Runic Yoga

Runic Yoga

The Runes are angular letters that were cut into wood, stone and metal, and later written on parchment and paper.  They are an ancient Germanic alphabet, used for writing, divination and magic.  Runes were used throughout northern Europe, Scandinavia and Iceland from about 100 BC to 1600 AD.  Runic inscriptions have even been found in North America, supporting stories that the Vikings arrived in the Americas long before Columbus. (See Runes in January)

Exercise the body is one of the Thirteen Goals of a Witch.  Stadhagaldr (Runengymnastik or Runic Yoga) is an active meditation that encompasses various postures and gestures.  Gestures and postures form some part of almost every metaphysical or magical school. They can be seen from the simple folding of hands in prayer to the extremely complex system of asanas in the Indian yoga school.  The number and intricacy of the postures are varied enough to be expressive of the wide variety of forces present, but none require extensive training or straining of the body.

The overall aims of the stadhagaldr are:

               ~ Control of the body through posture
               ~ Control of thought through song or chant
               ~ Control of breath
               ~ Control of emotion
               ~ Becoming aware of the rune realms of the self and the world(s)
               ~ Control and direction of the will

Stadhagaldr is used as a mode of psychological integration and personal change of form while also employing all other types of magical operations.  The early 20th century German rune masters developed runic yoga as a means of harnessing the streams of power present in the Earth.

In parallel with the development of Runengymnastik and Stadhagaldr, evolved a holistic tradition in Norway, called Stav, which incorporated “Rune Stances” into its daily practice.  The intent of these exercises is to allow identification with the Futhark runes that will reawaken the ancestral blood memory and improve the physical fitness and overall health of people.

Stav is a Mind, Body Spirit system, comparable to Tai Chi and Yoga, but originating through the traditions and mythology of Northern Europe, rather than the Orient.  The system helps people improve and develop themselves by dealing with them holistically. That is, Stav works on the whole person: their physical body, their mind and their spirituality.

All of the Stadhagaldr postures have spiritual importance, such as the Ur u rune that closely resembles downward-facing dog that provides a healing and calming effect on the individual.  Perhaps the most fulfilling posture is the Algiz z rune pose that should be practiced in an outdoor environment, with your body facing towards the sun and allowing the radiating solar energy to renew and purify your spirit. Before attempting any of the runic yoga postures, you are encouraged to learn more (see a physician). 

Find a quiet place and wear comfortable clothing, maybe play music in the background or listen to the birds outside.  You could place your mat facing North, home of the ancestors, or find a shady place in the grass under a tree.  During a particular runic posture, you should visualize and actually feel yourself becoming embodied and completely united with the runes.  While holding the posture, you can chant the rune name.  Try practicing these different postures until you become proficient with the basics and attempt to hold them for as long as possible.

 

"May the power of the Runes
Lead me to a greater understanding
Of the universe and myself"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTbt28D21aU 

 

Runes

Bind Runes

Numbers (Rune)

Odin's Wisdom

Poems

Rune Sets

Rune Yoga

Runecasting

Runic Alphabet

Runic Yoga

Freya

Freya

Appeal:  Love, Dating Service, Beauty, Death, Hand Fasting, Runes, Jewelry, War, Health

Note:  Scholars have theorized about whether or not Freya and the Goddess Frigg ultimately stem from a single Goddess common among the Germanic peoples; about her connection to the valkyries, female battlefield choosers of the slain; and her relation to other Goddesses and figures in Germanic mythology.  Freya's name appears in numerous place names in Scandinavia, with a high concentration in southern Sweden.  Various plants in Scandinavia once bore her name, but it was replaced with the name of the Virgin Mary during the process of Christianization.  Rural Scandinavians continued to acknowledge Freya as a supernatural figure into the 19th century and Freya has inspired various works of art.  See Frigg, in January, for more information on her.  This post is more about some of the common Freya mythology. 

In Norse mythology, Freya (f, Freyja, Freia, Freja or Lady) is a Goddess associated with love, sexuality, woman, beauty, fertility, gold and death.  Freya is the owner of the necklace Brisingamen, rides a chariot pulled by two cats, owns the boar Hildisvini and possesses a cloak of falcon feathers.  Freya’s home is in Asgard, called Folkvang, “Field of the Folk”, and her hall is called Sessrumnir, “a space with many seats”.  Along with her twin brother Freyr and her father Njord, she is a member of the Vanir.

Freya and Od were wed, but soon after their wedding Od disappeared and many feared that he was dead or lost at sea.  Freya's husband, the God Od, was frequently absent.  She cries tears of red gold for him and searches for him under assumed names.  Her tears become gold and amber when they fall to Earth, therefore called "Freya's tears".

Freya had many other lovers, although she deeply loved her consort Od. (remember, monogamy had not been invented yet and infidelity was the social norm) Aphrodite's amorous escapades pale by comparison with those of Freya, whose unbridled sexuality was legendary.  She liked romantic love songs and bunches of flowers.  Usually depicted as a strawberry blonde with stunning blue eyes, none could resist her.  The Goddess Freya's passions were abundant, vigorous and unrestrained.  Clothed or not, she is usually shown in sensual poses.

As leader of the Valkyries, she had considerable power.  She had the right to claim half the souls of the bravest warriors who died in battle. Actually going onto the battlefield, she would gather them up and take them back with her to spend the after-life in her home in perpetual rest and recreation.  When Freya and the Valkyries rode forth on their missions, their armor caused the eerily beautiful flickering light that we know as the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights.  A sweet and generous woman, she always invited their wives or lovers to come and live with them. 

Odin, the Norse High God of the Aesir, hung from the world tree, Yggdrasil, impaled on his own spear, for nine days and nights in order to gain the knowledge of runes.  When the runes appeared below him, he reached down and took them up, and the runic knowledge gave him power.  He later passed on this knowledge to the Vanir Goddess Freya. She, in turn, taught him the magic of seidr.  Heimdall, the God who guarded the Rainbow Bridge, taught the runes to mankind.

Freya's form of magic was shamanistic in nature, as represented by her falcon-skin dress or cloak which enabled her to shape-shift into a bird, travel to any of the worlds and return with prophecies.  Among the Norse people, this magical ability, given by Freya, was called seidr.  Seidr is a form of magic, trance or divination that was primarily a feminine craft (modern day it is practiced by both male and female)  Freya is also the ruling Goddess of the female ancestral beings known as the Disir that can be called upon for guidance and to see into the future.

In final battle of Ragnarok, Odin, Njord and Freyr all will die.  Freya alone will remain among the Gods and she continues the sacrifices.

Frejya appears as a compound element with a variety of words for geographic features such as fields, meadows, lakes and natural objects such as rocks.   The 19th century German composer Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen opera cycle features Freia, the Goddess Freya combined with the apple-bearing Goddess Idunn.   Vanadís, one of Freya's names, is the source of the name of the chemical element vanadium, so named because of its many colored compounds. 

The Fehu f rune is often associated with fertility and wealth. It is the rune of potential and fulfillment. It symbolizes solid foundations, rewards reaped and ambitions satisfied. Fehu is the promise of nourishment, prosperity, growth and stability.  To our ancestors, as with us in today’s society, the accumulation of wealth, when gained honorably, is a positive thing.

Great Goddess, Mistress of cats,
Lady of love, beautiful Vana-Goddess,
Fulfill my greatest needs, O glorious one.

Teach me the magic I need.
Give me a glimpse of your deep wisdom.

Teach me in dreams. Enrich my life.

O Lady, you are Golden-Tears of Asgard
Lady of love, beautiful Vana-Goddess,
You are the Shape-shifter, the Sayer,
The Independent One.

Give me the strength and the magic I need.

Divine Friends

Divine Tree

Freya

Freyr's and Freya's Day

Love

Rite of Passage: Death

Sexuality

Valkyries

Who Are Your Divine Friends?

 

Mother Goddess

Mother Goddess

Mother Goddess is a term used to refer to a Goddess who represents motherhood, devotion, fertility, nurturing mature love, creation or who embodies the bounty of the Earth.  For male witches, the God would be Father.  When equated with the Earth or the natural world such Goddesses are sometimes referred to as Great Goddess, Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother.  The ability to forgive and provide for her children and put them before herself is the essence of a good mother.  She is described as Mother Earth, Mother Nature or the Creator of all life. 

Many different Goddesses have represented motherhood in one way or another and some have been associated with the birth of humanity as a whole.  Others have represented the fertility of the Earth.  The Mother Goddess is a composite of various feminine deities from past and present world cultures, worshiped by modern Wicca and Neopagan.  She is sometimes identified as a Triple Goddess, who takes the form of Maiden, Mother and Crone. She is also associated with the full moon M, summer, Earth and sea.

Several small, corpulent figures have been found during archaeological excavations of the Upper Paleolithic, the Venus of Willendorf, perhaps, being the most famous.  This sculpture is estimated to have been carved 24,000–22,000 BC. Some archaeologists believe they were intended to represent Goddesses, while others believe that they could have served some other purpose.

Mother Goddesses are also present in the earliest images discovered among the archaeological finds in Ancient Egypt.  An association is drawn to the early Goddesses of Egypt with animals seen as good mothers—the lioness, cow, white vulture and cat—as well as, to the life-giving waters, the sun, the night sky and the Earth herself.

From 5500-2750 BC the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture flourished in the region of modern-day Romania and Ukraine, leaving behind ruins of settlements that practiced agriculture and domesticated livestock.  They also left behind many ceramic remains of pottery and clay figurines.  Some of these figurines appear to represent the mother Goddess.

In the first century BC, Tacitus recorded rites amongst the Germanic tribes focused on the Goddess Nerthus, whom he calls Terra Mater, 'Mother Earth'.  Prominent in these rites was the procession of the Goddess in a wheeled vehicle through the countryside.

In Norse mythology, Jord is a female giant (jotunn). She is the personification of the Earth.  Jord is sometimes considered a Goddess, like other giants who coupled with the Gods.

Freya was a Norse Goddess of abundance, fertility and war. She is still honored today by some Pagans and is often associated with sexual freedom.  Freya could be called upon for assistance in childbirth and conception, to aid with marital problems or to bestow fruitfulness upon the land and sea.

In skaldic poetry, Odin's wife, is a common designation for the Earth.  Frigg was the wife of the all-powerful Odin and was considered a Goddess of fertility and marriage within the Norse pantheon.  Like many mothers, she is a peacemaker and mediator in times of strife.

 

Cosmic Mother

Oh Goddess Mother
You are the mystery of Night
Your radiant shine is the Day
Infinite realms cascade within You

Abundance is Your essence of Being
Blessings flow from You Limitlessly
Your Universe is harmony and tension in Balance

Within each of us, You are Alive

~Abby Willowroot~

Mother Goddess

Mother's Day

Frigg

Divine Friends

 

Sunna

Sunna

suna

Appeal: Sun, Light, Solar Panels, Growth, Sunny Places, Warmth

Sunna s (Sol) is the Sun personified in Norse mythology.  She is described as the sister of the personified moon, Manni, the daughter of Mundilfari and is foretold to be killed by a monstrous wolf during the events of Ragnarok.  She was a human who rose to the rank of Goddess due to the Gods.  Sunna has blonde hair with golden curls that looked like rays of sunshine. Sunna like the ‘sun’ was always kind and generous to her people brining light wherever she went.

Rudolf Simek stated that Nordic Bronze Age archaeological finds, such as rock carvings and the Trundholm Sun chariot, provide evidence of the Sun having been viewed as a life giving heavenly body to the Bronze Age Scandinavians and that the Sun likely received an amount of respect.

The Sun is approximately 4.5 billion years old.  As the largest object in the sky, the Sun is the source of light, heat, and life.  It can also be a symbol of destructive power.  Since earliest times, people in all parts of the world have observed the position of the Sun and its rising and setting throughout the year.  Many cultures have created solar calendars to govern such things as the planting of crops and the timing of religious festivals.  They have also given the Sun a major place in their mythologies, often as a deity.

When the world was created from the body of the dead giant Ymir by the triad Gods of Odin, Vili and Ve - the Sun, Moon and Stars were made from the gathered sparks that shot forth from Muspellsheim, the Land of Fire.  Sunna drives the chariot of the Sun across the sky every day.  Pulled by the horses Allsvinn and Arvak, the Sun chariot is pursued by the wolf Skoll.  It is said that sometimes he comes so close that he is able to take a bite out of the Sun, causing an eclipse.

On Midsummer Eve, Sunna's strength begins to decline, and those who honor her gather to celebrate this passage.  For the Pagan religions of Northern Europe, this is the Sabbat of Midsummer.  Songs are sung, poems are read, libations and toasts fill the air.  In honor of the strength of light and warmth that are Sunna's blessing, fire is a central part of the celebration at this Sabbat.

Despite the wolf Skoll catching and killing Sunna, not all is lost.  Like the other Gods at the end of Ragnarok, light still shines on the Earth.  Before her death, she gives birth to a daughter as beautiful as her mother and she shall ride her mother's road.  The daughter survives with the Sun to aid and guide humanity after the destruction of the world as we know it.  She heals the world, knitting together the fragmented pieces of life after the chaos of Ragnarok. 

 

Sunday (Sun's day) is a day of rest in most Western countries, part of the weekend.  Sunday is associated with the Sun and symbolized by its symbol ☉. 

Sowulo s rune represents the power of the Sun. In almost every religion in the world, the Sun is held most sacred.  To the Norse, the sun was known as Sunna or Sol and was considered feminine. The sun’s light and warmth symbolizes life, nurturing, growth and all that is good.  In some Northern cultures, they start their day at sunset and usually begin their year in the winter months.  (This is why many Sun and Moon images show the Moon ahead of the Sun)

 

Come out into the light!

You are meant to shine!

 

 

Sabbats

Sowulo Rune

Sunna

Sunna and Mani

Sunna's Day

Love

Give out Love and let it come in.

lEwe

Principles and Guidance: Love may be understood as part of the survival instinct, a function to keep human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.  It is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment.  In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, God is love.  Love may also be described as actions towards others (or oneself) based on compassion or as actions towards others based on affection. 

The word love can have a variety of related but distinct meanings in different contexts. Often, other languages use multiple words to express some of the different concepts that English relies mainly on love to encapsulate; one example is the plurality of Greek words for love. Cultural differences in conceptualizing love thus make it doubly difficult to establish any universal definition. Religious views on love vary widely between different religions.    

Different cultures have deified love, typically in both male and female form. Even though in monotheistic religions, the God is considered to represent love, there are often angels or similar beings that represent love as well. Freya, Goddess of love, fertility and war in Norse mythology.  Mihr, spirit of love in Persian mythology.  Venus, Goddess of beauty and passionate love in Roman mythology.

 

The Eight Wiccan Virtues come to us from Doreen Valiente, considered by many to be the mother of modern Wicca. These eight virtues were first revealed in her writing, "The Charge of the Goddess." They are presented in pairs of complementary opposites which balance each other and reflect a dualism that is commonly found in Wiccan philosophy. The Eight Wiccan Virtues are listed in the line, "Let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you."

Compassion allows you to have true love, not only for others, but also for yourself. It allows you to forgive yourself when you make mistakes. It's also the ability to have deep feelings and concern for the misfortune and suffering of others. Compassion allows you to share another's pain, gives you the desire to relieve it, and the willingness to act on that desire.

The virtue of reverence refers to having profound respect and devotion for the God and Goddess and all things sacred. But, it also means to have love and regard for all of life, including ourselves, all of Nature, and our planet Earth. Reverence is expressed in the choices you make in your life in caring for and loving your body. It is also shown in the respect you give the Earth by doing things such as recycling, planting trees and gardens, or cleaning up beaches and streams.

 

 

The Asatru moral code of conduct is known as the Nine Noble Virtues. The Nine Noble Virtues represent the distilled wisdom and ancient Germanic moral code gleaned from various ancient sources including the Poetic Edda, the Icelandic Sagas and Germanic folklore: courage, truth, honor, fidelity, discipline, hospitality, industriousness, self reliance, perseverance.

Hospitality is the willingness to share what one has with one's fellows, especially when they are far from home.  We rely on the strengths and love that are forged by blood and oath...what good are such things when we can't otherwise? We must be ready and willing to lend help and assistance where we can, when it is needed- what good are we to those that we are bound if we cannot depend on one another?

Self Reliance is the spirit of independence, which is achieved not only for the individual, but also for the family, clan, tribe and nation. It is not a concept of denying ones interconnectedness with others, but of ensuring that one can take care of oneself first, then ones family and loved ones.  Only freedom can strengthen our love for life, and we cannot allow ourselves to be enthralled by need or want, which in turn enthralls our children and folk.

 

Some of the qualities we hold in high regard are strength, courage, vigor, and the revering of our ancestors. To express these things in our lives is virtuous and we strive to do this.  These convictions of personal honor are well described by the Nine Noble Virtues and the Six Fold Goal.  The Six Fold Goal is a statement of those things for which we are willing to live and die.  The Six Fold Goal is: Right, Wisdom, Might. Harvest, Frith, Love.

When most people hear love they assume it to mean the romantic love between two people, or maybe the love of an adult for their child. And while these are beautiful and worthy things, the love referred to here is the vitality and lust for life embodied in Freyr and Freya. It is the erotic thrill of life itself, the lust of passion and the senses, the enjoyment of pleasure. This is natural to our people and right for us to enjoy.

 

One last thought, an early example of the Golden Rule that reflects the Ancient Egyptian concept of Maat appears in the story of The Eloquent Peasant, which dates to the Middle Kingdom: "Now this is the command: Do to the doer to cause that he do thus to you." An example from a Late Period papyrus: "That which you hate to be done to you, do not do to another."

Wiccan morality is largely expressed in the Wiccan Rede: 'An it harm none, do what ye will'. While this could be interpreted to mean "do no harm at all," it is usually interpreted as a declaration of the freedom to act, along with the necessity of taking responsibility for what follows from one's actions.

Many different sources claim the Golden Rule as a humanist principle:  Trying to live according to the Golden Rule means trying to empathize with other people, including those who may be very different from us. Empathy is at the root of kindness, compassion, understanding and respect – qualities that we all appreciate being shown, whoever we are, whatever we think and wherever we come from. And although it isn’t possible to know what it really feels like to be a different person or live in different circumstances and have different life experiences, it isn’t difficult for most of us to imagine what would cause us suffering and to try to avoid causing suffering to others. For this reason many people find the Golden Rule’s corollary – “do not treat people in a way you would not wish to be treated yourself” – more pragmatic.

 

Frigg p, Goddess of romance, marriage, sex and reproduction, married women, household duty, and divination.  She is said to be the wife of Odin, and the Queen of Asgard.  Frigg appears primarily in Norse mythological stories as a wife and a mother. 

Freya f, Goddess associated with magic, shamanism, sacrifice, war, death, and sexuality.  Freya is the daughter of Njord and Nerthus, as well as the sister of Freyr. She was once married to Odr, but he disappeared. She is the principle female fertility Goddess of the native Germanic religion.

Freyr q, worshipped as a phallic fertility God, he was said to bestow peace and pleasure on mortals.  Freyr is a leading member of the Vanir, the Lord of the Earth and a God of fertility.  Freyr gives up his sword for love.

Sjofn, Goddess associated with love. Sjofn is the Goddess of marital bliss, she stops fights between husbands and wives. Sjofn is one of Frigg's attendants.

 

Laguz l rune represents Water in all its forms. Water is an essential ingredient to life. All living creatures rely on it to survive. Water is associated with emotions of all kinds, but predominantly with healing, peacefulness, love, truth, compassion, intuition and forgiveness .

Inguz q rune is concerned with male fertility, gestation and internal growth. It is all about common sense and simple strengths, the home and love of the family, caring and human warmth.

 

See Life with Love!

A Year in Review!

Acceptance

Dignity

Justice

Love

Rede

Strength

Temperance

Truth

Volunteer

Wisdom