About Me

I am a Heathen, goði of Mimirsbrunnr Kindred, a Heathen spirit worker and priest of Óðinn and Anpu. Óðinn is my Father, and my patron god. I serve the polytheist and Pagan communities, and anyone who needs my services, as a spiritworker, priest, writer, spiritual counselor, and diviner. My primary job is to connect people to their Gods, Ancestors, and vaettir, including the Dead. I do not discriminate based on gender, sexuality, religion, or path.

A few Gods have special places in my life, particularly Óðinn, Freyja, Loki, Angrboða, Þórr, Anpu, and Bast. Each of these Gods, and Their families, have blessed my life in more ways than I can count. I do spiritwork with the Ginnreginn, the Gods, Ancestors, and vaettir. Among the latter I work with are Jötnar, Álfar, Dvergar, landvaettir, and my Ancestors on a daily basis.

Calling to our Ancestors, an Ancestor Devotional Anthology, has been published through Asphodel Press. I hope it will bring the various Pagan and polytheist communities together in celebration of our Ancestors, to allows us to share our practices, and establish deeper ties with Them. I am currently working on the Second Edition, among other books.

I enjoy writing, and this place is one of many ways I express myself and reflect on my journey.

With James Stovall and Caitlin Stormbreaker I co-host the podcast Around the Grandfather Fire. Each episode is a discussion about spirituality, mythology, animism, and culture around a virtual sacred fire.

I co-host the video series 3 Pagans on Tap with Maleck Odinsson. We explore drinks, animism, polytheism, religion, culture, and spiritwork with our guests.

If you wish to get ahold of me my email is Sarenth at gmail.com.
If you wish to support my work, my Patreon is here.

39 thoughts on “About Me”

  1. Pingback: Honoring our ancestors « The House of Vines

  2. I apologize if I have missed the post, but I’m interested in your relationship with Anubis. I am His and had my curiosity piqued when I saw you were his priest, but you don’t seem to discuss your relationship with him much. If you are allowed to and are willing, I’d be fascinated to see an entry about him.

    Also, since I’m not sure if you consider such a comment/question rude, I wanted to say that I don’t intend it to be. If you are offended, I apologize.

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    • No, you’re right. I haven’t really gone into my relationship with Anubis yet, and I would be happy to do so for you. There’s nothing rude about asking for that; I’m glad you’re interested. I’ll post about my relationship with Him soon!

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  3. Hi there!

    I have nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award because I enjoy the hell out of your blog. Here are the rules for the Versatile Blogger Award:

    -Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post
    -Share 7 things about yourself
    -Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs you enjoy reading
    -Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know about the award

    http://rookwise.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/versatile-blogger-award/

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    • Thank you Corviedae!

      Here are seven things about me:

      Seven things about me –

      1. I have lived most of my life in one state.

      2. I am a published author with a Pagan magazine.

      3. I am a gamer, and love games, especially the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series.

      4. I love philosophy, and read it when I can.

      5. I once programmed a roleplaying game in BASIC, and stopped programming after a system wipe on the computer took it out.

      6. I am a huge fan of the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.

      7. I enjoy learning about religions, not just Pagan ones, in all the ways I can.

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  6. Greetings,

    I am part of the ritual team at DC Pagan Pride this year. And we are asking Demeter and Dionysus to join us. May we use your Prayer to Demeter and Dionysus for the culmination of our spiral dance/cone of power? Your Prayer fits perfectly!

    Thank you for your creativity. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for your prayers!

    -Eridanus
    Co-Convener of Connect DC

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  8. Oh wow. Your’s is the first I’ve stumbled across that the relationship with Odin mirror’s close to my own. I have recently delved deeper into it since he darn near beat me around the head to come speak with him. Thank you for sharing your experiences.

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      • Do you have a permanent space set up that you go and speak with Him at or do you just talk to Him where ever? IF you do have a permanent space, do you perhaps have a picture? I am trying to build HIm a space but my items are sorely lacking. Not that I think there should be a crowded altar but 2 candles, and a few crow feathers just do not feel like enough. :-/

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      • Yes, I have a permanent space set up to Him. I actually have three devotional spaces to Him, now that I come to think about it. One is on the family altar, another is a personal altar where I work with Him as Rúnatýr and make offerings to Him, and a shrine outside in a sacred grove where I installed a small godpole to Him. I also talk to Him wherever the need, mood, or requirement strikes.

        I think it is good to keep in mind that there’s no need for a boatload of items for Him, nor a paltry amount. If all of my tools, items, and other things for Him went away tomorrow, I have my tattoo to Him as an offering,and reminder of His presence and place in my life. Whenever I look in the mirror, even if I am mentally elsewhere, it is a reminder to me I am His..

        Also, you will want to be very, very careful (depending on where you live; this applies to the US) as migratory birds, such as corvids, are covered in US law and it is illegal to own their corpses or feathers.

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  9. It is funny to me that you said your tattoo of him is a constant reminder. I was speaking with him a while ago and he made mention of a tattoo but that He’d me know when the time was right.

    Thank you about the feathers. I will look into that. I have a friend who lives in California US. That has one as a pet and she collects his molted feathers, which is how I got mine. But I will definitely double check my own state laws. Thank you for that!

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  10. Pingback: Polytheist Day of Protest: Honoring the Deities of Palmyra | Aedicula Antinoi: A Small Shrine of Antinous

  11. Pingback: Sessions at Many Gods West | Aedicula Antinoi: A Small Shrine of Antinous

  12. Hello! I just did a 15 minute video redoing Ragnarok’s possibilities and the 3 tribes of the Norse. Freyja won’t let me near the Aesir especially Odin. I want to get someone connected to the Aesir in the northern tradition I respect to tell me what they think. It’s about the the Aesir being cultural especially leaders, the Vanir as common people and food, the Jotun as primal forces instead us and in the wild. That Viking era Heathenry forced the leaders to be much more aggressive due to the conversions the people were facing that was cultural genocide , and how our story of Ragnarok is dualistic because a Christian scribe couldn’t imagine there being three dynamic energies which may have a conflict but ultimately are harmonious . The Vanir are left out because I suspect farmers being conservative and staying with what works , the Vanir practices were still happening so recording anything about the Vanir wasn’t good Christian planning.

    The stories that we do have are focused quite a lot on the ruling class , Odin especially , because in Iceland they were also writing down everything about their own rulers . However the battle to survive in very harsh environments did the that the cultural ruling class Godz definitely were always fighting off the Giants , but this world is made from a giant which means my body is made from a giant , the gods are the children or grandchildren of the Giants if they are Aesir .

    Because having direct communication with the Aesir was cut off during a very bloody time. , The war against the wild has gone on for over 1000 years which I don’t think the Aesir would have told us to do . So we have massive climate chaos and all of those related problems , with our own actions which we might say are a Christian misinterpretation of the Aesir in the Viking age , laying down the foundation which forces the Giants to come back incredibly stronger in balancing out how the board arise humans and land created the conditions for climate change which forces the Giants to return . Because everything comes from them and fire and ice, Ragnar cannot kill the Giants , what it can do is change their forms like climate chaos is causing .

    I’m using dictation software because I’m really sick Lyme disease right now , so I hope that this makes sense . My premise is that if we had stayed in contact with the Aesir we would have learned new leadership and new guardian ways that match the current situation for the current situation would’ve never even happened because the seer would have made sure the balance was never this far out of control . So in Ragnarok the Aesir can actually be dead but also reincarnates and be the suitable leaders and guardians and priests four climate chaos and the globalization nightmare in which we live . So the Giants and the Aesir don’t die , but they do change very quickly through Ragnarok because we are catching up to what they require and also must do because of the weird that we have created and it can’t be undone .

    Meanwhile the Vanir are facing a Holocaust of their own which is factory farming , pesticides , GMOs , the incredibly high suicide rate of farmers .

    Yet their world survives and as far as we know so do the goddesses . I’m dedicated to Freya and the Vanir who continually remind me that they are not of the upper class to write things down but they are of the working class who support and sustain the leaders and the Warriors and the priests , which makes the king and the Warriors and the priests afraid of them , along with the fact that they have the numbers for revolting . To Freyja in some ways she implies that the misuse of power by the very elite is a continuation of the worst time in Nours history where Odin had to become a ruthless politician and sacrifice many of his own people . However Ragnar rock which is happening right now , we can see that obviously in the collapse of the environment and the economy , is when everything balances out after major upheaval . So the three tribes have been abused separately , but today we have people who are honoring all three which hasn’t happened in quite a while , and during Ragnarok the Giants won’t change too much because of being primal forces , but the Aesir definitely do change to become instead of warriors guardians and instead of Kings facilitators and instead of priests for the elite , there is the egalitarian sharing of knowledge .

    Understanding the giant side of Ragnarok has been very easy for me because it’s obvious in climate chaos . Being chosen to put the agenda of the Vanir first , not because it’s more important but just because they don’t have much say anymore , I get a very different picture of Ragnar rock and the mythology of than others might , it’s like a Vanir version of what has happened .

    What I don’t have is much of an understanding about the intern all changes for the Aesir during this massive collapse and transformation of human culture that may wipe out all humans and 96% of other biological life . I can see the possibility of how the healing works for the Aesir , I can see that what we often think of them especially Odin is based on a brutal time. , but things have changed into a totally different brutal time and that is because we lost our connection to including those three tribes in our everyday life and decision-making so it’s a mad scramble now to make things right . Not necessarily for any of these gods but for humans who have taken extreme times and froze them based on Christian dualistic version of life without seeing the important interconnectedness of the three tribes which is what we are doing in the holistic healing of the world and ourselves . Obviously the great transition cannot be avoided. It’s already here end we have choices about how we will work our own weird that will affect the details of Ragnarok . We can either facilitate being open to radical changes that are necessary from and in all three tribes end accept the reality or we can have what basically sounds like a nuclear winter .

    So I can understand the giant because they are obvious and even if the writing is Christian and totally slanted against them , something was written down . With the Vanir it’s like they’ve been written out of Germanic culture altogether aside from Sweden where it couldn’t be totally erased from history but has continued the longest in farming folk culture . But I really respect your point of view and would like to have you see them , the video , because I don’t have a strong feeling about what is happening internally with the tribe of gods and goddesses about how human culture is supposed to be arranged , aside from the fact that there will be massive violence battles taking down outdated dogma and any leaders associated with it with a rebirth of leaders and guardians who are fully aligned with the reality of today .

    Can I send you a link to the videos or just send the videos using your prayer contact form ? I’m pretty sick right now but I will be doing some editing and then they will be small files , I can only do them in five minutes sections , so there are three of them . There was no script or anything . It’s just not really fair to talk about three tribes when you only know gods and goddesses from two of them and you yourself and the northern tradition person you know are not very focused on the Aesir . I was hoping you might have a balanced offering about what Freya keeps telling me to say except I need more understanding of the Aesir part . Since you work with all three tribes and also are very aware of the giant transformation in which we are deeply enmashed , but dedicated to Odin especially , being Odin’s child the way that Freyja is in charge of me , she says that my weird is a strand wrapped into hers which is like a giant thick rope. And there are some definite grievances that the Vanir have about being mistreated by heathens and basically written out of history so their importance and their incredible difference , they do not come from the Giants necessarily , they survive Ragnarok intact without much change aside from fray , they have relationships with all of the world’s including sexually except for the Aesir , they are very different from the Aesir , just as much as the Giants . Also there are still hard feelings about Gullveig Heid being attacked and that there phone mythology is pretty much gone plus Freya does feel very misunderstood and miss treated when held up to as guardian ethics . For some reason Heimdall understands and is very kind to her and they seem to have sort of a friends with benefits relationship because neither fit in very well for something , she won’t let me see much of it because it involves the Aesir, and I guess I’m not supposed to learn what she’s had to do to cope and fit in for Asgard but learn the very visceral bloody magic of creation and destruction that is at the core of the Vanir cycle of fertility .

    She brought up something for example that is going to change because of Ragnarok which comes from the Aesir , which is the class system started by Rig. That’s the sort of stuff in the video I mentioned will change drastically because it no longer fits as we are not in a feudal society , that time period is over . It’s things like that which she tells me are the massive changes the Aesir go through in Ragnarok that I’d like you to be able to speak about and hopefully clarify anything that’s really off-base or fuzzy .

    She says that the reason the world of the Vanir does not get destroyed is because it’s a war between outdated elitist kings end warriors end priests but every day life still has to happen to live . Permaculture gives her orgasms and Frey wants to be king of a working transition town . But where the Aesir fit into all of this I don’t know .

    Thank you and I’m sorry again if the dictation isn’t working great . I really like how intelligent your blog is , the fact that you keep polytheism a living religion engaged with all aspects of the world , not some personal spiritual practice done every day for 20 minutes . But instead your whole viewpoint on the world is through polytheist eyes which guides . It’s much more organic because it’s coming from the dynamic relationship you have in the here and now as opposed to transposing a corrupted version of a certain time onto a world that has changed . You really are an inspiration that way and I hope that more polytheists will be engaging with the gods and goddesses about serious modern-day issues end living as offerings .

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    • Hello!

      I wouldn’t say the Aesir are ‘cultural’; the Jotun have culture, folks who serve as warriors and the like. Just look at Thjazi, Skadi’s father. Same with the Vanir, who have both Frey and Freya who are warriors among Them. I don’t even believe that the Aesir are necessarily Gods of ‘civilization’, per se, as it seems to me the Vanir and Jotun also had these qualities among Them.

      I look at the Aesir, Vanir, and Jotun as tribes. At least in the case of the Aesir, those who hail from Aesir, Vanir, and Jotun families are welcome. The Aesir are directly related to Jotun anyhow, whether one looks at Odin, Heimdall, or Thor.

      I think that our cut off from our Gods is a huge problem, and I think that as part of the Ragnarok story, Odin did what he had to do in order for the cycle of life to continue.
      I agree with your basic premise, that if we had stayed in contact with the Aesir we could have learned new leadership and guardian ways, and I imagine in a way that was over time.

      I don’t think, though, that the Aesir, Vanir, and Jotun are direct mirrors of our world, else the stories we have would have all taken place on Midgard rather than the events between the Nine Worlds have been interconnected.

      In regards to egalitarian sharing of knowledge, reread the story where Odin shares the knowledge of the Runes with folks. While maybe not egalitarian in terms of all folks getting access to it, all the ‘races’ of the Norse/Scandinavian stories do have access to the Runes. I’m also not sure that doing this sharing of knowledge necessitates Odin no longer being a Chieftain or King. The same with class systems being outmoded. Actually, with a world becoming smaller it may be that the old hierarchies will, in some ways, come back. What I see that we can do is either consciously reject them, or embrace them, and either way, do the best we can with what we have.

      *chuckle* To be honest, given how busy I can be between life and work and things, 20 minutes is all that I can squeeze into a day sometimes. I am glad that my words are an inspiration; I appreciate you saying that. Thank you. Still, if all folks can dedicate is 5 minutes a day, that is 5 minutes more they’re giving to their Gods, 5 minutes more of prayers, offerings, thoughts, and/or work than what they would have otherwise given. Baby steps are as, sometimes more important, than the big ones, and maintaining a weekly devotional practice has been a powerful way to get me through the hard and fallow times.

      Please, go ahead and send me the link through the prayer contact form. If you could detail what you want from me there, I can go over it, and see what I can do.

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      • Thank you. By culture gods, I.mean Rig set up human class system and that kings and warriors were the cultural elite. It was a very classist feudalism culture. The burial practices show that, but so do the Eddas Snorri wrote focusing in Odin, Thor and Loki, as he also focused on Iceland being from Norwegian kings. As someone in the upper class with a nationalist and Christmas agenda to promote, he focuses on the male leaders of war and politics Aesir. His duality of Aesir = good, Jotun = bad for Ragnarok is Christian, because where are the Vanir and also if the world was made out of Ymir, my body like everything is Ymir. ACCEPT the Vanir. The Aesir all are related to Jotun somehow. The Vanir being the conservative farming and fishing masses who had their own cults no one recorded except in Sweden because the kings were connected to Freyr, where do they come from, why doesn’t Ragnarok affect Vanaheim?

        The harmony with conflict of the 3 tribes wouldn’t fit Christian duality.

        Thanks, I’ll send it.

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  13. I just read your poem Adoration Earth, I know the title is wrong – but it is so beautiful! I actually cut it and pasted it into a file because it’s one of the few poems that reaches me . That is really rare so I wanted you to know that . Thank you for writing it!

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  15. You probably know about the devotional anthology for Njord call for submissions . But if you didn’t I just wanted to mention it because your writing is exquisite .

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  16. Hey Sarenth, I love your blog, and I’d actually like to talk to you about a potential speaking engagement, but I can’t find your email through here – if there’s a reason for that, can you email me at kyaza18@gmail.com so I can talk to you more about it? Thanks xD

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  17. Greetings! I attended your encountering the runes class at convocation this past weekend. I purchased krasskova’s book, and she gives a “recipe” for rune consecration that includes alder sap. Do you know how i could get some? I am not finding it available anywhere! TY! and loved your class!

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    • When I did the ritual myself I had neither red ochre nor alder sap. However, I was in a place where offering blood to the Runes was appropriate. If you cannot find alder sap, then perhaps find a tree whose ‘blood’ runs red, or if you cannot get it simply do without. Maybe the Runes want something different from you, such as individualized herb and/or offering patterns for the paste.

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      • Very good suggestion. My trees are currently tapped, so perhaps I shall use my own sap. May I ask your thoughts on when to do this ritual? Is it best done prior to beginning to study the runes or is it better to familiarize oneself with each rune a bit first? Again…thank you!

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      • I think that getting to know the Runes prior to doing the ritual is a very good udea. Especially because the ritual at hand is, essentially an initiation, it would be good to know as much as you can both academically and spiritually prior to this depth of engagement with these vaettir. It would also do you and any others interested in the Runes good to see which Runes speak well with you, whether the Elder Futhark, Younger Futhark, the Futhorc, etc.

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  19. Sarenth, just this past week a horrible event happened to a family who I have known for more than half a century. A lovely woman whom I once held as a baby and her three children were murdered by her husband. They lived a long distance away from their families. I’m still bleeding internally with the pain. I feel that they are lost. There are no psychopomps in the RC tradition and I was wondering if I would be stepping on too many toes if I could call on Hekate and Hermes to guide them to their ancestors (Slavic/Polish/German)?

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    • I would get divination on this from someone not attached to your situation. If they are Roman Catholic then attempting to get them to move along at this point, prior to their Last Rites, would probably be counterproductive, and may offend them, not only their God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. There are saints, such as St. Michael the Archangel, that one could pray to that the Dead find their way without offending the Dead or their God(s).

      If divination indicates psychopomp work is needed, then appealing to their Holy Powers as well as your own and being sure you’re not only the right one for this work, but being sure of each step as you take it is the best way forward in my view. Prayers on their own for the safe passage of the Dead, for the comfort of Their families, for justice for Them and Their loved ones, these are fine things in and of themselves. Psychopomp work is another thing entire, which is why I am putting so much caution towards it. That, and given how close you are, this may be something better suited to someone who isn’t being emotionally bleeding from that pain as you are.

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      • Roman Catholics have priests for this reason. They are trained and approved to give Last Rites per the Sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. They effectively act themselves as psychopomps in concert with God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary, the Communion of Saints, and the Catholic Ancestors.

        Besides St. Michael the Archangel, St. Gertrude, the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, God the Father, and the God the Holy Spirit are ones to pray to for the Dead should you feel inclined to do so for Them. Likewise praying the Rosary can be of deep benefit to Them.

        Forms of service to the Dead are seeing to the needs of those They leave behind, helping them get affairs as you can in order, and offering help and comfort as you can. The best thing you can do, in addition to this, is grieve them. Grieve them as your heart needs unashamed. This is also why I do not recommend you do the work of a psychopomp here, especially as you recognize your heart is bleeding. Best to take care of your own bleeding so you do not get your blood on others or let it stop you from doing the good and holy work of grieving, prayers, and support that you can do now.

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      • Also, huge thank yous to my parents who both went over this with me. They are both Roman Catholic and while I was a Catholic for the first 18 years of my life, it did help to go over this with them.

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  20. Greetings and Blessings,

    I have just started listening to the beginning episodes of 3 Pagans and a Cat and listening to Ode gush about how your lectures changed her personal perspective on runes and other topics really made me want to seek you out. I’ll be giving your podcast a listen and I shall try to get a good read of your blogs in. I look forward to hearing any wisdom from you that i may glean.

    Thank you for your dedication to the community.

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