Patreon Topic 36: Connecting with Mímir

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From Streakingfate comes this topic:

“I’m not sure if you’ve written about connecting with / your experiences of Mimir much or not, but something around him might be interesting.”

Most of my experiences with Mímir are generally quiet. I have worshiped Him for a little less than the time I have Óðinn, so around 13 years. That being said, He has always been there.

I have visited His Well in hamr, but not to sacrifice anything, just to visit. He is Himself a well of wisdom, and just His Presence is a kind of low rumble of power. He exudes this patience, not serenity, but a kind of calm collectedness, of knowing. His spiritual voice to me registers very low, not low in terms of volume, but register.

There have been times where I have made specific offerings to Him. Some time back when I skinned a deer and went to macerate her head, I was asked by Mímir and Óðinn for her eyes. I had to take them out whole in offering to Them. Otherwise, my offerings tend to be the same as for my other Gods: water, coffee, whiskey, beer, mead, and other drinks besides, sacred herbs, and occasionally food.

I have had times where I ‘loaned’ Him my eyes for a set period of time, but these were few and far between. One time was in response to where I felt like He wanted my eye for wisdom. This deal of Him ‘borrowing’ my eyes was a kind of compromise to where He was with me for a period of around 8 hours. The sensation was something like having someone stand beside you, but take that sensation and put it behind your eyes. It was odd, but not uncomfortable.

Much of my worship with Him follows along the lines of our other hearth Gods. We pray to Him regularly during our meal prayers and night prayers. We make a lot of the same offerings to Him as our other hearth Gods. When Mímisbrunnr Kindred meets, He is generally the first among the Gods we honor and offer to. If we had a motto, it is from Him: No wisdom is gained without sacrifice. His is a consistent reminder that not only is there a price for wisdom, it must be paid.

Patreon Topic 31: On Burnout

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From Kate comes this topic:

“I’m very new to following my current path, and was interested on ways to prevent burnout and becoming overwhelmed while opening up to what the Gods are teaching me.”

The first thing to keep is boundaries. Remember, the Gods do not necessarily have our perspective/experience in mind when They give us things to do. Because our relationships are a two-way street we need to be clear about what our boundaries are. Some Gods, such as Óðinn, might push you hard on moving your boundaries back. My advice, earned through no small amount of doing this, is to not do that. You still need to be able to live well in this world. In my case Óðinn pushed me to the breaking point before I finally exercised my right to enforce my boundaries. He did not do this out of callousness, but to teach me, especially because a vaettr with an agenda might take advantage of that zeal.

Boundaries, such as right relationship with a God, Goddess, Ancestors, and/or vaettir may be personally as well as communally negotiated. Our various sources of information, such as myths and archaeology, can help us to see where the boundaries used to lie between the Gods, Ancestors, vaettir, and Their worshipers at one time. Having this as an idea of where to start can help. Again, “the past gets a vote, not a veto.” In the end, we are the living carriers of these religions and it is our relationships that we are engaging in with the Ginnreginn. Right relationship with our communities is something we each need to decide on what that looks like.

The second thing to keep are the things that bring us contentment, joy, and relaxation. Rituals to and with the Gods, Ancestors, and vaettir should be things we enjoy. They do not need to be overly complex or too simplistic unless such is a requirement from Them. Likewise, how we live our lives needs to involve periods where we can take care of our obligations, ourselves, and those we love. Schedule them if you need to.

The third thing to keep is mindfulness. Since we are largely reviving our religions, I will share a quote I love from Ocean Keltoi: “The past gets a vote not a veto.” We can take inspiration, quite a bit from our religions’ forebears, but this path now is ours to live. Mindfulness keeps us connected with our worldview, and from there how we relate to everything in the Worlds. Mindfulness may involve meditation, simply observing our thoughts on a thing we are going to do and correcting or affirming it, or just taking a step back from a situation. Mindfulness helps to prevent burnout because it helps us to recognize when we are becoming overwhelmed or burnt out. It helps us to keep our boundaries, or to let us know when they’re being too rigidly enforced. Sometimes the boundaries we make can turn into prisons with enough worry or strictures around how we think. Without boundaries we have no structure into which our relationships and spiritual experiences go, and so they can lose meaning or any anchoring in our lives. So, questioning boundaries or being willing to let them move or tighten up can be helpful.

The fourth thing to keep is community. Whether online or off, a good community can help to keep us grounded, evaluate information, and develop discernment. In the case of this topic suggestion, just asking the question and the responses I give here has the potential to help someone, and so not only are you potentially helping yourself, you may also be helping other folks you will never personally meet. The boundaries advice was first, though, because sometimes communities can be unhelpful, whether they are misled, toxic, or just not communicating well. So, keeping your boundaries, your contentment, joy, and relaxation, and your mindfulness helps when interfacing with communities so you have the grounds on which to judge whether a given community can or will be helpful to you. A community that asks too much or gives too little back will definitely contribute to stress, burnout, and overwhelm. Likewise, a community that has a good balance with you and one another can contribute to each member facing these things.

It is totally acceptable and good to just have a simple devotional relationship with the Gods, Ancestors, and vaettir. There is no race, no competition, no need to go any faster or slower than what your needs require. You are just beginning your journey, and it may take a short while or as long as  years to find if you have a niche, and if you do have one, what that niche is. So, how to apply all of this?

Developing a daily practice is an excellent boundary to keep, both because it allows for a period of our lives to be given over to our religious obligations and because it gives us space to be able to enjoy contact with our Gods, Ancestors, and vaettir. Daily practice can start quite small, say five minutes a day. The kicker here is to do it regularly. This discipline can help quite a bit in giving us a place to have contact with our Ginnreginn (Mighty/Holy Powers) in an ordered space that allows us to shed every other thing except the time we give over to be with Them. Keeping this boundary, both with myself and others, has allowed me no small amount of peace, contentment, and joy. It has allowed me to bring mindfulness into my everyday life in a lot of profound ways, and it has deepened my involvement with community, both through platforms like these and through the work I am ble to do because my bases are covered, and my baseline obligations are taken care of.

Intentionally setting aside time to engage in things that make you happy, that bring on contenment, joy, and relaxation, helps us not only handle our everyday stress, it also helps us in our spiritual pursuits too. By providing that down-time we won’t be as tempted to eat into the time we give to the Gods, Ancestors, and vaettir. It also allows us to unwind and if we are in a places where we can, to reflect on our experiences and find ways to integrate them into our lives. Whether it is reading, listening to music, playing video games, socializing, whatever gets you there, we make the choice to not divorce our spirituality from the rest of our lives. We are able to bring our religions right into what we enjoy there too. Folks, myself included, have made playlists to Gods, Ancestors, and vaettir that include songs we deeply enjoy that tie those bond with Them tighter through sharing more of our lives with Them. By going beyond some boundaries, eg a strict separation of religion from the rest of one’s life, we can encourage a more integrated and deeper bond with our Ginnreginn that spans our lives. Sometimes, though, we do need to have clear boundaries on our time and to just do things for ourselves.

There are a lot of resources on how to develop mindfulness. One of the best tools for me is a series of questions I still use: “What does it do? How well does it do it?” This can be applied to tools as to devotional work, eg making offerings. It can also be applied to whether some activity is me keeping myself busy vs something that actually allows me to relax. Being mindful takes practice, and as your skill in it grows it can be applied to more things in your life. How you shop and what you shop for can be informed by mindful consideration, eg “Does this thing comport with the values of my worldview? If yes, how well? If no, do I still need this or want this bad enough that I can justify it to my worldview? Is there another way to get this thing/result?” How you enjoy certain things for relaxation may change over time as well, eg “This music used to be soothing but since using it in ritual I have this association now and need to find new music.” Your boundaries and tastes and so much more can change over time, so adaptability paired with mindfulness can help things to flow to some useful, powerful places.

Recognize that there are going to be times in your life where you need to drop back in some of your practices, take stock of where you are, and do the minimum so you can keep on keeping on. This does not make you a failure or a bad Pagan. Everyone has times in their life that will make them take a huge step back from whatever they are used to or think that they have to do, and parse your priorities, needs, obligations, and what you can do right now.

It is my hope that this helps you and that I have given you some good starting points.

Patreon Topic 28: On Patreon

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From Amanda Artemisia Forrester comes this topic:

“Can you talk about your experiences making a living as a pagan writer? How long have you been doing Patreon, do you think it’s too soon to draw any conclusive conclusions?”

It is way too early to refer to it as ‘making a living’. The Patreon is a wonderful addition to my income and I am proud of its success. However, it is not making enough to support my family and I. I can talk about my experience as a Pagan writer, though, because it took me almost ten years to get to this point.

Patreon started in 2013, and by then I had been blogging on WordPress for two years. For the nine years I have been blogging on this platform I spent all but the last without being paid for my work. I wrote for pleasure. I still do.

There has been a big change in content in that time. Before launching the Patreon, most of the subjects I wrote on, especially early on, were reflections and reactions to things I saw in the Pagan communities both on and offline. I would write the occasional deep dive into a topic I wanted to explore or thought needed to be fleshed out. In the last couple of years I took to writing more breakdowns on subjects like what ritual praxis is and how to do it, worldview, animism, polytheism, Heathenry in general, and Tribal Heathenry. I would occasionally dedicate months to devotional poetry to the Gods, but my output of devotional poetry would come in fits and starts.

Before the Patreon I would have large chunks of time where I would not write. There were a few reasons behind this, usually to do with home life and especially my jobs. I had it in the back of my head that maybe I should start one, though, but that is where the idea stayed.

Finally, the idea would not let me be. I talked with loved ones, friends, and colleagues. I took the plunge after a lot of encouragement. Given I had heard from so many folks that they wanted to hire my Spiritwork Services (what I used to call my Shamanic Services) but could not afford the $75 flat fee I still have for a Rune reading and most of my other spiritwork, I began to look at how to incorporate my spiritwork into the Patreon. What I offer now is the result from that.

Now, I write several articles every month on this blog for the topics and prayer/poem/song requests my patrons make. The Q&As I write are posted right to the Patreon page. My focus in writing is tighter than it ever has been. Rather than restricting my work, producing content my Patreon patrons want to see has made me open it up. The topic suggestions and Q&As keep me thinking, and exploring my views as a polytheist, especially as a Heathen. My thanks to my patrons for pushing me to be productive, for challenging me, and for supporting my work.

I think that Patreon’s structure came at a crucial time for a lot of content creators. Online ad revenue’s value took a huge nosedive in the last decade or so, and a lot of places in the late 90s and early 00s that relied on that to keep producing content were forced to shutdown. YouTube’s restrictions and algorithms over the years crushed a lot of channels that likewise depended on that steady income. Patreon came in to fill a niche at the perfect time. Where Kickstarter has had great success helping folks produce projects, Patreon’s success has come from helping folks produce regular content.

For me as a writer, as well as a spiritworker, Patreon is a powerful way to connect with my readers and folks wanting Rune readings and spiritual consultation. It allows us a solid platform for communication and Gebo. My hope is things continue this way, and I can expand what I offer through my Patreon. Thank you to all of my readers and Patreon supporters!

Ves Þu heil!

Patreon Topic 22: Ancestor Work and Weregild

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

From Stephanie comes this topic:

“In the latest episode (#52) you mentioned weregild. Could you elaborate on what this is and how it might come into play with ancestor work? What a weregild might be? Is it like a big crime(what my google search showed) or can it just be emotional baggage they never dealt with?”

Weregild means “man price”. In ancient Germanic societies this was used to describe the damages paid to a person or their family for harm or death. Weregild applied to all people, and so long as they were of sufficient rank in society they could collect on it. The exception to this case were thralls, slaves, who had no weregild price but whose death or injury were often compensated to their owners.

When I apply the term to Ancestor work I am talking about the weight of debt our Ancestors have accrued to each other and to others through the wrongs they have done. This is not just emotional baggage, though it can include emotional baggage having to be worked through if an Ancestor is refusing to handle an issue because of it. I also need to be clear in that when talking about weregild regarding Ancestor work that I am putting the responsibility to paying it on the Ancestors’ shoulders as They have generated it in the first place and carried the burden of it to us. This is different from ‘the sins of the father shall be visited upon the son’ in the way often taught in modern Christian churches.

Weregild owed by our Ancestors is our problem because the weight of that burden causes turmoil in our Ancestral lines. For example, if our Ancestors stole land, murdered a person, abused people, or caused injuries that were neither corrected or forgiven, They carry that debt with Them. That debt is owed to those who were wronged. Sometimes the wrong is so far back in history we cannot hope to contact a physical descendent of those wronged to pay the weregild, and so, we must seek to have our Ancestors right the wrong in another way. This might be extensive spiritual work on our part, eg sitting two sets of Ancestors down and working out past wrongs with them. We might be called on to heal old divisions between our family lines so that the descendents are reconciled with one another. We might be called on to help raise funds to buy land back that was stolen from a people or a person.

We may have situations where we simply cannot compensate the harm done. This may be because the damage done is so egregious or the harmed party is unwilling to allow a settlement. For cases where the wrong was done to people who are all dead, there certainly are things that can be done. As mentioned previous, we can do our best to compensate those who have survived the wrongs our Ancestors visited upon them. We can ask our Gods of the Dead to liase and work out what we and especially our Ancestors can do so weregild is paid.

The point of weregild is not guilt. Rather, it is to correct the wrongs done so that the harm done does not continue any longer in its effects and the harm done is compensated.

Something to keep in mind with this work is that your Ancestors paying their weregild does not absolve you of the work you need to do in this life, either personally or on Their behalf. Americans still live in a system that institutionally targets BIPOC for state-sanctioned murder, maiming, violence, and ongoing harm besides. Likewise, we still live in a system that institutionally does harm to QUILTBAG+ folks. As if this were not bad enough, the harm often intersects the worst with BIPOC QUILTBAG+ folks. Desired or not, whites, especially straight cis whites, overwhelmingly benefit from this situation. This is not something we can pay to go away. These are interconnected injustices that need to be addressed, fought against.

When we put our Ancestors into healthier positions through the spirit work we can do, They in turn can support us and our families better. When weight of spiritual debt is lifted through the payment of weregild and similar work, it is easier for our Ancestors to render Their aid, to do Their work, and to reweave lost threads between our various families, whether by blood, adoption, lineage, and so on. Our reciprocity to our Ancestors is to help Them to be better, and likewise, this is Their reciprocity to us.

Patreon Topic 21: Fylgja v Spirit Animals

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From Leslie comes this topic:

“”Fylgja v. ‘Spirit Animals’ and Why Fylgja is probably the word you mean.”

I’m going to break this up into two parts, the first covering what Fylgja and spirit animals are, and then “Why Fylgja is probably the word you mean.”

Fylgja translates as “to accompany”, “to follow” or “follower”. Fylgjur is its plural form. Huginn’s Heathen Hof has a good overview of what a fylgja in Part 1 and Part 2. A fylgja is a vaettr, a spirit, who follows. Boiled down to its essence, that is it. A lot of authors and scholars interpret the fylgja as a fetch or wraith, and while that interpretation has some merit, I think that is hardly the whole of it.

To start, as with anything regarding ancient Heathen sources for our religions, it has to be noted that most of our source material in the written works comes from a small spread of time. We also need to note that, generally, what we have is not from Heathens, is not in any way a religious text, and is transmitted by Christians. Archaeology has very little to say regarding fylgjur from what I have read and seen. However, it is clear from what we have that the ancient Heathens would have seen their world alive with Gods, their Ancestors, and vaettir.

It is also legitimate that our own perspectives may not line up exactly with what scholars purport the ancient Heathens believed. A lot of academic work with regard to ancient Heathen sources of knowledge, when it is not directly sourced in the materials themselves, is educated speculation. Again, given the sources we have are relatively few and widespread literacy is a relatively recent phenomenon historically, most information would have been given orally. As many of the everyday and religious items were fashioned from organic materials, namely wood, it is little wonder we have little to no evidence of cult objects.

All of this is to say that I follow a very expanded idea of fylgja that may be at odds with stricter interpretations of what they are. What some authors and scholars refer to in the role of fylgja, namely as fetch or wraith, I look more to the idea of vörðr, guardian. So, how do I understand fylgjur?

A fylgja is a vaettr that accompanies you, that has some kind of vested interest in you whether that be to teach you something, to guide you, to guard you for a time, or to observe you. They may or may not be attached to your familial line. This is where I make the distinction here of fylgja and kinfylgja. A fylgja or kinfylgja can take a variety of forms, human and non-human.

Why would a vaettr accompany you if not because it is part of, embodies, or is a member of your family? A given vaettr might be attached to a God or Goddess that you worship. It might be part of your family, eg a vaettr that adopted your family or has had dealings with them. It might be a vaettr interested in watching your potential in a given profession or work grow. It might be a vaettr who wants to make new ties not unlike the ones traditionally associated with fylgjur. It is important to keep in mind that you are likely the first person in a very long time to pay any attention at all to the Gods, Ancestors, and/or vaettir, so there’s any number of possible reasons for a given Being to come forward.

Contrast the view of what a fylgja is and does with that of a spirit animal. When folks use the term spirit animal they are usually saying something to effect of “That is my spirit animal.” I understand the term as it used today to mean that this is an animal that has claimed a person or has been assigned to them after a vision quest or some kind of deep spiritual work. I generally only see it seriously referenced regarding certain Native American tribes. This Metis-Anishinaabe breaks down why spirit animal is appropriative in non-Native contexts in this post. Given the connotations of Native American cultures and how one comes into relationship with a spirit animal I do not use the term and encourage others to not use the term.

Given that fylgja has its own cultural connections with Heathenry I would rather not see it become the next internet catch-all when what people are generally talking about is something completely unnatached to Heathenry. When folks use the term spirit animal in a spiritual context vs a meme one, they are usually talking about some kind of tutelary spirit, a spirit they have a deep affinity for, or a spirit they identify with/as on a soul level.

Instead of fylgja or spirit animal, I would far rather have folks who are not Heathen or Heathen-adjacent use tutelary spirit or spirit guide to mean a spirit that instructs or guides them. For those spirits they have a deep affinity for, perhaps a beloved spirit. For those who may identify with/as on a soul level to another spirit, perhaps the term kin spirit may work.

What I hope to do is clear up the waters of terminology rather than muddy them. I see part of that muddying is made when folks use terms that do not apply to them. To put it plainly, if you are not Native American then there are other words to use rather than spirit animal. If you are not Heathen there are other words to use in place of fylgja/fylgjur.

Patreon Topic 16: Balancing Cosmologies

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

From Amanda Artimesia Forrester comes this question:

“I don’t know if you’ve covered this before, since I’ve just signed up, but how about balancing Heathen cosmology with other Pagan systems? I come from mostly a Hellenic background, with some Egyptian, before Odin snatched me up 4 or 5 years ago.”

If I have covered it, it has been awhile. So, how do I balance cosmologies?

To a certain degree I don’t.

Even if we agree between our various cosmologies that all things are interconnected and that magic comes to us in a variety of fashions, how we understand and interact with the cosmos at large matters. Cultural lenses of understanding drastically affect how we understand and interact with Gods, Ancestors, and spirits. It also affects how we see our places in things, how we access magic, and what ways are acceptable to make use of magic. In some ways, there is no good way to ‘balance’ this, only work with and live with these worldview side-by-side as best we can.

Polytheisms have a lot of agreement between the various cultural backgrounds. We all agree the Gods, Ancestors, and spirits are real. We all agree that Gods, Ancestors, and spirits are, generally, worthy of worship. We all agree that there are underlying spiritual forces beneath our material reality that are acted on, comingled with, and affecting one another.

Where a lot of polytheisms have differences on is the Who and how we worship and otherwise interact with the Gods, Ancestors, and spirits. Polytheist religions agree on a lot of the broad basics between one another. Where there is a great deal of difference between polytheist religions is the details. The Soul Matrix in Heathenry v Kemeticism is a great example. Who the magic tends to come through or Who tends to be the initiator into certain spiritual practices, Óðinn and/or Freyja v Heka and/or Isis, would be another.

Balancing between Heathen and Kemetic religions is not something I worry overmuch about. While my primary polytheist worldview is that of a Heathen, when it comes time to do Kemetic things I adopt a Kemetic worldview. I had to make a similar adjustment when Óðinn grabbed me up from Anpu. While some of the cores of my practice changed, eg being very focused on the Dead and caring for the wandering Dead in my work with Anpu, to doing a ton of work with Runatýr and the Runevaettir, my usual practices of cleansing, grounding, centering, shielding, and the creation of wards did not. How my usual practices are done and the specific prayers I made did change.

Part of the challenge in worshiping Gods from multiple cultures is how to respectfully navigate each relationship. I tend to give similar offerings to each of my Gods, Ancestors, and spirits so long as it will not offend one group or another. Where there could be offense or a certain kind of offering would not be good, I make another. For instance, there are some Warrior and Military Dead that I make offerings to that do not want alcohol, so I make separate offerings, usually of water or coffee, for Them. Likewise, there are those Warrior and Military Dead that do want alcohol, so I offer Them that. As the Warrior and Military Dead are on a shrine with Anpu and Wepwawet the offerings I make and the way I pray is distinctly Kemetic in the opening prayers whereas most of the altars my family and I offer and pray at are generally done with Heathen prayers and formulations. As I pray to Warrior and Military Dead from several cultural backgrounds, I tend to address and thank Them in Their relevant languages.

Balancing relationships sometimes means that one worldview becomes your primary for a while, perhaps even the rest of your life. When I was an independent Kemetic priest of Anpu I thought for sure that it was the only worldview I would need or adopt. Then, as with so many folks I know, Óðinn came into my life and upended everything, and I found myself a Heathen in quick order. There may be point where you will find swerving drastically this way and that, offering mead to this God, beer to that, water to this set of Ancestors, and fresh fruit or vegetables to that spirit. What matters is your approach is respectful to the Gods, Ancestors, spirits, and the cultural milieu you are engaged in. For a lot of our offerings this is as simple as making offerings of fresh, cold, clean water in a good vessel of glass or ceramic and making prayers appropriate to the Gods, Ancestors, and/or spirits.

As each person has to balance their own relationships, I cannot give broad advice beyond that. What your Gods, Ancestors, and spirits may ask of you may not be that detailed. It is something that if you have questions on, divination and prayer are my go-to. Explore, pray, talk, divine, and experience how best you can strike balance with your Gods, Ancestors, and spirits.

The #DoMagick Challenge Day 2

Uruz (Wikimedia Commons)

Today I did galdr with Uruz.

As yesterday, my work was done entirely outside from start to finish from about 8pm-9pm.  It was a little chilly, but I was comfortable.  Maybe if the weather turns cold and harsh I will bring it inside.  Until then, we will see.

As before, I smoked Großmutter Una to cleanse and prepare myself.  I eased into the galdr work after all the prayers were made.

Breathing deep, my body was warming up, and my body was filling with power.   I felt myself a great beast, filling with air, with potential, with power.  I felt mySelf, my animal within me stir.  Another animal rose as I finished my prayers of connection with Uruz.  The first time I galdred Uruz, I could feel the auroch as I lowed.  Uruz came three times from my lips and that animal came bellowing out of me.

When I continued to galdr Uruz, it was connecting to power, within and without.  It was power, but not only for destruction.  It was the primal power that when you look into someone’s eyes, they understand and do.  It was not charisma, it was the primal pull that tells someone something needs to be done, and then to go do it.  

It is rising heat and muscle put to work.  It is the potential energy of those muscles at rest, the potential of a round piece of wood to be made into a torch.  It is the ability to do great violence, and the ability to do great things.  It is ferocity and will, patience until the time to act which is done decisively.  It was animal, it was primal.  Damn did it feel good.

After finishing my prayers of thanks and cleansing with the meditation done, I spent time cleaning out my pipe and coming back to normal headspace.

Link to the Daily Ritual for the Challenge.

#DoMagick