O Lykeios, O purifying Wolf God!
O You, Whose breath blows away miasma
O You, Whose teeth rend the evil spirits
O You, Whose tongue uplifts in howling song
Bless and purify me, cleanse and sanctify me
That I may howl Your praise and run in Your Presence!
purification
On Purification and Cleansing
I took a week off of social media, and I included my blog here at WordPress for that time.
It was a good time, coming right off the heels of Sacred Firetending at Michigan Paganfest.
It really made me think, though, about a lot of things. Not the least of which is the time I waste on social media. Now, a lot of my writing here? That tends to be time well-spent because I am sussing things out, writing devotional poetry and other works, or otherwise devoting time to my Gods, Ancestors, and/or vaettir.
My time away made me realize just how fucked up social media is, when you get down to brass tacks. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do a lot of networking on it that is not only useful, but downright necessary to interact with the folks in my Kindred as well as the larger Pagan community. However, what I am really coming to grips with is how damned sick, lacking a better term, social media is. When something takes off, it takes off like a virus. After all, a post, a picture, a video gaining mass popularity is called ‘going viral’ for a reason. If it is incorrect information, it spreads the wrong information and it infects all those who take it in as fact.
This is where inoculation or sanitation and treatment come in, or, in terms polytheists would be more familiar with, purification and cleansing. We purify a space so that it is cleansed of vaettir (spirits), and likewise, any magic or spiritual force that would seek to do us harm or disrupt the ritual, ceremony, etc. we are about to perform. We purify a space, such as a vé (sacred place; it might have an altar or be a natural thing, such as a boulder or tree, etc.), hörgr (a stone vé, sometimes stacked, or an altar of stone). We cleanse ourselves and any objects we would seek to bring into this space so we are in a state that is clean for the same reason as purification. If you are facilitating a ritual, it is likely you have cleansed yourself and any things that you are bringing into the area, then purified the space.
These procedures are recognizable to anyone who works in healthcare: your inoculation makes you resistant to diseases that can harm your patients and yourself, your hand-washing prevents you from spreading disease, and your personal hygiene prevents you from becoming sick. If you refuse to do these things you are not doing your due diligence to those in your care. That is not to say that sickness is completely unavoidable. It is not, just as impurity in sacred space does happen. It is also not to say that sickness is morally wrong; it is not. It simply is. However, it is our obligation, whether healthcare or in religious matters, for us to do our due diligence so that those in our care are as healthy as can be. A ritual leader who refuses to do purification and cleansing work is analogous to a doctor who refuses to be sanitary.
Of course, there are folks out there who will say I am being dramatic about this.
If we take our religions, and our roles within them seriously, then this kind of preparation to erect or inhabit a sacred space should be normal. There may be exceptions to this rule, i.e. polytheist religious paths I have not come across that do not carry out purification rites in general or for specific workings because it would be detrimental to the rite, working, etc. I am not speaking to these. The polytheist religions I have been in or had contact with carry similar enough ritual protocols for these to be general, such as cleaning yourself physically and spiritually before a ritual, or if you do not have time for a shower, at least doing some kind of cleansing work, whether a simple ritual of washing the hands, sprinkling water on one’s head, passing fire about the place and one’s body, and so on.
If I am to carry out a ritual, it is my Gebo to the Gods, Ancestors, and vaettir that I am a living example to those in the ritual. I need to be clean in body, mind, and spirit. I need to show good protocol for engaging with the Gods, Ancestors, and vaettir. As much as the ritual actions are my role in the ritual, so too is my living example. If someone is coming to me for divination I need to be clean and the sacred space it takes place needs to be clean. My obligation to the shamans, diviners, Rune-workers, Runemeisters, the Runevaettir, and Odin Himself is to do the work and do it well, whether that work is the preparation before the reading, the reading itself, or any work that occurs coming from the reading. To do this, I need to have good signal, and to have good signal I and the space need to be clean for the reading. Whatever my role, I owe this Gebo,this obligation of doing the prequisite work well to those who came before me in these roles, to my Elders, Disir, Väter, Ancestors, and so on. I also owe this Gebo to the Gods, Ancestors and vaettir to do this work well, not just for the work present in the moment, but to provide an ongoing living example of the work in action.
In order to do well, to be excellent, the foundation must be cared for. The foundation of good religious work is to do the prerequisite work well. This includes the education one needs in order to be an informed participant in the religion, and the carrying out of one’s role in the religion that arises from that knowledge. It is not some out-of-reach perfection I am talking about here either, nor am I talking merely about the role ritual leaders hold in being ritual pure or helping to make purified religious space. The foundations of religious work are carried by everyone in that religion. Purification and cleansing are part of those foundations so we enter into sacred space clean and well, so that the Gods, Ancestors, and vaettir are prayed to, offered to, experienced, and understood well. Purification and cleansing help us to keep these things clean so that what we do and pass on is healthy for our religions, our communities, our tribes, our Kindreds, our families, and ourselves.
Day 30: Cleansing, Empowerment, Offering and Sealing -30 Days of Magic Talisman Challenge
This day was an excellent end to the 30 Day Talisman Challenge. The work started off with extra cleansing work: a traditional beer bath. I drew up a hot bath, entered it, and prayed to the Gods and spirits of Water, thanking Them for cleansing me inside and out. I had the bottle of Hofbräu Dunkel opened already, and brought it into the bath with me. Standing in the bath, I prayed thanks to the brewers, and to the spirits of beer itself. Then, I poured three times into the bath, thanking the spirits of Water and the beer as I did, and then poured the beer three times over my head, the beer flowing down my back and front. The effect was immediate: I started to feel physically, mentally, and spiritually clean from the inside out. I then poured the beer over my shoulders, my hands, genitals, and down towards my feet. I then drank a little and left the remainder of the bottle outside the bath.
I expected to be very sticky but I was not. Quite the opposite; I felt better than if I had used soap. As I cleaned myself in the bath, I plunged my head into the water and came out feeling as though all the cobwebs were gone. I then galdred Midgarð’s Name, calling upon it to help me ground, center, and shield. I then called upon Ansuz and Gebo, as I usually do, to continue the cleansing work with Ansuz, and finish the grounding and centering with Gebo. I then let out the water, feeling very clear inside and out, and waited until the water and beer had completely gone down the drain before stepping out.
I dressed in fresh clothes, then cleaned out the offering bowls to Runátýr and the Runevaettir, then offered blood, and my last bottle of Hofbräu Original to Them. When this was done I went to the Rune altar. I thanked the Gods and spirits of Fire for blessing, cleansing, and protecting the area and I for the 30 days of work. I prayed thanks for the 30 days of work Runátýr, the Runevaettir, and I had done together, for the blessings, power, and grace They had bestowed upon the talismans. Then I did the empowerment work with Them for the last time before the sealing work.
I picked up a copper-bottomed pot and an aluminum pot from the local PTO thrift store for doing sealing work with these talismans, and other pieces I have done. First I had copper-bottomed pot come to a boil on the stove, and placed the aluminum pot on top of it. There were still some of the beeswax in the bottom of the pot from the test I had done with an Ægishjálmur talisman that I made some time ago, so I did not have to cut up too many chunks from the beeswax slab.
Both talismans were done the same way: When the beeswax became clear, I placed the talisman in with small tongs and swished it around the aluminum pot, and then flipped it, coating both sides. I took the talisman out, and placed it on a ceramic plate I had next to the stove. While the beeswax cooled and hardened, I galdred the Runes of each talisman, moving it sunwise as I did. When both were totally sealed I brought them back upstairs to lay on the Rune altar until the wealth talisman is given away, and I determine where the communion talisman needs to go.
This has been a great experience. These 30 days of discipline and work have gone by well; the talismans hum and feel good to the touch. I am eagerly awaiting giving the wealth talisman away at the Wandering Owl, and continuing to work with the communion talisman. Thank you for starting this Challenge, Andrieh Vitimitus. Thank you, who have watched this work progress, and thank you to all my fellow Challenge workers. Blessings on each of you in this, and all Challenges ahead. Thank you to the Gods, Ancestors, and spirits who have been directly involved, and supportive of this work. Hail to you all. Ves ðu heil!
Day 29: Empowerment -30 Days of Magic Talisman Challenge
This is the home stretch. Tomorrow the talismans will be sealed. There’s a kind of excitement brewing, both from myself and from the Runes as well. That a month of work is coming to a close and that this project will be complete. The energies in the Runes ‘smell’ something like when you know food that smells just right; it is good, wholesome, delicious, and in some way, it makes your mouth water. I have the beeswax, and I will be making a bag for this as well tomorrow. I am really looking forward to it.
Day 28: Empowerment -30 Days of Magic Talisman Challenge
I’m looking forward to the end of this challenge. It has been a good daily touchstone, and I think I will continue this work in some fashion. Since I am keeping the communion talisman I may work that into an everyday prayer.
The empowerment itself went well. There’s a kind of anticipation building; I cannot wait to seal these talismans.
Day 27: Offering and Empowerment -30 Days of Magic Talisman Challenge
Yesterday was madcap in terms of stuff to do. It was my first day, and will be my only day, of missing a day of this work. Today I gave offerings of blood to Runátýr and the Runevaettir, and gave an offering of a very special beer: Hofbräu Original. I generally do not like beer unless it is a good quality one. I had one of these at Frankenmuth, MI last Saturday and it knocked my socks of. One of the people I call Brother bought me a sampler case of Hofbräu beers, and I offered this to Runátýr and the Runevaettir, and to Frigga as well. It felt very well received.
The empowerment went very well. There is an odd but good sensation to the talismans when I trace the woodburnings in them. Something like a surge of electricity that makes my arm feel odd as I press my finger to the Runes. Both of them have this sensation, almost identically. There’s a different ‘flavor’ to the wealth talisman from the communion talisman. Just two more days until the beeswax sealing of these two. I’ll be grabbing pots, possibly today, so I can do double boiling from a local thrift store, and keep them for this work.
Day 26: Empowerment -30 Days of Magic Talisman Challenge
Today went well, especially after a busy day. I think that it is a good thing that there’s not a lot of new things to write on at this point; this is, I think, where this process should be. In three days I will be finishing the talismans by putting on the beeswax, and blooding the one I am keeping.
Day 24 and 25: Empowerment -30 Days of Magic Talisman Challenge
Yesterday and today’s empowerment were quicker than usual, and brought with each a feeling of power coursing down through my arm as the empowerment was completed. I’ve had this feeling with each one, but it is becoming especially pronounced now as we near the end of the Challenge. It isn’t like lightning, electricity feeling, more like a warmth spreading down my arm. The Internet has been sporadically up and down, and here’s hoping that cuts out soon. I’m getting tired of posting these one to two days after they happen!
Day 23: Empowerment -30 Days of Magic Talisman Challenge
Today was quick but no less effective. Just a feeling of unfolding that has come in the last week or two of this work. I can feel the home stretch, with only 7 more days to go. There’s a bit of excitement to it. A hope, too.
Day 22: Empowerment -30 Days of Magic Talisman Challenge
Today was simple and clean. The energies of the talismans are in good forward motion. I’ll be experimenting with the beeswax soon in a double boiling technique with another talisman to see what the process is like, and how easy or hard it will be to coat them when the Challenge comes to a close.
Sarenth Odinsson 