The Monday Meme: Tis the Season
Tag: Odin
30 Days of Heathenry – Day 19 “Library”
Question:
What are your favorite books in your heathen library?
Answer:
I do a lot of my reading on my Kindle, but I have collected a few solid Heathen books in physical format (which is what I suppose the spirit of this question is). I could post a number of cool books that I purchased, but have yet to read, but I figure I will use this as a way to recommend some books rather than to simply show-off. Here are three that really stand out:
Deutsche Sagen a.k.a. The German Legends of The Brother’s Grimm by Donald Ward
This was my white whale for a while. I listened to a podcast about the Pied Piper of Hameln sometime last year, and was excited by the hosts description of a book by The Brother’s Grimm on German Folklore – not the Fairy Tales, but crazy folk tales. They used parts of the book in order to try to pinpoint whether or not the story was based on a true story in any way, and surprisingly discovered that there were multiple versions of the account (Not just in this book), and that it was likely a real event. Later that week, I jumped online and tried to get an E-Book of it – NOTHING. Okay, maybe I can find a used copy on Amazon – NOTHING. Maybe an illicit scan? NOPE!! this book appeared to only be released in English once in 1979 and vanished from Earth. If I knew German at all, I’d be set, but no such luck.
I was FINALLY able to find both volumes of this for around $100.00 in fairly decent quality at a vintage books website called AbeBooks– I now know why this is likely a rare book – there are a handful of folk tales that are explicitly anti-Semitic, so I can imagine re-publishing this book could be an issue. That said, this book is pretty awesome despite the issues, and I am glad to finally own it.
The Hanged God: Óðinn Grímnir by Shani Oates
An excerpt from my previous review 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.
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I assume this not the best bit of Germanic scholarship out there, but this monograph takes an interesting look at the topic of Odin and why he did some of the bizarre stuff he did (like hang himself) and expands that to discuss possible shamanic practices that may have occurred in Scandinavian countries during the migration and Viking eras. She does this by using accounts of neighboring areas (Like Russia) by people like Ibn Fadlan, and how we can assume Norsemen could have practiced the same way.
I love Anathema Publishing due to their low-Print run gorgeous leather-bound books that they produce. Some are insanely dense like most occult books, but they are entertaining none-the-less. Shani Oates actually recently released a sequel to this book that I do own, but have yet to start reading.
The Complete Sagas of Icelanders edited by Vidar Hreinsson
Not much to say here other than, I wanted a hardcover version of some Icelandic Sagas and these definitely fit the bill. I do not have all of the volumes, as this near 25 year old set has a few that are rare and cost-prohibitive, but I occasionally scroll Ebay or Amazon to see if copy pops up. I enjoy these due to inclusions of maps and other materials when talking about specific areas such as the norm for many of these stories.
| 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 1 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 2 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 3 |
| 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 4 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 5 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 6 |
| 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 7 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 8 | 30 days of Heathenry – Day 9 |
| 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 10 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 11 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 12 |
| 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 13 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 14 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 15 |
| 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 16 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 17 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 18 |
| 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 19 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 20 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 21 |
| 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 22 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 23 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 24 |
| 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 25 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 26 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 27 |
| 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 28 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 29 | 30 Days of Heathenry – Day 30 |
The Monday Meme: He’s Always with us…
30 Days of Heathenry – Day 5 “Offerings”
Questions:
Do you give offerings? What value do you see in them? What is their purpose?
Answers:
The point of an offering is to start a conversation with The Gods, not to simply beg for things. Heathens need to separate ourselves from the Abrahamic notion that one prays in order to attain something only. If one builds this relationship, in a mutually beneficial way, one is able to build favor with the Gods, and perhaps, more luck is to follow. That goes hand-in-hand with not asking for crazy things of the Gods, Odin isn’t a djinn that will magically give you a new Ferrari. If you ask for something like that, you better be ready to pay out. Otherwise misfortune can follow.
It is better not to pray at all than to pray for too much;
nothing will be given that you won’t repay.
It is better to sacrifice nothing than to offer too much.
Odin carved this before the birth of humankind,
when he rose up and returned again.
Stanza 145, trans. by Jackson Crawford
So what do we know about historical offerings? in a written form, not much sadly – There isn’t much in the way of clear information on many historical Pagan rituals aside from those that were seen as “enemies” such as Adam of Bremen who wrote extensively about his travels through Pagan Scandinavia. Church leaders, such as Adam, described his supposed witnessing of various sacrifices/rituals in the same way that a folk horror film director exploits the fear of the countryside to illicit fear in “the more civilized” (think Midsommar).
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.
Adam of Bremen‘s depiction of sacrifice at Uppsala
He further documents forced drownings in a colorful way that makes it appear that scary Pagans would just nab random people and chuck them in the river against their will. While not saying it was 100% incorrect – I have a feeling that the agenda of the Church was to make everything look bad to push for mass conversion. Adam was, of course, not present for these atrocities of faith, but “heard about them from colleagues that were”, this is of course, a great plan on how to get away with just making stuff up, then not taking blame if proved wrong.
On a smaller scale though, we DO have some idea of what people gave to the Gods aside from alleged large-scale sacrifices noted above. Offerings were sometimes simple acts of leaving food and drink on an altar or shrine in the house, on a rock, in a tree, or burned as effigy. We have found all manner of items in tree hollows and bogs including small stones, carved statues, jewelry and even locks of human hair given to the gods. The latter example proved it wasn’t lavish gifts that folks always gave, it was important ones. Hair, for example, could be seen as sacrificing ones own beauty to the Gods, which is somehow very powerful feeling.
I used to always take issue with people, when I was catholic, not taking Lent seriously. Here you had a fasting period, 40 days long, where you had dietary restrictions and were supposed to give something up as well. I’d see folks do things like give up eating M&Ms for Lent, or Give up Watching the News – pointless exercises in false righteousness. But giving up a status symbol such as your own long braids is so much more intense. It almost shines close to the act of Tyr sacrificing his own sword hand to help protect his family from Fenrir.
Now the question arises – how do I do offerings? There is a handful of things I do on a daily basis to speak with the Gods. Whenever I work out, I have pledged my strength to the Gods in order to become more of a warrior than I currently am. I don’t envision myself going off to fight anyone since I am nearly 40, but perhaps I can help others in other ways? I visualize the Uruz rune for strength as I work my way through the pain and devote it to Thor. I also give food offerings during important feasts and occasionally give things like beer on an altar. Truthfully I need to get better at my daily practice.
Has this brought me any favor with the gods?
Unverifiable Personal Gnosis (UPG) Time: A lot of this came to be fairly recently as, I was close to losing my job due to political inaction regarding Covid-19 this year. The place I work is one of the places that The President has a vendetta against, and is seemingly doing everything in his power to destroy. As you can imagine, this has been insanely stressful for everyone at my job, and I routinely asked Thor to help us in any way he can since he often watches over the “common man”. On the day that the layoff was set to occur, I had given some offerings and talked to the Gods about our situation – as I was arriving that day, I pulled into the parking lot to see that my parking place had four large Corvids (probably crows) standing there. I took this as a sign that I was protected, and thankfully I made the cut.
In closing, I try to do offerings when I can, mostly because I have seemingly personally benefitted from it. In turn, it has helped me feel like a better person as I have been trying to help others as well. I don’t give lavish gifts, or promise nine of every animal on a tree, but it seems to add up.
Sketch: The Allfather
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.
REVIEW: Iron Alchemy of the Gods: Feed Your Body With the Strength and Wisdom of Valhalla (2015)
A book by RC Fordham
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
Review: Pagan Portals – Odin: Meeting the Norse Allfather (2018)
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 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.
REVIEW – The Hanged God: Óðinn Grímnir by Shani Oates
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. |
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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. “
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.
For more information, go to:
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MSRP: $33.00
