melianisnothere

[melianisnothere]

you know, something i've been thinking about recently is identity in relation to worship and devotion.

so often i see people rearranging their entire lives to accommodate what they think a devotee should look like. but i've always thought, isn't it so much more meaningful to incorporate your deities into who you are?

i have so many interests that have nothing to do with my deities. my main hobby/interest that i spend most of my time and money on doesn't involve paganism at all. i work with loki and freyja, yet my room and the area around my altar are filled with pastel pinks/blues and the walls are covered with posters.

i wanted to make bracelets for both of them that i could wear everyday, and so i coordinated palettes for both of them that fit with my usual wardrobe. i had some alone time at home the other day, and instead of using it to sit at my altar and do some typical divination (that i would normally do), i decided to light their candles while i had a dance party.

everyone's practice is their own, and i encourage you to do what's comfortable for you. if that means revolving a lot of your life around your deities, i totally respect that! but i also think there's beauty in balancing other things with your devotion, and maybe letting your gods into it too. letting them know that they matter to you and you want them to be part of it. that you'll carve out a space for them, no matter what it is.

[melianisnothere]

To the Gods lost to time

We may have no way of knowing your name, but we do know you. We know you existed.

We may have no way of knowing what purpose you served in your pantheon, but we appreciate the work that you did, and the work you continue to do.

You may be older than what we think of as the first civilizations, you may be older than evolution, but thank you for being with our ancestors.

Thank you for holding their hands, teaching them how to hunt, which plants were edible, how to walk, how to develop.

It's because of you that humanity exists in the way we know today.

I'm sorry you've been lost to time.

[melianisnothere]

Prayer to Loki

To you, the One who brings smiles;

To you, the One who brings mischief;

Hail Loki, the Bringer of Chaos

And protector of outcasts.

May you guide me through griefs and sorrows

When everything seems to be lost.

May you gift me with laughter

When crying is all I think of.

Dear Loki, may you bless me and

Give me the strength to go on.

To love you is my privilege,

To honor you is my tribute,

Hail Loki, so be it.

[melianisnothere]

5000 year old “spider stone” from Denmark

[melianisnothere]

J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Return of the King

[melianisnothere]

Witches and pagans, which authors do you recommend avoiding?

I was reading “Taking Up the Runes”, but in the process some of the writing rubbed me the wrong way, so I decided to do some research on the author, Diana L. Paxson. After seeing the testimonies made against her, I stopped reading it. Are there any other problematic authors to watch out for? I don’t want to waste my time or money reading from unreliable sources.

[melianisnothere]

you know how an open-toothed smile was originally a show of aggression and threatening behaviour in primates/early humans? baring one’s teeth. ready to bite, poised for the attack. but, somehow, it evolved into an expression of joy — accompanying laughter, mirth, cheerful bliss. is that tension, that threat, still concealed in there somewhere, beneath the friendly veneer? is a smile a show of force? laughter is often cruel. i think joy can be forged into a weapon. it can disarm an opponent. it can act as a glamour spell

a smile evolved to become its own antonym. it encompasses a contradiction. it’s terrifying

that’s Loki

[melianisnothere]

Danish photographer Jim Lyngvild has created a gallery of female Danish public figures and family members dressed as Völva - shamanic Norse women - based on archaeological studies and findings in Viking graves. The headdress of wolf and cubs' skulls is incredible.

[melianisnothere]

Hail to the Old Gods;

The ancient ones, Deities of forest, mountain, and sea, for whom my ancestors poured from their ram horns for.

Hail to the god of emotions, who teaches us when to embrace chaos and when to refrain for the moment.

Hail to the goddess of seiðr, who holds the key of divination in the waves of her golden hair trailing down her breasts.

Hail to the god of strength, guardian of the deer herds, who teaches me when to cry for help and when to stand and gore. Hail to the Allfather, whose unconventional wisdom hurt me greatly in the moment, but saved my soul from perpetual insanity through the binding of runes.

(Thank you all for everything)

Hail to the Old Gods.

[melianisnothere]

I don’t think we are meant to fear the Gods. Not even Gods of storms, death, or war. To believe in them is to accept them as they are. Don’t let anybody convince you that polytheists should fear the Gods. Be awe-struck, be humble before them if it feels right, but in this modern day and age, spirituality shouldn’t feel unsafe.

[melianisnothere]

HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET IN MY CLASSIC JAPANESE CINEMA, OLD MAN!

Or, Sanjuro as an Odinic figure; a discussion.

Warning for spoilers for Yojimbo (Akiro Kurosawa, 1961)

So. Sanjuro has a number of parallels with portrayals of Odin in Norse Myth, and the plot of Yojimbo contains several points that would not be out of place in a story about Odin.

To begin with, they are both wanderers. Odin has a number of Heiti associated with the role, while when we meet Sanjuro, he is travelling the Japanese countryside alone, with nothing but the clothes on his back and his sword.

They both also, in their wanderings, have a dependence on the hospitality of others. This may, in part, be due to the regions and time periods they are indigenous to having a culture of hospitality, but I would argue that simply strengthens the parallel.

Their treatment of people is also determined by the hospitality they receive.

The Farmer who is Sanjuro's first encounter provides water at Sanjuro's request, but is too busy berating his wife for their son's decision to run off and join the Gamblers to share it with Sanjuro or give him any sort of greeting, and so Sanjuro leaves without a word to him.

The water is repaid, towards the end of the film, when Sanjuro spares the Farmer's son, but they never meet or converse over the course of the film, and Sanjuro mocks and insults the youth before sending him home ("Children should not play with swords.")

The Constable too, approaches Sanjuro upon entrance to the town. He gives information, informing the Samurai of the principle players in the town, and of the opportunities available to an obvious fighting man, but then demands payment. Sanjuro ignores him for most of the duration of the film, only to instruct him to kill himself at the climax.

It is Gonji, who owns the restuarant in town, who shows Sanjuro hospitality, offering rice, water, and sake, and not withdrawing the offer when he learns Sanjuro cannot pay. Instead, he instructs Sanjuro to leave, for his own good, because there is nothing but trouble in the town.

It is this hospitality and concern for a stranger's wellbeing that leads Sanjuro to decide to clean up the town. A clear similiarity to Odin's tendency to wander disguised as a vagabond and reward or punish hosts depending on how they treated him.

Another example of this is his response to overhearing Seibei and Orin plotting to have him killed rather than pay him. It could be argued that he already intended to double-cross them, given that this occurred after he had decided to clean up the town; it is just as likely that he was expecting them to plot against them when he made the offer to work for Seibei. Which would also be a very Odinic move.

Sanjuro's handling of the feud between the two Gamblers and their organisations also mimics Odin's behaviour in various Norse myths. His guidance of the conflict by controlling the information available to both parties (As when he discovers Uchitora's complicity in the murder of the Imperial Inspector, sells the evidence to Seibei and then informs Uchitora that Seibei has the evidence) mirrors Odin's approach to those he chooses to favour temporarily.

And much like Odin's favourites, when Sanjuro withdraws his favour, he does so suddenly, without warning, and makes sure everybody knows about it, before settling in to watch the chaos.

TL:DR, a stranger wanders into town. Decides he is going to repay hospitality in kind, whether the principles want him to or not. Through the magic of lying, cheating, and excessive violence, he resolves circumstances in such a way that those who showed him hospitality are better off, and those who wronged him are dead and suffered the entire time it was happening, without any idea who encompassed their downfall until the very end.

Am I talking about Odin, or Sanjuro? Both? Both. Both is good.

[melianisnothere]

Yes, there is a bouncy castle and a ball pit!

[melianisnothere]

Elf names got more complicated as parents strove to create new ones instead of handling the political whiplash of reusing an old one. So if you meet an elf called ‘silver-river-water-voice’ they’re pretty young, but if some guy says ‘hi I’m Tree’ you best believe that bitch is ancient.

[melianisnothere]

For those that are interested in my attempts to write the Poetic Edda into the so-called haiku meter, I've posted a free to read excerpt of Loki's Haiku Duel to my Ko-Fi page

If there's enough interest, I may consider (read: definitely will) post the full poem to my Ko-Fi page.

[melianisnothere]

One of my favorite kennings for Loki is "farmr Sigvinjar arma", which translates roughly to "the cargo of Sigyn's arms". Add a little Gustav Klimt to the equation, and you have an idea that's been plaguing me for months.

[melianisnothere]

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

[melianisnothere]

It has become more widely known that jotun men from Norse mythology can give birth and generally people immediately jump to “That has to mean they’re trans men!” but one of the first things we’re told about jotuns is that they’re intersex in a fantastical way where they have both penis and vagina because they are creatures of chaos. Well, some of them.

The first jotun Ymir had both and mated with himself (the text literally say he had both) to create the jotun race. Then there’s King Godmundr who gave birth to nine wolf pups by his wizard werewolf boyfriend, which of course highlights that sometimes jotuns birth animals or monsters, the most famous instance being Angrboða giving birth to Hela, Fenrir and Jörmungandr by Loki.

But it also seems like not all jotun men can give birth naturally, Loki being one of them. Every time he gave birth he had to transform himself into a female form via magic. Most famously he was a mare when he gave birth to Sleipnir, but Odin also tells us Loki has taken the form of a human woman many times so he could sleep with men (and get pregnant) which suggests Loki likes sleeping with men but prefers to do it in the form of a woman (Loki then says Odin has done the same so he has no right to judge). Godmundr for example is called out for “being a man acting like a woman” because he likes to bottom so much but still in his male/intersex form.

And the stories are pretty clear on wether someone is a man, a man transformed into a woman, or a trans person. In one story we’re told Freyr’s house is filled with “men dressed and behaving like women”. Also the fact that Loki use his mother’s name as his last name could mean a million things. Maybe it’s because she was an Æsir goddess so he’d get more respect from the Æsir by taking her name. Maybe his mother was actually his father Fárbauti who gave birth to him. And maybe Loki isn’t intersex because he’s only half jotun.

It’s all just fun speculation but if jotuns were turned into a high fantasy race like elves and dwarves the mythology provides a ton of interesting implications about jotun biology.