Forwarded from The Wessex Nomad
The Cheddar Brooch, displayed at the Somerset Museam in Taunton.
I was excited to see this for two reasons; one being that it's from the Anglo-Saxon period, and the other being that it was discovered in one of my favourite places in the county (and the world for that matter) Cheddar!
I highly recommend the Somerset Museam. Full of amazing artifacts, and it's free entry!
I was excited to see this for two reasons; one being that it's from the Anglo-Saxon period, and the other being that it was discovered in one of my favourite places in the county (and the world for that matter) Cheddar!
I highly recommend the Somerset Museam. Full of amazing artifacts, and it's free entry!
Forwarded from Germanic Paganism
A desire to transcend the home of man conflicts with the natural worldview of our ancestors and divine declaration. Our world was shaped for man. Do not fear your death, but savor your life.
Fire is a living entity. It feeds, it grows, it needs to breathe or it dies out. Words connected with breathing often come from the same root as words meaning to be alive or have a soul. Spirit and Respire for example – both coming from the root (s)peys- meaning ‘to blow’.
Woden blew life into Ash and Embla, giving them spirit – in the same way blowing into hot Ash and Embers can reignite a flame.
Woden blew life into Ash and Embla, giving them spirit – in the same way blowing into hot Ash and Embers can reignite a flame.
Lêodrûne was an OE name for a sorceress or pythoness, a chanting-witch who sang secret rites and enchantments. Lêoð meant song or charm – which is cognate with the word Lied (modern German for song) and the English word 'lay' or poem. The word rûne (or rune) was a secret. Her craft was lêoðcræftig or being skilled in chanting.
The chanting of song or magic spells would infuse an object with magic. The word 'spell' itself meant to talk or speak – from the Old English 'spellian' and is why we still 'spell' words. The witch became the enchanter and her spell the enchantment. The French word charm also had the same meaning, to recite or cast a magic spell and evolved into modern English word charming.
The chanting of song or magic spells would infuse an object with magic. The word 'spell' itself meant to talk or speak – from the Old English 'spellian' and is why we still 'spell' words. The witch became the enchanter and her spell the enchantment. The French word charm also had the same meaning, to recite or cast a magic spell and evolved into modern English word charming.
The darkness of night was when the woodland filled with spirits and otherworldly beings. But, there were those who didn’t fear the darkness! The OE nihtwæcce was a name used to describe a night-witch. The nihtgenga (male) was a night−goer, whilst the nihtgenge (female) was a night−prowler. Finally a name some may recognise, the sceadugenga, the OE word for someone who wandered the darkness.
The Swabian (Suebian) tribe who gave their name to the side-knotted hair style – the Suebian knot, were also amongst the Germanic tribes who settled in England. Amongst the East Saxons kings, the names Swæfred and Swæfbert were rooted in Swæf, the English spelling of Swab. The Swabians also gave their name to the English towns of Swaffham (Norfolk) and Swavesey (Cambridgeshire).
The spider spinning a web and the Wyrd Sisters weaving our fate – it's easy to see how some superstitions regarding spiders invoke luck or involve fate – or even foretell a gift of clothing!
The words 'spider' and 'spinner' both come from the same root - *(s)pen – 'to spin' and the words 'web' and 'weave' also share the same origin - *(h)uebh- 'to weave'. So its no wonder how the two overlap.
But there is another element to the web – another beast who has eight legs! Sleipnir! Fathered by Loga (Loki) as Loki himself has a connection with the spider. According to Hilding Celander, writing in 1911, the name Locke meant 'spider'. This may be the meaning behind the name Loki.
The Faroese word Lokkanet (Lokke's web) meant cobweb, just as the Swedish word lokkanät does, from the Germanic root word *luk meaning locked, looped or knotted. Loki the tangler indeed.
The words 'spider' and 'spinner' both come from the same root - *(s)pen – 'to spin' and the words 'web' and 'weave' also share the same origin - *(h)uebh- 'to weave'. So its no wonder how the two overlap.
But there is another element to the web – another beast who has eight legs! Sleipnir! Fathered by Loga (Loki) as Loki himself has a connection with the spider. According to Hilding Celander, writing in 1911, the name Locke meant 'spider'. This may be the meaning behind the name Loki.
The Faroese word Lokkanet (Lokke's web) meant cobweb, just as the Swedish word lokkanät does, from the Germanic root word *luk meaning locked, looped or knotted. Loki the tangler indeed.
Forwarded from The Fyrgen • ᚫᛚᚢ:ᚢᛚᚫ
I'm curious about Pagans who talk about 'winning'. I suspect they would elaborate by saying that they want Paganism to become the dominant religion. Dominant where? Nationally? Among their ethnic kin exclusively? Globally?
And which Paganism, exactly, should 'win'? Germanic? Celtic? Hellenistic? Should Icelandic Heathenry 'win', or should Anglo-Saxon? Mercian or Bernician?
It seems to me that to talk of Paganism 'winning' is to treat it like a political movement rather than an indigenous way of life. The aforementioned are merely questions; my real point is this...
Any 'winning' that comes by the indiscriminate use of technology is of the material kind. For a political movement, that might be okay. But for a religion/indigenous spirituality, equal (if not greater) consideration must be given to the spiritual, philosophical and cultural impact of technologies. Is it any wonder that critics accuse Folkish Paganism of being foremostly political when many Folkish Pagans act more like a political movement by prioritising material victory?
According to official history, in 2600-1500 BC, whilst the people of the Indus Valley were writing noscriptures, the proto-Germanic people hadn't even discovered the runes. We were essentially illiterate until Christianity brought to us the technology of writing. Is that because we were so inferior, or did our ancestors choose not to adopt this technology?
Technological adoption can be beneficial, when the material benefits are weighed against the spiritual, cultural and physiological dangers. AI's proponents seem concerned solely with the material impact. That's not surprising in this godless modern age. But it is surprising when self-proclaimed religious people likewise pay no heed to the spiritual, cultural and physiological dangers.
So now you can produce visual propaganda in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile the hand withers, the mind atrophies, imagination fades, the exchange of energies (gift for a gift) principle is overlooked, the very purpose for which the gods gave us this life (to share in the act of creation, to nurture beauty, to forge powerful bonds of kinship, to exercise mind and body) is shunned. Worse still - those who adopt AI technology may be empowering Loki and the þursar (more on that in a future post).
And which Paganism, exactly, should 'win'? Germanic? Celtic? Hellenistic? Should Icelandic Heathenry 'win', or should Anglo-Saxon? Mercian or Bernician?
It seems to me that to talk of Paganism 'winning' is to treat it like a political movement rather than an indigenous way of life. The aforementioned are merely questions; my real point is this...
Any 'winning' that comes by the indiscriminate use of technology is of the material kind. For a political movement, that might be okay. But for a religion/indigenous spirituality, equal (if not greater) consideration must be given to the spiritual, philosophical and cultural impact of technologies. Is it any wonder that critics accuse Folkish Paganism of being foremostly political when many Folkish Pagans act more like a political movement by prioritising material victory?
According to official history, in 2600-1500 BC, whilst the people of the Indus Valley were writing noscriptures, the proto-Germanic people hadn't even discovered the runes. We were essentially illiterate until Christianity brought to us the technology of writing. Is that because we were so inferior, or did our ancestors choose not to adopt this technology?
Technological adoption can be beneficial, when the material benefits are weighed against the spiritual, cultural and physiological dangers. AI's proponents seem concerned solely with the material impact. That's not surprising in this godless modern age. But it is surprising when self-proclaimed religious people likewise pay no heed to the spiritual, cultural and physiological dangers.
So now you can produce visual propaganda in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile the hand withers, the mind atrophies, imagination fades, the exchange of energies (gift for a gift) principle is overlooked, the very purpose for which the gods gave us this life (to share in the act of creation, to nurture beauty, to forge powerful bonds of kinship, to exercise mind and body) is shunned. Worse still - those who adopt AI technology may be empowering Loki and the þursar (more on that in a future post).
Forwarded from A Wisdom of Owls
An Old English word I just learned that I like a lot is ān-genga (pronounced AHN-YENGA-ga), which means “a solitary walker, a lone wanderer.
Very (W)Odinic when you compare that with some of his ON attestations:
Vegtamr (wanderer, waytame)
Farmagnuðr (journey empowerer)
Váfuðr (wanderer)
And of course —
Gangleri (wayweary)
Woden is the thirst for knowledge, the One who roves all over and yearns for wisdom in all the hidden and secret places in the Universe.
- Huwila 🦉
Very (W)Odinic when you compare that with some of his ON attestations:
Vegtamr (wanderer, waytame)
Farmagnuðr (journey empowerer)
Váfuðr (wanderer)
And of course —
Gangleri (wayweary)
Woden is the thirst for knowledge, the One who roves all over and yearns for wisdom in all the hidden and secret places in the Universe.
- Huwila 🦉
Thunor (Thor) is the god of the farmer and his wife Sib (Sif)- the corn goddess, whose hair represents the Golden Wheat. Thunor is a thunder god as we all know, and his gift is the fertility his lightning gives the soil as it hits the ground.
Nitrogen in the atmosphere can be transformed into a plant-usable form, a process called nitrogen fixation, by lightning. His bolts of lightning carry an electrical energy strong enough to break the bonds of the nitrogen molecule in the atmosphere. Once split, the nitrogen atoms quickly bond to oxygen in the atmosphere, forming nitrogen dioxide. Nitrogen dioxide dissolves in water, creating nitric acid, which forms nitrates. These nitrates then fall to the ground in raindrops and seep into the soil which is absorbed by plants.
Nitrogen in the atmosphere can be transformed into a plant-usable form, a process called nitrogen fixation, by lightning. His bolts of lightning carry an electrical energy strong enough to break the bonds of the nitrogen molecule in the atmosphere. Once split, the nitrogen atoms quickly bond to oxygen in the atmosphere, forming nitrogen dioxide. Nitrogen dioxide dissolves in water, creating nitric acid, which forms nitrates. These nitrates then fall to the ground in raindrops and seep into the soil which is absorbed by plants.
This unusual and exotic looking plant is called the Houseleek and was known to our ancestors as ðunorwyrt or thunder−wort. As the name suggests it is sacred to Thunor. The German name Donnersoart translates into English as Thunderbeard. The plant often grows on roofs were it is said to protect the building from lightning strikes!
Līn-wyrt or flaxon
Līn-wyrt was one name used for Flax. Līn gives us the word linen, the fabric made from Līn. However this may have been a borrowed word. Flax on the other hand has a Germanic root. Jacob Grimm viewed Frau Holla as being associated with flax. It's also sacred to Frêo (Freya) – the Flaxen-Saxon goddess! And like so many other plants it symbolised her hair. When you prepare flax for spinning it turns a very light blonde colour and looks just like hair. The root word for flax comes from the Germanic *fleh meaning 'to plait'.
Līn-wyrt was one name used for Flax. Līn gives us the word linen, the fabric made from Līn. However this may have been a borrowed word. Flax on the other hand has a Germanic root. Jacob Grimm viewed Frau Holla as being associated with flax. It's also sacred to Frêo (Freya) – the Flaxen-Saxon goddess! And like so many other plants it symbolised her hair. When you prepare flax for spinning it turns a very light blonde colour and looks just like hair. The root word for flax comes from the Germanic *fleh meaning 'to plait'.
Forwarded from ᛉ Sagnamaðr Stark ᛉ
This early Anglo Saxon pommel appears to have an interesting bindrune consisting of an early Ear rune, with the Tir and Æsc runes facing down towards the blade, and more Tir runes on the other side. If it is indeed the Ear rune, this pommel could be its earliest appearance.
ᛠ ᚨ ᛏ
Book is Elder Gods by Stephen Pollington.
ᛠ ᚨ ᛏ
Book is Elder Gods by Stephen Pollington.
Forwarded from The Chad Pastoralist
A solid post worth reading by Dan Capp from The Fyrgen.
Modern Pagans should develop altars, form kinship networks via friends or family - or a combination of both - enabling group worship.
Create daily personal practices, read historical European literature and the source material on Paganism, and with a reverential eye, worship the Gods and your ancestors, coupling personal gnosis and divine revelation with an understanding of the attested sources.
Modern Pagans should develop altars, form kinship networks via friends or family - or a combination of both - enabling group worship.
Create daily personal practices, read historical European literature and the source material on Paganism, and with a reverential eye, worship the Gods and your ancestors, coupling personal gnosis and divine revelation with an understanding of the attested sources.
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The Fyrgen • ᚫᛚᚢ:ᚢᛚᚫ
I'm curious about Pagans who talk about 'winning'. I suspect they would elaborate by saying that they want Paganism to become the dominant religion. Dominant where? Nationally? Among their ethnic kin exclusively? Globally?
And which Paganism, exactly, should…
And which Paganism, exactly, should…
My good friend Dan done a great job with his latest Fyrgen chat with Wulf Ingesunnu. Wulf’s work is highly esoteric, and I’m not always a fan of this type of approach. Those who followed the Æhtemen will know my path has become exoteric and very English (Anglo-Saxon) based, but this is by no means an attack on Wulf as I owe him a great deal. I’ve known Dan for 14 years however I’ve been friends with Wulf for about 30 years now and it was Wulf who introduced me, by and large, into Wodenism when I was in my early twenties. We’ve learnt a lot from each other over the years and I always look forward to raising another drinking horn with him. I strongly suggest those interested in esoteric Wodenism to follow him here.