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My rendition of Odin riding atop his 8 legged horse Sleipnir. Hand carved in slate 30 cm x 30 cm.

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Nazis will never be welcome in paganism. They have no space in our communities, we will have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to nazis. You have no right to the cultures, gods and religions you hijack to spread your disgusting ideologies. You will find no refuge or comraderie amongst pagans.

Reblog to let nazis know they’re not welcome here.

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Loki

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A poem to Hel

[[Based on a message I believe I received during a prayer/mediation to Hel. I live with depression, and Hel always inspires a will to persevere.]]

As I ran to your timeless arms, you told me not today.

You point back where stars once shone

and smiled at me, quietly, but with so much to say

to my weakened heart of stone.

“Sorrow's fangs will hungrily gnaw, grief’s sharp briars will sting,

But before you’re welcomed as my guest, you must do one thing:

Live your life fully, it won’t always feel like such a waste.

Beauties of the world await you, go after them with haste.”

As I run from your timeless arms, I tell you not today.

I feel like the clouds above.

“May you live well and your happiest dreams come true,” you say.

“Know joy, know mirth, and know love.”

Bright rays of life begin to touch me, with warmth once forgone

I know I must carry on.

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Art of lady Hel

Hel is the ruler of Helhiem the realm of the dead. Many fear her due to her appearance but she is nothing but loving. She cares for the dead and builds a place for each of us when we are ready to pass on. She teaches us that even death can be a beautiful thing. 

I once had a dream where I traveled to helhiem.  An old lady with a lantern tasked me to bring a dead girl to Hel. I entered through a bridge to Long dark and cold berren land that turned into beautiful lush forests full of mist. I saw several settlements full of people I assume to be my ancestors They seemed happy and full of life.  Two doors as tall as the trees led to a bridge and on the other side there she was.  Despite her appearance she was the most beautiful person I've ever seen. She reached out her skeletal hand and instead of a cold dead hand I felt warmth and love

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Fellow pagans. Remember that the pagan experience is not purely an ex Christian experience. That experience is worth talking about, but please don't talk about the pagan experience as if leaving Christianity is universal to being neopagan.

Ex atheist pagans deserve to have their experiences acknowledged by the community.

Ex Muslim pagans deserve to have their experiences acknowledged by the community.

Non practicing Jewish pagans deserve to have their experiences acknowledged by the community.

Pagans who have been pagan for most or all of their life deserve to have their experiences acknowledged by the community.

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Hel 🖤

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The biggest act of devotion and worship to any deity is to take care of yourself.

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Prayer to Hel

We hail you, Hel, with humility. Please bless our paths with courage and calm As we make the most of our days here.

Hel, guardian of our ancestors, Accept our praise and our offerings, Our gratitude and our solemn trust.

Hostess of our final refuge, May our endings inspire living Until the time comes to cross your gates.

Hail Hel!

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Never let anybody ridicule your beliefs. It’s human to find divinity in the mundane. It’s human to turn to the divine for answers. It’s not a matter of intelligence, like some would like to think. It’s a matter of human nature and instinct.

So leave some honey out for the fae, find omens in the patterns of the clouds, or hang wind chimes outside like your grandma used to do. Don’t let anybody call you anything other than human.

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When I was praying to Hel last night she told me that sometimes your weak in a way that's solved by practice and training, but sometimes you're weak in a way that's solved by rest and healing. I feel like I should share that with you (she said it was ok to post this).

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Your deities care. You do not go left unseen or unheard. It will be ok. May your deities hold your hand through your most difficult moments and remind you always of your strength and resilience. 🧡

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When Odin drank from Mimir's well, he had to sacrifice an eye in order to do so.

A lot of people interpret this as "sacrifice is a value of the Norse people" but I think it's actually an allegory for a practical experience we all go through.

The waters of Mimir's well is wisdom. But in order for us to gain wisdom, we have to let go of how we currently see the world. This is neccessary for growth. In sacrificing his eye, Odin wasn't sacrificing his vision, but rather his way of looking at the world.

The reason why he only sacrifices one eye though is also part of the allegory: He still needs the ability to see things the way he used to, because wisdom is found not in looking at things exclusively from the new perspective, but in understanding the space between the old perspective and the new, and how it is bridged.

If Odin had given up both eyes he would be just as ignorant as before; there's no wisdom to be gained from obliterating your old viewpoint. (Plus, doing this would have been a self-wounding, rather than a sacrifice.)

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Queer Heathenry Masterpost

(updated google doc here)

General awareness:

Neo-Nazi Prevention & Dog Whistles White supremacists are misappropriating Norse mythology Dog Whistles in the Gender Critical Movement Guide to Anti-LGBTQ Online Hate and Disinformation What To Do When Racists Try To Hijack Your Religion Inside Asatruism's Fight Against the Co-Opting of Their Religion by White Supremacists

Sources and Sites:

GLBT in the Northern Tradition (site) Vikings are Gay! Podcast (podcast) Academic Research

Excerpts and Essays:

Sex, Status, and Seiðr: Homosexuality and Germanic Religion Sons of Frey Ergi: The Way of the Third Being Ergi The Tale of a Transsexual Norse Pagan Spirit-Worker

Scholarly Articles:

Queer Themes In Old Norse Myth Feminism in Medieval Scandinavia: How Paganism Forged Gender Equality Magic, Genderfluidity, and queer Vikings, ca. 750-1050 Mythical beasts: How queer bodies expand the religious imaginary

Practices:

Rite of Passage for an Ergi Child Honoring Ancestors: Queer Rite of Elevation

Queer-friendly Creators:

Ocean Keltoi (YouTube) Nordic Mythology Podcast (Spotify) The Norse Gods: Loki: An Evil Queer Icon? (YouTube) Storied (YouTube) The Welsh Viking (YouTube) Hearthkvlt (online shop; artist) Lockwood Metaphysical (online shop; artist) Ludvig Levin (online shop; artist)

Queer/queer interpreted passages:

Grettisfærsla  The Birth of Sleipnir  Þrymskviða  Lokasenna

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The Jotnär and Liminal Space:

Here is more UPG:

I could get into the historical accuracy of 'Utgarðr,' but to save time: there are people that ascribe to it, and people that don't. I am somewhere in the middle, as I usually take a firm stance on "we will never really know what the ancients believed.'' Essentially, I take all mythology with a grain of salt, use the big picture/metaphor to gain an understanding of the God(s) in question, and move along. However, I did want to delve deeper into the Utgarðr concept. Particularly after the rise of Liminal Space-core. Tiktok and Tumblr have seemed to latch onto the idea of Liminal space, or the Back Rooms, and unsurprisingly, that's made me think of the Jotnär.

The whole premise of Liminal Space is an unoccupied area that, for some reason, seems somewhat familiar but wholly unsettling. Some people even get a sense of nostalgia from certain images. The area doesn't have anything outright scary about it, but instinctually, you know something is wrong with it. There is an intrinsic gut feeling, a knowing that something bad could happen, and that people don't belong in this area. Liminal Space is essentially one big "DO NOT ENTER" sign. But humans possess morbid fascination, so we poke and prode at the feeling of fear, anxiety, and instinct.

Similarly, the Utgarðr has the same sign hanging on its metaphorical door. We know from a conglomeration of myths that the Jotnär occupy harsh lands—snow-capped mountains, the deep sea, the open air, even the space between Realms. This land is inhospitable to us, to even the Gods. It is primordial land that holds something in it that we, as a species, cannot understand. Something that the All-Father sought after ruthlessly in hopes of evading Ragnarök.

I suppose my interest/theory is that Jotnär are Liminal Space. At least, their home is—not neglecting that some Jotnär are, in fact, places. It's been my experience that the Jotnär exude this bizarre sort of feeling. When praying, meditating, and dreaming of them, they often come off as almost...uncomfortable. It's the uncanny, jarring feeling. And I think this genuinly makes sense when comparing to the literature. They are the primordial clan, and so, it would make sense that they occupy The Strange.

The Strange is what I am going to refer to this place/feeling as on this blog, for future reference. Just because I think that encapsulates this experience well; pure, intangible strangeness.

I suppose this could sometimes be applied to the Aesir and Vanir, but I hesitate on that for other literary and historical reasons. The Aesir in particular are Gods of society, in myth they represent human connection, human experiences, etc. Vanir could be considered agricultural Gods, but that is also a human invention, so they too represent key aspects of humanity. So, there is an aspect of familiarity there, which cuts through the uncanny, and destroys the key part in Liminal Space.

To circle back to the original point: Utgarðr is the untangible, the outside. A feeling that our ancestors felt, and so their myths reflected as much. Those myths, put to paper by Christian monks, might not be perfect in terms of accuracy and biased influence, but it gives us a solid idea, a sizable clue. I think it's neat that our ancestors felt that same strangeness.

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Katie Ponder's illustrations for a book on Norse mythology.

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Children of Loki. Made in Procreate.