Start your week with some news

Happy Monday everyone. My semester is quickly coming to a close, and it has been much less painful than the last one. But school still claims the majority of my time and brain power. So today I shall share a few news items I’ve recently collected.

First, from Dave Haxton, a story about Day of the Skulls in Bolivia. Beloved indigenous holiday and that Catholic church isn’t too thrilled about it. I’m coming to believe that syncretism is as natural for humans as veneration of the dead. Certainly many spiritual practices would have died out had they not been adapted into new belief systems as they were introduced (or forced) on to people.

Second, from a few sources, an amazing archaeological find from Denmark depicting a figure in a high seat. At first it’s thought to be Odin… until someone noted that the figure is wearing a DRESS. Valgrind noticed that the only person allowed to sit in Odin’s high seat, Hildskjalf, is Frigga. Perhaps this is Her, or Freyja, or an Odin-dedicated seidhkona. No matter who she is, I hope someone makes copies at some point because I would love one.

Finally, an article I found a few weeks ago and didn’t save the source. Be lucky: it’s an easy skill to learn gives both good advice and is also very much in line with the concept of hamingja. I haven’t had time to dig up additional material to develop it. Instead, I present it as is and suggest you try it if you feel your luck is waning or worse than you want it to be.

In book news, I am back to reading Hedge-Rider by Eric de Vries. In lieu of possibly writing a review later, I will note that I’ve been enjoying this take on witchcraft very much. Rather than a spell guide, the Hedge here refers to the witches who walked the boundary of the wild and civilization. Drawing on Germanic mythology and folklore, de Vries makes a case for medieval witches (yes, the kind you find in Inquisition “confessions”) belonging to that culture and regularly journeyed to the Underworld and worked closely with their fylgia. This belongs on your shelf next to your copy of Witches, Werewolves and Fairies.

I hope you all have a good week!

Today’s celebration

Pagan Blog Prompts asks about Samhain this week. I’m not a Celt in my practices, but I’m celebrating the holiday anyway. The Aesir seem to like it.

Any specific plans for this year?
This afternoon I will be going to my friend T’s house and our friend H is coming over as well. We have a few things planned. While the sun is still up we’ll be doing some shamanic healing work. Later, when it gets dark, we’re doing a ritual and pathworking to Hekate and having a dumb supper. None of us have done the supper before and I’m so curious to see what may happen.
I’ve never really done a large amount of ritual for the day in the past, but I do always try to do *something* for my ancestors since I started honoring them. The day isn’t one marked in Heathen tradition normally, but this is also the time for Winternights. The tradition in the northeast is to honor the alfar/male ancestors at this time of year.
This autumn has been very nice here. The trees are showing vibrant colors again, thanks to how wet it was during the summer. They’re also turning in waves. Sometimes you can see several trees of the same species together but each is at a different point of color change. From still green, to bright yellow, to dropping leaves, all in a small space. I feel very in tune with the energy, feeling the transition from hot to colder, preparing for the cold upcoming.

How do you meld current cultural practices with your own rituals and practices, concerning Halloween/Samhain?
Focusing on the Heathen side is what I do right now. The AEsir are definitely more present right now and there are no major Kemetic festivals until Mysteries of Wesir in a few weeks. This week I’ve been getting pinged to get to know Bragi and Idunna better, and my namesake has been on my radar. I rarely pick up on the long-dead, so that’s been a wonderful but unusual experience.
Hm, I don’t think I’ve thought about the potential overlap in timing between the Mysteries and Halloween until just now. I also don’t connect much with Wesir which may have some bearing on that. The next few weeks might turn out to be quite interesting indeed.

Happy Halloween/Samhain/Dia de los Muertos everyone!

Published!

I am taking a brief pause from my academic schedule (first official homework due Sunday, at least it’s not too difficult) to drop a quick note here. Today I came home to the latest issue of Idunna, the quarterly journal of The Troth. It’s 81, which is a wonderful 9×9 and thus an issue all about Odin.
Which includes my poem I See. I’m now officially published!
It’s also turning into an odd reality check. Me, the woman who claimed for years and years to hate poetry and swore she never got it. And it’s what got my name in print. Hmm….

Hail Bragi! Hail Odin!

Prompting?

I have a quick question for my fellow bloggers reading this, and would definitely appreciate feedback. How often do you all use internet prompts for your posts? As in theme months or prompting blogs/lj communities?

My prompts usually come from conversations with people or just thinking a lot about a specific topic. If I am going to keep to my (minimum) two blog posts a month resolution, I may need more fodder. What do you think?

Happy Odin Day!

Sometimes I do things that can be considered unorthodox. Hold your surprise, people who know me well. During Senut this morning I got a sudden, strong impulse to say “Hail Odin” since today IS Wednesday and I always try to give Him some acknowledgment on this day of the week. I made a comment about having a beer with Him this evening and got a clear feeling of “no, whiskey.” At first I thought No way, because among other things I have enough mundane work to do tonight that such a drink would not complement them.
I finished Shrine time then set about to breakfast and early morning internet crawling. Which is how I saw a facebook post from a friend saying “Happy 9/9/9!” A fellow Odinswoman, of course. Then it all hit me, a nice “ow” as the sun was coming up. Isn’t it funny how this date so nicely syncs up on the calendar?
A short time later, too, I had a thought. “Hey, didn’t I buy a small bottle of Jack Daniels a few months ago? I don’t think I ever drank it or used it either.” Sure enough, in the liquor cabinet I found that small bottle of whiskey, and promptly offered it to Himself.
Yes, there will be a shared shot tonight, along with some trance work and talking. Not to mention that today I am wearing a lot of blue and black, Odin oil blend from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, and my ever-present on Wednesdays valknut.

Hail Odin!

Year 17: And what will you do?

The God over this year is Djehuty, and the oracle speaks often of Doing, and Doing with Wisdom.
Since this was presented at Retreat earlier this month, many many people have spoken of plans, lists, actions to take. It is like the year that starts for the Western world on January 1, with resolutions fresh in our mind, newness to change patterns in which we are stuck.
And how many of those ideas are forgotten by the first of February.
In the Kemetic calendar there are 360 days to the year. All those days in which we can do. If too much energy is placed on doing everything now, how much sooner might it run out? It is more than acceptable to say that you don’t have to do everything now. You might not even know what it is you are supposed to do.
My doing right now involves figuring out what things I want to accomplish in the short and long term. I am very fond of making lists and planning, but whenever I try to work on longer term plans it seems to be more difficult to make them come to fruition. One of the things I would like to do before the month is over is establish some longer-term goals. One of my good friends recently showed me such a list, with goals for six months, one, three, and five years. This is what inspired my own, though instead of three years I will have two. All I have left to do now is determine if the items on there can be done, then I will offer the list to Seshat, make sure She’s given approval, and then make those things happen.
The other big activity consuming my mind since the year started is reworking all my shrine space and acquiring new statues and tools. I have plans to purchase a nightstand that will become my central Heathen shrine. The current spot I have is shared space on my dresser with what I consider my general magical working area. Somehow having the two set up as they are does not inspire me to do much devotional activity on either side. Not too helpful, then.
I am also setting up a shrine to Aset, and in Her true fashion, She’s claimed a shelf on a bookcase tall enough for a very lovely statue of Her. I don’t speak of Her often, either in this blog, my livejournal, or talking with others. She’s certainly been around for a long time, and I have the unshakable feeling that now I need to figure out just what the connection is with Her and I.
I’m also wanting to purchase more magical tools. For a long time I scorned them and never felt much need for them in my magical practice. Certainly the magic I did seemed to work decently without them. But I want to DO more magically, and having physical representations of this would act as quite the catalyst. Plus, pretty things, they are nice.
As part of the heka (magic) for the year, all of us at Retreat got resolution buddies and each set one big goal for the year. Mine was to write more, specifically relating to the blog, my paper journal, and material that I’d like to publish. To this end I hope to put up at least two posts per month of original material. A long term hope I have for the blog is to make it into a resource for a wide range of spiritual practitioners.

Last day of the year

The last day of Year 16 in the House of Netjer. The last day over which Ra and Khnum will rule. I gave Them an offering today of my lunch.

The bounty: (homemade) tabouleh, (homemade) sourdough wheat bread with butter and cheese, kombucha with ginger, fresh local strawberries, along with jasmine incense and a candle.

I wish I could have gotten to know Them better during this year, but there will be more time for that later. I am curious to see Who will be God(s) over next year, and I have suspicions already thanks to some interesting unusual occurrences in the last few weeks. I agree with Bast (and Temwa) that better things are indeed around the corner.

Thank you Ra and Khnum for presiding over this year. It’s had the usual fumbles, annoyances, frustrations, and whatever bad you can think of in a year. The past twelve months have also been among the most wonderful of my life. May that continue into Year 17.

May everyone (including myself) be safe in our travels, as some of us will soon or have already set out for Retreat due to start on Tuesday. Nekhtet!

And another year ends

The Kemetic year will end on Saturday, according to the reckoning of the House of Netjer. Then into the intercalary days, the birthdays of Heru-Wer, Wesir, Set, Aset and Nebt-het. I will be spending those days and the new year, Wep Ronpet, again with the House in Illinois. I am definitely looking forward to seeing everyone again, greeting Ra on the first day of the new year, finding out Who is over the year to come, and being away from the day to day of life for a while.

With the Kemetic year ending, there is a certain unraveling, and I’ve noticed many around me caught in it. I’m working very hard to not be swept away myself, and it seems the foundation work I have done over the past year have made it big enough and sturdy enough to me to stand on and weather the year’s end. It also has been thinking about calendars and beginnings and endings. There are a lot of different times when a year starts and ends. Consider, among the Heathens before Christianity, the year may have well ended and began around winter solstice, when the light is at its least and then thankfully the sun returns again. In Iran, the Zoroastrian calendar is still in effect, so their new year hits at the spring equinox. In Judaism, it falls during autumn for those in the northern hemisphere. I’m sure there are many other times when a new year begins and and old one ends. What does that mean, aside from the obvious that our western calendar is not the absolute authority on marking a year? Even your birthday (incidentally, mine is Thursday; I’ll be 35) can qualify as a new year’s celebration.

In Kemet, there was a term, zep tepi. It means the first time. There is no one first time. Every day is its own zep tepi. Every day has that potential for newness and change. We just need to be able to see it, hold on to it where it’s applicable, and also realize our large problems today, may seem quite different when we start tomorrow. That chance is always available to us.

Thank you Ra and Khnum, for this year over which You Both have presided. It’s been a wonderful year of creation. I can only hope the next year continues on that. Nekhtet!

Time to focus

I’ve spent the last few weeks in the midst of cleaning and purging stuff. My desks (home and work) became a shambles during the spring because my brain was so caught up in classes that I didn’t have the energy to just go through my stuff and determine what needed doing and what could be tossed. Combine this with a person who has a tendency to hang on to some things for too long and you have a recipe for messes. I’ve gotten better with this, and whenever it feels like too much, the energy in that place noticeably stagnates and I have to go through and clear it out. In the process I’ve also been purging more possessions, like books, clothes that don’t fit, and even habits. This has also been helping to clear my mind, and I’ve again been reevaluating the general state of my life. What’s been coming to the forefront, in getting rid of all of this “stuff,” is how I pay attention and focus on whatever I am working on in any particular moment.
Generally, I am the kind of person who’s happy having lots of things to do. I can multitask very well. But sometimes this can get in the way when it comes time to focus solely on one activity for a period of time. I find my brain jumping around to other stuff, or that I can be more easily distracted in general. Even as I work on writing this post, I find my attention divided some. Internet is on, email coming in, Livejournal and Facebook to peek at…

Focus is essential in any spiritual practice. Whether it be during a sumbel, meditation, trance work, spell casting, martial arts, ritual, or whatever activities comprise your Work, the point is to have both body and mind present for them and to devote your attention to that thing for some time. If you’re distracted while casting a spell, chances are better that you won’t get the results you’re hoping for. If you’re sitting in your shrine and trying to talk to God(s) and you are already thinking ahead a few hours to the movie you’re going out to see, you may not pick up on any messages that might be sent your way.

The development of focus takes a long time. Maybe it’s more difficult in our society, so filled with distractions and so consumed by the idea of multitasking and being “connected” constantly to some kind of information source. Maybe it’s always been difficult for humans to develop focus to a level where they can do for hours or days in just one task and not let anything outside of it get in their way. (Status update: I’m certainly not as I write this, but I’m coming back to it every time until I at least get the draft done.)

A key to developing focus is priority. Is it important that you put your attention into a particular task? What impedes you from doing this? It is something else important? Is it something fun and meant for you to relax because you’d rather be doing that?
To sidetrack for a moment, there’s nothing wrong with that either, but when you’re doing that activity, FOCUS on relaxing and having fun. Don’t let your mind be occupied with other problems or situations. Sometimes that relaxation is exactly what you need so you can come back to that other task and be able to give more of your attention to it, and even handle it better.

So what’s the purpose here, as I write this and feel like some kind of self-help guru? My point is this: when you’re devoting yourself seriously to a spiritual path, you need to be able to focus on your Work. Inevitably you’re going to have to look at what’s in your life and evaluate it. Is it necessary? Does it bring you joy? Does it feel like just another habit or something you’re “supposed” to do? I’m not saying ignore the needs of life. Gotta keep a roof over your head, food in your belly, and generally be able to support yourself somehow in society. We all have to do these things, and if you’re not taking care of the basic needs you’re not going to be able to devote the time and energy you want to your Work due to worries from that.

My ability to focus isn’t always what I’d want it to be. Stress is usually what gets in the way, and I had a lot of that for three and a half months. Now that I have worked through it all, it’s time to come back to a place where I can give attention to what matters. To give you a real idea of what I’ve been doing to bring that about, here’s a short list:
*Tossing piles of magazines and papers I don’t need anymore
*Getting rid of clothes I don’t wear and little nick knacks that aren’t me and just take up space to be dusted
*Cutting out my daily at-work chocolate snack (habit, I don’t enjoy it as much, and seeing what will happen if I make sugar into a rare treat)
*Seriously considering getting rid of cable. As it is I hardly turn on the tv now, and for a long time I wouldn’t go to sleep without it on. (Since I started writing, cable is staying, but I still choose to rarely have the TV turned on.)
*Worrying less on the length of time I spend meditating and more on the quality
*I had a Request (from some Guy with only one eye) that I make every Wednesday a time to work on my rune studies. Even if it’s just sitting in meditation and contemplating the runes for the month or the one(s) I pulled that day.

I also am getting hit lately with the cosmic clue by four that I need to do more writing and take on something like a writer identity. For so long I’ve denied it, because when I was young I hated doing so. Now I’ve learned how much power my written words have, and I WANT to share the ideas in my head. I submitted two things for publication last month (one is the poem I did in June that is up here, another is a gift for a dear friend), and there are more posts I want to do for this blog as well as other things I want to submit for publication. Since I am not used to such things, it’s been very easy for me to find distractions to keep from sitting down and writing them. By getting rid of what I don’t need or want and being able to devote myself to what I do, I’ve found a lot of time that I didn’t seem to have before. It’s waiting there like a gift wanting to be used. Now to just find the focus to sit down and transcribe thoughts into words.

While not a specifically Heathen post, it is a part of Heathen Mysticism Blogging Month, because what good is a mystic if they cannot focus on the sacred?

Trance poetry

I can’t recall if I have mentioned it before or not, but my big “project” for the year is working through the elder futhark of the runes. I’m using Diana Paxson’s excellent Taking Up the Runes as my guide, but instead of completing each month with a ritual, I am doing trance work with the two rune spirits* in question. As I was in the trance for hagalaz and nauthiz, it was as though I was also watching from afar and narrating. Odin made sure afterward that I wrote down my notes as I’d narrated, and I am getting the “push” to share it. Normally I don’t share on the very rare occasion when I produce poetry, but I know better than to say no to Him.

*A few years ago I had a dream about rune wights, specifically one as a dis, and at the same time a few other people were independently having this UPG. The runes can be quiet spirits, but certainly there.

I see
I see Odin before me, a heart before my eyes.
  You are not my heart.
  But you are in my heart. My fierceness, my power, my joy, my seeking, my knowing. I understand you. Friend.
I see You move to the side to let me on my way.
  Walking through a blizzard.
  I am wearing your cloak, fur lined.
I see myself thinking about stumbling, as You may have in this storm.
I see a staff and spear in my hand, to help guide my steps.
  Snow shoes appear on my feet, steadying my gait. (Hail Skadhi.)
It is dark here; I see only snow, blackness, white line far away to hint at horizon.
I do not know where I am going, only that I must keep walking.
  The walk is my journey for now.
I see what lies underneath this snow.
  A snowflake, or is that a helm of awe?
  It is what lies beneath all that surrounds me.
  So simple a shape.
I see my hand holding the staff.
  Nauthiz.
  Need.
  Keeping me upright.
Is it cold here? Am I numb from it or simply immune?
I see myself in a cave, temporary shelter.
  Rest here for a minute. I have a reprieve, too short, for soon I move on.
I choose to move to the ice, and I know beyond that I can break through.
I see You again, telling me to stop here.
  Noticing my narration.
  ”Repeat it.”

I see myself, shaping with words.

Hail Odin.