God Freyr

Freyr is a Vanir God who represents fertility and is the counterpart to his sister Freya. It is said that Freyr rules over the rain and sunshine and the abundance of harvest on Earth. Freyr is also known for having a wonderful ship known as Skithbladnir, and is often symbolized by a boar.

Frey means "Lord" and is more of a title than a name. The real name of this god may have been Ing, which means "Hero". Frey is a Van, and son of Njord. He may actually be synonymous with this god, and been the god sacrificed to Nerthus during certain of her rituals. (Two separate traditions might have given the god different names, and when the traditions came together again it was decided they were father and son.) He is the god who taught agriculture to men, and is known as "God of the Earth". He is prayed to in matters concerning crops, and virility. His quest for the giantess Gerdhr, the Earth, cost him his sword. For this reason he will be forced to fight at Ragnarok with a stag's antler, and it will cost him his life. He may be identical with a series of semi-mythical kings known as Frodhi, and as such legends about them may be taken as legends about him. But I have not yet talked with enough Frey's men to make up my own mind on this matter. Frey is lord of peace, and plenty, and good harvest. He owns a marvelous ship that can fly and folds up so small as to fit in his pocket. (It is thus possibly a symbol of virility, a phallic symbol.) The horse is sacred to Frey. He rides upon a golden-bristled boar, who may be the sun, which would actually make Frey a solar deity. There is more on Frey in the section on runes under the Ing rune.

Books in PDF format to read:

Aleister Crowley - Rodin In Rime
Aleister Crowley - World Tragedy
Tuesday Lobsang Rampa - You Forever

Hedgewitch Approach To Making Runes

The runes come from the Norse traditions, they are symbols that can be etched into a material, for empowerment of an object, or for use as a divinatory tool. They are also easy to make ourselves, unlike the Tarot or Oracle decks, but possibly one of the harder tools to use when reading, as all we have in front of us are a whole heap of symbols.

Since I began using the runes, I tried to turn the symbols into little pictures. Learn what the runes mean, then look at the rune, feel the rune, what does it remind you of? What images and emotions does it evoke? What would the keywords belonging to the rune have meant to our ancestors all those centuries ago? Now you begin to build up your own picture, your own interpretation of the runes, your own bond.

There are some lovely sets of runes out there - etched into crystals - but they are expensive. The hedgewitch tends to go for the cheap and cheerful, but no less effective options. A rune set doesn't have to be expensive to be powerful, with practice and attunement, you can get some really good results from a plastic set that weren't really even intended for the "serious practitioner" (he he he, how little they knew ;) ). It's another example of not having to throw money away on expensive "witch endorsed" tools - hedgewitches, kitchen witches, we use what we can find and spend the money on something nice for the family instead.

Making runes couldn't be simpler, and there are all sorts of things you can use to make them out of. Traditionally they are made from wood, and you will see all sorts of opinions about "live wood" or "dead wood" out there on the Internet. Personally, I have no problem with using pre-cut wooden disks from a craft store or DIY outlet, or from cutting up a curtain pole, or something similar. We use our inventiveness, and in that we are already creating a bond to our runes.

I've seen it said that only a branch from a fruit bearing tree can be used, that it must be before the tree has fruited, as afterwards the branch is dead. I find this rather restrictive, and I don't like anything that cuts down my options for improvisation.

However, I've also seen Master Runemakers use just the fallen branches they find on forest walks. I like this option the best. The number of times I will go for a walk and be called to pick up a certain stick or rock. If you go out into the woods with the express purpose of finding a suitable fallen branch with which to cut rune disks, then you are bound to find just the one. Probably lying in the middle of the path seemingly shouting "Take Me!"

The runes can be carved into the wooden disks, or burned with a wood burning tool, they can be drawn or even painted (though these will definitely need varnishing). Again I've seen conflicting opinions about these methods too. Go with your gut instinct, as it will be giving you all the direction you need.

You can use anything as a rune. I have a set that were made from beach pebbles (they are in the photo above). Try to find ones that are of a similar size, and it's a personal choice as to whether their colours have to match or not. Then simply draw or paint the runes onto each stone, but make sure that you varnish them afterwards to protect the runes.

Another alternative is to make rune cards. These will be similar to Tarot cards, but it is entirely up to you as to how you present them. You can choose to keep them fairly blank, just have the individual rune on each one. Or you can decorate them with colours, pictures and symbols of what each rune means. In this way, you are creating something extremely personal, but which has more of a visual trigger to help you read their meaning.

Cleansing and consecrating methods are entirely personal. Do what you would do for any of your other magical tools. My personal favourite is to carry my runes (or whatever) around with me for a while, to touch, to play, feel them and to USE them. This way they become imbued with my own energies - or it strengthens the bond that we have already begun in their creation.

Blessed be, Blaidd

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Difference Between Asatru And Wicca

I've been researching Asatru for about 2 years now, and have been a practicing Wiccan for 10. Just to let you know where I'm coming from.

The first primary difference between Asatru and Wicca (or at least the way Wicca seems to be developing these days) is that Asatru is primarily polytheistic, and Wicca tends to be pantheistic. Also, the Wiccan Rede (a modern invention, by the way) has provisions against harm ("An harm ye none, do what ye Will"), where Asatru has no such provision, and to some degree possesses a warriorhood mystique. This does not usually seem to get overly melodramatic (as far as I have seen), but it does exist.

Also, with only rare exceptions, Asatru groups tend to be very decentralized and do not have elevation systems as Wicca does. Leadership tends to be based on the local level, and I have never seen (so far) the sort of ego stroking common among Wicca with the Asatruar. One main reason for this is that they tend to have few qualms about telling each other to fuck off when they choose to, and still are able to go out for beers together. That kind of candid behavior has become frightfully rare (as far as I have experienced) among Wiccans, who seem to enjoy petty little squabbles and backstab gossipry.

Asatru rituals are much simpler than most Wiccan rituals. The primary rite, the blot, is basically little more than sharing a round of beer or mead while praising the Gods, although it can be made more elaborate if that is desired.

Asatru are rarely eclectic. They have a solid source of lore for their workings and magic (if any), and tend to be more likely to put effort into a new beermaking kit than memorizing the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.

Asatru tend to look down on "Norse Wicca," and with good reason, to a degree. Where Wicca is an occult system that has developed into a religion (and a largely mismashed quasi-Celtic, semi-New Age, dash o' ceremonial Crowley stuff), Asatru is a religion largely rekindled from historically-recorded accounts of specific peoples, with occult qualities a secondary (thought important) side. Wicca does not possess ancestral roots of its own (here I should clarify between "Wicca" and "witchcraft"), where Asatru does. Norse Wicca tends to be regarding by some (not all) Asatruar as uncommitted wannabes.

At the same time, however, I don't think any of them would stop to tell a Norse Wiccan that they thought he/she were a jerk/twit/etc. Asatruar tend to be somewhat libertarian, with something of a 'live and let live' attitude. Like any group, there are varying opinions on this matter. Many Asatru are concerned about this not so much becuase they're arrogant or whatnot, but they fear (I think) the watering-down of their faith, as the New Age has watered-down the Craft.

For myself, if you are strongly attached to the Wiccan framework and find closeness with the Teutonic Gods, then go for it. But I'd also suggest giving the Asatru method a try. You might be surprised with the results.

I'm currently teaching some Craft students who revere the Teutonic Gods (Oaktavia Grove in Boston). They are aware that what they are doing is considered borderline, and all I ask is that they respect that. You also may find that you can happily engage in both.

By the way, in case you want to read it, you might be interested to know that most Asatruar I know HATE Ed Fitch's *Rites of Odin*.

Feel free to email back. Hope I was of help.

Oh, you might be interested in writing a group I helped to develop: The Wyrd Network, which was designed to help answer the very question you asked me. It's not a recruitment thing or such, but may be of interest to you.

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Viking Ancestors In England

You betcha there are many British citizens who are etterkommere (descendants) of Norwegian vikinger (Vikings), although it is unknown how many and where from. Britiske forskere (British researchers) are conducting a study to chart Northern England’s Viking legacy. Professor Peter Harding at the University of Nottingham will be leading the study and working very closely with the project coordinator in Norway, Harald Lovvik. The mission is to discover where the descendants of the vikings slo seg ned (settled) and from what regioner (regions) in Norway the Vikings who eventually reproduced and/or settled in England kom fra (came from).

Harding and his fellow forskere had hoped prosjektet (the project) would have started in 2008, but was only recently Approved by norske myndigheter (Norwegian authorities). Prosjektet will be conducted as follows: Forskere will take mouth samples from 20 people from each of the following regioner: Sognefjorden, Ryfylkefjorden, Hardangerfjorden, Hedmark, Trondheim, Bergen, Gudbrandsdalen, Stavanger, and Namdalen (at first, the project was to only choose people from the cig cities in this list, but as you see, they have expanded out of the cities). Forskere will focus on the y-kromosomet (Y chromosome) since it is only passed from far til sonn (father to son). Each frivillig (volunteer) will be required to know his farslinje (paternal line) back 6 or 7 generasjoner (generations) in the same area. Since it may prove to be more difficult to locate and test people deep ute i landet (in the country), forskere will Supplement some of provene (the tests) with people from Oslo who come from those specific regioner.

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

Genevieve Petty - Tantric Influences On Thelema
Stephen Mitchell - Learning Magic In The Sagas
Rabbi Michael Laitman - Basic Concepts In Kabbalah
Garfield Tourney - The Physician And Witchcraft In Restoration England
Julia Phillips - History Of Wicca In England

God Vali

Vali is the God of vengeance and retribution. As Odin’s son, he sought vengeance for the death of his brother, Balder, by killing Hodr. He is renowned for his courage and his accuracy with the bow. On the other hand, he is recognized for being a life and light bringer and in olden times the month of February was dedicated to him.

Tyr As Father Protector And Provider

TYR has often been misunderstood and even more often misrepresented. The Romans simplistically equated him with their god of war, mars. Consequently Tiw, as the Anglo-Saxons called him, has the honour of giving his name to Tuesday, but is otherwise neglected by many as being embarrassingly militaristic.

Tyr is the father-god, as his name suggests, the god of fatherhood, the father figure amongst gods. Too much importance has been attached to the question of who is the chief god. As polytheists we are entitled to have differing views in this matter. Odin was acknowledged as Allfather and supreme god because the values which he epitomised became most highly honoured, not by all, but by most, or at least most of the rulers and skalds in the Northern world.

Regardless of his title, Allfather, Odin's numinous, ecstatic, mystic, Mysterious, poetic, runic and inspirational qualities do not characterise him as a fatherly archetype. Typically the father is not a poet but a provider, not a magician but a protector, a caring figure not a shaman. Odin gave up his eye for wisdom; Tyr sacrificed his hand to protect the others from a danger. It is Tyr who acts the father.

The masses turn to the father-god in times of need. It is a basic human instinct, instilled in childhood. In a patriarchal society, such as the early Germans', the father is head of the family, a ruler of that microcosm of society, laying down the law. His is the duty of instructing children in the knowledge of right and wrong and distinguishing praiseworthy behaviour from the punishable.

Thus Tyr is the god of personal and public ethics and governs whatever applies to the ethical code. Hence the inscription 'Mars Thingsus' (i.e., of the Thing), for the Thing is the parliament which makes laws and the court which enforces them. Tyr is the fatherly god who implements justice in order to protect us and preserve our social order. He is a caring and noble god, teaching us that order is better than chaos.

Tyr, god of war and victory, was no soldiers' and generals' god. He was no mere 'crude deity of slaughter', as Ellis Davidson says. Quite the contrary! Certainly, soldiers in the thick of battle would turn to him for protection. But who had greater need of defence than the defenceless? Who would sacrifice more fervently than the non-warfaring folk, the women and children, the farmers and fishermen, the thralls and churls? Who, following defeat at the hands of land-hungry tribes, would be raped, slaughtered, driven from their farmlands into starvation? Who, if unlucky, would be enslaved, but they?

War was no contest of justice, as Ellis Davidson argues, but a struggle for survival. The god of war and victory, Sigtyr, like a father to his people, his children, would guard them from the horror of defeat. The good father may be stern but never cruel. He is the protector of the family and the tribe.

One reason why scholars underrate Tyr is that he is little mentioned in the Eddas and little worshipped in Iceland (where the Eddas came from) or in Norway (where the Icelanders came from). Elsewhere, as many place names attest, he was much venerated by the masses.

Odin and Tyr are contrasting gods. Their cults may well not appeal to some people. The importance attached by society to the attributes they each represent has varied throughout history. But to claim that one has supplanted the other is to ignore the great differences between their two characters and to ignore the durability of fundamental archetypes.

As polytheists we should Understand the necessity for the many different paths to the truth and then choose the way which suits us best.

Books in PDF format to read:

Aleister Crowley - The Star And The Garter
Sepharial - Astrology And Marriage
William Wynn Westcott - Numbers Their Occult Power And Mystic Virtues
Ragner Storyteller - How To Invoke Freya Valkries For Protection And Defence

What Were The Vikings Beliefs About The Afterlife

Much like the ancient Greeks, the Vikings had neither a positive or negative view of the afterlife. They believed for the most part, the dead, if they had lived an unexceptional life, would travel to a place called "Hel" (which is where the modern word "hell" comes from) which lies far to the north and under ground. It was a thought of as being a cold and damp place where the spirits of the dead continued in a dreamlike form of existence. It was not particularly happy, but it was not torturous and was viewed as a long sleep. There were other ideas of an afterlife that were believed as well. There was another realm beneath Hel, where people who had lived bad lives were gnawed upon by a serpent called "Nidhoggr". They slept in a hall that was made of snakes and dripped poison. This place, called "Nastrond", was located on the shore of an ice cold subterranean sea. Those who lived exceptional lives in a positive way could expect to travel to "Asgard", the home of the Gods. They would spend the afterlife in happiness. The exact dwelling that was given to these people depended upon their lives. For example: hero's who died in battle would go to "Vahalla" the "Hall of the slain", and live with Odin the king of the Gods. Here they spent all day fighting each other, only to rise from the battlefield in the evening healed of their wounds and then spent the rest of the night feasting. The main theme of the afterlife seems to have been repetition. It was not however, believed to be eternal. They believed that the world of both the living and dead, gods and monsters would one day be destroyed and the universe would begin anew.

Books in PDF format to read:

Howard Phillips Lovecraft - Through The Gates Of The Silver Key
John Dee - A Letter Containing A Most Brief Discourse Apologetical
Aleister Crowley - Liber 046 The Key Of The Mysteries