Tag: Æsir

Celebrating Our Spirituality 365 Days A Year – Odin's Ordeal Begins

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August 17 – 24

Odin’s Ordeal Begins

According to legend, Odin hung on the World Tree Yggdrasil for nine days, during which time he discovered the runes. In modern Asatru, this discovery is celebrated with a nine-day festival starting on August 17. To those who follow the Norse traditions, Odin is the chief deity and appears in many aspects, among them leader of the wild hunt, God of magick, chooser of the slain in battle, and the dispenser of gifts. As king of Aesir, he was the God of fertility and the last sheaf of wheat was left in offering to his horse. His magickal number was 9 (the days he endured initiation on the World Tree), his color is blue (as is his cloak), and the raven of the Valkyries who attend him are sacred.

Magickal Activity

Rune Magick

Items needed: One small square of blue paper; a silver marking pen; one blue candle; nine inches of silver cord.

On the blue square of paper inscribe the pictured rune with the silver pen.

Light the blue candle and place it on top of the rune. Hold your hands over the candle and visualize your psychic abilities increasing as you chant:

“Let it be, that from this hour,

I know the secrets of psychic power.”

Leave the candle to burn for three hours. Extinguish the candle. Fold the paper in half and bind with silver cord. Place the packet with your runes or cards. Keep the packet near when reading for yourself or others.

Calendar of the Sun for December 19th

Calendar of the Sun

19 Yulmonath

Asgard Day

Colors: Blue and Gold
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of blue place a great horn of mead, a sword, a spear, a spindle, a book, the figure of a sun, a horse, a single blue candle, and a bowl of apples.
Offerings: Mead and apples.
Daily Meal: Mead and apples in some form.

Asgard Invocation

Hail to the Realm of the Aesir,
High at the summit of the World Tree!
Hail to the Land of Light,
The Realm of Ascension, the birds’ delight!
Hail to the many-colored arch of Bifrost,
The golden roof of Gladsheim,
The silver tower of Valaskjalf,
The legions of Valhalla, timbered in spears
And roofed in shields, the grace of Vingolf,
The skilled hands of Fensalir, the river of words
That is Sokkvabek, the great brick house of
Thor’s Bilskirnir, the graceful gardens of
Sessrumnir in the heart of Folkvang,
The white arch of Noatun’s sea-winds,
The deer-run yew-groves of Ydalir,
The green meadows of Landvidi,
The stern pillars of Glitnir, the foreboding
Of empty Brimir and the sadness of Breidablik,
The Island of Counsel at Rathsey’s Sound,
Bright Himinbjorg at the top of the rainbow,
The deep mysteries of Urdabrunnr.
Hail to the Realm of the Gods of the Sky,
To whom we lift our arms, to whom we call
With upraised voices on the winds!

(All shout “Hail Asgard!” The mead is poured out as a libation, and the apples are laid out to the sky. Then more mead is broken out, and more food, for today should be a feast in honor of the Aesir. For this day, there is no limit on drinking, so long as it does not interfere with anyone’s personal vows and no damage is done.)

 

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for November 27th

Calendar of the Sun

27 Blutmonath

Forseti’s Day

Colors: Red and White
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of white place eight red candles, a horn of mead, and a great axe.
Offerings: Provide mediation for those who are warring.
Daily Meal: Any food which has been obtained through fair means, with fair compensation to those who produced it.

Invocation to Forseti

Hail, Forseti, Lord of Justice,
Hand of Fairness of the Aesir.
Son of Baldur the Bright, Fallen Sun
And his faithful Nanna who followed him into death,
You stand quiet but strong on the fringes
Of the light and noise of your people.
You who are a warrior
And understand the nature of warriors,
Yet who steps between the warring parties
And finds the threads that lead to compromise.
You teach us that compromise need not be a betrayal,
But can indeed be a triumph.
You who father was slain,
Creating great rifts between the hearts of many,
Yet who demanded not vengeance or weregild
No matter how many voices cried for war,
Yet instead set yourself on a path of peace,
Until your words were seen as so just
That the Gods themselves would lay their grievances
Before you. Hail, Lord of the Great Axe
Who is not afraid to use the warrior’s skill
To wage peace, and also to enforce it.
Teach us to see those with whom we quarrel
As honorable opponents worthy of our respect.
Teach us that a fair compromise,
Or better yet, a breakthrough in understanding,
Is a far better victory than one wrought of anger and blood.

(The mead is poured out as libation. Today is a day of mediation, and all can air their grievances for the rest of the hour, and on into the rest of the day, with Forseti’s axe between them.)

 

[Pagan Book of Hours]

The Wicca Book of Days for August 13 – Ansuz and Aesir

The Wicca Book of Days for August 13

Ansuz and Aesir

 

The runic half-month of Ansuz (or Os) begins on August 13, and will have run its course on August 28. Ansuz is said to symbolize an Aesir, a Norse deity, and most probably Odin (who corresponds to the Germanic Wotan or Woden), the chief god of the Scandinavian pantheon, as well as a fearless warrior and the source and seeker of great wisdom. It is told that Odin hung for days upon Yggdrasil, the world tree, in order to be rewarded with the magickal knowledge contained in the Runes. Ansuz is therefore considered a runic vehicle of divine inspiration, knowledge, and communication.

 

Mystical Myrrh

 

Today, at noon offer myrrh to Ra, the Egyptian Sun God. Use this day’s element of fire to ignite some stimulating myrrh incense as you salute one of the mightiest deities ever to be identified with the blazing “planet” that rules the zodiacal month of Leo.

Deity of the Day for April 6th – ODIN

Deity of the Day for April 6th

Odin

by Micha F. Lindemans
 
The chief divinity of the Norse pantheon, the foremost of the Aesir. Odin is a son of Bor and Bestla. He is called Alfadir, Allfather, for he is indeed father of the gods. With Frigg he is the father of Balder, Hod, and Hermod. He fathered Thor on the goddess Jord; and the giantess Grid became the mother of Vidar. 

Odin is a god of war and death, but also the god of poetry and wisdom. He hung for nine days, pierced by his own spear, on the world tree. Here he learned nine powerful songs, and eighteen runes. Odin can make the dead speak to question the wisest amongst them. His hall in Asgard is Valaskjalf (“shelf of the slain”) where his throne Hlidskjalf is located. From this throne he observes all that happens in the nine worlds. The tidings are brought to him by his two raven Huginn and Muninn. He also resides in Valhalla, where the slain warriors are taken.

Odin’s attributes are the spear Gungnir, which never misses its target, the ring Draupnir, from which every ninth night eight new rings appear, and his eight-footed steed Sleipnir. He is accompanied by the wolves Freki and Geri, to whom he gives his food for he himself consumes nothing but wine. Odin has only one eye, which blazes like the sun. His other eye he traded for a drink from the Well of Wisdom, and gained immense knowledge. On the day of the final battle, Odin will be killed by the wolf Fenrir.

He is also called Othinn, Wodan and Wotan. Some of the aliases he uses to travel icognito among mortals are Vak and Valtam. Wednesday is named after him (Wodan).

Old Norse: Odínn

Trees and Creation

In the Norse Tradition, Yggdrassil, the world tree supported the nine realms of existence. At the top was Asgard, the home of the Aesir, the principle deities, led by Odin and his consort Frigg. This level also contained Vanaheim, the kingdom of the wind, fertility and sea gods, with whom the Aesir fashioned an uneasy peace, and Alfheim, home of the light elves. On the middle level was Midgard, the land of the humans. They shared this level with Jotunheim, the land of the frost giants and Nidavellir, the realm of the dwarves, who guarded their treasures and made artifacts for the deities. The lowest realm was divided between Niflheim and Hel, realms of the dead and Svartalafheim, home of the dark elves.

In Eastern Europe as well as in Asia the mythological world tree was considered the axis of the world with the pole star at the top. Shamans, the magickal priests or healers of indigenous peoples worldwide, climb this tree in a trance to reach other realms. Look up through the branches of a very tall tree on a starry night and you will see how this belief came into being.

The tree appears in numerous creation myths. In one Maori legend, the tree was the first thing to appear at creation and on it grew countless buds that contained all created life. A number of Native North American creation myths tell how the first humans climbed pine or fir trees from the underworld and broke through on to the Earth. In Viking myth the first man was fashioned by Odin and his brothers from an Ash (Aesc) and the first woman from an Elm tree (Embla). The gods found the trees while walking on the seashore.

Today’s Rune for Monday, June 13 is Blank/the Unknowable

Odin/ the Unknowable

 

Blank is the beginning and the end. Surrender and total trust are the only aids when phoenix is burning and rising from the ashes. The circle of life is valid for humans as it is for all of nature. Accept your fate, the work of self-change is progressing in your life.
The empty rune is a challenge for your faith.

Trees and Creation

In the Norse Tradition, Yggdrassil, the world tree, supported the nine realms of existence. At the top was Asgard, the home of the Aesir, the principle deities, led by Odin and his consort Frigg. This level also contained Vanaheim, the kingdom of the wind, fertility and sea gods, with whom the Aesir fashioned an uneasy peace, and Alfheim, home of the light elves. On the middle level was Midgard, the land of the humans. They shared this level with Jotunheim, the land of the Frost Giants and Nidavellir, the realm of the dwarves, who guarded their treasure and made artifacts for the deities. The lowest realm was divided between Niflheim and Hel, realms of the dead and Svartalafheim, home of the Dark Elves.

In Eastern Europe as well as in Asia the mythological world tree was considered the axis of the world with the pole star at the top. Shamans, the magickal Priests or Healers of indigenous people worldwide, climb this tree in a trance to reach other realms. Look up through the branches of a very tall tree on a starry night and you will see how this belief came into being.

The tree appears in numerous creation myths. In one Maori legend, the tree was the first thing to appear at creation and on it grew countless buds that contained all created life. A number of Nature North American creation myths tell how the first humans climbed pine or fir trees from the underworld and broke through on to the Earth. In Viking myth the first man was fashioned by Odin and his brothers from an Ash (Aesc)and the first woman from an Elma tree (Embla). The Gods found the trees while walking on the seashore.