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Sigyn Project: Day 9
You Who Does Not Forsake
(For who can say You have not tended the Flame?)
Please hear me!
Please, teach me Your Constancy!
Whose Spirit is Mountain Insurmountable
(For who can say they have conquered the Summit?)
Please hear me!
Please, teach me Your Resilience!
You Who Does Not Deny
(For who can say You have not seen the Horrors?)
Please hear me!
Please, teach me Your Witness!
Whose Love is Journey Eternal
(For who can say they have seen the End?)
Please hear me!
Please, teach me Your Faithfulness!
You Whose Name is Victory
(For who can say You welcome the Surrender?)
Please hear me!
Please, teach me Your Perseverance!
Lady of the Staying Power,
Goddess Great and Gentle,
Hear my prayer and may I be
worthy of Your Blessing!
Sigyn Project: Day 7
Hail Sigyn, holy Goddess
Ruler of Herself!
Hail Sigyn, holy Goddess
Comfort to the Pained!
Hail Sigyn, holy Goddess
She Who Cradles the Flame!
Hail Sigyn, holy Goddess
Mistress of Her Home!
Hail Sigyn, holy Goddess
She Who Teaches Boundaries!
Hail Sigyn, holy Goddess
Love’s Endurance!
Hail Sigyn, holy Goddess!
Hail, hail, hail!
Odin Project: Day 21
Ask Rúnatýr’s aid | if Runes are sought,
giving gift in turn for gift;
For great was the price | Yggr had paid
in winning the Runes from the Gap
Ask Rúnatýr’s aid | if Runes are sought,
keeping keen in mind and Work,
For great is the price | the Runes will demand
From fools who know Them not
Ask Rúnatýr’s aid | if Runes are sought,
knowing each in Their own turn,
Wisdom and power | and rede one can find
If well one knows Their kin
Odin Project: Day 20
Gangleri sought Völvas’ ways | and to Folkvangr came,
seeking the wisdom of Gefn;
She pierced Him through | and taught Him well,
In woman’s dress He learned
Well-wrought the lessons | at Skjálf’s feet
By fire and distaff spun,
Prophecy and power | came to Grimnir’s call
Who learned Hörn’s ways
Sviðurr He left | Freya’s golden hall,
ranging wide in Ve and stride;
Doors closed were open | ways unseen shown bright,
No thing held from Odin’s path
Stumbling for Words
There are times where I write poetry to grasp the Gods, the spirits, the Ancestors. When I reach for words to grasp at the ineffable, that which is, to quote a favorite song of mine, “Beyond the Invisible“. Sometimes there is a feeling in prayer or meditation where I can feel my Gods in a feeling beyond feeling. Sometimes when I smoke a cigarette to the Ancestors (the only time I smoke), or especially a cigar, I can hear Them, in a way that words do not have words for. It is more than just ‘They are here’; there is communication on some level, more often levels, that occurs when They make Themselves this known to me and I am paying attention.
Feelings can rush up; images, smells, tastes, sounds, snippets of songs, or a phrase, a word, a sensation of being touched or hugged or the feeling of embarrassment or joy that fills me head to toe. Sometimes it is an urge, or a deep-down compulsion to dance. So many words that fail to capture a moment of being in the Presence of a God or Goddess, the Ancestors, the spirits.
Sometimes there is a great emptiness. Sometimes the Gods are not here, and I wish They were, more than anything. Sometimes there is a deep aching for that connection that I am denied. I recognize that this is so, at times, because what I am craving is not so much the connection itself, but that feeling of reassurance or that feeling of alleviation of insecurity. Other times the Gods are doing something; They are Gods, and have Their respective things to do, whether one believes that the Gods control or are related to certain aspects of our lives (i.e. Frigga weaving Wyrd, Freyr helping the wild plants to grow, Gerda helping the plants in gardens to grow, etc.) or do things besides (i.e. Odin wandering the Worlds gaining wisdom).
I find that the Ancestors tend to be with me all the time, in some fashion or another. There’s a lot of Them, after all! Once I began engagement with Them, especially through regular engagement at my Ancestor altar and my necklace, I could feel Their Presence in some fashion or another. A big part of everyday engagement with Them is through a necklace I wear made out of bone fashioned into a human skulls. I use it in prayer, and as a focus throughout the day, a physical reminder. This necklace is also a physical manifestation of my Ancestors. What does Their Presence feel like? Sometimes a warmth that has nothing to do with the environment, others, a feeling of familial love, a touch on the shoulder, a harmonica (particularly if Great-Grandpa is around), and others times just a knowing that They are there. Sometimes They are the statue on my altar, the necklace around my neck, a guiding voice. Sometimes words simply fail to convey.
This is why, at times, when someone asks me “How do I know if a Goddess is near?” or “How will I know if the Ancestors are with me at prayer?” I can only suggest and say so much. Language reaches its limit, as do my experiences. I’m not the do-all, end-all of anything. I am a being, a being with a human’s world, limitations, and experiences, and I am just one person. I am bound by physical laws in this world, same as any other. Sometimes I get things right on the nose, and sometimes I get things horribly wrong. I am beholden to Wyrd; I work, I pay taxes, and one day I will die. My hope is that somehow my words, my actions, my life, helps someone else to be more than they were, to leave this world better than it has been in my time within it.
Despite the limitations of words I still try to capture what I feel, how I envision the Gods, Ancestors, etc. with words. The Ancestor Anthology is coming together, and there are so many words not my own, words that may be someone’s key to unlocking a deeper relationship with the Ancestors. Words that I may never have thought to string together, experiences I have never had, rituals I have never been part of, and so much I have not done. This is the beauty and power of coming together, of crafting books together, of making music and art and ritual. We may never fully capture our Gods, Ancestors, or spirits in songs, paintings, or words in a ritual or text, but we can provide touchstones and open doors with them.
Loki Project Day 27
You gave the Spear and Ring to Odin
The Hammer to Thor
The Ship to Freyr
The power of the Gods
Have passed through Your Hands
You wandered with Odin
Walked with Thor
Jotunheim has been Your home
Asgard as well
Many have called You welcome
You have given many grief
So many more hope
The courage to carry on
The will to face others, themselves
We call You holy
Jotun
We are the primal world
The world you shut
Behind closed gates and closed doors
The world of plague and pestilence
Beauty and fierce grace
We are the raging lightning
The blaze, the bonfire
The thrumming haze of dance
The frenzy of a blood-soaked battle
We are all you try to avoid
We are the monsters and maidens
We are the outcast and trusted
We are the progenitors of Gods
We are Gods Ourselves
See us, and see the animal
The planter
The healer
The harmed
The archer
The flame
The mother
The father
The lover
The walker
The Fire
The Ice
The Void
We are part of you, this world
We are Its untamed spirits and its closest kin
We are Jotun
Adorations for Bragi
Well, now I am hooked on making these. This is for Bragi, the God of Poetry. You can find an online shrine to Him here.
Adorations for Bragi
I adore You, God of Poetry.
I adore You, Skald.
I adore You, Rune-tongued.
I adore You, Odhroeir’s Vessel.
I adore You, the Promised Cup.
I adore You, Wish-son.
I adore You, Long-beard.
I adore You, Kenning-master.
I adore You, Son of Odin.
I adore You, Son of Gunnlod.
I adore You, Son of Frigga.
I adore You, Husband of Idunn.
I adore You, Child of Kvasir’s Blood.
I adore You, Greeter to the Einherjar.
I adore You, Peace-bringer.
I adore You, Mound-singer.
I adore You, Traveler.
I adore You, Preserver of Lore.
I adore You, Lover of Mystics.
I adore You, Inspirer.
I adore You, Who are welcomed in all the Worlds.
I adore You, Whose Hands stroke the writer.
I adore You, Whose Voice lifts the singer.
I adore You, Whose Spirit brings together God and humankind.
I adore You, Whose Words bring pause to kings.
I adore You, Whose Words bring awakening to masses.
I adore You, Whose Words bridge Worlds.
I adore You, Whose Words bring solace to the grieving.
I adore You, Whose Words bring peace to the worried.
I adore You, Whose Words bring strength to the weak.
I adore You, Whose Words bring ruin to the oppressor.
I adore You, Whose Words bring truth to the ignorant.
I adore You, Whose Words bring joy to the heedful.
I adore You, Whose Words bring destruction to prejudice.
I adore You, Whose Words bring love to the tender heart.
I adore You, Whose Words bring feeling to the heart of stone.
I adore You, Whose Words bring longing for the traveler.
I adore You, Whose Words bring rest to the weary.
I adore You, Whose Words bring calm to the wrathful.
I adore You, Whose Words bring voice to the Ancestors.
I adore You, Whose Words bring connection to the Gods.
I adore You, Who has traveled long.
I adore You, Who knows every melody.
I adore You, Who plays every tune.
I adore You, Who sings every song.
I adore You, Who knows every word.
I adore You, Who scribes the memories.
I adore You, Who gives voice to the past.
I adore You, Who cries the verse of the present.
I adore You, Who whispers the lines of the future.
I adore You, Who seeks the hidden truths.
I adore You, Who speaks the unspoken.
I adore You, Who breaks the silence.
I adore You, Who brings forth the tear.
I adore You, Who cracks the throat.
I adore You, Who trains the mind.
I adore You, Who cries the forgotten names.
I adore You, Who courts danger.
I adore You, Who humbles the haughty.
I adore You, Who emboldens the oppressed.
I adore You, Who ignites the consuming flame.
I adore You, Who delights in word and song.
I adore You, Singer of Songs.
I adore You, of staff and bar, measure and note.
I adore You, of flute and drum.
I adore You, of bell and horn.
I adore You, of harp and voice.
I adore You, Chief of Skalds.
I adore You, Dirge-Singer.
I adore You, Minstrel of Asgard.
I adore You, Tree-charmer.
I adore You, Composer.
I adore You, Valor-singer.
I adore You, Bragger.
I adore You, Hot-blooded.
I adore You, Earth-guard.
I adore You, Tutor.
I adore You, Dream-giver
I adore You, Dead-Greeter.
I adore You, Oath-hearer.
I adore You, Clever One.
I adore You, Eloquent Tongue.
I adore You, Galdr-singer.
I adore You, Poet.
From written word and song,
From verse and line,
I adore You, Bragi.
