AI Generated Poem to Frey

Hail to Frey, god of fertility,

Lord of the fields and the harvest,

Bringer of abundance and prosperity,

We offer you our praise and worship.

You who bestow the fruits of the earth,

Bless us with your bountiful gifts,

May our crops grow tall and strong,

May our herds multiply and thrive.

We offer you our prayers and thanks,

As we ask for your continued protection,

May our lands be bountiful and fertile,

And may our people prosper and flourish.

Hail to Frey, god of the earth,

We honor and worship you,

For all that you give us,

We offer our thanks and devotion.

Frey, may you hear our prayers,

And may your blessings be upon us,

Now and always.

Hail Frey, god of fertility!

Volmarr’s Heathen Haustblot Harvest Ritual September-21-2011

Need:
• drinking horn
• mead (or beer or wine or even can use juice)
• Fruit
• spring water in small bowl
• fresh pine twig
• offering bowl
• candles
• Black candle
• Harvest decorations
• wand (if you don’t have one you can use your fingers instead)
• Thor’s Ritual Hammer (optional, can use it for the Hammer Hallowings)

–

This ritual, as are all Heathen or northern rituals, is done while facing north, except where otherwise noted. The altar should be such that it is in front of you when you face north.

If you don’t know how to pronounce the runes see my webpage on how to pronounce them here.

–

Put spring water in small bowl. Trace 3 Laguz runes over it.:

“LAGUZ… LAGUZ… LAGUZ”

“From the Well of Wyrd does this water flow, and to the Well of Wyrd does it return”

–

Make Hammer Sign at item and then splash each ritual item with blessed water using the pine twig and for each item say:

“I bless this ______ with the waters of the Well of Wyrd”

–

Now trace Hammer Sign at person being blessed and/or self and splash them with water using twig.

“I bless ______ with the waters of the Well of Wyrd”

–

Use twig to splash ritual space with water.

“I bless this space with the waters of the Well of Wyrd”

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

All stand in Elhaz position.

“Bi-Frost’s rainbow light shine down upon this space and myself so that I may form a portal between the worlds of Asgard and Midgard”

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

All face north and trace the Hammer Sign while chanting:

“Hammer in the north hallow and ward this stead”

All turn east and trace the Hammer Sign while chanting:

“Hammer in the east hallow and ward this stead”

All turn south and trace the Hammer Sign while chanting:

“Hammer in the south hallow and ward this stead”

All turn west trace the Hammer Sign while chanting:

“Hammer in the west hallow and ward this stead”

All return to north and look up and trace Hammer sign while chanting:

“Hammer above hallow and ward this stead”

All look below and trace Hammer sign while chanting:

“Hammer below hallow and ward this stead”

–

Return to facing north and all stand in the Elhaz position and chant:

“Around me and within me Asgard and Midgard”

and move into the Dagaz position in the end.

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

(Highly recommended optional casting of the rune ring)

(face north and trace the rune shape in the air before you using your wand and loudly chant: “FEHU!”)

(face north-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “URUZ”)

(face east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “THURISAZ”)

(face south-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “ANSUZ”)

(face south and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “RAIDHO”)

(face south-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “KENAZ”)

(face west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “GEBO”)

(face north-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “WUNJO”)

(face north and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “HAGALAZ”)

(face north-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “NAUDHIZ”)

(face east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “ISA”)

(face south-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “JERA”)

(face south and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “EIHWAZ”)

(face south-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “PERTHRO”)

(face west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “ELHAZ”)

(face north-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “SOWILO”)

(face north and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “TIWAZ”)

(face north-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “BERKANO”)

(face east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “EHWAZ”)

(face south-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “MANNAZ”)

(face south and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “LAGUZ”)

(face south-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “INGWAZ”)

(face west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “DAGAZ”)

(face north-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “OTHALA”)

(Few silent deep breaths)

–

Hold up the bottle of mead:

“I now brew the holy mead of inspiration. Won by high Odin long ago!”

Chant into the bottle of mead:

“Odhroerir! Son! Bodhn!”

“Now I hallow this drink with staves of light!”

Chant and trace these runes over the bottle:

“Othala”

“Dagaz”

“Raidho”

“Ansuz”

“Raidho”

“Isa”

“Elhaz!”

All say:

“Hail Odhroerir!”

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

“Hail Freyr! Son of Njord. Brother of Freyja. Husband of Gerd. Trusted friend of Skirnir. Descendant of the Vanir. Harvest god and wealth-giver. King of Alfheim. Blot-god of the Swedes. Possessor of Skidbladnir, and the boar known as Gullinbursti. Beli’s slayer. Enemy of Surtr. Wielder of the stag-horn. Fruitful one. Sure giver. Father of the Yngling line. Lord of the Volsi!”

“Hail Freyr!”

“Hail Gerd! Daughter of Gymir. Shining-armed bride of Freyr. Bearer of the icy mead-goblet!”

“Hail Gerd!”

–

“Freyr has given up his sword to Gerd, to gain her love, and now the vitality of nature shall decline for the season, as the Earth enters a time of rest. Light and dark are in balance at this time, but from this point forward light is in decline.”

“All things must work in cycles. Grieve not for the decline of the lifeforce, for it shall increase again in the Spring. This is the way of things; ever unfolding cycles of birth and death of the seasons. Nothing may stay the same; all must go through these cycles.”

“Instead be thankful, for all which has been gained in this last season. Now is the time to count the blessings which Freyr has given. I give thanks for Freyr’s fruitfulness and bounty. I enjoy that which I have now, and look forward to more in the future seasons.”

(Fill drinking horn with mead and hold it up)

“Hail Freyr! I toast to you in thanks for the harvest which you have given me! Hail to Freyr!”

(Drink half the mead and pour out the rest as an offering to Freyr.)

–

“The summer passes away now towards the Winter. Soon the Earth shall be covered in darkness and cold, and it will be a time of rest. I have enjoyed the Sun and warmth of the Summer. Soon it is time to take joy in the calm inward turning energies of Winter, and the beauty of snow. Each season offers it’s unique pleasures.”

“Be aware of the energy which it takes to create anything of greatness. Be aware that nothing can last. Enjoy that which you have while you have it, for it shall not remain forever. Grieve not when it is gone, as new things shall be gained in the future, which shall give equal or greater joy. I am thankful to Freyr for all which I have. I honor his gifts by making the fullest use of them, while they remain.”

“Hail to Freyr! Please teach me to enjoy your gifts to the fullest, and to appreciate all things which I have in my life, and then to be able to let go of things, with gratitude, when it is time to them to go. Allow me to know that there will be future things that equally bring me joy and happiness.”

“I eat now this fruit as a reminder to enjoy the fruits of all things which I have in my life to the fullest. Hail Freyr!”

(Eat some fruit, saving at least half as an offering to give outside after the ritual to Freyr.)

–

“I ponder now on what things no longer serve me. The energies of that which no longer serves me, once those things are sacrificed, can go to creating better things in the future. Now is the time to let go of that which is no longer useful to me; traits which hold me back. Think now on what things to sacrifice.”

(Light the black candle.)

“I burn away now in sacrifice, all which no longer serves me. May the energies go towards the start of the next season of growth next Spring, to bring better things for me at a later time.”

(Watch the candle burn for a time while thinking of that which you let go of which is not positive or useful for you anymore.)

(Now picture in your mind, the raw energy which has been freed in this process, and picture this energy as a seed which is planted for better things in the future.)

(Chant and trace at the candle the Ingwaz rune three times.)

–

(Use the pine twig to splash a bit of the liquid in the offering bowl on yourself, on any others in the ritual with you, on your altar, on the ritual space, and in all general areas of your dwelling as well. Does not need to be much splashed around, just a little is fine. This helps to imbue more of the energies of the ritual on you, and others who may also in the ritual with you, and to your place.)

–

“Now my rite has ended. May all gathered here fare well on their return to their home places. And may the bonds of frith between us grow, gods, wights, and humans alike. Until we meet again.”

–
–

Pour out the offerings from the offering bowl outside:

“A gift for a gift”

Trace gebo at spot offerings were given to.

“GEBO!”

Pour out remaining blessed water outside.

“I pour the sacred water back to the Earth so it may find it’s way back to the Well of Wyrd”

–

Now at this point it is very important to ground your energies. This should always be done after every ritual. Not doing so can lead to problems in the long-run. Grounding is like shifting gears in a car, except it is the process of shifting brain states. During rituals you create a trance like brain state, which is desired for during rituals or for during any spiritual practices. But trance states are not good for doing everyday mundane things. You need to return your mind back to the normal state of consciousness after the ritual is finished. That is what grounding is.

The most simple and common method to ground is to visualize yourself as a tree and see roots growing into the ground from the base of your spine and going down into the earth. Sometimes rituals require industrial strength grounding as they can really create some intense energy. In that case you can try the following triple grounding method.:

First visualize your chakras. You picture in your mind closing first the top one and then seeing a sort of lid closing over it, then proceed with the net lower chakra and so on. You want to leave the bottom most chakra, the root chakra fully open as this is your connection to grounding. Don’t be concerned about having the others closed, the normal proper function of them is that they open and close as needed. Problems with being ungrounded happen when one of more of them are stuck open. Only the bottom one is to be left open at all times.

Next step is to picture a ball of pure white light above your head. Now let this white light slowly descent downward into your body and slowly move lower. As it descends it takes with it any unneeded, old, and negative energies. It is sort of sweeping downward through your energies taking all you no longer need with it. Once it reaches your feet let it move lower till it passes down through the floor. If you are on an upper close let it pass all the way to the ground. Let the earth take this energy to recycle it.

Now final step is to do the traditional grounding. Picture yourself as a tree. Visualize roots coming out of the base of your spine and going down into the Earth. Feel the calmness of a tree, the rooted solidness.

If after these three things you still feel hyper or spaced out you can either eat some food, or put a small amount of salt on your tongue. Another thing you can do is prostrate down to the ground, placing your head on the ground and stay like this for a few moments.

–

Feel free to copy and use this ritual so long as you acknowledge the source.

Volmarr’s Heathen Freysblot Harvest Ritual August-2-2013

Need:
• drinking horn
• mead (or beer or wine or even can use juice)
• spring water in small bowl
• fresh pine twig
• offering bowl
• candles
• wand (if you don’t have one you can use your fingers instead)
• Thor’s Ritual Hammer (optional, can use it for the Hammer Hallowings)
• Green candle
• Any symbol for Freyr. Phallic symbols. Horse symbols.
• Baked goods, nuts, berries, and sweet fruit such as strawberries, grapes, cherries, blueberries. Freyr does prefer organic and natural foods if your budget allows.
• A list of all the spiritual seed tasks you had planted at Ostara (as many of them as you can remember). You can add items to the list that were not seed goals at Ostara but are goals anyways which you have been working on or have a shot of accomplishing within the next few months.

–

This ritual, as are all Heathen or northern rituals, is done while facing north, except where otherwise noted. The altar should be such that it is in front of you when you face north.

If you don’t know how to pronounce the runes see my webpage on how to pronounce them here.

–

Put spring water in small bowl. Trace 3 Laguz runes over it.:

“LAGUZ… LAGUZ… LAGUZ”

“From the Well of Wyrd does this water flow, and to the Well of Wyrd does it return”

–

Make Hammer Sign at item and then splash each ritual item with blessed water using the pine twig and for each item say:

“I bless this ______ with the waters of the Well of Wyrd”

–

Now trace Hammer Sign at person being blessed and/or self and splash them with water using twig.

“I bless ______ with the waters of the Well of Wyrd”

–

Use twig to splash ritual space with water.

“I bless this space with the waters of the Well of Wyrd”

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

All stand in Elhaz position.

“Bi-Frost’s rainbow light shine down upon this space and myself so that I may form a portal between the worlds of Asgard and Midgard”

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

All face north and trace the Hammer Sign while chanting:

“Hammer in the north hallow and ward this stead”

All turn east and trace the Hammer Sign while chanting:

“Hammer in the east hallow and ward this stead”

All turn south and trace the Hammer Sign while chanting:

“Hammer in the south hallow and ward this stead”

All turn west trace the Hammer Sign while chanting:

“Hammer in the west hallow and ward this stead”

All return to north and look up and trace Hammer sign while chanting:

“Hammer above hallow and ward this stead”

All look below and trace Hammer sign while chanting:

“Hammer below hallow and ward this stead”

–

Return to facing north and all stand in the Elhaz position and chant:

“Around me and within me Asgard and Midgard”

and move into the Dagaz position in the end.

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

(Highly recommended optional casting of the rune ring)

(face north and trace the rune shape in the air before you using your wand and loudly chant: “FEHU!”)

(face north-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “URUZ”)

(face east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “THURISAZ”)

(face south-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “ANSUZ”)

(face south and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “RAIDHO”)

(face south-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “KENAZ”)

(face west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “GEBO”)

(face north-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “WUNJO”)

(face north and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “HAGALAZ”)

(face north-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “NAUDHIZ”)

(face east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “ISA”)

(face south-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “JERA”)

(face south and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “EIHWAZ”)

(face south-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “PERTHRO”)

(face west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “ELHAZ”)

(face north-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “SOWILO”)

(face north and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “TIWAZ”)

(face north-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “BERKANO”)

(face east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “EHWAZ”)

(face south-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “MANNAZ”)

(face south and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “LAGUZ”)

(face south-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “INGWAZ”)

(face west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “DAGAZ”)

(face north-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “OTHALA”)

(Few silent deep breaths)

–

Hold up the bottle of mead:

“I now brew the holy mead of inspiration. Won by high Odin long ago!”

Chant into the bottle of mead:

“Odhroerir! Son! Bodhn!”

“Now I hallow this drink with staves of light!”

Chant and trace these runes over the bottle:

“Othala”

“Dagaz”

“Raidho”

“Ansuz”

“Raidho”

“Isa”

“Elhaz!”

All say:

“Hail Odhroerir!”

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

“Hail Freyr! Son of Njord. Brother of Freyja. Husband of Gerd. Trusted friend of Skirnir. Descendant of the Vanir. Harvest god and wealth-giver. King of Alfheim. Blot-god of the Swedes. Possessor of Skidbladnir, and the boar known as Gullinbursti. Beli’s slayer. Enemy of Surtr. Wielder of the stag-horn. Fruitful one. Sure giver. Father of the Yngling line. Lord of the Volsi!”

“Hail Freyr!”

–

“Now is the start of the harvest season. This is a time to work hard to bring forth all those things which you have been lending energies towards all this season. This is a time to honor Freyr, god of wealth and the harvest, so that your personal life harvest can be the fruitful one. Since most of us in the modern world are not farmers, harvest means for us the task of working on manifesting wishes and desires. Compared to other holidays this one is very straightforward. At this time we work on the tangible outward aspect of energies, working on manifesting and bringing into being that which started as inner energies in the spring.”

“Look at the list of all the wishes which you planted as seeds at Ostara. Now is the time to make those things happen, at least for those things in your life which have not already happened by now. You are to keep this list of tasks, at this time, some place where you will see it often in your day, so that you remain aware and focused towards the things you are working on manifesting.”

“At this time of the harvest I am working on:” (read your list of tasks)

“You have from now till the middle of October to work on your wishes for this season. Any of those wishes that have not manifested by then should be mulched as spiritual weeds. You can then try again for next season for any things that have not manifested by then. After that it is time to make things more simple in your life to focus on the inward turning energies of winter.”

–

“Freyr please help keep me focused on working on the things which I am trying to manifest in my life this season. Please Freyr lend me your potent energies for this purpose so that my life harvest this season may be a fruitful one.”

“Also please Freyr help to me keep away any distracting energies which may interfere with me accomplishing my harvest goals. Please help me to know what things may need to be extracted from my situation if there is anything which is acting to divert my harvest focus.”

“Hail Freyr!”

–

“Freyr now is the time to year to have a feast in your honor to give thanks for your fruitful energies.”

“This feast is for you Freyr! Hail Freyr!”

–

(Use the pine twig to splash a bit of the liquid in the offering bowl on yourself, on any others in the ritual with you, on your altar, on the ritual space, and in all general areas of your dwelling as well. Does not need to be much splashed around, just a little is fine. This helps to imbue more of the energies of the ritual on you, and others who may also in the ritual with you, and to your place.)

–

“Now my rite has ended. May all gathered here fare well on their return to their home places. And may the bonds of frith between us grow, gods, wights, and humans alike. Until we meet again.”

–
–

Pour out the offerings from the offering bowl outside:

“A gift for a gift”

Trace gebo at spot offerings were given to.

“GEBO!”

Pour out remaining blessed water outside.

“I pour the sacred water back to the Earth so it may find it’s way back to the Well of Wyrd”

–

Now at this point it is very important to ground your energies. This should always be done after every ritual. Not doing so can lead to problems in the long-run. Grounding is like shifting gears in a car, except it is the process of shifting brain states. During rituals you create a trance like brain state, which is desired for during rituals or for during any spiritual practices. But trance states are not good for doing everyday mundane things. You need to return your mind back to the normal state of consciousness after the ritual is finished. That is what grounding is.

The most simple and common method to ground is to visualize yourself as a tree and see roots growing into the ground from the base of your spine and going down into the earth. Sometimes rituals require industrial strength grounding as they can really create some intense energy. In that case you can try the following triple grounding method.:

First visualize your chakras. You picture in your mind closing first the top one and then seeing a sort of lid closing over it, then proceed with the net lower chakra and so on. You want to leave the bottom most chakra, the root chakra fully open as this is your connection to grounding. Don’t be concerned about having the others closed, the normal proper function of them is that they open and close as needed. Problems with being ungrounded happen when one of more of them are stuck open. Only the bottom one is to be left open at all times.

Next step is to picture a ball of pure white light above your head. Now let this white light slowly descent downward into your body and slowly move lower. As it descends it takes with it any unneeded, old, and negative energies. It is sort of sweeping downward through your energies taking all you no longer need with it. Once it reaches your feet let it move lower till it passes down through the floor. If you are on an upper close let it pass all the way to the ground. Let the earth take this energy to recycle it.

Now final step is to do the traditional grounding. Picture yourself as a tree. Visualize roots coming out of the base of your spine and going down into the Earth. Feel the calmness of a tree, the rooted solidness.

If after these three things you still feel hyper or spaced out you can either eat some food, or put a small amount of salt on your tongue. Another thing you can do is prostrate down to the ground, placing your head on the ground and stay like this for a few moments.

–

Feel free to copy and use this ritual so long as you acknowledge the source.

The trinity of Heathenism, the two distinct sides of Asatru and the part of Heathenism that differs from Asatru

Most people nowadays, when they thinking about what Asatru is, (for this post I am using the word Asatru to mean that side of Heathenism that focuses on the Aesir and their values as distinct from the more broad aspects of Heathenism that encompasses both the Aesir and Vanir and other beings) they think in terms what is considered the values that are represented by Odin, more the stereotypical Viking warrior related values. But this approach to what Asatru and the Aesir represent, the Odinic one, is really only one of two differing forms of Asatru, or the ways of the Aesir.

In truth in the Viking age Thor was the most popular god, not Odin. Thor was more popular with farmers and common people. Odin was more popular with the wealthy and those who held power. Only a very small percentage of the Norse were actually Vikings, most were farmers that mostly lived peaceful lives.

What we in modern times have more knowledge of is the perspective of more of the Odin followers since more of them were the Vikings and thus the ones that more so lived heroic lives that were more interesting to craft stories about. The wealthy had the money to get poets to immortalize their exploits. Talking about milking cows certainly does not make for interesting poetry or the type of stories people tend to remember.

The most famous Norse temple was the temple in Uppsala. Accounts of this temple say that it had statues of three gods, Odin, Thor, and Freyr. Really the values of Heathenism can be divided into three to reflect each of these three deities. There are two very different sides of the Aesir, and the third side to Heathenism is the distinct ways of the Vanir (1, 2, 3 – disclaimer: I don’t agree with everything those last two links state).

The ways of Odin revolve around power and the quest to hold onto power. Odin is a god who quests after knowledge, but his seeking of knowledge has an agenda; that agenda is to increase his ability to hold onto power and authority. Those that tended to follow him in the Viking age were those who held power and thus they too held similar values to Odin. Odin is a god that enjoys stirring up strife and war for the sake of it. Though his reasons for doing this are not madness or some mean streak, he does this for the purpose of trying to hold onto power. Odin receives half of all warriors fallen in battle and thus the more war and strife, the more warriors he gains. He collects these warriors in an attempt to hold onto as much power as possible for to continue his order of things after the time of Ragnarok. The warriors he collects shall fight for him at Ragnarok. Because Odin is a collector of warriors, Odin often is known for arranging to even have his own followers killed in battle so that he may more quickly gather them to him. This is something all followers of Odin must be careful about since Odin operates with an agenda that tends not to take into consideration most people’s wish to not die young or soon. It is Odin’s wife, Frigga, that tends to be the only one that can talk some sense into Odin in regard to this; it is smart for any who have Odin as their personal patron to also have Frigga as their patron if they value the idea of having a long life at all. As you can see, Odin is a god of power and authority who tends to take extremes to achieve his goals. Odin as a warrior is more the professional military side of things, the type of warrior that lives for the sake of doing battle and enjoying the adventure of conquest and even seeks to continue to live this same way in the afterlife. Vikings as raiders and military adventure seekers are this exact sort of warrior. Odin is also a god of death and the need to accept the inevitability of eventual death. Killing is often the most powerful way to hold onto and gain power. Odin values the concept that you shall eventually die, so why not die doing something important like fighting in battle.

Thor is the god of the every-man. He is friendly and outgoing and has a big appetite to enjoy food, drink, and parties. He tends to love to travel and go on adventures, not for the sake of planned military conquest like Odin, but just to enjoy all the various things the Nine Worlds have to offer. He is clever when he needs to be, but not in a pretentious or showy way. Thor is basically very down to Earth, extremely so for a god and he tends to just accept others at face value and not judge anyone until or unless those beings prove by their actions they have hostile intentions. At that time, Thor very suddenly and without feeling the need to be constrained by any red-tape, takes action to defend against and destroy the transgressors. Thor is a powerful and intensely strong warrior, but more in the sense of a militia solider. Militia tend to be everyday citizens with common jobs in society that when the need is there for military defense, answer the call to arms. Most the time Thor is in peace mode, except when his warrior role is needed to do away with beings that threaten the peace and prosperity of the gods and humans. Thor’s normal day to day occupation is that of farmer. His sacred weapon, the Thor’s Hammer, is also a peace time magickal tool used to bless and used to plow the soil so the might and strength of Thor’s abundant vitality can bless the fields. His wife is considered a goddess related to the grain. Thor is a protector and called upon for this purpose. He tends to be a god that is liked by all. Thor’s Hammer has the power to heal and to restore things to a state of wholeness, and to bestow blessings. He is a defender of the rights of all beings that are living in peace and harmony with the cycles of nature to maintain their peaceful lifestyle. Thor only shows malice toward those who threaten the natural order of things. At the end of winter, he helps to stave off the forces of cold so that the spring may come. In some places Thor is associated with thunder and lightning, lightning being an agent needed to make some of the chemicals needed for early forms of life to form. The rains that come with lighting are needed for the crops to grow. As all this shows the values that Thor represents are life, the enjoyment of life, living life to the fullest, healing life, blessing life, and the defense and protection of life. Thor’s great strength comes from his strong life energies. Thor is the son of the Earth goddess, and the Earth is the very cradle of life.

That Odin and Thor would hold very differing values is just obvious considering one is a god of death and the other a god of life. We must be careful not to look at this in a black and white sense, as that is very contrary to Heathen values. Without death you can have no life. Without life you can have no death, and thus no spiritual growth. Through the cycle of birth and then eventual death and again birth once more in a new form, all of life grows and evolves and improves itself. Without death, life would stagnate and not grow in awareness and spiritual evolution would not be possible. Heathenism is a form of Paganism and Paganism sees the sacredness of the constant cycles within nature of life and death every single year. It is interesting that Thor is the son of Odin; life is born from death. This conflict of differing values between Odin and Thor is seen in the Hárbarðsljóð (1, 2, 3), in which Odin in disguise makes fun of Thor.

The third set of values contained in Heathenism is that of the Vanir. Their values, as we saw by the statues of the gods at the temple of Uppsala are represented by Freyr. It has already been mentioned about the yearly cycle of the seasons, how this is a needed force for everything to grow and evolve. Without the seasons, nature could not exist. All life needs a time to wither and withdraw and to pull inward, the winter time. When it is time, life moves outward again and we enjoy the summer aspect of life. Winter is a time to plan, learn, study, ponder, attend to small details, increase psychic and spiritual strength. Summer is a time to do, act, fight any needed battles, increase wealth and resources, connect with new people, exchange ideas, conduct trade, explore, increase physical strength. That which one connects to with the inner mind is all that is connected to that murky realm of death. While living we connect to the realm of the spiritual through the inner mind, through our awareness of death. That which one connects to outwardly through ones senses is all that which is connected to life. A healthy person finds a balance of both inner and outer; honors both life and death in equal measure. When someone becomes too fixed on only the spiritual they become unhealthy. When someone becomes too fixed on only life they become unhealthy. The Vanic way, and that which Freyr and all the Vanic deities hold as values is the honor of the proper balance of both life and death. This is done in Heathenism in the most outward sense in the honoring of the yearly cycle and in the practicing of the seasonal rituals. The Vanir love sex. Sex the single most powerful act any beings can do to unite these two forces of both life and death together as one. It is through sex that it is possible to pull a being from the world of death into the world of the living; something that is a true miracle of nature. Harvest time is the time when plants that have been grown for food must be struck down, harvested. Through this harvest we humans receive the food abundance we need to continue to live. This in itself shows how life is dependent upon death and how life and death support each other as one whole. Freyr is god of the harvest and abundance. Freyr is also god of sexual potency as his cock is always hard and ready for sex. The Vanic deities are deities that live within this middle ground between life and death. They are both life and death at once, but in the proper seasonal cycle. Freyr is god of frith. Frith means peace and harmony and abundance and the joys that abundance bring to a community. Frith can only happen when people honor and respect the Earth and the cycles of the seasons. When there is a lack of resources this is when war and strife happen. A lack of food and resources happen when people live out of harmony with nature and the natural cycles. A lack of material resources happen when people live out of harmony for the need for a balance between a material and spiritual focus. To be healthy, a society and its people need a spiritual life that holds deep respect for nature. When people embrace either atheism or types of religion that encourage people to conquer the Earth then people start to hoard resources and destroy the resources we all should be freely sharing with each other. When people live in harmony with nature and embrace their spiritual nature there is plenty of resources for everyone and then it is natural for there to be peace and harmony, frith. The Vanic way is the way of living in harmony with the cycles and honoring both the forces of life and death at their proper moments. The Vanic way is about spirituality being focused both on giving thanks for what nature and the gods/goddesses give us, and on the journey of personal spiritual growth, since spiritual growth is a natural part of the cycle of birth and death. Death is that which is hidden. Life is that which is seen. The Vanir as a group of beings have both sides to them. There is the Vanir we know of from the lore, Freyja, Freyr, Njord, and a few others. Then there is also the Vanir which are hidden. The lore does not tell us the names of these hidden Vanir, but they are there too and they are as much a part of the Vanir as the known ones. Not only is there the gods and goddesses of the Vanir, but Freyr is king of the Alfar and so we could also consider many of elves to be part of the Vanir as well.

I make this post as an offering to Saga, goddess of expressed and shared knowledge.

The ancient goddess Nehalennia

Nehalennia is a very ancient Vanic goddess. She is goddess of the ocean. She is related to hounds, trade, the sea, ships, and the harvest of the sea itself. She rules over passage from one state to another, such as the transitions from living to death (or my theory is the other way around too), and any journeys by water. She is an ancestor goddess of Njord, Freyja, and Freya. Her nature seems to be calming, gentle and providing, yet wild and untamed, in many ways like the character of the sea itself. She is seen to have very water like appearance. Some see her as very beautiful, with wide bright young eyes like a young girls, a perfect and lean figure, and wearing a hound necklace, being topless and wearing a very tiny mini skirt, and wearing a fishing net as a shawl. Her color is a blue green like the sea. I feel her runic energy for sure is laguz in a big way! Alternate spellings of her name are Nehelennia, and Nehalenni.

Some consider her a goddess of the dead, but I feel that isn’t exactly correct. She isn’t a Goddess that comes to claim the dead, but more one that helps them to safely make their journey to that realm. She basically rules safe passage from one place to another (either places being earthly places or even places as in states of being as in travel from the world of the living to world of the dead). This is more of a protecting and nurturing thing. Not harsh like for example Hel can be at times. Basically the historical offerings to her that have been found, they seem to have found were ones given in thanks for sailors making safe passage. Travel in general is associated in movement from one realm to another. This is connected with the rune laguz. This seems to be her energies. She is very connected to the goddess and female mysteries of helping beings pass from one state to another. Since women are the ones who give birth they rule over this aiding of beings coming from one realm to the other. Birth is a transition from the spiritual realm to the physical realm, in the same way birth is a transition from the physical realm to the spiritual realm. What is interesting also about birth and about the womb is it is a realm filled with water. This is very connected to the mysteries of wells or caldrons in the Norse cosmology. There are three important wells, and it is considered that wyrd (the Norse concept of fate or karma) for all beings flows through these wells. It is of course water that flows through wells so it seems wyrd and water are very connected. Since Nehalennia is a goddess that can be seen as the personification of water itself, it only makes sense that she rules over this mystery of the passage of wyrd or the passage from one state to another or even journeys or movement in general. Another rune connected with this mystery is perthro, but perthro may be considered the captured state of the flow of water in a sudden given moment. Yet Nehalennia seems to be more the open oceans, waters freely flowing without restriction, thus she is more related to laguz, not really to the parts of this process connected to perthro. Perthro is more the well structure itself, the vagina, laguz is more the water contained in it. A vagina is of course a very wet comforting place. ;) These mysteries are very Vanic in nature, since the Vanir are connected to both sexuality and to water and ships.

The drawing I have of Nehalennia is made by Amarina and used with her permission.

More about Nehalennia:

Nehalennia from Wikipedia

Amarina’s experience of Nehalennia.

Another very good post Amarina wrote about her impressions of Nahalennia, and the Vanir as a whole.

Info based on spiritual experiences of Nehalennia on Amarina’s blog.

Info on Hehalennia from livius.org.

She is written about in Our Troth Volume 1, pages 394-395.

She is also in Exploring the Northern Tradition, page 118.

An invocation to Nehalennia:

Hail Nehalennia! Beautiful goddess of the hounds, trade, and the sea! Lost lady of the Vanir! Ancestor of Njord, Freyja, and Freyr!

Very insightful video on elves…

The elves and related being are a very important part of Heathenism. They represent a large variety of beings. The Norse term used for spiritual beings in general is wights.

Video on the Vanir gods and goddesses….

Volmarr’s Heathen End of Yule (Jan-1st) Ritual 2013

Need:
• drinking horn
• mead
• cookies
• spring water in small bowl
• fresh pine twig
• offering bowl
• candles
• wand (if you don’t have one you can use your fingers instead)
• Thor’s Ritual Hammer (optional, can use it for the Hammer Hallowings)
• oath-ring (optional)
• Any items to represent Freyr.

–

This ritual, as are all Heathen or northern rituals, is done while facing north, except where otherwise noted. The altar should be such that it is in front of you when you face north.

If you don’t know how to pronounce the runes see my webpage on how to pronounce them here.

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Put spring water in small bowl. Trace 3 Laguz runes over it.:

“LAGUZ… LAGUZ… LAGUZ”

“From the Well of Wyrd does this water flow, and to the Well of Wyrd does it return”

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Make Hammer Sign at item and then splash each ritual item with blessed water using the pine twig and for each item say:

“I bless this ______ with the waters of the Well of Wyrd”

–

Now trace Hammer Sign at person being blessed and/or self and splash them with water using twig.

“I bless ______ with the waters of the Well of Wyrd”

–

Use twig to splash ritual space with water.

“I bless this space with the waters of the Well of Wyrd”

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

All stand in Elhaz position.

“Bi-Frost’s rainbow light shine down upon this space and myself so that I may form a portal between the worlds of Asgard and Midgard”

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

All face north and trace the Hammer Sign while chanting:

“Hammer in the north hallow and ward this stead”

All turn east and trace the Hammer Sign while chanting:

“Hammer in the east hallow and ward this stead”

All turn south and trace the Hammer Sign while chanting:

“Hammer in the south hallow and ward this stead”

All turn west trace the Hammer Sign while chanting:

“Hammer in the west hallow and ward this stead”

All return to north and look up and trace Hammer sign while chanting:

“Hammer above hallow and ward this stead”

All look below and trace Hammer sign while chanting:

“Hammer below hallow and ward this stead”

–

Return to facing north and all stand in the Elhaz position and chant:

“Around me and within me Asgard and Midgard”

and move into the Dagaz position in the end.

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

(Highly recommended optional casting of the rune ring)

(face north and trace the rune shape in the air before you using your wand and loudly chant: “FEHU!”)

(face north-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “URUZ”)

(face east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “THURISAZ”)

(face south-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “ANSUZ”)

(face south and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “RAIDHO”)

(face south-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “KENAZ”)

(face west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “GEBO”)

(face north-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “WUNJO”)

(face north and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “HAGALAZ”)

(face north-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “NAUDHIZ”)

(face east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “ISA”)

(face south-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “JERA”)

(face south and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “EIHWAZ”)

(face south-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “PERTHRO”)

(face west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “ELHAZ”)

(face north-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “SOWILO”)

(face north and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “TIWAZ”)

(face north-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “BERKANO”)

(face east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “EHWAZ”)

(face south-east and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “MANNAZ”)

(face south and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “LAGUZ”)

(face south-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “INGWAZ”)

(face west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “DAGAZ”)

(face north-west and trace the rune shape and loudly chant: “OTHALA”)

(Few silent deep breaths)

–

Hold up the bottle of mead:

“I now brew the holy mead of inspiration. Won by high Odin long ago!”

Chant into the bottle of mead:

“Odhroerir! Son! Bodhn!”

“Now I hallow this drink with staves of light!”

Chant and trace these runes over the bottle:

“Othala”

“Dagaz”

“Raidho”

“Ansuz”

“Raidho”

“Isa”

“Elhaz!”

All say:

“Hail Odhroerir!”

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

“Hail Freyr! Son of Njord. Brother of Freyja. Husband of Gerd. Trusted friend of Skirnir. Descendant of the Vanir. Harvest god and wealth-giver. King of Alfheim. Blot-god of the Swedes. Possessor of Skidbladnir, and the boar known as Gullinbursti. Beli’s slayer. Enemy of Surtr. Wielder of the stag-horn. Fruitful one. Sure giver. Father of the Yngling line. Lord of the Volsi!”

All respond:

“Hail Freyr!”

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

“Now is the end of the Yule time. We have safely made it out of the turbulent chaotic energies of the Wild Hunt, and now the smoother flowing energies of the start of the new year cycle are upon us. We can be very thankful for making it through the holiday season. The old year cycle having been swept away by the Wild Hunt, now we can start anew, working on new greater things for this year cycle.”

“Now is a good time, if so desired to make an oath to accomplish some task or tasks for the coming year cycle. Any oaths made at this time shall have their greatest power since we stand now at the very first day of the new year cycle. Now is a time to plant the ideas of what you wish to come in this coming year. Remember though that any oaths made before any of the Gods must be followed through on, so do not make any oaths that you do not intend to keep. Take some moments now to think about what if any oaths you wish to make at this time.”

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

Say any oaths you wish to make. You may if you have one place your right hand on an oath ring or a Thor’s Hammer or other holy object while making the oaths.

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

“This is the time of year to give thanks to Freyr for all the blessings he has given us in the now past year, and to ask that his blessings shall continue in the coming year. Freyr is the god of the harvest, harvest means more then just the gathering of crops, as there is a type of harvest which is the receiving of anything of value in our life. Thus all positive things we have gained are due to this harvest energies of Freyr. Giving thanks reinforces what it is we wish more of in the future, and also is a way to be grateful for all that is given to us. Being grateful sets the patterns in Wyrd for more of what we are grateful for to follow in the future. Think of all things you are grateful for at this time and also all things you wish more of in the coming year.”

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

Say any and all things you are grateful for from the last year. Word it like ‘I am grateful for ____’.

–

Now state any things you would like more of in your life in the coming year. Please feel free to say as many things as you would like, and do not feel guilty about any of it. Say it like this ‘May there be more ____ in my life this year.’

–

Few silent deep breaths.

–

Now trace the Sign of the Hammer over the cookies. Fill your horn up with mead.

Hold the horn up while saying:

“Hail Freyr, god of prosperity and the harvest, I am thankful to you for all your many blessings!”

All chant:

“Hail Freyr!”

Drink some of mead and pass horn. Pour remaining into offering bowl.

Eat a cookie and pass the cookies around so everyone may get one, and put the rest of the cookies into the offering bowl for Freyr.

–

Use the pine twig to splash a bit of the liquid in the offering bowl on yourself, on any others in the ritual with you, on your altar, on the ritual space, and in all general areas of your dwelling as well. Does not need to be much splashed around, just a little is fine. This helps to imbue more of the energies of the ritual on you, and others who may also in the ritual with you, and to your place.

–

“Now my rite has ended. May all gathered here fare well on their return to their home places. And may the bonds of frith between us grow, gods, wights, and humans alike. Until we meet again.”

–
–

Pour out the offerings from the offering bowl outside:

“A gift for a gift”

Trace gebo at spot offerings were given to.

“GEBO!”

Pour out remaining blessed water outside.

“I pour the sacred water back to the Earth so it may find it’s way back to the Well of Wyrd”

–

Now at this point it is very important to ground your energies. This should always be done after every ritual. Not doing so can lead to problems in the long-run. Grounding is like shifting gears in a car, except it is the process of shifting brain states. During rituals you create a trance like brain state, which is desired for during rituals or for during any spiritual practices. But trance states are not good for doing everyday mundane things. You need to return your mind back to the normal state of consciousness after the ritual is finished. That is what grounding is.

The most simple and common method to ground is to visualize yourself as a tree and see roots growing into the ground from the base of your spine and going down into the earth. Sometimes rituals require industrial strength grounding as they can really create some intense energy. In that case you can try the following triple grounding method.:

First visualize your chakras. You picture in your mind closing first the top one and then seeing a sort of lid closing over it, then proceed with the net lower chakra and so on. You want to leave the bottom most chakra, the root chakra fully open as this is your connection to grounding. Don’t be concerned about having the others closed, the normal proper function of them is that they open and close as needed. Problems with being ungrounded happen when one of more of them are stuck open. Only the bottom one is to be left open at all times.

Next step is to picture a ball of pure white light above your head. Now let this white light slowly descent downward into your body and slowly move lower. As it descends it takes with it any unneeded, old, and negative energies. It is sort of sweeping downward through your energies taking all you no longer need with it. Once it reaches your feet let it move lower till it passes down through the floor. If you are on an upper close let it pass all the way to the ground. Let the earth take this energy to recycle it.

Now final step is to do the traditional grounding. Picture yourself as a tree. Visualize roots coming out of the base of your spine and going down into the Earth. Feel the calmness of a tree, the rooted solidness.

If after these three things you still feel hyper or spaced out you can either eat some food, or put a small amount of salt on your tongue. Another thing you can do is prostrate down to the ground, placing your head on the ground and stay like this for a few moments.

–

Feel free to copy and use this ritual so long as you acknowledge the source.

Download this as a OpenOffice Doc – Volmarr’s Heathen End of Yule (Jan-1st) Ritual 2013

Heathen God, Goddess and Wight Invocations

Written by Ingeborg Nordén, Volmarr Wyrd, and Amarina

The following are invocations for Norse gods, goddesses, and wights. Many are based on kennings from the Skaldskaparmal in the Prose Edda. Please feel free to copy and use any of these invocations on your own website or in your own rituals!

Odin

Hail Odin! Husband of Frigg. All-father. Father of battle. One-eyed god. Many-shaped. Wanderer. Hanged god. Raven god. Spear-thruster. Wish-bringer. Galdr-father. Graybeard. Deep hood. Thief of Odhroerir. Kinsman of Mimir. Lord of the Wild Hunt. Yule rider. Finder of the Runes. God of the Gautar. Ruler of Valhalla!

Frigg

Hail Frigg! Wife of Odin. Mother of Balder. Silent seeress. Ruler of Fensalir. Distaff goddess. Loyal wife and mother. Weaver of Mists!

Thor

Hail Thor! Son of Odin and Jord. Father of Magni, Modi, and Thrud. Husband of Sif. Stepfather of Ullr. Ruler and owner of Mjollnir, the Girdle of Might, and Bilskirnir. Defender of Asgard and Midgard. Enemy and slayer of giants and troll-wives!

Sif

Hail Sif! Wife of Thor. Golden-haired. Mother of Ullr. Grain goddess!

Balder

Hail Balder! Son of Odin and Frigg. Husband of Nanna. Father of Forseti. Owner of Hringhorni and Draupnir. Enemy of Hodr. Hel’s companion. Most fair of gods!

Njord

Hail Njord! Husband of Skadi. Dweller in Noatun. Seafarers god. Descendant of the Vanir. Father of Freyr and Freyja. Lover of boats. Fairest of feet!

Skadi

Hail Skadi! Unhappy bride of Njord. Ski-goddess and snowshoe-goddess. Daughter and avenger of Thjazi. Bow-goddess. Loki’s cold-hearted foe. Inheritor of Thrymheim!

Freyr

Hail Freyr! Son of Njord. Brother of Freyja. Husband of Gerd. Trusted friend of Skirnir. Descendant of the Vanir. Harvest god and wealth-giver. King of Alfheim. Blot-god of the Swedes. Possessor of Skidbladnir, and the boar known as Gullinbursti. Beli’s slayer. Enemy of Surtr. Wielder of the stag-horn. Fruitful one. Sure giver. Father of the Yngling line. Lord of the Volsi!

Gerd

Hail Gerd! Daughter of Gymir. Shining-armed bride of Freyr. Bearer of the icy mead-goblet!

Freyja

Hail Freyja! Daughter of Njord. Sister of Freyr. Descendant of the Vanir. Possessor of Brisingamen. Od’s wife. Vanir-bride. Teacher of seidh. Love goddess. Gold-thirsty one. Queen of witches!

Heimdall

Hail Heimdall. Son of nine mothers. Guardian of the gods. Enemy of Loki, and recoverer of Freyja’s Brisingamen. Owner of the horse Gulltopp. Bifrost’s watchman. All-hearing one. Father of the three kindreds!

Tyr

Hail Tyr! One-handed god. Feeder of the wolf. Battle god. Sword god. Oathbinder. Lawkeeper. Leader of the Thing. Truest and most steadfast of gods!

Mimir

Hail Mimir! Keeper of the wisdom-spring. Odin’s kinsman!

Bragi

Hail Bragi! Idunn’s husband. Inventor of poetry. The long-bearded god. Son of Odin!

Idunn

Hail Idunn! Wife of Bragi. Keeper of the apples of youth. Captive of Thjazi. Vitality goddess.

Vidar

Hail Vidar! Silent god. Possessor of iron shoes. Enemy and slayer of Fenriswolf. Avenger of gods. Son of Odin!

Vali

Hail Vali! Son of Odin and Rind. Stepson of Frigg. Balder’s avenger. Enemy and slayer of Hodr!

Hodr

Hail Hodr! Blind god. Balder’s slayer. Shooter of mistletoe. Son of Odin. Hel’s companion. Vali’s enemy!

Forseti

Hail Forseti! Fair-minded. Baldr’s son. Settler of strife. Even-handed lawgiver. Warder of the holy spring. God of the golden axe. Dweller in Glitnir. Help of the Frisians!

Ullr

Hail Ullr! Son of Sif. Stepson of Thor. Ski god. Bow god. Hunting god. Shield god!

Loki

Hail Loki! Odin’s blood-kin. Son of Farbauti and Laufey. Father of Fenriswolf, and Jormungand. Comrade and table-companion of Odin and the Aesir. Thief of Brisingamen, and Idunn’s Apples. Relative of Sleipnir. Husband of Sigyn. Enemy of gods. Sif’s hair-harmer. Maker of mischief. Cunning god. Accuser and tricker of the gods. Contriver of Balder’s death!

Aegir

Hail Aegir! Husband of Ran. Ale-brewer. Gatherer of sea-gold. Father of the nine waves. Feast-friend of the Aesir and the drowned. Keeper of the great kettle!

Hel

Hail Hel! Keeper of the dead. Hostess of Baldr and Hodr. Half-living one. Garm’s mistress. Dweller in Eljudnir!

Eir

Hail Eir! Dweller on Lyfjaberg. Best of healers!

Holda

Hail Holda! Dweller in Venusberg. Guardian of unborn children. Maker of snow. Giver of flax. Keeper of the waters of fertility. White goddess. Lady of the wild hunt. Overseer of the distaff at Mothers’ Night!

Lofn

Hail Lofn! Helper of lovers unable to wed!

Var

Hail Var! Witness to all oaths. Foe to all who break them!

Saga

Hail Saga! Benchmate of Odin. Lady of Sokkvabekk. Seer of the times. Talespinner!

Nerthus

Hail Nerthus! Sister of Njord. Mother of Freyr and Freyja. Eldest Mother. Bearer of the Harvest. Hidden Goddess!

The Norns

Hail the Norns! Choosers of lives. Writers of Orlog’s runes. Lawspeakers at the Well!

Jord

Hail Jord! Mother of Thor. First Wife of Odin. Daughter of Nott. Goddess of earth!

Sunna

Hail Sunna! Daughter of Glen. Bright rider in the heavens by day. Driver of Alsvin and Arvak. Wearer of Svalin. Day-star. Ever-glow. All-bright. Wolf-chased. Fair-wheel. Grace-shine. Ensnarer of Trolls!

Mani

Hail Mani! Son of Glen. Bright rider in the heavens by night. Fosterer of Hjuki and Bil. Waxer and waner. Year-counter. Wolf-chased. Gleamer. Marker of time. Whirling Wheel!

Disir

Hail the Disir! Ghosts of our kinswomen. Warders at birth and death!

Alfar

Hail the Alfar! Ghosts of our kinsmen. Freyr’s bright followers. Friends of the Aesir!

Dark Elves and Dwarves

Hail the Dark Elves! Dwellers in the hill and barrow. Dvalin’s kin. Brewers of Odhroerir. Upholders of Ymir’s skull. Shapers of the gods’ gifts!

House Wights

Hail the House Wights! Unseen keepers of home. The small ones. The goodfolk!

Einherjar

Hail the Einherjar! Chosen of Odin. Shield-brothers of Valhalla. Warriors at Ragnarok!

Valkyries

Hail the Valkyries! Shield-maidens. Choosers of the slain. Weavers of the battle-web. Riders of storm-wolves. Victory-givers. Wish-maidens of Odin and Freyja!

Nehalennia

Hail Nehalennia! Beautiful goddess of the hounds, trade, and sea! Lost lady of the Vanir! Ancestor of Njord, Freyja, and Freyr!

–

Feel free to copy and use this so long as you acknowledge the source.

Download this as a OpenOffice Doc – Heathen God, Goddess and Wight Invocations

What is Heathenism?

What is Heathenism?

Heathenism is a religion that honors the ancient Norse, Anglo-Saxon, or Germanic gods and goddesses. These are the same gods and goddesses that the Vikings and pre-Vikings worshiped. It is a religion open to anyone who feels a closeness to such gods and goddesses.

How Does One Follow Heathenism?

“The mind alone knows what is nearest the heart…. Each man is his own judge” {Havamal}

Heathenism is a very individualistic path and there are about as many ways to practice it as there are people who practice it. You will find many conflicting ideas about what Heathens believe (the only thing Heathens tend to agree on is that they worship the Norse, Anglo-Saxon, or Germanic gods and goddesses). One follows Heathen by being close in their heart, to one or more of the Norse, Saxon, or Germanic gods and goddesses.

What are Some Variations of Heathenism?

Other terms used to describe variations of, or traditions similar to Heathenism, are Asatru, Vanatru, Odinism, Theodism, Norse-Paganism, and various other more obscure traditions. Asatru is fairly much another way to say Heathenism, though some may consider it a bit more specialized in some aspects. Vanatru tends to focus more on the Vanir, the group of gods and goddesses who are more concerned with nature and fertility. Odinism tends to focus more so on Odin as the leader or head of the gods/goddesses. Theodism is a form of Heathenism which focuses on the Anglo-Saxon aspect of the gods/goddesses and it tends to have a very tribal hierarchal structure to it. People who like to label their practice as Norse-Paganism tend to take a more loose interpretation on rituals and ways of thinking about and honoring the gods/goddesses, or perhaps they prefer to relate more to the general Neo-Pagan scene than to the Heathen scene. Some Norse-Pagans tend to be a bit more into Wicca than Heathenism or like to mix both together in some sense. Even there are some people who consider themselves Norse-Wiccan, but that falls outside of the scope of what can be considered Heathenism or related to Heathenism.

How Do You Worship?

The most common ritual is called a blot. In this ritual one normally offers drinks such as mead, beer, or fruit-juice to a god or goddess. Sometimes one may instead offer other drinks such as milk, spring water, or sometimes some type of food, or any other gift. There are various days which are holy in Heathenism.

The idea is to build a bond of friendship between the gods and goddesses and the worshiper. That is the form of relationship one seeks within Heathenism with their deities. Not that of bowing down or lessening oneself like in many other religions. A common important theme in Heathenism is that of giving and being given in return. Heathenism puts strong importance on balance and fairness in one’s dealings. Always being truthful is very important. And giving back in equalness to what another gives to us.

Another form of ritual is called a Sumbel. This is more free form and open-ended. This is a group-only ritual in which one passes a drinking horn of fruit juice around and each person gets to toast to whichever deity they want. Also sometimes in this one makes a vow to perform some action, or toasts to an ancestor or person they hold in high regard (living or dead).

Do You Believe in Magick?

Many Heathens practice a related form of magick. There are two common systems. The Heathen cosmology is very magickal in nature. Some people practice both of these magickal systems. Some people just one. Even some people practice no magick at all.

One is based on the writing, carving, and chanting of special magickal symbols called runes. Runes are very potent. Each rune has a name that can be chanted in a special way called Galdoring. Also traditionally one would carve the symbol itself into wood. Nowadays people tend to write them with other materials and techniques as well. Odin is the god in charge of this magickal system.

The other magickal system is very shamanistic in nature. It is called Seidh. It is maybe not as popular as the runic magickal system since it is not as easy to actually practice. It involves trances and inner journey work. Sometimes there are tantric-like sexual practices. Freya is the goddess in charge of this magickal system.

Please Tell About Your Gods/Goddesses

There are many gods and goddess in Heathenism. Many have slightly different variations of their names based upon the exact culture and time period one is connecting to. Some deities have a lot of nicknames and aliases. Here are some of the deities of the Heathen religion.

Odin/Óðinn/Woðanaz/Woden/Wodan/Wuotan/Wodans

Odin is Allfather. He was the first god–the creator of man and all the nine worlds. He is always seeking knowledge and magickal powers. He is the one who discovered the runes when he hung himself from the world tree, Yggdrasil, for nine days and nine nights. He has one eye, as he sacrificed one of his eyes to take a drink from the well of Mimir (thus increasing his knowledge). He has two ravens and two wolves as pets. The two ravens Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory) fly forth each day to gather information about happenings in all the nine worlds. He keeps half those who have died in battle in his hall, Valhalla. He tends to like to stir up battle amongst men so he can receive more warriors to his abode. He is a master of disguise and loves to travel the nine worlds pretending to not be himself. He probably has more aliases and nicknames then any other deity. He loves to seduce women even though he is married to Frigga. His favorite color is blue. Wednesdays are sacred to him.

Thor/Thórr/Thunor/Donar/Thunars/Thunaraz

Thor is a big well-muscled fellow with red hair and beard. He is the protector of the gods and men from the frost giants (forces of destruction). He has a quick temper, but a big heart. He has a powerful weapon called Mjollnir (Thor’s Hammer). Many Heathens wear a representation of this hammer around their neck as protective pendant. Thor’s Hammer is a magickal tool used for blessing and protection. Whenever Thor throws his hammer it comes back to him (like a boomerang). The Thor’s Hammer represents phallic might. It has potent fertility power. Thor is always going off to the east to fight the giants. He has a flying wagon pulled by two goats. His wife is Sif. His favorite color is red. Thursdays are sacred to him.

Freya/Freyja/Freo/Frawi/Fraujon

Freya is the most magickally oriented goddess! She is very beautiful and well sought after by many beings but she remains single. It is said she once had a mate who vanished. She has many lovers in all the nine worlds. She has a magickal falcon cloak that allows her to fly through all the nine worlds. She practices a powerful form of magick called seidh. This is a type of sexual shamanism. She comes from the very wealthy Vanir side of things. The gods are divided between the Aesir and Vanir groups. Long time ago both sides fought a war, but later on settled and formed a truce. Now they act as one group. Freya has a very firie type of energy. Fire and gold were associated together to the ancient Norse. She has a magickal necklace called Brisingamen. Her tears turn to amber. Gold is her favorite color. Fridays are sacred to her.

Frey/Freyr/Frea/Fro/Frauja/Fraujaz/Fro Ing

Frey is ancestral King of Sweden. He is the brother of Freya. He has very potent male sexual might and is often depicted with a constant erection. This shows his intense fertile powers. As such he is very connected to material abundance. He is the god of peace and plenty. Though also a good warrior when the need arises. King of the Light Alfs (elves). He is very nature oriented, as are all the Vanir. His sacred animal is the boar and he has a golden one as pet, called Gullinbursti.

Tyr/Tiw/Ziu/Teiws/Tiwaz

The god of justice, order, structure. He is a warrior and always fights with honor. He sacrificed one hand in order to bind the dangerous wolf, Fenrir. So he has only a stump where one of his hands was. Some say he used to be the sky father before Odin took over. Tuesdays are sacred to him.

Idun/Iðunn

She is the keeper of the golden apples of youth that keep the gods from aging. She is connected to health and long life. Once she was kidnaped and all the gods aged and got very weak til she was recovered.

Loki

Few worship Loki (except maybe on April Fools Day, or when worshiping Odin, since Odin swore to only accept an offering if Loki get’s a share as well). He is the god of disorder, chaos, and playing tricks on people. He is always creating bad situations for the gods. But he is always also getting them out of the bad situations. He helps create change and growth by creating challenge, so he is useful despite his negative aspects. He is always somewhat of a double agent and unpredictable and likes to play both sides against each other. Later on he turned actually evil, but was more of a mischief maker earlier. It was after he arranged to have Balder killed that he turned to the “dark side”. The mistletoe is sacred to him.

Balder

A god loved by all for his peacefulness and generally lovableness. He is the most handsome of all the male gods. His mother Frigga made all creatures swear an oath that they would never cause him harm (except she forgot the mistletoe). Later on Loki set Hodur (a minor blind god) up to throw a mistletoe dart at him. All the gods had been having sport of the fact that nothing could harm Balder and thus would spend all day tossing stuff at him and watching it bounce harmlessly off of him. Anyways the dart killed Balder instantly. They tried to fetch him from out of Hel (land of the dead, peaceful place of rest, nothing like the Christian Hell with two Ls) but Hel (the goddess in charge of Hel) would not release him. There he shall remain til after Ragarak. His favorite color is white.

Frigga/Frigg/Fricg/Frige/Frija/Frijjo

Wife to Odin, and mother to Balder. She knows all things but does not speak of them. She is very much connected to all things maternal and to motherly duties. The perfect wife type.

I’d Like to Learn More!

A good place to start is to read as many books on Heathenism and the Norse gods and goddesses as possible. The most important text of all are the Eddas (both poetic and prose form). Also any books that tell about the story of the gods are great to read. Heathenism is a religion that requires much pondering and deciding what makes sense to you. It’s not a packaged type religion like most where you are told what you can and can’t do and everything is spelled out for you. It’s a religion for thinkers and individualists! Of course this is not to say that there are not plenty of groups out there with their own (very strongly held) ideas about what Heathenism is, as there are plenty! But the best place is to start on your own. Once you have decided for yourself what Heathenism means to you then you can search for a group of like-minded people if it’s your desire to be part of a group! Many Heathenism practice alone. Some get together at times with other close Heathen friends to celebrate.

Here are lots of links to explore to learn more. These are best explored in the order given:

YouTube: An Introduction to Heathenry

YouTube: Heathen Ritual Tools

YouTube: An Introduction to the Heathen Festivals

YouTube: The Nine Words

YouTube: The Gods and Goddesses of Battlehall (Valhalla)

YouTube: Gods and Goddesses of Stormbright Hall (Bilskirnir)

YouTube: The Goddesses of Fenbank Hall (Fensalir)

YouTube: The Gods and Goddesses of Vanhome

YouTube: The Gods and Goddesses of Friendly Hall (Vingolf)

YouTube: Gods and Goddesses of Hel

YouTube: An Introduction to Haethen Elf Lore

A Heathen Path Blog- Getting Started: An Altar

A Heathen Path Blog- Getting Started: The Foundation

A Heathen Path Blog- Getting Started: Holy Lore

A Heathen Path Blog- Getting Started: Your First Ritual

A Heathen Path Blog- Getting Started: Meet the Gods

A Heathen Path Blog- Getting Started: Working Daily

A Heathen Path Blog- Getting Started: Prayer vs Spell

A Heathen Path Blog- Getting Started: What is a Prayer?

A Heathen Path Blog- Getting Started: Idols

A Heathen Path Blog- Getting Started: Offerings and Sacrifices

A Heathen Path Blog- Getting Started: Communications Through the Runes

A Heathen Path Blog- Getting Started: Finding the Balance

Wikipedia: Norse Religion

Wikipedia: Vikings

Wikipedia: Old Norse

Wikipedia: Old English

Wikipedia: Polytheism

Wikipedia: Animism

Wikipedia: Magick

Wikipedia: Neo-Paganism

Wikipedia: Germanic Neo-Paganism

Wikipedia: Heathenry in the USA

Wikipedia: Heathenry in Canada

Wikipedia: Neo-Paganism in the UK

Wikipedia: Neo-Paganism in Scandinavia

Wikipedia: Neo-Paganism in Germany and Austria

Wikipedia: Neo-Paganism in Southern Europe

Wikipedia: Norse Deities

Wikipedia: Aesir

Wikipedia: Vanir

Wikipedia: The Landvættir

Wikipedia: Yggdrasil

Wikipedia: The None Worlds

Wikipedia: The Irminsul

Wikipedia: The Norns

Wikipedia: Wyrd

Wikipedia: The Blot

Wikipedia: The Runes

Wikipedia: Seidhr

Wikipedia: Sumbel

How to avoid group failed oaths effecting the group’s orlog (luck, karma)

The Norse Viking Concept of Right vs Wrong..

The issues of immigration, racism, and the Vikings and how it relates to Heathenism..

Heathenism and Meditation..

You might be oriented towards the Vanir if…

The Vanic Virtues:

Page linking to my Heathen rituals

God, Goddess, and Wight Invocations

eBook – Ravenbok: The Raven Kindred Ritual Book

Runes, Alphabet of Mystery

Book: Gods of Asgard – Stories about the Norse gods and goddesses in a comic book form which is based on the lore.

Book: The Norse Myths – The best book to get for starting to learn about the Norse gods and goddesses.

Book: Essential Asatru – This is the best book to get for anyone new to Heathenism. It gives a very well researched, accurate, fair and balanced perspective on things.

Book: True Magick – Though this book does not talk about Heathenism or very much about magick related to it, it is am important book to read to understand the basic concepts of magick and things related to the modern Neo-Pagan scene.

Book: Illusion – This is not a book about Heathenism, or even about Paganism. This is a book that helps one to come to understand how to _think in a spiritual way_ and open ones mind in a way that is needed for properly understanding Heathen, Pagan, and magick. This book is written in story form.

Book: Futhark – This is the first book to start with for learning the runes and the magickal systems related to them. First before starting to study the runes though gain a complete knowledge of the gods and goddesses and Norse cosmology and understand wyrd.

Book: Runelore – This is the second book to get to learn about the runes.

Book: Runecaster’s Handbook

Book: Teutonic Magic

Book: Northern Mysteries and Magick – This should be the fifth book to get in the study of runes and runic magick.

Book: Our Troth Book 1 – Very in depth well research, HUGE, two set of books. Between the both of them they are close to 1000 pages, so not for the beginner anyways.

Book: Our Troth Book 2 – This is the second book of Our Troth. Just as massively filled with information as the first one.

Book: Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner – Once you are already practising Heathenism, this is a must read book. It is all about making your practice more spiritually focused. Ignore the Loki and giant stuff in it.

eBook PDF: The Poetic Edda translated by James Chisholm

eBook: The Prose Edda

eBook PDF: The Well and the Tree – This book explains the important concept of wyrd in Heathenism. This concept is very important for understanding Heathen magick and sumbel.

The Road to Hel – Book that explains the Norse conception of death and the after life.

The Book of the Sagas

The Icelandic Sagas

eBook PDF: Beowulf

Book: The Poetic Edda Translated by Lee M. Hollander

Book: The Poetic Edda Translated by Carolyne Larrington

Book: The Prose Edda

Book: The Sagas of Icelanders

The Viking Answer Lady

Asatru U

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