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Vytvoření vlastního tajemství

Jelikož jsou runy souborem symbolů, v nichž je zakódováno Tajemství, je třeba se ponořit do jejich známých významů, abychom je mohli používat pro praktickou práci. V Runové gildě vždy začínáme od známého, protože vycházet ze svých vlastních představ bez tohoto přístupu vede jen nezadržitelně do říše vlastní fantazie. Snadno se s tím vypořádáme, když nahlédneme do jakékoli renomované knihy obsahující runové básně. Je-li to nutné, používejte překlad, ale ještě lepší bude, když se naučíte staré jazyky a porozumíte originálu.

Jakmile si tradiční významy zapamatujete a pochopíte je, je další fází zasadit je do vlastního myšlení v současném kontextu. Toto je několik mých úvah o tom, jak na to jít, nebo alespoň jak bych to dělal já.… Read more

Journey to Hel

“Wake thee, Groa! | wake, mother good! 
At the doors of the dead I call thee; 
Thy son, bethink thee, | thou badst to seek 
Thy help at the hill of death.” 
Svipdagsmál 

He walked up the dimly lit stairs with no fear, just the sense that he had to do his job and get out of there. There was no one to stop him, no one to stand between him and the door of the small room. In the darkness he could make out a lone silhouette, connected to numerous tubes and machines, their lights flickering mischievously. The hospital odour of disinfection and urine hung in the air. … Read more

Nettle –The Dark Twin of Flax

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Different kinds of nettle plants are growing in various parts of the world. They have their own place in folklore; they can be used for medicinal purposes and, if one uses their fibres, also for making textiles.  Young Spring nettle leaves are used for cooking and can be used as a nutritional substance for pets. Based on earlier Germanic formulas, LINA (‘linen, flax’) and LAUKAZ (‘leek’), I was able to construct a galdor using the Proto-Germanic word, *natōn (nettle), and utilize its unique folkloric power in rituals. 

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Formulaic word LINA


Lina is probably identical with lin (‘flax’) because flax and leek are both mentioned in Vǫlsa þáttr (Flowers 2014, p.… Read more

Tattooing Up the Runes

If someone is planning to get a rune tattoo, they should answer a few questions: do I understand what runes are, do I know their meaning, are they legible and understandable for me so that I can use them as a map of the inner and outer world? 

First of all, it is necessary to remember the mythological origin of the runes. The runes were taken by Odin when he sacrificed himself to himself by hanging himself on the World Tree for 9 nights. Odin is primarily the god of magic, self-awareness, wisdom, he is the god of sovereignity. If you ask someone to compose you a magic stamp to, for example, improve your life situation, I personally see a glitch here that cannot be overlooked.… Read more

The Winning of the Mead

Myths are like dreams; they fascinate us but their ultimate meaning eludes us.  Different theories and interpretations can shed light on parts of a myth, or even cast a diffuse, faint glow over it all but a myth can never be fully illumined.  It always retains some of its mystery, a mystery that is not lessened by examination but rather makes it the more intriguing by seeing the depth and complexity of its spiritual, psychological and cultural facets.  Let us look at one of the most important of the Norse myths; Othinn’s taking of the Mead of Inspiration.

The knowledge-wisdom contained in the mead undergoes three births: firstly, when Kvasir arises from the cauldron into which all the gods have spat; he then dies, at the hands of the dwarves Fjalar and Galar and the knowledge is reborn as the mead. … Read more

All

How came I here, to this place, on this night, first of nine?
Rough bark grazes my skin; I reach for the ash pole, shaft of the blood fish.
The wound worm bites, I bleed; my gift to the soil falls as warm rain in this chill
While the rope holds, binds and burns with its need to contain me.
Stripped bare, hanging, moved by the breeze I am all that I ever was and will be.
My up is down, down up; sound and colour blend as I sway in this night become day.
I watch each leaf shake and tremble as they dance to the wind, every colour and hue.
… Read more

Musings

A journey begins, the price is paid, destination unknown the plans are laid

How far shall I travel no Wight portends, what will I find on this road without end?

First comes the Fee, bright coins glowing
Sheep in the fold, cattle lowing.
Concealed in my pocket I carry my wealth
From those that would have it and trouble my health.
Men become dragons, treasures are hidden,
Jealously hoarding a sparkling midden.
Have just enough that your kin want for nought,
Value the worth of the things that it bought.
Too much of anything brings anger and strife
But a man’s modest wealth is a boon to his life.
… Read more

Wellspring

In the early part of the last third of the last century, a curious thing came to pass. Like the sap rising in a tree in the springtime of the seasons, the Old Gods felt the same rising as need fire amongst the folk, on all sides of the Atlantic Ocean and all at the very same time, seeking the mysteries of their ancestral heritage.

And so it was once again that a great Wellspring came into being, and from this Wellspring issued forth many more streams. Now this ground was frozen and they found it was very hard, cold and restrictive, almost impenetrable and strewn with rocks, stones, and all manner of hindrance and obstruction.
… Read more

The Wild Hunt

One of the most awesome and terrifying images in Germanic legend is the Wild Hunt. Known throughout Germany, England, Switzerland and in Scandinavia, where they were known as Oskoreia or Juleskreia, this troop of riders, galloping through the night sky, is traditionally led by Wodan or Woden (although some Hunts are led by ancient heroes and even by female entities such as Frau Hulda and Perchta). The Hunt is usually seen at the time of important festivals, most noticeably Yule, where the Hunt is conflated with the wild winter winds. I think that part of the enduring, and now legendary, power of the Wild Hunt lies in it originally being enacted at festivals like Yule by troops of masked young men riding through the country lanes to villages, where they would race down the streets.… Read more

Ragnarök

The Norse mythological cycle is brought to a close with the Ragnarök, a cataclysmic and catastrophic narrative where a host of frost giants, fire ogres, troll wives, monsters and legions of the dead invade Asgarð and close battle with the gods and einherjar in what will be the latter’s heroic last stand.

The greatest treatment of these themes is given in the Eddic poem Völuspá. Its treatment is allusive, assuming the knowledge of its audience, kaleidoscoping events, giving greater pace and allowing time to speak of the causes of the gods’ day of reckoning.

The consequences of two events, actions laid down long ago, which cause the disaster, bringing it to pass, the gods have brought upon themselves: Oðinn, Vili and Ve’s slaying of their matrilineal kinsman Ymir, and the breaking of the gods’ vow to the giant builder of Asgarð’s wall; as Völuspá.… Read more