Sunday, September 4, 2016

Sage


The Sage represents discretion and reasoning.  The status of the sage was traditionally achieved in a man's later years and/or when he became a grandfather.  He has gone through a long passage and he no longer has the ego-based needs of recognition through performance and success.  He is free to accomplish and contribute for the sake of beauty and inner purpose.  He advises and loves all his children and will retaliate quickly if they are harmed.  He oversees the underworld, destiny, death, resurrection, and justice. 


The elder is the creative inventor and problem solver.  He takes on intellectual challenges, asks lots of questions, and becomes analytical in his dealings with others.  The elder can also be a bit manipulative because he’s smart - he’ll sometimes deliberately ask a question knowing the answer, as a sort of test.

Like the Crone, his concerns extend beyond the physical world and involve the process of transformation, assimilation of knowledge, and movement between the various levels of existence.  The sage holds his wisdom in the gentle way that honors all life.

And this is just a snippet of what can be found in, 'Who Are Your Divine Friends?'.

 

Mimir

Memory
Intelligence
Magic
Isolation
Rede

~ Michaela Macha

 

Blue Eye Shine

Allfather’s eye in Uncle’s well.
Brilliant blue - the Old Man’s pledging.
Drinks the jotun of this ransom,
As dawning Sunna glancing glances.
Rays of brilliance bend through water.
Flashing fire golden glinting.
To the depths, the hidden depths,
Seeks reflection deep submerged.
Scooped the vision of His seeing,
Watery the line of sight.
Old god from younger’s pledge is drinking,
Reflected bright by Sunna light.
Ocular insert, wisdom’s seeming.
Seeming, gleaming, glint to know.
Swiftly flying Sunna shining,
Shining rays into below.
Iris blue regarding outward,
In reflection ray doth show.
Well for thinking.
Horn for drinking.
Eye reflecting, shine directing.
Mimir’s water Wisdom’s letting.
Inspiration, memories racing,
Deepest thoughts are chasing chasing.
In the well all things are altered.
Seeing seeming things sublime.
And in the well His eye is gleaming.
Gleaming, seeming, biding time.

~ Jackie Rae Hannigan

 


Elders

My dearest Elders, I thank ye for the gift,
For your blessed presence in my heart.
May between us there never be a rift.

And may our troth wax so strong we ne'er part.
Ye fill my soul like warm summer rain
As I see lightning sent by Thor in goat-pulled cart.
And Freyr has charmed the growing grain

While Matronae this land do walk
And the youngling pig for feast is slain.
I lift a horn and make solemn vow
To you who are so much more than men,
And ponder on Audhumla, the sacred cow.

~ Crowfuzz

 

Drum Prayer to the Ancestors

You rise in my blood
The pounding drum
Life shares life

You cry in my throat
The wordless song
Voice raising voice

You walk in my feet
The endless trek
Stride matching stride

You grasp in my hands
The ever-present work
Grip linking grip

You echo inside
The shuddering beat
Soul stirs soul

~ Sarenth Odinsson

 

This is man at his wisest and calmest.  Long gone are the days of do first think later that were the keystone to Youth, instead the God has become a thinker, a philosopher, and often a magician.  This is the Grandfather of the World, The Old Man in the Mountain, Owen ap Urien, Horus, Thoth.

The mythological elder God, known as the Holly King, who battles with the Oak King is one version of the sage archetype.  Truthfully, the sage could win this battle with his wits if he so chooses.  Nonetheless, he allows himself to lose so that the Wheel of Life will keep turning. 

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Sunday, August 28, 2016

Nerthus


Nerthus (Hertha) is Mother Earth and a Goddess of the Sea and of Rivers. The "Mother Earth" worshipped by the North Sea Germans, according to the Roman historian Tacitus (writing in the first century of the Christian era). Her worship included the springtime procession of a wagon in which her image was kept, which ended on a holy island.
 



The ancient people of the Norse had close ties with the Earth, and it’s seasons.  Their lives circled around the seasons as much as the seasons circle around the year.  The changing seasons affected not only the weather but also the day to day survival of the Norse.  It dictated what they ate, where they lived and how they lived.

And this is just a snippet of what can be found in, 'Who Are Your Divine Friends?'.

 

Correspondences:

Altar: outside upon cloth place pots of Earth in which has been drawn the runes Feoh, and Berkana, and Jera, and seeds to be planted, and a wooden tray of small cakes marked with the runes Sigil, and Tyr, and Ansuz, and a horn of mead, and a pitcher of rain or snow water

Color: brown, green, blue

Day: Monday

Incense: jasmine, juniper, lotus

Offerings: planting seeds, doing something to clean the earth or air.

Plant: birch, fir, hawthorn, loosestrife, mint, mugwort, rose, willow

Pronunciation: 'Nearth-os' (Nerthus)

Rulership: fertility, groves, peace, purification, sea, Spring, wealth, witchcraft

Runes: Berkana, Dagaz, Ehwaz, Laguz, Raidho, Wunjo

Stone: copper, crystal, quartz, smoky topaz

Symbol: groves, sea, earth, water

 

Nerthus

I am the springtime, young and yet old.
I am of mountains, mighty and cold.
I am the fertile fields and the scum.
I´m the eternal Die and Become.
I am as gentle as I can be wild.
I am the mother, and you are my child.

~ Michaela Macha

 

Hail Nerthus

Hail Nerthus,
Hail the dirt teeming with life.
Hail the bog, life’s ancient terminus.
Hail the pig, the fowl, the cow
and all animals and growing things
that feel the gift of Your blessing.
May we be inspired, Great Goddess.
May we be inspired in our devotion to You,
today and every day.
Hail, Nerthus.

~ Galina Krasskova 

 

Goddess of Earth

Goddess of Earth's gracious gifts.
Bounties that tease in blessed bloom.
Nerthus do stay and sever the sorrow.
For joy frames fertile fields
and harks health hale and hallow.

~ Salena Levy

 

A Harvest-Time Prayer to Nerthus

Fruitful Mother, Devouring Mother
I hail You.
Eldest of all, Veiled and Mighty
I sing Your praise.

Terrifying and trembling,
awash in adoration,
I will lay my treasures before You.
With head bowed low
upon the earth that is Your gift
(and our obligation),
I whisper my prayers
Thinking of You
and of Your holy groves.

You sent Your family forth,
gifting the world of man
with the arts of civilization.
These things You and Yours have given.
These things we have received:

The skill of drawing sustenance from the sea
The skill of tilling the soil
Of planting
of bringing forth crops
the gift of the harvest
The crafts of the earth and clay: of throwing a pot and working a kiln
Of building
Of reading the weather
The yoking of animals
Stewardship of the land
Burial of the dead
The merit of sacrifice
The terror of mystery

For these things, we are grateful.
For these things we shall always remember:

Prayers to You, oh Nerthus,
Ancient and wise.
Prayers to the Mother.
Be Thou always honored.

~ Kira R

 

In addition to having influence over fertility, she holds other divine offices that are not stated by Tacitus.  Beyond Tacitus, we have archeological evidence of bog contents including bent iron weapons, grand strings of amber, domestic animals, and human sacrifices; that some scholars believe are consistent with what we know of Nerthus’ worship.


In surviving Anglo-Saxon writings, there is a ritual of blessing the fields prior to plowing and planting.  During Charming of the Plough, which usually occurs around Imbloc, a customary activity is turning the soil, mixing it with an offering of milk, flower, and water.  Even if you don’t have a garden, turn a little dirt near your apartment or home and leave a similar gift.  This action rejoices in Nerthus’s awakening and draws the Goddess’s peace and prosperity to your residence.  Take a little of that same blessing with you, just collect a bit of the soil-milk mixture in a container and put it wherever you need peace or prosperity the most.  She can also be befriended by providing aid to farmers and cleaning up the Earth.

 












 

 


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