Patreon Topic 90: On Retinues and Courts of Spirits

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From Maleck comes this topic:

“Some gods, for example Dionysus, are noted to have retinue or courts of other spirits. Can you talk about your experiences with gods and their retinues, particularly if you’ve experienced gods without attestation of such in the lore having them?”

Much of my experiences with the retinue and courts of spirits that Gods hold are often off the map of what lore we have. Even for those retinue or courts of spirits that are attested, my experiences tend to be a bit afield from what can be understood through written sources. An example: except for a few modern folks who identify as maenads, we have only the written sources to explore them prior to modern experiences with them. My experience with Gods that have retinues and/or courts is that those retinues and courts alike serve different functions depending on the God and the reason for that retinue or court existing. Even those Gods whose courts or retinue seem to be the same tend to have sharp, important differences.

My experience with Dionysos’ retinue has been one of praise, of making the way for the God, and inviting others to join the ongoing throng. Save for Dionysos Himself, the retinue is generally made up of mortals. In my experience, this retinue is made up of the mortals who swore themselves to Him and/or the paths He laid down prior to their death. Sometimes this retinue exists to bring on the bacchic states of mind that allow for transformation, and others, they drive transformation and madness not unlike driving cattle. Appropriate, given the name archbokolos and bokolos for head or arch-priest and priest, with bokolos related to cow-herd. A bright contrast might be seen with processions these retinue carry out. I tend to associate the more bokolos-led retinue with praise and worship, whereas I associate the maenads with madness and transformation, particularly when the maenads lead, and in their mad fury, seek to rip Dionysos apart, a praising and sacrificing of the God that sweeps up all in their path into their fury.

My experience with Frigg’s Council could not be more different. Each are Goddesses unto Themselves, serving in Frigg’s Council in some way as a helpmeet. I tend to find Them as a whole rather calm. Among the Council are: Frigg Herself, Saga, Eír, Gefjon, Fulla, Sjofn, Lofn, Var, Vör, Syn, Hlin, Snotra, and Gná. Each carries some great megin with Them in Council and brings that to bear when needed. Where Dionysos’ retinue is wild, often screaming, fierce, and feral, I once heard a devotee call Frigg’s Council is like a board meeting for a CEO, and I think it is apt. She and Her retinue tend to be very to-the-point, business-like at times. Of Her Council I interact the most with Eír, as She and Menglöð are the ones I tend to pray to when healing requests come to me. Most of my experiences with Frigg’s Council lie with Eír and Frigg Herself rather than the assembled Council, though on the few times I have been in Their Presence it has been both delightful and awe-inspiring.

Óðinn’s retinue I have a bit more experience with, as I hold a cultus with The Wild Hunt, to which He is one of the heads. I have seen Him lead the Hunt, pass off the responsibility, and co-leads with various Gods. In all of them He and His retinue are wild, fierce, sometimes unhinged, and yet, at times, well-conducted. It makes sense, given one of His heiti is Harjan, one of the translations for it being Lord of Hosts. In a lot of ways His retinue here reminds me of Dionysos’. It can carry His ferocity, to be sure, but it can also carry His edge of implacability, and the march of thousands of doomed feet, hooves, and paws that have found new life in the retinue.

Óðinn’s court is a pretty big about-face from experiencing Him leading the Wild Hunt. Here, Hávi, the High One, and Fimbulþulr, Mighty Thulr, comes forward. A þulr or thulr is one who is knowledgeable and wise. When He is seated at Hliðskjalf, His High Seat, and has assembled His court and/or is in Council with the Æsir, He may retain that edge of ferocity and frenzy, yet I feel it tempered with cold reason, manipulation, diplomacy, tactics, and tact. He seems the most a Chieftain to me in this way, and here what is best for the Æsir rules the day whereas The Wild Hunt, at least when He leads it, seems to be an extension or imbued with His fury and frenzy.

My experience with Freyr’s retinue, the Revelry, I can only really guess at. Given the experiences Maleck has related about Them, I am fairly certain that I have interacted with Them. To my understanding They are more oriented around spreading His blessings from the lands of the Dead to the lands of Life. Not all are peaceful, cuddly Beings. After all, these are Beings that have come back from the land of the Dead. My feeling that the Álfar who accompany Freyr from His journey to and from the mound are powerful, regal figures who carry various megin of Their own relevant to the trials He faces on exiting Helheim or traversing back to life.

While all I have given here are snapshots of my experience, it is my hope to communicate the ideas of these retinues, courts, and councils. Especially when it comes the The Revelry, I do not have as much experience as others do, and many of my experiences with the retinue of The Wild Hunt are bound up in experiences that are personal and powerful. Perhaps another time I can do a deeper drill down into particular experiences with these various Gods and Their retinues, Councils, and Courts.

Patreon Poem/Prayer/Song 91: For The Shenandoah River

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This request was made by Cunian for The Shenandoah River.

Hail to You, Who courses from your Mother Mountain

Whose soils are rich and good

Whose waters have carved countless caves

Hail to You, Who teams with fish

Whose waters house and empower

Whose course flows through mountains and valleys

Hail to You, Who is poisoned

Whose flow is filled with mercury

Whose children suffer with sores

Hail to You, Who persists

Who yet brings life

Who yet allows passage

Hail to You, Shenandoah River

Mighty and long in Your ways

Who still blesses all She touches

Patreon Poem/Prayer/Song 90: For The Wolf Mothers

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This request was made by Maleck for The Wolf Mothers.

You know us intimately

Before our first howl

Before we see light

Before our life begins

You hear our first whimpers

The first meal we eat comes from You

The first joys are Yours

The first breaths we take with You

You know us, scent and sight

You know us, bark and bite

You know us, nails and nose

You know us, teeth and toes

You teach us what it is to be Pack

What it is to live together

What it is to love together

What it is to learn together

You teach us to be Wolves

Patient and powerful

Strong and steady

Clear and compassionate

You teach us to be Pack

Clever and careful

Strong and smart

Interdependent and dedicated

You teach us to be ourselves

With beauty and boldness

With strength and softness

With community and council

Hail to the Wolf Mothers!

You Who raise the Pack

You Who birth the Pups

You Who hunt the Prey

You Who share the Silence

You Who raise Gods

You Who remember the Ancestors

You Who nurture the Cycles

You Who teach the Songs

You Who show the Ways

Hail to the Wolf Mothers!

Hail to the Wolf Mothers!

Hail to the Wolf Mothers!

Patreon Topic 87: On Sacred Poetry/Prayers, and Myths

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From Maleck comes this topic:

“Do you differentiate between sacred poetry/prayers and myths? Either in the reading or the writing of them? Has the experience with the 3POTS storytelling ritual changed your perspective on this at all?”

I differentiate between them in the sense that generally the myths I read generally come to me before than the ones I have written. I understand that both sacred poems/prayers and myths reveal truths of the Ginnreginn even if not one way of relating with Them wholly grasps the whole of Them. Each time a prayer, poem, or myth is written or passed along, there is something being revealed about the Ginnreginn even if it is something previously known, such as a prayer to Mugwort praising Her for Her cleansing. In the reading of the prayers, poems, and myths, the understanding conferred is reaffirmed and the truth of it lives in a new time, each bringing forth both the Ginnreginn and the relationships it holds anew.

Myths are stories of how our relationships with the Ginnreginn are, came to be, exist now, or have developed to this point. Prayers and poems may affirm this as well, and may themselves be a telling of a myth, a presentation of a myth in a new way, or the forming/expression of a new myth. They need not be exclusive even if there may occasionally be bright lines between them. We can write praise poetry for which the existing corpus of myth has nothing on the God at hand and, in so doing, singlehandedly inspire a whole new one.

My experience with the 3PoT storyelling ritual reaffirmed this, whether I look at my own with the Ice Jotnar or any of the spontaneous extemporaenous prayers, poems, songs, or myths that came to us. Each story revealed something about a, or many Ginnreginn, and each time it was told again, it reaffirmed while revealing something new. Each story brought with it myth and knowing. I think, for me, that any of these give access to knowing, gnosis, and direct experience of the Ginnreginn.

My experience writing the prayers and poems for the Pack Spirits has affirmed this for me as well. As the corpus of Their myths, and understanding of Them are still being developed through each initiate and each person who interacts with Them, these prayers, poems, and the writings Maleck and others have taken on give many ways of connecting to and with the various Pack Spirits. Despite not being initiated into the work, They reached out to me through the various prayers Maleck commissioned I write for Them. Whether I thought about it at the time or not, for whoever accepts my prayers into their corpus of prayers, it adds to the experience of the Pack Spirits, and to the Tradition each one holds. It’s an interesting thought.

Whether through the medium of myths and mythmaking, reciting or making prayers, reciting or making poetry, each brings with it the ability to recontextualize our relationships with the Ginnreginn. Whether writing, reading, listening to, or otherwise engaging with and through myths and prayers, each brings with it the ability to deepen, to reaffirm, and/or identify a wholly new way of relating with our Ginnreginn.

Patreon Poem/Prayer/Song 89: Fungi

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This request was made by Cunian for Fungi.

Between and neither

Flesh and plant, death and life

Eater and consumed

Composer and decomposer

Communicator and network, giver and receiver

Bodies and souls

Hallower and destroyer

Magic and spirit, mind and space

Violence and healing

Silent and speaking

Doorway and destination, message and voice

Spiral and deep

Before and after

Worlds and spore, air and life

Gift and giver

Patreon Topic 86: A Magical Analysis of Dune’s Litany Against Fear

If you want to submit a topic you would like me to write on for this blog or my Patreon, sign up for the Ansuz level or above here on my Patreon.

From Cunnian comes this topic:

“A magical analysis of Dune’s Fear incantation would be interesting. For me, I currently parse stuff a lot like diagramming a sentence: x element, y element, definition of actor and action, repetition and reinforcement, opening, closing, etc.”

“I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
-‘The Litany Against Fear’ Dune, Frank Herbert

The Litany Against Fear can be a very effective mantra that can take on a great deal of power depending on how one employs it. Self-control is a powerful thing in and of itself even without bringing in anything more esoteric into the discussion. Bringing various souls to bear, it is powerful as a guiding force for magical and spiritual work.

“I must not fear.”

This is a directive, an order from the Self to the Self. When used as a measure for self-control, it addresses oneself directly, with few words, no mincing or equivocating.

“Fear is the mind-killer.”

This primes the mind and body for dealing with the fear it because not only do you now have a directive, to not fear, but a reason to not fear. Fear kills the mind, so therefore to avoid death we do not fear.

“Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.”

This acknowledges the power of fear to overwhelm, to put aside, to destroy everything we hope to do, be, and become. The process to not fear, to defeat death, then, is seemingly simple, and straightforward:

“I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me.”

This is, importantly, not a dismissal or denial of fear. I find it to be aligned with the Stoic idea I have encountered again and again of engaging with emotion but not letting emotions rule you. To be in an emotion, to experience it, but not to be ruled by it. The Litany goes on with what to do with this energy, this knowing:

“And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path.”

Once the fear is passed, once you are under control, it is not enough to be in control. You have to see where it came from, where it is going, and how it will continue to manifest. Seeing its path is to correct where you can, acknowledge what you cannot, and act decisively when it next comes.

“Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

This acknowledgment of, that there will be nothing where the fear has gone, is both an understanding that fear is a temporary state. That you are not your fear. That you are not the experience of fear, and that the experience of fear, the feeling of fear, leaves you behind. The last part of this Litany, “Only I will remain.” is an acknowledgment and a directive. Once fear has gone on its path only I, and not the fear, will be here. This is the recognition of Self as Self, that I that is, and that only that I will remain once the effect of fear has passed.

A quick overview of the sálættr concept that I am reproducing here will be featured in my upcoming book, currently titled Heathen Spiritwork Volume I: Basics of Heathen Esotericism. I posted a description of the Sálættr to my blog here. Sálættr is a neologism I have coined meaning ‘soul’ and ‘tribe, clan, family, or group’.

Magically, combined with Önd work, such as deep breathing, a sense of peace and calm can descend as the Self is reestablished as being in control and good to go. To be clear, I think the ‘Self’ here is probably best aligned with the Hugr rather than the Sál. From a sálættr perspective, that our souls are not individual but tribes, clans, and/or groups, that ‘I’ is more of a ‘we’ for our purposes. In this idea, I actually see this Litany Against Fear specifically talking to the Móðr, Oðr, Vili, Megin, and the Hugr at least.

By addressing these specific souls and bringing them into better alignment, we can better regulate and help the Lykr to act well in response to fear. When the Móðr is at peace, the Hugr can make more rational, careful choices. When the Oðr is able to be harnessed in concert with the Móðr, they can make taking action with clarity through the Hugr in ways that are much more powerful, decisive, and useful than they might otherwise. By bringing fear through the experience of fear, under control with the Vili, then Megin can be meaningfully wielded to best effect in concert with the Hugr and other souls. By allowing Móðr to experience fear and not squash that experience, it can learn to better experience, understand, process, and work with fear. All of these things aid the soul individually and communally to live less reactively, in a more grounded and centered way.

What all of this soul-alignment comes to, is that any magic we may do when we work with or move on to after reciting The Litany Against Fear makes the magic we make through our souls that much more potent. A sálættr need not be perfectly aligned or in a perpetual state of good working order to make effective magic. However, by engaging in good alignment, in which a sálættr is clean, cleansed, grounded, centered, and ready-to-act nature that the Litany espouses in its use, the work will be less encumbered, and likely to be more effective. By engaging with fear, by letting fear pass over and through you, the work at hand is approached without its interference and the magician is centered in themselves, with more ability to act with care, precision, and decision.

The Sálættr -Soul Tribe, Clan, or Group

While I have posted this as a page unto itself, I am also posting this exploration of the Sálættr as its own blog post to make it easier to find for followers.

A Note: The views I express are those I hold at the time of writing on the sálættr and the souls themselves is, as a lot of things in esotericism and spiritwork, an ongoing process of discovery, experience, meditation, and revision as needed. The term is a neologism combining the term sál, soul, and ættr which I have seen variously interpreted as tribe, clan, or group. As I have changed over the years in my understanding of the soul, going from a soul matrix understanding to a soul community/tribe/clan idea, I would encourage folks to hold your ideas with strength but adaptability. If you hold your ideas of what is too tight and you resist changes that experience and wisdom can bring. Hold it too loose, and it is hard to make a cogent understanding in the first place. I heavily recommend folks check out Winifred Hodge Rose’s website on Heathen Soul Lore here, and her books on Heathen Soul Lore Volume I and Volume II.

What I have written below is how I understand how each soul takes up a place in the sálættr. What is important to understand and keep in mind as someone explores this way of expressing and understanding what souls are and how the souls function within the sálættr, is that each soul is a unique Being unto itself. Each soul is part of the community of that sálættr. Like any unique Being, there are only so many ways we can conceptualize, understand, and relate with Them. Like any unique Being in community, there may be more or less parts of Them that are relevant to the good functioning of that community, in this case the collective of the sálættr that makes each of us up. It is important to remember that each soul is a whole Being unto itself rather than being a mere shard of the whole. Like a community, some of these Being rely on each other to become, emerge, or sustain Their existence. Some of these reliances on one another mean that when one of the souls die, for instance, the Lykr, other souls or portions of souls that are tied into it will die along with it. 

Lykr

The physical body and its functions.

Önd

The breath and the spiritual energies tied to it. I look at it as being in a similar way to chi, qi, prana, or pneuma. While Rose splits the Önd between Ahma and the Ghost as filled by it, I see these souls as being one in the same. That is, Önd is the breath and the hamr, the skin, that personhood, that the breath fills.

Önd is the energy and circulation of spiritual energy, and has ties to all the souls. It is part of how we engage with our other souls while we live. For instance, someone who works with their önd on a regular basis can engage their óðr in a deeper way because it is done with intent, and the development of skill in doing so.

Litr

Blooming hue, the vitality and well-being of the Lykr. I have also seen this as the vitality and well-being shared between the souls.

Hamr

The hamr is the spiritual double of a person. It could be analogized to the astral body in general occultism. 

Hugr

Thought. The way we think, the paradigms of understanding we have, and the worldview we hold.

Munr

Memory. This is the living memories of the person, and, in my view, those memories that live on after we die.

Móðr

The mood and emotions soul that is and flows between souls.

While you could look at the Moðr as exclusively belonging to the physical body, I also see it tied up with soul parts not tied to the body, namely the Vili, Oðr, Vé, and Sál.

Öðr

Frenzy. The ability of a person to enter into altered states of consciousness, and sacred states.

Sál

Perhaps the most distant, it is an Old Norse word meaning soul and was borrowed into the language. I use this term to mean the organizing soul, one I see that stays behind in one of if not many afterlives. 

Megin

Personal might/power. 

Often tied to honor, this idea of Megin is the power one has and the ability to put one’s power to use. Each person holds Megin, but how they are able to express it, use it, and work with it differs person to person. It can refer to your ability to do something, guided by the Villi, Will. It can refer to the pull you have socially. Power expresses itself in a number of ways, some overt, eg the ability to move weight, and others subtle, eg the ability to move people to emotion. It can also refer to spiritual power employed in magic. A person’s Megin may not go away when a person dies. The effects a given person has or can exert on a community post-mortem can be quite a testament to the ongoing effects, or ongoing work, their Megin is engaged in.

Megin can find expression in almost innumerable ways. A person might invest quite a lot of Megin in a given craft or items, such as Runes, ritual tools, and items that have deep connections with certain Gods, Ancestors, and vaettir. They might also invest a lot of Megin in the running and operations of a community, though this will intersect with Hamingja as well. Megin, then, is also bound up in how we work with our personal might or power and the things it is invested in. Whether this is done in a healthy way is up to how we decide to use this power.

Víli

The will, or the Will, the part of the person’s sálættr that brings power to action.

Vé

The sacred place. In terms of the sálættr, a person’s sense of, sensitivity to, and aptitude in connecting and working with the sacred.

Hamingja

Group luck/power.

Where Megin was power built on one’s own, Hamginja is built in community. It is what we inherit from our forebears, and affects the shape of our Urðr. It is built within the relationships we build well, harmed by the relationships we neglect, and can grow quite strong if we do the work necessary for it to. Each oath kept, each work done that helps the community adds to one’s own and others’ interwoven hamingja.

Fylgjur

The Follower, or Followers.

The Fylgja holds an interesting place in Heathenry. On the one hand most folks equate it to the fetch, and yet, it appears in a number of different ways. As I understand it fylgja, or fylgjur, are part of the soul matrix because, much like our hamingja is built in community, so our spiritual Elders, allies, friends, and acquaintances are made in community.

Kýnfylgjur

My view of the Kinyfylgja/Kinfylgjur is along similar lines to the 

Fylgja/Fylgjur. These are Followers who are connected to our Ancestors, or are Themselves. Ancestors. Kinfylgja/Kinfylgjur are what the word says on the tin: They are spirits, Followers, that are Kin. Relatives. This may refer to Ancestors, to animals or plants especially tied to a person’s family, or to initiated lineage.

Ørlög

One’s personal thread in the tapestry of Creation. That which has come before to get you where you are.

Urðr

The tapestry of Creation.

As with Örlög, this soul part is tied up in the rites of remembrance and care. Whereas Örlög is one’s personal thread in the tapestry, Urðr is the place where that thread is and the way this thread fits into the overall tapestry. Each person affects the tapestry differently over the course of their lives, and acknowledging their place in things, as with Örlög. Unlike Örlög, which is about each person’s thread, Urðr is the way each thread interweaves with each other.

On Thralldom

There are a lot of ideas and concepts from Theodism that I fervently wish would disappear. Among them are Gods of Limited Access, a subject I covered at length here. I have recently come across another which has gained traction, and again, I have been alerted to this trend through TikTok.

If you are looking for some background on Theodism I highly recommend these episodes, Episode 22 here and Episode 23 here. This whole podcast is an excellent overview of Heathenry history as related through two inclusive Heathens, Lauren Crow and Ben Waggoner. Ben Waggoner wrote the new editions of Our Troth and serves as The Troth’s Publication Director, and Lauren is the current President and CEO of The Troth.

There is never a need to use a term like thrall to describe a potential or actual Kindred member.

I see folks defending the idea of calling folks thralls as the ground level or as a punishment for what I gather are independent Kindreds. Many of the objections that I raised in my article on the Gods of Limited Access I repeat here with regards to using the word thrall.

I have other objections as well. We Heathens are reviving and revitalizing our paths, and what we choose to revive is a reflection upon us. Using the word thrall is a poor choice no matter the justification someone puts down. I don’t care that you’re referring to initiates or to people who are being punished. You are using a word that historically has meant someone who is enslaved and as such, is part of a distinct social class defined by it. There are other words to use within the culture group that you are taking your primary cues from. 

The way that thralldom works in modern Theodism is it serves an authoritarian purpose. The person is treated as a slave. That is what the word means. Even if that is not the intention, by use of this word and its meaning, that is effectively what is happening. After a certain point intent does not matter. What you are saying is that this person is less than. If what you mean is initiate, someone in a trial membership, or someone who is repaying the community for past wrongdoing, then use those words. If you want to use a specialized term, then use terms in alignment with the culture you are taking inspiration from, either words in the original language, or make neologisms. 

Theodish Heathens have aligned themselves with the far right and White Supremacist Heathenry. If you choose to use the word thrall I will assume that you are accepting this and participating in it. I don’t care if you have the words inclusive Heathen on your website, in your bio, or under your tagline. If you use the term thrall within your group I will assume you’re at minimum carrying water for, if not actually, a white supremacist.

Now, how everybody conducts their Hall is their own business. However, you do not get to be public or in the greater Heathen communities without comment or criticism. You do not get to put out your statements without question. 

Irminfolk Kindred is a classic example of this. For those unaware, this kindred put out a policy of only accepting members if they had European heritage. It was, is, and remains a racist policy. Rightly, it was called out. Anyone defending or justifying it I consider to be in alignment with those ideologies. No different and no better than the Ásatrú Folk Assembly. For posts on Irminfolk Kindred, look here, here, and here.

If we can understand that the Nine Noble Virtues and similar ideas came out of a racist group, made by the Odinic Rite, and should not be used, then we can treat Theodism and their ideas the same. 

Again, you can enact whatever policies you wish in your hall. That is completely your right to do so. It is also my responsibility to declare when something is wrong and harmful to the greater community when I see it. 

Theodism and Theodish beliefs are harmful. Both the Gods of Limited Access idea and thralldom equate to ongoing threats to individuals, especially those who are vulnerable or new within our communities, and to the integrity of anyone who associates with them or accepts these ideas as valid. In this way it is a threat to the greater communities of Heathenry, polytheists, and animists. Theodism and those who support these ideologies and perpetuate their ideas allows for the perpetuation of abuse, and harm. For those who are committed to inclusivity and care for the members of our communities, personal and the greater Heathen communities, they should not be allowed to proliferate within our spaces, nor be accepted or tolerated.

Patreon Topic 83: On Oaths and Growth

If you want to submit a topic you would like me to write on for this blog or my Patreon, sign up for the Ansuz level or above here on my Patreon.

From Cunian comes this topic:

“Prospective oaths and growth. How does one deal with an oath that has become a problem? How does this tie in with Odin and Loki? I realize the traditional advice is to not take an oath lightly, but beyond that there is a point where holding to a soberly and sincerely taken oath becomes a handle to allow abuse, a connection to something that has become so odious that it must be actively repudiated, or a cage to enforce a static situation.”

One of the biggest issues with taking on an oath for a long period of time is that circumstances and life will make change. If you swear the oath to last for the length of your lifetime or past this life, you are likely setting yourself up for a boatload of bullshit. If your oaths have no wiggle room, and no chance down the line to be renegotiated, there had best be some amazing benefits to it. Even so, I do not recommend folks take such oaths unless they absolutely must.

This also, incidentally, is why I let relatively few people know about my oaths. It can be an incredible way of setting someone up shit creek with no paddle. It may not matter that someone caused you to fail in keeping an oath, it may just matter that you have not kept it. Some vaettir get really fucking picky about keeping oaths, and they may well lack a desire for nuance or explanation.

With an oath that you can no longer fulfill, generally, my advice is to ask the Ginnreginn you made it to for release from the oath. They may ask for some kind of compensation or desire some kind of work from you as a result. It will be up to you if the price you pay to them is worth it. It may also be that it may depend on the God, Ancestor, and/or vaettr in question as to whether they are even willing to hear about being released from an oath, especially if you made it recently.

So, what do you do if you cannot fulfill the oath and the Ginnreginn will not release you from it? You need to decide if you want to potentially break that relationship off entirely, as that may be what is part of getting the oath lifted. I would seek help from another Ginnreginn. Ideally, the Ginnreginn you go to for help would be one with whom you have a good relationship already. If not, then it is likely best if the Ginnreginn is from the same culture group as the one you owe the old oath to, because they are likely to have a perspective you understand.

In any of these cases I feel it is also best to have spoken with at least one spiritual specialist, who may themselves be a divine, who has active, good, and ongoing relationships with the Ginnreginn to whom you owe the oath. I would also seek guidance from one to three diviners independent of that spiritual specialist, ideally all of whom have connection to, and ongoing good relationships with Ginnreginn from that culture group. So, if you owe an oath to a Heathen God then the ideal folks for you to talk with are Heathen, though if you have a trusted diviner outside of the Heathen circles there is nothing wrong with getting their perspective and advice on the matter.

A spiritual specialist, such as a priest or spiritworker, may be able to negotiate on your behalf and get a better deal, or a deal at all, when on your own you may not be able to. Part of this is because most priests and spiritworkers have ongoing oaths that bind them into service with their Ginnreginn, and they have more pull than the average person as a result. It is not that they are inherently better, either in spirituality or negotiation, but that their ongoing work and service may make them better suited, spiritually and/or politically, to gaining better results.

In the case of an oath being allowed to be dropped, I recommend a solemn ceremony in which you begin by cleansing, grounding, centering, shielding, and then making offerings to the Ginnreginn allowing you to drop the oath. Words of praise, either extemporaneously or through written poetry you read, can help here. It also can be good to just speak from the heart, in being thankful to be allowed to drop the oath, and if you need to do anything else on your end, to dedicate to it, and then do it as swiftly as possible.

Even in the case where oaths have become onerous, I do not generally advocate for intentional oathbreaking because this can cause deep harm to the souls, leaving severe or irreparable damage to your souls, and the souls of your descendants as a result. Mind you, it does not matter if you have kids or not, descendants include folks related to you as Ancestors by blood, adoption, lineage, initiation, and spirit. All those ties will be affected by breaking an oath, as surely as they are being affected by the oath going unfulfilled, and will be affected if the oath is allowed to be released. Whether this is for the better or not is up to your circumstances and the Ginnreginn involved. To my mind, it is far better to have made the overture, sought help from other Ginnreginn, and otherwise exhausted your resources before taking what is a last, potentially catastrophic choice.

With regard to Óðinn and Loki, I think that this is part of why Óðinn never lays a hand on Loki and vice versa. They are, after all, oathed blood-brothers, and despite all the heinous shit that Óðinn does put Loki and Their Family through, He does not directly cause harm to come to His blood-brother. While some folks may say “Look, Óðinn threw Jörmungandr into the sea, chained Fenris, and made Hel the Queen of Helheim. How is that not harm?” While I would definitely call these dick moves, the alternative seems to have been to kill the three Children. So, honoring His blood-brother and keeping His Children alive seems to have been the move here. However, this unravels, like a lot of things when it comes to Ragnarök. Whatever your view of it, whether Ragnarök is a literary device, a millenarism reaction to Christian hegemony or both, or that it has at least some genuine Nordic myth in it, it makes sense as to why Loki joins the side that makes war on the Æsir. By the time this happens They have hung in a cave for thousands of years with a snake dripping venom into Their face, Their children Narfi and Vali are dead, and the entire time He has been bound in the Narfi’s guts during this imprisonment in the cave. It is a full rupture of their relationship well before Ragnarök proper occurs.

The breakdown of familial relations as recounted in the myths around Ragnarök clearly illustrate this as well. If the destruction of good relationships, good bonds, and good reciprocity are what allow Ragnarök to get started, then its opposite, the repair and caretaking of those good relationships, bonds, and reciprocity, are what help to keep it at bay, and when it is over, allow Yggdrasil and the Worlds to renew in Ragnarök’s aftermath. It is within our power to be part of the positive work that keep Ragnarök at bay, and in its wake, rejuvenate and renew the Worlds. Even when we have to cease an oath, that is more positive than continuing to do ongoing harm to our relationship with the Ginreginn. While it can be hard, if not a gargantuan undertaking depending on the oath you are trying to be released from, far better that than the ongoing harm to yourself and others through an inability to follow through on an oath.

AGF 116 – Rock On Bone Dust Woman

AGF 116 – Rock On Bone Dust Woman