Did this a few months ago – I haven’t sketched in a loooong time – I used to do it all of the time, so much so that teenage me was seen as somebody destined to try to get into art professionally. Due to personal reasons, I was more-or-less pushed out of it and made to feel depressed by doing it, so I stopped one day. Days became weeks, weeks became months, and months became years. I really should have kept it up, but what’s done is done. I’ve been inspired to dip my toe back into it lately, not for any sort of reason other than that it makes me feel good to be creative.
BY FORGING A WILL AND BODY OF IRON WE MOLD OURSELVES LIKE THE GODS WHO REIGN UP HIGH. THERE ODIN WILL GREET US AT THE GATES AS WORTHY OF HIS HALLS.
– RC Fordham yelling for some reason on the Amazon page
I mentioned in my last article, that I had purchased Kindle Unlimited and started using my Kindle as my primary reading set-up before I go to bed every night. Generally, this has been a good thing with some nice, quick, yet informative reads, however not all books can be winners! I have recently started a bit of light weight training for physical fitness and due to health reasons – I saw RC Fordham (who has a series of books in Kindle Unlimited’s Library) had a book on physical fitness with a pagan tinge to it, and figured – “why not?”
Somewhere in the world there are men training. They are training to kill you. They are training to be better than you. To over take you when the get they chance. They have not fallen for the lie that weakness is some kind of virtue to be admired.
Now the question stands… Are you prepared?
Preparation begins by becoming strong. The stronger you are the harder you are to kill. As we train to become the elite warriors of our gods, we are transforming ourselves into a living and breathing rune of strength. Our rune is Uruz. Our mission is to become it with no apologies or excuses.
– excerpt from Amazon sales page
Sadly, Iron Alchemy of the Gods: Feed Your Body With the Strength and Wisdom of Valhalla (2015) is not something I can recommend to pagans or even weightlifters for that matter. As you cans see above, the entire philosophical side of the book is presented in this weird alarmist manner that seems to be wanting you to be on edge and start furiously exercising as to not displease Odin by being too weak for Ragnarok. The majority of this section is basically trying to make the reader hate weakness, weak people, and left-leaning politics whilst striving to become a killing machine devoting the whole process to the Aesir. It’s honestly a bit much, and is not supported in any lore that I’ve read. I honestly don’t know what I was expecting, since we don’t really see anything like a Nordic weightlifting manual from 1000 AD anywhere, but it wasn’t this for sure.
This book, confusingly, also veers pretty heavily into this unnecessary anti-modern society viewpoint that I don’t wholly disagree with, but the way it’s presented is very much stilted in what I presume to be Mr. Fordham’s one-sided political beliefs, something I do not care about whatsoever.
I will not say that there was nothing in this book of worth, as I found the section on meditation very interesting and actually plan to use something from this book in my daily workout routine. Fordham basically outlines the importance of being strong in both mind and body and suggests meditation to help hone one’s skills. I won’t give away the entire thing on here, but he suggests envisioning the Rune Uruz, widely attributed to be the rune symbolizing “strength” before your workout to try to embody every virtue of the rune. This of course, has no basis in any historical practice in any way, but for most people that use rune magic, this is an interesting idea.
The rest of the book is basically a list of recommended exercises one can do at the gym with pictures to ensure proper form – I would say this amounts to about 60% of the content.
All-in-all reading this book was an interesting experience – Like stated before I was not a fan of the contents, but it is not all bad. The meditation ideas are very good, and something that I plan to try for myself. I have read a few more of Mr. Fordham’s books since starting this read-a-thon and most of them are better than this one.
If you would like a copy of this book for yourself, follow this LINK
I have recently starting using a Kindle quite a bit for my daily reading, mostly because I tend to read before I go to bed, and wrangling a book light in such a way as to not wake my girlfriend up is pretty annoying. In my quest to read up on practical applications for Norse Paganism, I stumbled on a series of books called Pagan Portals by the publisher Moon Books. They are quite good for this light nighttime reading. They are quick 100+ page reads that most readers would be able to finish in 1-2 sittings, and aren’t very technical, so you don’t have to stress about details. The first book I checked out, Odin: Meeting the Norse Allfather by Morgan Daimler, is one of the better ones so far mostly because I’m more into Norse Paganism, and the publisher’s usual output is largely Celtic thematically.
“Known by many names and with a wide array of characteristics Odin is a God who many people believe is just as active in the world today as he was a thousand years ago and more. A god of poetry he inspires us to create. A god of magic he teaches us to find our own power. A god of wisdom he challenges us to learn all we can. In this book you will find some of Odin’s stories and history as well as anecdotes of what it can be like to honor him in the modern world. “
Amazon sales page for the book
Daimler goes into this book with two purposes, to give everyone an introduction to the Norse god Odin, and to share her autobiographical information on how she was drawn to him, and how you to could meet him for yourself. This is by no means a structured guide on how devoted Norse pagans, Asatru or Vanatru practitioners would worship Odin – this is more suited for those that dabble in eclectic paganism, or perhaps Witches or Wiccans that borrow from many pantheons. Daimler comes from a background of Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism, so her insights on Odin are that of someone who had no idea tat they were being drawn to a god from an unfamiliar pantheon, and how she dealt with it.
The Author, Morgan Daimler
The information on Odin here is nothing too detailed, and is similar in many ways to other books on the Norse pantheon I’ve read, but since this book is an introductory piece that is not perhaps aimed at those that may be advanced on their understanding of Norse lore, it serves it purpose. There are some of the basic details, as well as chapters about some of Odin’s misadventures and philosophy as seen in the Eddas of Hávamál.
Perhaps the best parts of the book involve Daimler’s personal work on Odin, as she imparts her path to contacting and forging a relationship with the Allfather, as well as examples of ways to go through a guided meditation to do so. There are passages on the sort of offerings one should make to Odin, and Poetry she has written to / about him. She does touch on some of the downfalls of pledging one’s self to Odin, such as the idea that one that does so could be perhaps on the path to living a shortened life. She gives examples of how her friends tried to talk her out of a Valknut tattoo she got placed over her heart as it can be seen as a “target for a spear”.
All-in-all, this book definitely serves it’s purpose as an introduction to Odin, and how one could bring his wisdom into your own life. If you are looking for a more detailed book on him, such as historical details and his appearance in many, if not all of the Teutonic religions, this is not really the right book. I’m not going to pretend this is some sort of literary classic, by any means, nor am I pretending that this book was not largely information I already knew, but if you are new to Norse Paganism, and need a general overview of everyone’s favorite wanderer god – check this out!
To get your own copy of this book, please follow this LINK, it is available in print form and Kindle for under 10 dollars.
The company behind the book, Moon Books can also be visited HERE.
Who would have thought that a small Canadian occult book publisher would publish perhaps one of the most interesting books on Ancient Scandinavian religion and customs this year? This is exactly what has happened with Anathema Publishing’s newest book – The Hanged God: Óðinn Grímnir by Shani Oates. Oates is perhaps best known for her work promoting a strand of Witchcraft dubbed Cochrane’s Craft, which is also known as Cochranianism. This is a strand of traditional witchcraft founded in 1951 by the English witch Robert Cochrane, to which Oates is one of the leading members of at this moment. Anathema has previously published a few of her books on various subjects including The Devil’s Supper and Crafting the Arte of Tradition, both of which were solid reads. Oates does well to write her books in a solid scholarly way, staying clear of overt editorialization in favor of looking into topics such as anthropology and history of a given subject.
The theme of the book is an exploration of one particular
passage of a large poetic codex called the Hávamál (sayings of the high one)
particularly stanzas 138-141. This series of interconnected poems are set up in
such a way as to be the spoken word of Óðinn himself, with this one particular
section being one of the more puzzling parts to come to terms with for many
scholars.
138
I know I hung on that windy tree
Nine whole days and nights,
Stabbed with a spear, offered to Óðinn,
Myself to mine own self given,
High on that tree which none hath heard
From what roots it rises to heaven.
140
Nine mighty songs
I learned from the great son of
Bale-Thorn, Bestla’s sire;
I drank a measure of the wondrous mead,
With the soul stirrers drops I was showered
139
None refreshed me ever with food or drink,
I peered right down in the deep,
Crying aloud [screaming] I lifted the runes,
Then back I fell from thence.
141
Ere long I bare fruit, and throve full well,
I grew and waxed in wisdom;
Word following word, I found me words,
Dead following Dead, I wrought deeds.
.
For a long time, many
people have looked at the self-described self-immolation of Óðinn as a way for
the writers of such literature to bring Óðinn into the same standing as the
burgeoning Christianity by concocting a similar self-sacrifice as that of the
Christian Messiah, Jesus Christ. The problem is, as Oates points out, there
appears to be a complete missing meaning to these passages that is simply that
first topic being – why did Óðinn hang himself? It’s not a sacrifice for his
people like Jesus, so why waste the energy? If one looks at things such as
similar traditions to reconstruct what ancient Scandinavian rituals might have
been like before many traditions were wiped away by missionaries, an entirely
different view of this passage comes to light.
Oates discusses multiple ancient cultures near and within
Scandinavia showing that many, if not all of them had a similar idea –
sacrificial hanging was VERY important. She talks a lot about the Ancient
rituals at a site called Gamla Uppasala in Sweden, and how the tradition of the
hanging tree was supposedly laid out. I say “supposedly”, because the only
surviving descriptions of this are from Christian chroniclers, which are no
doubt over-exaggerating this to show “how cruel these barbaric heathens are”.
“A
general festival for all the provinces of Sweden is customarily held at Uppsala
every nine years. Participation in this festival is required of everyone. Kings
and their subjects, collectively and individually, send their gifts to Uppsala;
– and – a thing more cruel than any punishment – those who have already adopted
Christianity buy themselves off from these ceremonies. The sacrifice is as
follows; of every kind of male creature, nine victims are offered. By the blood
of these creatures it is the custom to appease the gods. Their bodies,
moreover, are hanged in a grove which is adjacent to the temple. This grove is
so sacred to the people that the separate trees in it are believed to be holy
because of the death or putrefaction of the sacrificial victims. There even
dogs and horses hang beside human beings. (A certain Christian told me that he
had seen seventy-two of their bodies hanging up together.) The incantations,
however, which are usually sung in the performance of a libation of this kind
are numerous and disgraceful, and it is better not to speak of them. “
An example of interior art
She comes to a conclusion that Óðinn’s ritual suicide was that – a ritual – a way for him to have visions as many ancient shamans would do, or at the very least these were instructions for others to have similar experiences to gain true wisdom. Perhaps, this was in some way something akin to a Native American vision quest that Óðinn had performed – hanging in a tree for nine days without food and water, hallucinating towards the end. And when done, he found one of the most important things – the runes themselves!
The Hanged God: Óðinn Grímnir is
a very interesting book and solid read if you don’t mind something a bit
scholarly (full of footnotes and the like). I’m VERY glad tis book did not
follow a similar path to similar books I’ve read that seek to overturn
long-held beliefs of various religions. For instance, I once read a book called
The Sacred Mushroom and The Cross: A
study of the nature and origins of Christianity within the fertility cults of
the ancient Near East by John M. Allegro, where he postulated that the
entirety of Christianity was once based on the cultivation and worship of red
and white mushrooms for psychotropic reasons. While this book was interesting
“food for thought” of the sort you hear on something like the Joe Rogan
Experience Podcast, it was not scholarly, and suffered by being a huge list of
various instances of confirmation bias.
Thankfully, Oates avoids this by
giving tons of evidence with citations for her assertations, and yes some of it
is speculation, but it never veers past something that you could see making
sense. I’m sure some hardened historians would balk at many of the ideas
presented in the book, but that’s the entire point honestly. The book sets out
to overturn what they’ve been sitting on for decades.
Anathema is usually a company that releases small print run
hardback editions on various esoteric topics, here they are dipping their toe
into a paperback line dubbed the Octavo series. While having a paperback has
pros and cons of course. I like collecting hardcover books, so I sort of wish
this book was available in both formats as I would have likely spent a bit more
to get a hardcover. One of the pros here is obviously the cost – this book is
CONSIDERABLY cheaper than their other books, even with the insane shipping
price it takes to get this over from the far reaches of Canada. The book itself
is absolutely gorgeous, covered in luxurious golden foil embossing and striking
art pieces on the interiors. Supposedly,
Anathema is trying to establish overseas retailers such is an occult book store
called Miskatonic books as an American seller, so my issue with the shipping
prices might be neutralized soon.
All-in-all this is (so far) one
of the better speculative books on this subject I’ve ever read and it is VERY
thought provoking. Do I assume everything stated in the book is absolute truth?
No. In fact, I thought the ultimate conclusion was sort of too vague too
completely wrap everything up. But it’s just as plausible as the historical
accounts seeped in Christian afterthought and the need to everything to fit
into a modern worldview. Since I now own three books by Oates from Anathema, I
honestly should try to check some of her self-published stuff out. While I do
not practice witchcraft, the books should be, at least, an interesting
read.
