“In one way or another one “lives” the myth, in the sense that one is seized by the sacred, exalting power of the events recollected or re-enacted.” (Mircea Eliade)
Unlike many eclectic currents of modern esotericism, which pick and choose from a diverse range of historical or mythical figures and adopt diverse strands of cultural symbolism and terminology, the Gild’s focus is primarily on one tradition: the heritage of the Teutonic-Germanic tribes. This is situated in the larger context of pan-European and Indo-European traditions, including those of ancient Greece, Persia and India, but the primal research consists of a profound immersion in the myths and mysteries of the Germanic heathens. In accordance with archetypal psychology the basic premise is that the spiritual heritage of the heathen Germanic tribes was never fully lost, but has fallen into slumber waiting to be reawakened. The rune magician immerses him- or herself in the lore, symbols, myths, rites and gestures of his Germanic heritage to establish a profound resonance with this timeless tradition.
Myths are “events in the eternal time of the soul” in Corbin’s words and thus stay untouched by historical events in time. However, to awaken a tradition that has been interrupted for a millennium is an almost impossible task and demands a rigorous study of the sources, including an academic approach to the historical facts. Self-Initiation into the runes seeks a dynamic balance between intellectual, intuitive and inspirational work. This process is informed by what Plato called anamnesis. Myths are the cultural and spiritual well of remembrance, perhaps, what Jung called the Collective Unconscious – they are the divine language of our ancestors and it is through them that they can still speak directly to our soul today. Myths contain the worldview, cosmogony and cosmology of the Germanic peoples and allow us to gain insights into their conceptions of deities and soul-lore. They are a treasure grove of inspirational material for the renaissance of magical and mystical practices of the Teutons, Odin’s Yggdrasil ordeal being a main example for deriving magical applications from the myths.
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