Prophecy Of The Seeress Poetic Edda

Book: Prophecy Of The Seeress Poetic Edda by Irmin Vinson

Voluspa, which opens the Old Norse Poetic Edda, was likely composed in Iceland shortly before AD 1000 during a period of transition when Christianity was replacing the traditional beliefs of the North. The poem's Anonymous author seems to have conceived Voluspa as a literary response to the decline of the old religion, a reassertion of the old gods in the face of their imminent demise as objects of living worship.Voluspa's allusive and often elliptical style implies the poet's expectation that his audience would be intimately familiar with the tales and cosmology of Northern paganism.

Two complete versions of Voluspa are extant: The best is in the Codex Regius, which dates to the thirteenth century, and there is another, with some significant variations and four additional strophes, in the Hauksbok manuscript. Extensive quotations also appear in the Gylfaginning ("The Deluding of Gylfi") of the Icelandic antiquarian Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241). The translation below is based on Neckel and Kuhn's standard edition of the Edda (Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1983).

In the poem's dramatic context (see sts. 28-29) Odin has just questioned the Seeress (a volva, lit. "wand-bearer," a woman who carries a magical staff) about the past and especially the future, and Voluspa (the Prophecy or Soothsaying of the Volva) is her spoken reply, directed to both gods ("the hallowed kindred") and mankind ("Heimdall's children").

Download Irmin Vinson's eBook: Prophecy Of The Seeress Poetic Edda

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Irmin Vinson - Prophecy Of The Seeress Poetic Edda

Asatru As An Ethnic Religion

An ethnic religion is generally meant to be a religion, spirituality, and cosmology that is firmly grounded in a particular people's Traditions and unique cultural views. It represents a religion that co-developed with a particular ethnic group. In this way, particular ethnic groups can carry their religion with them through time.

In other ways, ethnic religions are wrapped around ethnic groups so that they become justifications and explanations for that folk’s ethnic existence. By providing a common cultural outlook among a folk, an ethnic religion builds and reinforces the distinctions of that people from others as they interact with outsiders who don’t share those views. An ethnic religion embodies the ethnic identity of a particular folk. In this way, ethnic religions sustain and promote the ethnic identity and the culture of a people.

Asatru, most especially, Folkish Asatru, is an ethnic religion. It has developed among the Northern peoples of Europe and expresses their unique cultural outlooks that developed throughout the millennia. It does not offer a universalizing Worldview applicable to all peoples. Its stories and sagas are geographically limited to Northern Europe. Stories of ice and snow goddesses make little sense to people who’ve never experienced ice and snow. Asatru, as an ethnic religion, embodies the unique outlooks, ideals, behavior patterns and values of the Nordic and Germanic peoples of Europe as they developed through history. It developed as they developed and speaks of their unique spiritual way of seeing and explaining the universe.

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Stav Runes Notebook A Beginners Guide

Book: Stav Runes Notebook A Beginners Guide by Alex Pidd

This guide is designed to provide an introduction to Stav and the runes of the younger futhork. Stav is a European mind, body and spirit training philosophy. It is based on the traditions of the Hafskjold family, which have been preserved in a continuous line for over 44 generations. Advice and assistance on the study of Stav can be obtained from Einherjar Ve Stav.

Although not essential in order to gain the most from guide some previous understanding of the runes and Stav will be beneficial. This information can be found on-line at the Einherjar Ve Stav site. It is impossible to produce a definitive book detailing all the associations, symbolism and interpretations of the runes. This may appear a contradiction as you are reading this book. However, this work is designed to start the reader onto further studies and investigation. The runes, as discovered in the web (see page 1), can be said to be part of the fabric of reality. As such they are part of everything. This means they also change as our reality, or our understanding of it, changes. This is why a book cannot begin to encapsulate the true depth of knowledge held within the runes. Only the mind has any chance of unravelling the mysteries that the runes hold, hopefully inspired and aided by the clues and general hints found in this tome.

Because of the nature of the runes this guide is therefore deliberately not definitive or absolute in its description and meaning of the runes. This is because the study of Stav involves personal interpretation and analysis. These are modified as new experiences are gained and conflicts become resolved. You will find your own comments may agree or contradict those already contained within these pages. The same rune may be interpreted slightly differently by different people or even the same person at different times and with different problems or circumstances to resolve. You may find some of the comments and observations on the runes as terse, direct and with little explanation. This is deliberate as an attempt has been made to record only the main salient points and keywords for each rune. The descriptions of the rune meanings are only a snapshot of the author's thoughts at the time of writing; they should not be taken too literally or as a definitive guide. These are only hints and reminders; there are doubtless many other meanings and interpretations that are not included in these pages. The points and keywords that are included are intended to be used as hooks onto which further expanded explanations and details can be hung. It is expected these will be given by yourself and drawn from your own experiences and relating to the problem(s) in hand. There are no absolute answers when dealing with the meanings of the runes; there are only degrees of perception.

It is hoped that you will use this guide to augment your own personal knowledge of the runes based on your own experiences. This is not a how-to-do-it-book and it will not teach all the answers about Stav and the runes. That can only be achieved by patient study of the runes and the myths. However, this guide will hopefully help to form a useful stepping stone for continued studies and learning. By combining this guide with other texts, the runes and your own notes it will become an invaluable tool in the quest for knowledge and wisdom.

Download Alex Pidd's eBook: Stav Runes Notebook A Beginners Guide

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Alex Pidd - Stav Runes Notebook A Beginners Guide

Nordic Paganism In Iceland And America

In the early 1970s, groups of people in Iceland, the United States, and Britain simultaneously formed new religious associations devoted to reviving the ancient religious beliefs and practices of pre-Christian Northern Europe, particularly those of pre-Christian Iceland and Scandinavia but also the related traditions of the Germanic Peoples of continental Europe and the Anglo-Saxons of England. In this chapter, the word Nordic will be employed to denote peoples and cultures of Northern Europe. Norse will designate the culture and religion of pre-Christian Iceland and Scandinavia in a general way, with Old Norse or Old Icelandic referring with greater specificity to the language and literature of those past times.

The Icelandic, American, and British Nordic religion revival associations of the early 1970s were not in contact with each other nor even aware of each other’s existence. Each had separately arrived at the same inspiration—that the Pagan religious traditions of the Nordic past should be revived for the benefit of modern people.

In Iceland, the poet and farmer Sveinbjorn Beinteinsson and a group of friends, many of them also poets and devotees of early Icelandic literature, formed the association known as Asatruarfelagid, “the fellowship of those who trust in the ancient gods,” often abbreviated as Asatru (Strmiska 2000). In the United States, Stephen McNallen and Robert Stine formed the Viking Brotherhood, which was soon renamed the Asatru Folk Alliance. In Britain, John Yeowell and associates formed the Committee for the Restoration of the Odinic Rite (Kaplan 1997). These Nordic Pagan revival organizations of the 1970s have since branched and split as larger numbers of people have become involved and introduced new ideas and sometimes divergent directions, while remaining united in their devotion to the religious and cultural traditions preserved in the ancient literature of Iceland and other Nordic nations.

Most modern Nordic Pagans speak of their religion as Asatru (believing in or trusting in the ancient gods) and of themselves as Asatruar (Asatru believers); alternately, they refer to themselves as Heathens (the ancient Germanic term for non-Christians) and their religion as Heathenry. The terms Nordic Paganism, Asatru, and Heathenry will be used interchangeably in this discussion. Nordic Pagan revival associations have also sprung up in many other lands, including Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Canada, and Australia. This chapter will provide a brief account of the history and development of the Icelandic and American forms of Nordic Paganism and offer a sketch of Nordic Paganism at the start of the twenty-first century, based on interviews and field research in both nations.

Previous studies of Nordic Paganism in the United States have tended to emphasize (and perhaps to overemphasize) certain racist and Neo-Nazi elements within the Nordic Pagan Community (Kaplan 1997; Gardell 2003). The majority of modern Nordic Pagans are both enthusiastically devoted to Northern European cultural heritage and firmly opposed to Nazism and racism. The minority of Nordic Pagans with Neo-Nazi leanings are firmly denounced by most modern Nordic Pagans as members of fringe groups that they wish to have nothing to do with. The pride in ethnic heritage felt by Nordic Pagans should not be mislabeled as racism, nor should devotion to Nordic culture be flatly equated with Nazism.

Of the American Nordic Pagans interviewed for this article, one is a lesbian with an Asian lover, another participates in a Nordic Pagan association with an African American member, and yet another has adopted Korean children whom he encourages to investigate their Korean spiritual and cultural heritage and only to become Heathens if they feel a strong motivation to do so. These are hardly the profiles of would-be Nazi goose steppers.

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What Does Folkish Mean

In the recent past, several discussions have arisen about the term Folkish. In its simplest terms, Folkish means one thing: an unbending will and dedication to one's Folk. An unbending will and dedication means that the Folk come first, above all else. Our forbears lived a challenging life in the wilds of Northern Europe and Scandinavia. They relied on their own skills as individuals to establish the family. Families worked closely together to establish the clan. Clans worked closely together to establish the tribe. Tribes worked closely together to establish a Nation. That Nation, the Aryan people of Scandinavia and Northern Europe, is our Folk.

In today's world, we are faced with a society that has been bred to soil themselves like newborn children. We have sex offenders on every corner, informants on every doorstep, and government eyes everywhere, all looking for an opportunity. None of these things align with being Folkish. A sex offender hurts women and children, leaving emotional and psychological scars for life. Such actions are not geared toward lifting the Folk. An informant downgrades his/her life by putting friends and family in jail or prison. Such actions do not lead the Folk forward, but strive to bring the Folk down by incapacitating good people while the informant goes free. Such actions are not Folkish.thus, sex offenders and informants are not Folkish. That is why these types of people cannot become a link in the chain.they are weak and unreliable. They are not worthy of holding the Nine Noble Virtues within or standing up to fight for our beliefs and culture.

In more complex terms, one must break the word down into its root word and suffix. The root word is Folk. Folk is capitalized because it is a proper noun and has significant meaning to an individual Odinist. The Dictionary defines the word as:
folkish

* adjective 1 characteristic of ordinary people or traditional culture. 2 resembling folk music. folk /fok/

* plural noun 1 (also folks) informal people in general. 2 (one's folks) one's family, especially one's parents. 3 (also folk music) traditional music of unknown authorship, transmitted orally. 4 before another noun originating from the beliefs, culture, and customs of ordinary people: folk wisdom. - ORIGIN Old English -ish

* suffix forming adjectives: 1 (from nouns) having the qualities or Characteristics of: girlish. 2 of the nationality of: Swedish. 3 (from adjectives) somewhat: yellowish. 4 informal denoting an approximate age or time of day: sixish. ORIGIN Old English

In looking at the roots of the word Folkish, the truth becomes apparent. The word Folk- is simply one's people. Everyone who walks this earth has Folk. The significant difference in the common usage of "folk" and Our Folk is how we view each other and treat each other. We stand proud and true in the name of Our Folk, regardless of the cost. We are Our own Family! We are Our own Culture! We have Our own Beliefs! We have Our own Customs! All of these things are what make us Our Folk. What we are not is dependant on others. We have Values, Wisdom, and Knowledge.all instilled from countless generations of love and compassion, battles and bloodshed! These are things one cannot buy with money or manipulate through government. They are Folkish!

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Vatni Ausa

The traditional basis for the Vatni Ausa rite comes from the ancient Rigsthula. In that great work, in which we are told more of the origins of different human beings as the ancestor-God Rig traveled among ancient man, we see the fathers and mothers of newly born Children "casting water" upon their infant offspring and giving them names. In verse 35, for instance, we read:

"A son bore mother / in silk they swathed him,
sprinkled water on him / and called him Jarl
Was his hair flaxen / and fair-hued his cheek,
his eyes awfully / like an adder's, blazed."

It should be noted that "flashing eyes" were seen as a token of noble birth by the ancients, as Tacitus recorded.

In the Vatni Ausa rite, a child is formally accepted by its father on its ninth night of life, and sprinkled with water made sacred by Blots, and given a name. Of course, in the modern day, most children will typically have "mainstream" names and a separate name by which they are known in the Asatru faith-community. I sincerely hope that one day we have more children whose Vatni Ausa name is the same as the one on their birth certificates, but until that fine day, we go on as we are.

In this particular Vatni Ausa, our Steersman Thorgrimmr drummed slowly (30 beats a minute then 15 beats a minute) while the Blots were taking place. Jorhild acted as our Horn-dis, filling horns for me (I led the rite) and holding the hlautbowl when the time came to pour and sprinkle the gathering.

four Blots were made, one to the Allfather, one to the Disir or ancestral guardian spirits of the families of the mother and the father of the child, one to the Thunderer, and one to the Earth Mother.

To the Allfather we make a Blot and ask for wisdom and guidance on the child; to the Disir, we ask that a Fylgja-Dis or a protecting spirit attach itself to the child and follow him Through his life, protecting him; to the Thunderer, we ask for protection from the designs and baneful powers of Ill-wights, and to the Earth Mother we ask for health for the child.

Each time a Blot is done (and the text of the Blot calls is given below) a few drops of the consecrated ale is sprinkled into the water that will later be used to sprinkle the child.


When the four Blots are done, the father (and mother if she is participating) carries the child up to the harrow and dips the hlauteinn into the water. Looking at their child, they say "I acknowledge you as my son/daughter and name you _____". As they are saying this, they sprinkle the water lightly over the child's head.

At this point, the father and mother make their parental vows to the child- in the name of the Gods, they make whatever vows to the child they feel the need to make; to protect the child, to love it all their lives, to always support the child, etc. As long as these vows are kept, the luck-force binding the parents to the child, and the luck-force that surrounds their family, cannot be defeated.


That's our Vatni Ausa; below are the calls we use. Bear in mind that the mother, who is not Asatru, was not present for the blots. She was, however, present for the sprinkling.

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Recommended Reading List For Study Runes

Beginner Level:

Stephen Pollington. Rudiments of Runelore. Anglo-Saxon Books, 3rd edition, 2008.
Single best book to start with if you're not familiar with the Runes and an excellent reference overall. Pollington provides a summary of all the evidence about the runes and allows the reader to draw their own conclusions. The book contains all of the rune poems, plus other rune-related verse. The book is particularly noteworthy for the attention Pollington gives to the phonology of the runes.

Leon D. Wild. The Runes Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Learning the Wisdom of the Staves. Thunder Bay Press, San Diego. 2004.
The other 'single' best book to start with if you're not familiar with the Runes and still a good resource if you're already studying the Runes. Covers the history and meanings of the Runes succinctly yet thoroughly and offers a clear method for studying the Runes on your own.

Nigel Pennick. The Complete Illustrated Guide to Runes. Barnes & Noble Books, New York. 1999.
Although I refer to this as my "Runic coffee table book", it is an excellent overview of all espects of the Runes over time. Pennick covers the entire breadth of topics relevant to the Runes, from ancient history to the different kinds of Runes to contemporary magical and divinatory practice.

Sweyn Plowright. The Rune Primer: A Down-to-Earth Guilde to the Runes. 2nd Edition. Rune-Net 2006. [Available online for as little as $4: http://www.mackaos.com.au/Rune-Net/Primer/]
The other single best book to start with once you're somewhat familiar with the Runes (eg. have read Wild's book, or one or more of the others on this list). Written for the novice and readily accessible, The Rune Primer takes a middle-of-the-road revisionist approach to both esoteric authors (like Wild, Thorsson, etc.) and academic authors (like Elliot, Page, etc.). Sweyn says it best early in the Primer: "Somewhere between the extremes is a position where we can find reasonably solid ground on which to build. This position can be found by looking at the sources, and casting a critical eye over the way these have been interpreted by the more relevant writers. In this way we can see what remains of the ancient tradition, and help to build upon modern convention in order to harmonise our use of the Runes with both the old Germanic culture and modern Asatru."

Intermediate:

Diana L. Paxson. Taking Up the Runes: A Complete Guide to Using the Runes in Spells, Rituals, Divination, and Magic. Weiser Books, Boston. 2005.
My other favorite book on the Runes alongside Wild's. Paxson thoroughly covers the original cultural context as contemporary understandings of the Runes, summarizing prior authors' writings (including Thorsson, Gundarsson, and Aswynn) about the Runes in the process. For each Rune she suggests ways of working with it magically, in addition to its interpretation in divination. The second half of the book is devoted to an in-depth series of rituals working with the Runes a pair at a time.

Edred Thorsson. Runelore. Weiser Books, Boston. 1987.
One of the classic works on Runes for use in divination and magic. Thorsson can be regarded as the originator of the contemporary revival of interest in the Runes as understood in their original Germanic cultural context and adapted for contemporary magico-religious use. Thorsson's perspective on the Runes comes from: earning a doctoral in Germanic Languages and Medieval Studies; studying extensively the Icelandic, German, and Swedish works on the Runes from the Medieval Period up to the present day; and being a practioner of occult arts in the Western magical tradition.

Kveldulf Gundarsson. Teutonic Magic. Llewellyn Publications, Inc., St. Paul, 1994. [Note: This edition is out of print. An eBook version can purchased for $12 at Freya Aswynn's website]
Another classic work on the Runes. Gundarsson, drawing on Thorsson's work, provides an understanding of the Runes rooted in Germanic folklore and describes Runic magic in terms of original Germanic and Nordic folk practice.

Freya Aswynn. Northern Mysteries and Magick: Runes, Gods, and Feminine Powers. Revised Edition of the Classic Leaves of Yggdrasil. Llewellyn Publications, Inc., St. Paul, 1998.
The other primary classic on Runes, in addition to Gundarsson's and Thorsson's works. Aswynn's perspective is feminist, shamanic, and derived from intense personal experience. While some of Aswynn's ideas may have no clear precedent in Runic lore, many of them have rung true for modern readers and become accepted into contemporary Runic tradition.

Swain Wodening. Hammer of the Gods: Anglo-Saxon Paganism in Modern Times. Angleseaxisce Ealdriht, Little Elm, 2003.
Although devoted to the more general topic of Anglo-Saxon Heathenry (or Paganism), Swain Wodening's book contains a worthwhile section (Chapter XVII) on the Anglo-Saxon Runes, understood specifically within the context of Anglo-Saxon culture. For those interested in the Anglo-Saxon Runes but less interested in Anglo-Saxon Heathenry, Swain Wodening's ideas are also presented online, via the Miercinga ?eod's web page on Anglo-Saxon Galdors, Runes, Sei?r, Sp?: http://www.ealdriht.org/runes.html. A related online source for information about the Anglo-Saxon Runes is Eric Wodening's Rune Pages.

Advanced Topics:

Stephen E. Flowers. The Rune-Poems, Volume I: Introduction, Texts, Translations and Glossary. Runa-Raven Press, Smithville, 2002.
Best book in print on the three Rune Poems (Old English, Norwegian, and Icelandic) plus a few related topics. Includes an (almost) complete glossary of all the words in each poem, to enable to reader to understand the poems more fully in the context of alternate meanings and interpretations. (Note: 'Edred Thorsson' is Stephen Flowers' nom-de-plume when writing less academic works.)

Stephen E. Flowers. The Galdrabok: An Icelandic Book of Magic. 2nd, Revised Edition. Runa-Raven Press, Smithville. 2005.
A translation of the 16th/17th century Icelandic grimoire, The Galdrabok, a tome of magic blending native Runic traditions with Western/Mediterranean magical practices. Includes a presentation of the history and background of the text.

R.W.V. Elliot. Runes: An Introduction. 2nd edition. St. Martins Press. 1989.
Scholarly text on the Runes, introductory level.

R.I. Page. An Introduction to English Runes. Boydell Press, Woodbridge. 2nd edition, 1999.
Scholarly text on the Runes, introductory level; specific to Anglo-Saxon Runes.

Jantina Helena Looijenga. Runes around the North Sea and on the Continent AD 150-700. PhD. dissertation. Groningen. 1997. http://irs.ub.rug.nl/ppn/163895791
Scholarly text on Elder Futhark inscriptions on the Continent (i.e., not including Sweden and Norway); includes an extensive catalogue of Runic inscriptions.

Elmer H. Antonsen. Runes and Germanic Linguistics. (Trends in linguistics studies and monographs 140.) Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin. 2002.
Scholarly text on the Runes, focusing on the Elder period and addressing inscriptions and topics in runology from a linguistic perspective.

Richard L. Morris. Runic and Mediterranean Epigraphy. (Nowele ; Suppl. Vol 4.) Coronet Books, Inc., 1988.
Scholarly text studying the origin of the Runes and seeking the Mediterranean source alphabet for the Runes. Morris proposes a pre-500 BC date for the origin of the Runes based on his investigations comparing Elder Runic inscriptions with both pre-Classical and Classical Mediterranean alphabets.

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