can do this because it contains the memory of all of our traditions, of every mystery ever given, of everyone who walked and lived those sacred covenants, and everyone who chose not to. It contain everything that is and the brine of fire and ice grinding together at the moment of creation. It is the opposite of the unmaker.  Its waters restore.  

 

Notes:

 

1. In formal symbel, the food may include meat from an animal earlier sacrificed to the Gods. Symbel is something done first and foremost on high holidays and some of those holy days may include formal sacrifice.
2. In formal symbel, the hierarchy of the group is reified, and the obligations of the leaders to their community highlighted.
3. One can see this tension in Beowulf.  While Fate isn’t quite as divinely personified, it is still a potent and powerful force and there’s a tension in the text between what “God” might be able to do and the power of Urd. The same thing occurs in the Saxon translation of the Gospels, which reimagines the Gospel stories and Jesus as a mighty Thegn, with warriors in his meadhall. Fate is something more than just an idea, and there are parts where it is unclear which power carries supremacy: God or Fate.

Rune Talk – Gar

So, in addition to the other series I’m posting on my blog, I want to start writing more about runes. I’ve been sitting down with my House students fairly regularly, having them each choose a rune and then going into a deep dive on it. Runes are Mysteries in our tradition. They were brought forth by Odin when He hung on Yggdrasil. They’re woven into the architecture of creation. They are windows into holy power. Because of that, and also because it’s a topic I enjoy, I’m going to start sharing some of my notes from those sessions here. Because these come from conversations with particular students, these rune notes are rather stream of consciousness. The various runes are not handled in order either. I take them as my students ask about them. I cover the Elder, Younger, and Northumbrian runes in these conversations, and these posts will likewise encompass all of the above. Not every Heathen reads or needs to read or even should worry about reading runes. If it’s not your thing, that’s fine too. One can’t go wrong with returning again and again to devotion and prayer to the Holy Ones. That is the most important thing of all. For those who are called to work with the runes, perhaps these posts will be helpful. 

Now, we’re going to start with one of the Northumbrian Runes: Gar.  

Sometimes Gar comes up to say, “stop asking questions”.  It is often like a closed and locked door, an impenetrable wall.  That’s what we’re taught when we learn to read this rune, and for the most part, that’s often what it indicates at the mat. But what is it? What is this rune beyond an esoteric stop sign, because it is more, much more than just that? 

Gar is a challenge and this rune belongs to Odin perhaps more than any other rune (though it has its contenders in ansuz, othala, wunjo, eihwaz, and gebo).  It is not His spear; rather, it is the mark where He thrust His spear in deep and pulled it out again.  It can mark someone as His; it can mark someone as a target for Him, but this rune also contains the culmination of what He is, of his mysteries as a God of war, as a King, as a Shaman, and as a God Who has died and come back.  It can, in similar fashion, signify that [His] mysteries are to come, but you must endure with courage, and throw yourself into them without knowing if you will be able to fly.  It is all you can’t be told, because if you are told the power will dissipate– because you must learn some secrets, face some initiations on your own to truly claim them.  

Gar is a challenge, of your virtue, of your commitment. It challenges: “how badly do you want what lies beyond the spear, and exactly how much you are willing to give to get there?”  That being said, the inguz embedded in Gar tells us that one may take the long way around without shame. Odin’s way is straight forward, the shortest, and often most brutal route to what is desired. That’s not the only way though. Always remember, Gar is Odin’s rune, and not everyone is ready or willing to– or should!– lay down beneath his spear.  So, this rune says, you must choose, and know that your choice is what determines the doorway and the key that you will be given. That’s the Gebo in it: you will get what you give.  It makes one’s choice and wish in such a situation holy in a way that mysteries are holy.  It says: “You are pious, do not pass this point without preparation.”  It is a warning.  

Gar marks the boundary of mystery, and you must decide if it is pious to move forward.  

This led with this particular student to a discussion of the 4 primary theological virtues:

– courage 

– justice 

– temperance 

– prudence 

Gar tests all of them, especially prudence and courage.  Sometimes it takes great prudence and courage, to be able to stop and say, “I really want that, but I know that it is not correct at this time for me.”  There is a honing of one’s hungers, not a denial, but a careful honing.  But above all, it is Odin’s wound as He wounded himself with His own spear on the tree.  Because this God mounted the tree (Yggdrasil) and gave His blood and gave His life and made that Tree a portal to bring through His runes, the Tree also gained some element of His immortality.  That is why it can be restored, that is why creation rests in its branches, that is why it is the axis Mundi.  And that is why it’s so hard to fell, for which we should be grateful.  The enemy is constantly attacking it, and the Nornir are constantly restoring it, with the water from the well. That water is memory, it is the water of creation, where Odin’s blood flowed when He hung. It restores the tree because it brings that moment of creation again and again and again …  And the tree rises anew.  As the tree falls, so does creation, but as long as one person stands devout, the tree cannot fall, not while there are Gods willing to sacrifice and part of Odin is always on the tree.  

Finally, gar is His bag of tricks.  Odin is a traveling wizard, and the way He cheats luck and fate to get what He wants is part of gar too. It’s the way He weighs the scales in His favor to get His tricks and amusements, and they are all in His bag, His shaman’s coat, His traveling coat, His hat, His satchel of tricks and enchantments.  It’s the mark left where He has passed, and that includes on the conscience of his people.  

Basic Magic Series: On Wearing White

I really don’t want to do this, but I’ve seen enough the past few weeks that I feel as though morally, I have an obligation to put information out on the basics of magic (1). For those who are not coming from polytheistic traditions, I want to first explain what place “magic” holds in our religious world. Most polytheists don’t practice magic. It’s an art reserved for specialists (and the occasional kitchen conjure woman). Why? Because most people have complicated lives full of a thousand different things and devotion to the Gods is a thousand times more important than any of the occult arts. That being said, for some of us, especially those who are called to be spiritual technicians of a sort, we are pushed into these arts as a means of serving our Gods. It’s the same with divination. These are ways to help people whose luck has been turned by the envy of others, those who are beset by evil, or a thousand other things. They are survival tools. No one has to practice magic to be a good polytheist. Just honor your Gods and ancestors. 

For those who do practice magic, this is one way to approach the Great Work, which as a theologian I rather find to be concordant with what an orthodox Christian might term “theosis.” I’m sure I’d get push back on that were one of my orthodox colleagues to read this, but at its best and highest iteration, this is how specialists use this: we serve our Gods. Through serving Them well, we grow closer to Them and learn to align ourselves more fully with Them, conquering as best we can our egotism and pride. We participate in the work of our Gods when They act as creators. As we do this, engage in this work, we are remade in the image of our Gods, changed – and if our devotion is sound (2), brought more fully into Their sacred orbit. The risk to our souls is great if we ignore the need for piety, and while many a Western occultist may disagree with me I stand by my statement above. 

These things we do have great consequence to both our souls and our characters. Never forget that. It all matters and it all shapes us, and it does so in ways we cannot anticipate. What we want, who we are, how we see the world, our values, all of it will change as the work changes us. For magical, spiritual, and devotional work, there is an old saying: the work will teach you how to do it.” This is true, but it will change you too, sometimes irrevocably. This is neither bad nor good, but a consequence of the work and something to be noted.

There is a series of exercises that I give to all my students (religious not academic) and apprentices. I give this same set whether they are coming to me to learn devotion, to learn to be a lineage carrier, to learn to be a priest, to learn spirit work or to learn magic (which to some degree all spirit workers end up engaging in, as a necessary part of their work. It doesn’t matter where one goes after the basic exercises are learned. These exercises, even if they’re not the most exciting exercises in the world, teach discernment, heighten the devotional senses, open up and exercise the psychic senses including one’s ability to use one’s will to move energy and work the threads of wyrd. They also help us to learn to do personal diagnostics: emotionally, psychically, energetically, spiritually, and maintain good psychic and energetic hygiene, which is part of soul and energy maintenance. In the end, it’ll all help devotion, even if one never wants to practice magic (and one of the most devout human beings I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing, a saint in at least four traditions, loathed the practice of magic. Seriously, there is no charge fair or foul to doing it. If you’re not called to it or interested in it, that’s fine. If you are, or have to delve because of your specialist calling, that’s good too. Don’t make it more than it is). These exercises are so important that I’m seriously thinking of putting out a series of chapbooks with one of my former students on them. We’ll see. In the meantime, I’ll just hit topics as they appeal to me. I should also note, I censor myself much less when writing about magic than spiritual topics so if rough language bothers you, you might want to skip this particular series. I’ll always note “basic magic series” in the header. Now, onto today’s topic. 

Today, I wanted to discuss wearing white because I saw this post on it. As a spirit worker and vitki, I don’t much worry about color. When I do setting of lights, I pay more attention to it, but in the end, if one’s will is honed, that sets the equation through which one’s energies are channeled and thus the outcome of the working. I’m very much a ‘just do it’ type of magus. Now, I’m also sensitive to color, so when I can, I will incorporate the proper correspondences, but I don’t worry if, for whatever reason, I can’t do so. What I do worry about are certain spiritual taboos I have about what colors I can wear. This is one of my most binding set of taboos: I wear Odin’s colors with few exceptions, and it is deeply disturbing to me when I don’t (every once in awhile I try to break this taboo and it never goes well). I didn’t choose this taboo, but it was given to me by Odin and I try to look upon it as an honor to carry, and a means to better reverence Him and also to grow closer in my devotion to Him. I can wear whatever color I want for accents like scarves or headwraps, etc. at least most of the time (3). Some people will receive taboos from their Gods and spirits as their work progresses. Please don’t seek them out. If you need them, they will come. They’re a pain in the ass but all taboos are about power. They help you remain healthy in the work and breaking them even accidentally can have consequences. Breaking them mindfully and with permission on the very rare occasion can also be quite powerful. Not everyone gets them and in the end, it doesn’t matter so long as sacred work gets done. Traditions may also have their own taboos that those within the tradition should follow.  

Before I digress too much, the blog I referred to in the previous paragraph (WordPress is being a pain in the ass about allowing me to post the link twice) has a brief post talking about how helpful wearing white has been and I wanted to comment on that. Magically, spiritually, white clothing (and head covering) is the equivalent of spiritual PPE. It is very protective, believed to repel negative energies, and helps to keep one spiritually very, very clean. There is nothing wrong with black clothing – I tend to wear it all the time. It’s very grounding; but for those sensitive to color, energetically it does something different than white clothing. This is why new initiates in Santeria usually wear white for a year. It’s incredibly, incredibly protective and the period after any initiation. especially making the saint, is a vulnerable one. Now, I hate wearing white but if I have to go into spiritually polluted space or am feeling particularly spiritually vulnerable I will. This includes a headwrap. I told one of my new house students recently that a good white headwrap was the single best piece of protective equipment in my arsenal. I wasn’t really exaggerating all that much. The thing with a white headwrap is that A) the color itself is protective and B) it covers all the key energy portals: crown, third eye, horsing port if you have one, ancestor ports if you have them – and by portals, I mean the psychic channel that allows for certain work to be done. Gods know the Holy Ones modify Their spirit workers a lot so even if you don’t start out with a particular skill, practice, practice practice and occasional modification can mean you end up with one (4).

Quite early on, I tell my House students (I’ll say it this way from here on out to differentiate between my academic students and the ones I teach within my tradition) to acquire at least two (preferably three) different sets of white clothing including head covering (cap, hat, bandanna, tichel, etc.). I try to avoid asking my students to buy anything, but this is a long term investment and doesn’t have to happen all at once. Also, most of them can already cobble something together on the fly if they have to do so and I have enough white fabric in my stash to hand out strips for headwraps probably to everyone reading this in triplicate! As one is learning to do magic, opening up and training psi gifts, or even delving deeply into spiritual work and becoming more aware of and sensitive to the Holy Ones, it’s important to stay clean spiritually. I would absolutely recommend wearing white as much as possible during one’s first few months of training and whenever else after that one feels the need. Definitely do it until you can shield and cleanse properly because evil spirits exist, bottom feeding spirits exist, miasma – neutral or sometimes bad exists, and also when one is first training, gift opening can be erratic and it’s easy to find external stimuli more overwhelming than will always be the case. 

It is true that in Chinese and/or Buddhist cultures, white tends to be associated with death. I don’t know why that is but in feng shui I believe white still represents purity so I’d STILL tell a budding magician to wear white under the circumstances outlined above. The essential nature of a thing doesn’t change from east to west. Dressing this way may mark one out (especially if one wears a headwrap) but frankly that’s not necessarily a bad thing though it can be an uncomfortable one. Eventually, to those who know you, it’ll become normal, so don’t stress overmuch about it. If you work in an environment where it would be seriously problematic, wear white shirt/pants/skirt and a colored jacket over it, or a sweater of some color. It’s a work around in extremis. You’re still wearing white, but you’ve just added a camo layer! Trust me, you’ll get to an age in the work where you just won’t give a shit about looking odd, especially if you are a spirit worker (5). 

In addition to wearing white, I agree with the poster above that natural fibers are best. Synthetics are essentially plastic and that’s not good for the environment or one’s skin. I have found that the deeper I go as a spirit worker, the more it feels right to limit the number of synthetics I wear. I stick as much as possible to leather, wools, silk, cotton, bamboo, and linen. Rayon is natural but because of how it’s turned into fabric, I’ve seen it referred to as ‘semi-synthetic’ so I keep that to a minimum. Cotton and linen are my two regular go-tos. I would say about 80% of my wardrobe and 99% of my religious clothing is natural fabric at this point. I’m working to get the regular clothing to 99% too. I picked up this awareness from a historical costumer I follow on youtube, several of my spirits, and also even more, from my assistant Tove, who gives excellent advice here for those for whom this is a concern. 

There is literally no area of one’s life that cannot and will not be affected by one’s spiritual and magical work. Now, I think this post is long enough. If there is a particular topic on magic you want me to cover, ping me in the comments. I highly suggest reading the two articles I link to here. They are very good. 

Notes

1.     I’ve seen tik-tokers and tumblrites talking about how grounding and centering – the basics of any good discernment and certainly the basics of learning to develop one’s gifts and devotional sensitivities—are old-fashioned and unnecessary. Yeah, sure, bitchki if you want to blow out your channels, get obsessed by something malignant, and make no progress anywhere, sure. Go ahead and ignore them, дебіли.

2. I have found that magic by itself produces arrogance, pride, delusion, and impiety. It *must* be balanced with devotion and prayer. It’s a hard road to balance because the magician is standing in the position of power working with cosmic energies and forces and that is an exciting and heady experience. Balancing that with humility and devotion can be challenging but it’s all part of the process, and understanding that ultimate telos, an essential part of the Great Work. 

3. Of late, I have started covering my head. While I fully support women and men who do so for modesty, in my case I do it for spiritual protection and avoidance of miasma. It also cuts down on psychic white noise. It’s helped to cut my migraines in half. Many polytheists choose to cover and in my tradition both men and women will cover their heads when they pray. Some women will cover when they marry though this is not widespread in our tradition. I once received a strong message from Freyr when I was contemplating why some of His women are often (not always but a fair amount) asked to head cover when they marry. He said, as best I can interpret, that it was the crown of their rank and office, a mark of honor, a sign that they were stepping into a sacred and honorable role, and a mark of respect.  I thought that was lovely. I’m digressing though. For those interested in covering check out this site. There are lots of tutorials and their products are quite nice. 

4. On the subject of psychic gifts, lest we see a sudden spate in tik-tokers going on about how they have psychic portals when they barely have the capacity to think, let me paraphrase Carl Jung: “Having a talent or gift doesn’t mean you have been given something; it means you have something to give.” In other words, having these things means WORK, hard, unrelenting work, responsibility, and obligation. That should do it. The ultimate repellent to the tik-tok (or tumblr) group: work ethic. 

5. One of my taboos is that I can’t wear skirts/dresses. I have to wear pants. I’m fine with that, but sometimes I like to wear a long ritual robe (right on the fence because it’s not a dress, but religious gear) or even a skirt – not often, but sometimes. If you ever see me doing so, I have leggings on underneath. That’s my work around: technically I’m still wearing pants. I respect my taboos but I also respect a good, thoughtful work around too.  

In some jobs headcoverings can be the most problematic, especially if it’s not a religious requirement that you have to do it every day. If it is religious, HR regulations should cover you. But if it’s something you only do occasionally, that’s more problematic, especially for men where courtesy demands hats be removed upon entering a building. For women, a large headband, perhaps with a ribbon or bow trailing down the crown can work. I know one spirit worker who stealths like this. With long hair, working a subtle chain with one or two protective charms on it into a braid and pinning that around one’s head works well too for women. I know a spirit worker who has this down. Why? Because she is tabooed from wearing a headcover! Our Gods want different things for us, use our skills in different ways, and certain taboos make others more problematic. There are always work arounds. Sometimes one has to look to one’s ancestral ways and see what they did that can be adapted, and sometimes we just have to get creative. 

I will note that if safety is an issue in your job, negotiate with your spirits for an exception on the headcovering. We can always ask and always negotiate. 

Wodinic Wednesday – and Reader Q&A Open

EDIT: Q&A for the week is now closed, but check back next Wednesday and we’ll do it again. 🙂 I have appreciated all of the questions — thank you, folks. This has been a good day.

Odin (or Woden – to allow me the necessary alliteration for the day : ) ) is a God ever hungry for knowledge. In my devotion to Him, I have experienced a God of powerful frenzied inspiration but also knife sharp intellect and a massive overwhelming hunger to know, to gather knowledge, to acquire skill and power. Our Gods imbue us with the touch of Themselves. Every time we enter into any engagement, no matter how small, even ritual, with the Holy Ones, I believe we are subtly changed, transformed on an ontological level. Our souls are marked and shaped, just as the Gods shaped us into being in the order of creation. We carry the consequences of that touch, of those moments of interaction. The scent of our Gods, their touch on our souls become tracks, traces we can follow to move closer to Them. They show us how to honor, serve, and love Them in so many ways. It’s only incumbent on us to listen, learn, and follow. 

I said in a comment on a colleague’s post that “I think like so many things faith and devotion are choices that we have to make every single day. That’s a powerful thing though: we have the privilege of choosing to love and follow our Gods *every day*. every day becomes a recreation, a reification of the moment the Gods created us, breathing and crafting us into being, naming us, recognizing us, raising us up.” For that to happen, we have to also choose to follow the tracks the Gods leave in our hearts, and upon our souls. That can be done in ways large (monastic living, ordeal, ritual, intense prayer practice) and in ways small and seemingly mundane, though nothing really needs to be mundane if we are property focused and connected to our spiritual cadre. Even cleaning your house can be imbued with devotional meaning – I have known more than one Sigyn’s person or Frau Holle’s person who have found these tasks to be potent ways of connecting to and sometimes even pathwalking with Their Gods. Nothing is too small to be imbued with fervor, intensity, and most importantly of all: meaning. The choices we make matter. 

Here are the questions we ask: am I where my Gods want me to be? Even if I’m screwing it up, am I somehow moving toward doing what They have put me here to do? Does my life reflect my values and what values are those? What have my Gods writ into my soul? There’s a lifetime’s question to be asked over and over again! Writ small though, here’s what it can and often does first boil down to: how do we as human beings imitate our Gods?  Should we? Our sacred stories aren’t necessarily things to be taken up in imitation, though they all contain powerful lessons from which we can learn. For me, one of the ways that Odin has blessed me, and one of the ways in which I seek to imitate Him, and am, in fact driven to imitate Him is that quest for knowledge. I want to *know* everything. I want to study and shape my mind into a blade. I want to be as He is in His hunting for power, not because of the knowledge or power in itself (though I do like learning new things) but because in doing so, I taste Him, I am following Him, hot on His heels, so to speak. It allows me to connect with Him devotionally not only in my prayer and meditation, but in the work I do every day. I love that. It fills me with joy and a deep humility and gratitude. 

So, in honor of that, and provided I can remember to do it (lol, but seriously…) every Wednesday, I’m going to post for Woden, opening up a Q&A. Readers, you may ask me any questions you like, preferably ones about devotion, Heathenry, polytheism, mysticism, early Christianity (it is my academic field), eunuchs (likewise academic research interest), ballet, spirit work, magic, runes, divination, conjure, Odin…anything. I’ll do my best to answer. I’ll take questions until 8pm EST on Wednesdays and all questions should be posted here in the comments section. After 8pm, I’m not taking any more questions, because I want a chance to answer them. Never fear, you’ll get another chance to ask the following week. So, for today: what do you want to know? Or, as the Havamal might put it: would you know more now or what? Post your questions in the comments from now until tonight. Have at it, folks.