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elluendifad · 11 months ago

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Hi!! Could you talk a little about what following Tolkien elven religion is like for you? (Only if you want, of course.)

I'm a very newly awakened elf and I've just started reading the silmarillion. I haven't even gotten that far yet, but already it's the most connected I've felt to any religious system/religious lore before. I'm considering practicing Elvish religion, but idk. I feel a little strange saying I want to practice a religion from a work of fiction, y'know? (Please don't take this as me saying your beliefs are strange— I think they're incredibly cool. This is very much just a me thing.)

Anyway, I guess my question is something along the lines of How did you realize this was the religion for you/What do you believe wrt Tolkiens work being or not being fiction?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and doubly so if you choose to answer! Have a nice timezone :))

Alatulya, welcome kin! this one is a little long so there is a break. i also accidentally hit publish early, so we will see how editing it works lol.

table of contents: 1. my personal history and variety of practitioners 2. dealing with fictional mythology + my fave paper on this 3. specifics of tolk elven religion

Eldarin religion has been my primary religion (buddhism and my eclectic animistic witchcraft also there and co piloting) for seven years. I have been working with other eldar on our own group experience of this religion for two or a bit more years. I have taken a bit of priestly service role of collecting and organizing materials and keeping track of the calendar, which we call Loa and which assigns different holidays and themes in order throughout the year. i suspect this role is agreeable and natural for me as minya, but that anyone could do it. the degree of demand differs depending on the person, and i would say that much of my time is set to thinking of or practicing our religion. others have less involvement, and some of us feel our cosmology and philosophy is more cultural than religious the way humans might think being a member of a religious group should be. as for my own journey of getting here, i have been otherkin for most of my life and many years of that was 'generally a nature spirit type thing.' which became 'an elf but i am not sure what kind.' which then became 'oh god… am i one of those hoity toity tolkien elves?' bc there is a cultural expectation among elfkin that tolk elves are more dour and care what color clothes you wear or something… turns out that is not true! or, at least, i have not met these grim arbiters of what is becoming of the firstborn! reading the silm and other texts in the legendarium to fill in what i had absorbed from the hobbit and lotr (books and movies) was the lightbulb in the dim cellar. i use a mixed spiritual and psychological theory of origin and function for my several theriotypes and elven kintype, and this experience filled in some gaps i had just been sitting with. i personally feel that i am living one continuous eldarin life--awoken at cuivienen among the minyar, lived and died, spent my time in mandos, and was reembodied here. my sense of memory is dim, and i generally assume that is just a sign that memory is not necessarily important for this part of my life the way it was in arda. it is a great honor to live this life and to find other eldar and folks of all kindreds to share my love of life with. it was natural to transition from my magic and religious work with nature spirits to a cosmology centered on the legendarium-some of the spirits i still work and live with admit they are maiar, others are not maiar and are of the many kinds of spirit and sprite that entered into ea after its foundation to explore. our working relationships and the techniques i use for magic have stayed much the same. so how i do it is just one example in a variety.

2. i will answer first on dealing with the fictional aspect and wrestling with the nature of constructed or pop culture or modern mythology spirituality-the individual beliefs differ there, too!

for my part, i do not think the legendarium is a factual history of this actual world we currently live in. i do think jrrt was channeling something, and may or may not have been kin himself of arda reembodied here.

i think ea, like most faerie realms, is both here and not here and you have to open yourself up and step into it. once most people have experienced the enchantment of an otherworld, they are never fully able to drop the sense of it. i do feel that the legendarium makes a suitable mythopoetic 'history' for powers and themes that apply to both this world and ea and where they overlap, and that the legendarium becomes more historically factual the closer you move into ea and the further you go from current earth.

there is a lovely paper that i surely have annoyed everyone with titled the tolkien spiritual milieu by Markus Altena Davidsen of the university of leiden that really gets into the anatomy of constructed religion and what is present in certain medias that lends itself to that anatomy, which he calls 'religious affordances' in the text. it details a number of groups of many varied beliefs in the tolkien spiritual sphere, some active and some long gone, and i feel that it is a great way to expand one's vocabulary and mental concept of constructed religion and the wide variety that is possible in such constructions. the pdf is available from the university website here

if you check out mr davidsen's other published papers on that website, there are several others also relevant to fiction sourced mythology and spirituality including some by other authors.

3. that being said, there are religious affordances for the eldar in the texts, but not necessarily enough for a fully fleshed out practice as is prepared and given to new members of various world religions. it will take a bit of crafting, but we elves do love to craft! most of us blend legendarium cosmology and philosophy with practices or philosophies we are previously familiar with, like neopaganism or judaism or etc etc.

we have developed some structure in the forms of: a multiply layered observational calendar for the six seasons, eight holidays, twelve months, and seven days of the week; the fourteen valar and several named maiar associated with certain valar; the panentheistic experience of the creator Eru; and the use of witchcraft, meditation, devotional or worship activity, enchantments, glamor, and arts like music poetry painting crochet etc.

most of us practice our own personal flavor by ourselves, and group rituals or ensorcelments are rare at the moment. we are all exploring, and i would be thrilled to hear about your own explorations and what calls to you!

sooo… basically i have a worship and work relationship with our gods and supportive spirits, and give observation on the schedule of the loa. i have daily practices, like offering of beverage an thanks or an oil anointment of my body, and then weekly practices like an eruhini veneration and well wishes for the dead. and monthly practices on the full and dark moon, which is focused on the vala of that month, where i usually do spellwork for the constellation. there are holidays at the start of each season and at the solstices, where i will sometimes do magic for the group but is usually about the personal journey. the one time another elf was physically with me i did do some small rituals including that elda. my herbalism work is inherently religious to me and i also count both learning and practicing herbalism as a devotional activity, same with going on walks or drumming.

i invite you very earnestly to reach out any time and through any means you are comfortable with, and i wish you a very blessed full moon of winds. hantanyel ar namarie!

#elvenkind #elvenkin #elfkin #tolkien spirituality #ardan paganism #my mothers name is death #witchcraft #elfgang #elven spirituality #tie eldalieva #letinwesselma

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faerybones3 · 1 year ago

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Which Witch

Fíli x witch!reader

cw: canon-typical violence, non-sexual choking

word count: 3k

prologue | series masterlist

Chapter One

three years later

Nothing could be heard above the screeching coming from the hundreds of goblins surrounding you, all clambering over each other to get a good look at the group of dwarves they had just caught on their front doorstep.

You sat, hunched at an awkward angle, with your head shoved between your knees, inside a makeshift cage made out of what you guessed were human bones. The commotion with the new prisoners had piqued your interest, and you tried to get a good look at who was being brought before the goblin king, a great hulking thing with protrusions and tumors growing out of every crevice on his massive body. He sat on a throne with a muck-filled bucket underneath, and several smaller goblins lay underneath his throne as a staircase for him. Your cage sat just to the right of him.

The goblin king stepped down from his throne and demanded to know who they were and how they had come to be in his kingdom. You wondered the same thing, privately, to yourself. As you watched the scene, you reflected on your own adventures and how you yourself had been captured by goblins. You had been traveling solo through the Misty Mountains when you stopped to make camp in a small cave. Exhausted as you were, you did not inspect the cave thoroughly. The goblins had sprung out of the walls and grabbed you in the middle of the night, taking your weapons and forcing you into this cage, where you had been sitting for days now. You had no idea why you were not already dead.

You also wondered to yourself if the dwarves had been in that same cave when they were taken, and if they had made the same mistake of not checking it properly for goblins.

When no one said a word, he became enraged and demanded that they be thoroughly searched. The goblins poked and prodded and searched thoroughly enough by goblin standards, ridding the dwarves of their weapons and throwing them carelessly to the ground. One sword in particular caught the king’s attention, and when he realized what it was, he jumped back and screamed, more infuriated than ever that these dwarves would come to him with Biter, the sword that had killed many of his people. You were quite surprised as well, as that sword looked to be made by elves and you knew quite well the enmity between their people and the dwarves.

Suddenly, the Great Goblin turned to you, fury in his eyes. You shrunk back.

“You know them don’t you, witch? They sent you ahead to scout out a way in!” He screeched. “You seek to destroy my kingdom!”

You shook your head furiously and shrunk back even further into your cage in a futile attempt to escape his wrath.

“I don’t know them, I swear!” You yelled.

The Great Goblin was seeing red, too enraged, too incensed to listen to reason. He started to bang and thump on the top of the cage, the bones threatening to break and crush you. Of course you didn’t know these dwarves, and you didn’t know how he had come to that conclusion, but the goblin didn’t need a reason to display his vileness. He wanted someone to pay for these imagined crimes, and you were the first person within reach.

“I don’t . . . believe you!” he squawked, before ripping apart the bones separating you and grabbing your arm, yanking you roughly out of your tiny cage. You stared at him, eyes wide and watery, as he lifted you up by the collar of your shirt and slammed you back down again to the floor of the rock his throne lay upon.

You yelped and tried to right yourself before the Great Goblin could grab you again, but he was too big and too quick for you. He pulled you up by your arm and twisted, making you scream out in pain.

By this point, some of the dwarves were yelling for him to stop, that you were telling the truth, anything to draw his attention away from you. Of course the goblin king did not hear them and did not care that they were speaking at all. He had you again, by the throat now, and he had started to squeeze as you clawed desperately at his bulbous arms, trying unsuccessfully to get him off of you.

You felt your feet start to lift off from the ground and you began to panic, eyes bulging. You were kicking and scratching at him and trying to scream but no sound left your throat. It could not end like this. You fought to keep yourself conscious, but the giant goblin was too strong, grinning as he squeezed the life from you.

The dwarves watched the scene unfold before them in shock and terror, but what could they do against such heedless evil? Some of them tried to fight off the goblins holding them down, but it was no use. There were too many of them, and they could not help you.

Your legs were twitching and your eyes were starting to close when suddenly there came a bright light from somewhere in the large cave and you were thrown to the ground before the dwarves, gasping and choking. You faintly saw a large figure wearing a pointed hat and wielding a sword in one hand and a staff in the other, from which the light seemed to be emanating from. You tried and failed to pick yourself up off the ground.

Everything seemed muffled and deafeningly loud at the same time, and your vision was blurry at the edges. The group of dwarves behind you and all the goblins had been knocked to the ground as well. The light dissipated and the pointy man started speaking, but you could not understand what he was saying. Before you knew it, you felt a pair of strong hands lift you from behind and saw the dwarves hurry to gather up their weapons.

Fighting had broken out amongst the dwarves and the goblins, the dwarves holding their own quite well. You, however, could do nothing but watch and try to catch your breath.

The hands that had lifted you began to half lead, half drag you in the direction you realized the dwarves had started running, following after the tall man who had saved you all. You found your feet and began to push the hands away, your vision becoming slightly stronger and clearer. A young, exasperated face stared back at you when you turned around, giving you an expression telling you that if you did not move quickly, you would most certainly be left behind.

“Come on, hurry!”

“Give me a sword.”

You knew he had heard you but he did not answer, instead grabbing your hand as if he didn’t quite trust that you were well enough to walk on your own. The two of you ran after the other dwarves, closely followed by the horde of goblins when they realized that their prisoners were escaping.

The man in the pointy hat led the group over the rickety wooden bridges of goblin town, trying to get to the winding tunnels that would lead them out of this hell hole. All the dwarves had retrieved the weapons that had been stolen from them, and were fighting off the goblins in their way. You had not been so fortunate, and you felt helpless when you had to rely on the other dwarves for protection while running. You noticed that the young dwarf leading you out had twin swords and considered just taking one from him, but thought better of it.

You had not made it very far when out of nowhere, the Great Goblin rose up and blocked your path.

He looked right at you and snarled, “You thought you could escape me!”

The Great Goblin swiped at the tall man, but he dodged.

“What are you going to do now, wizard?” He growled.

The wizard was quick as he thrust his staff into the goblins eye, blinding him. He then made two quick slashes in the goblin’s gut and throat, killing him. The goblin king fell and the bridge collapsed, taking you and all the dwarves with it, down into the black depths of the cave.

With a great crash, you all somehow landed safely, albeit piled on top of each other, on the cave floor and made a run for it into the deep and dark tunnels, looking for any sign of an opening or daylight.

At last, you came upon an opening in the rock, guarded by two particularly fierce looking goblins. However, the dwarves made quick work of them and in no time, you were out into the open, breathing in the fresh air of the early evening. You did not have very long to enjoy your freedom though, as the dwarves continued to run into the trees lining the mountainside. You followed them until they finally stopped to catch their breath.

The wizard started to count each of them, saying their names aloud and counting on his fingers. When he reached 13 of them, not including you, he paused and asked where their hobbit was. You did not remember seeing a halfling in their group when they were brought before the goblin king.

The dwarves start to argue amongst themselves about where he was last seen. At the back of the group, you tried to hide yourself somewhat behind the dwarf who had helped you, the younger one with blond braids. You suspected that they had not had the time to register your presence and you were not keen on being questioned at the moment. Some of them were blaming each other and one with three distinct braids shaped like a star claimed he saw the halfling slip away. It was then that one of the dwarves, the tallest of them and the most imposing, said in a displeased tone that he believed the hobbit had left them and gone home.

“We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone.”

You sensed that there was some deeper feeling hidden by his obvious resentment for their 14th member. Considering his tone, you also made a metal note to not get on his bad side if you could help it.

At that moment however, you saw a small profile walk through the trees toward them. You assumed this was the halfling as you saw all the shocked expressions on all of the dwarves' faces, especially the tallest of them.

They began to ask him how he got past the goblins but you had stopped paying attention. You could feel something moving in the earth now. You reached down and touched the soil with your fingers, which brought all of their attention to you. They looked at you like they had completely forgotten about you. Their eyes were kind though, and some of them looked at you with worried expressions, taking in your already bruising throat and battered body. The wizard took a step towards you with silent questions in his eyes, a little too knowing for your comfort.

“We need to move,” you said, so quiet that only the two young dwarves in front of you had heard. They exchanged a look.

“And who are you?” questioned one of the dwarves in what you could only describe as a fatherly tone.

“We need to move now,” you repeated, a bit louder this time. “Do you not hear it?”

Everyone looked around at each other, confused. You looked at the wizard, and he understood.

“Wargs,” he said. “Run!”

You heard them before you saw them, a great pack of wargs, advancing down on you from the top of the mountain. You ran as fast as your legs could carry you, weaving in and out of the trees. A few wargs ran ahead and tried to attack the group, but the dwarves fought them off. Up ahead, you saw that you were coming up on a cliff.

“Up the trees, quickly!” called the wizard.

The dwarves at the front of the group started expertly climbing the trees near the edge of the cliff, but you knew the wargs would catch up before they were all up and safe. The wargs were coming up on you fast, and they needed more time.

Without thinking, you stopped suddenly, and turned on your heel, ignoring the shouts from the other dwarves. While running, you had managed to get in the middle of the group, the two younger dwarves still at the back. The blond dwarf was right in front of you and you stopped him with an outstretched arm.

“What are you doing!” He shouted.

“Give me your sword!”

“What? No, come on!”

You sighed in exasperation. “I’m trying to help you, halfwit!”

Before he had time to be offended at your remark, you grabbed his arm and yanked him so that he was pulled ahead of you. When his back was facing you, you grasped the hilt of one of his twin swords and pulled it out of its sheath. Your movements were so quick that he barely had time to register what had happened before you shoved him forward between his shoulder blades. You yelled at him to run and turned back to the fast-approaching wargs.

Fili barely realized that he was missing a sword, and was too preoccupied with climbing a huge tree alongside his brother, as they had reached the edge of a great cliff and could run no more. He was halfway up when he noticed you, still on the ground, doing something peculiar.

A flash of indignance rose up in his chest as he looked down at you with his sword in your hand.

“What does she think she’s doing?” came Kili’s voice. “She’s gonna get herself killed!”

“Wait, look,” said Fili, leaning forward in the tree. “What is she doing?”

You were mumbling in a language Fili did not understand, repeating the same words over and over again, getting louder each time. The other dwarves were a mix of panic and vexation, all looking between you on the ground and the wargs who were getting closer and closer with every breath.

Fili’s indignance turned to awe as he saw a strange kind of rippling energy emanating from your fingers, spreading out through the sword. He did not have a word for it, as he had never seen anything like it, but it was beautiful and uncanny to his eyes. As the energy went through the sword, it started to give off a faint glow. Then it was traveling down your arms and encircling your entire body, and you were surrounded in it. As you continued chanting in that foreign language, a phantom wind lifted your hair from your neck and made your buttoned tunic flutter.

You were on your guard as soon as the wargs entered the clearing. They snarled and growled as they started to circle you, effectively taking your bait. They looked at you as if you were an easy meal. As the last of the dwarves climbed into the trees, you looked back to the wargs, and you smiled.

Two more tense seconds later and one of them suddenly charged and you exploded into movement, the sword in your hand almost invisible as it slashed and sliced at the beast. You were a flurry of skilled movement and Fili could do nothing but stare as one after another of the wargs rushed at you and were taken down.

Something bright caught the young dwarf’s eye and he looked up to see Gandalf throwing flames from his staff down onto the wargs, cutting off their path to you. Some of the other dwarves caught on and began throwing loose branches and pine cones down to the wargs as well. Pine cones were not nearly as effective as flames or a sword, but they hoped to at least distract some wargs enough to give you some time to fight them off.

Things, however, turned quite sour as the last rays of sun disappeared behind the skyline, and the goblins began to worm their way out of their holes and hiding places and into the cold dark of night. A great group of them, enraged by their king’s death, charged out of the mountain tunnels and descended on you.

You were skilled enough in combat and well protected by your magic and the fire sent by the wizard, but you could not take on a hundred wargs and goblins by yourself. While the wargs stayed clear of the fire, you knew the goblins would jump through it to get to you. Just as the pack of goblins reached you, you heard yelling coming from up in the trees. You looked up, and saw a dozen of the great eagles circling from above. Some dove and swooped, clawing at the goblins and wargs.

As you turned around to run, a stray goblin, half on fire and crawling on the ground, grabbed your leg and slashed at you with his jagged knife. You stumbled to the ground and suddenly it was on top of you with its blade raised.

“You’ll pay for this, witch!” It screamed.

At that moment, a great eagle swooped and easily plucked up the goblin, carried him several hundred feet into the air and dropped him off the cliff to his death. You sucked in a long and uneven breath, stumbling to your feet and limping through the trees. At the wizards command, the dwarves had begun to drop from the trees they had climbed, to be carried away by the eagles. There were only a few of them left now and you knew you needed to hurry.

Reaching the edge, you looked down the several hundred foot drop off the mountain. You took in a shaky breath, praying to any gods listening that something would catch you, and jumped.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

After what seemed like hours, the great eagles deposited you and the dwarves onto a great Carrock. You slid off the eagle that had carried you and stumbled a bit on the uneven rock beneath your feet.

When the two younger dwarves arrived, the blond one walked right up to you and snatched his sword from your grip with a slightly disgruntled look on his bearded face. You were too dazed and weak to protest, all of your energy now going into keeping yourself upright and standing. You looked around at the horizon lethargically, taking a step forward. Turning around again, the blond dwarf was now looking a bit worried and tentatively reached for you, perhaps to steady you. Your brain started to go fuzzy and your vision darkened. There was a sharp pain in your abdomen that you hadn’t noticed before, probably due to the adrenaline coursing through your veins. The pain felt like it was spreading up and through your fingertips, and you noticed that the magic you had used before had all but dissipated. You barely saw the other dwarves jumping onto the rock from their eagles, but they were giving you strange looks and you wanted to tell them to stop looking at you like that.

You started to stumble and fell hard onto the rocky ground, landing on your side. You heard someone curse in a foreign language from above you and yell for someone called, ‘Oin.’ But they were so very far away, and you just wanted to sleep now. The last thing you saw before everything went dark was a golden braid with a hand carved bead woven into it, dangling from a handsome face, and your own hand, reaching out to touch him.

#the hobbit x reader #fili x reader #fili #fili and kili #thorin oakenshield #lord of the rings #tolkien #witchcraft #fiction #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #ao3 writer #archive of our own

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ashabellq · 1 year ago

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Bir kez daha yürüyorum. Kaldırım taşları bile ağıt yakıyor artık bana, öyle ki sert vuruyorum ayaklarımı. Üzülüyorum işte, kırgınlık mı bilmem ama sana kırıldığım için de üzülüyorum. O, sensin çünkü, kimsenin ulaşamayacağı o yerdesin. Ben kimim ki sana kırılayım, küseyim, arkamı döneyim? Benim kırgınlığım kendime.

#kitap #alıntı #ngkabal #gecenin hikayesi #gençlik serüveni #fetih yargıcı #gh4 #maya efnan #amelya #nagihan kabal #harry potter #hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry #ağlamak #tolkien #beyaz leke #tugay demir çeviker #eftalya atalar #aslı arslan #sokak nöbetçileri

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breakerofhalos · 1 year ago

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J.R.R. Tolkien’s concept of “secondary creation” represents a prefiguring, and perhaps inspiration to Chaos Magick, and also a form of Catholic syncretism that echoes the protestations of Elizabethan mages such as John Dee. In this sense he represents a touchstone to pre-Stuart understanding of magic as being a domain of theology rather than wholly oppositional.

One could also argue that this makes Tengwar a sigil alphabet in a A.O. Spare sense. In this essay I will…

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donutsdiah · 3 months ago

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Yinerva: The Lake of Life

Hi I just publish my fantasy novel on Wattpad! The story is about a daughter of a witch who never want to be like her mother. She wants to use her spell and potion to help people, but could she?

This novel contains Norse mythology creatures such as elves, orcs and dwarfs but the main character is a human. I'm so sorry if you find any grammatical mistakes, but I do make sure to make it as beautiful as possible I can do. Interested?

🪄Read now here🪄

Also I update this every Tuesday so stay tune and see you in the comment section 🧹✨

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troldrik · 2 years ago

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introduction post ‹𝟹 🌱

my name is rian, im 19 and im from denmark ^-^

my pronouns are they/them and he/him

im a scorpio sun, leo moon, and virgo rising

infp

autistic and celiac

im a writer, a witch, and a person with too many interests to count

i crochet

my favorite animals are sharks and orcas, and foxes

if you wanna talk to me DO IT im slow at replying but i want to talk i swear

i yap about..:

Mostly kpop at this point tbh

My ult is Ateez (bias Mingi, Yeosang)

Tomorrow x Together (bias Beomgyu/Hueningkai)

Cravity (bias Woobin, Allen, Wonjin)

Seventeen (bias DK)

F1 (Ferrari enthusiast)

Percy Jackson

Marvel (X-men and spider-man specifically)

The Moomins

BBC Merlin

The Witcher

Tolkien

Narnia

Monster High

DNI

none pretty much

under 16, over 25

don't be a dick ?

dicks will be blocked

#intro post #autistic #actually autistic #writerblr #witchcraft #kpop #merlin bbc #narnia #tolkien #the moomins #the witcher #percy jackson #pjo #txt #cravity #f1 #seventeen #ateez

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nerdy-grimiore · 5 months ago

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. : Correspondences - Samwise Gamgee : .

Element: Earth

Epithets: The Gardener, The Friendly one, The Ring-bearer’s Accomplice

Imagery/Symbolism: Plants, Flowers, Woodland animals, Mushrooms, Fae symbolism, Grassland symbolism

Crystals: Emerald, Fairy stones, Moss Agate, Fuchsite, Tree Agate, Fluorite

Colours: Green, Orange

Tarot Card: Page of Pentacles, Page of Cups

Scents: Pine, Carnations, Honeysuckle, Passionflower, Strawberry, Tangerine

Numerology: 4, 6, and 3

Herbs: Peppermint, Chamomile, Lavender, Thyme, Orange, Allspice

Offerings: Flowers, Plants, Foods you’ve made for him, Herbal teas, Fruit, Crafts you’ve made for him

Devotional acts: Show kindness to your local environment, Do crafts, Learn Herbalism, Start a garden, Show kindness to your local fauna, Honour him, Frodo, and the fellowship

What to work with him on:

Herbal magic

Healing

Cultivating prosperity

Cultivating creative Inspiration

#pop culture witchcraft #pop culture magic #pop culture paganism #pop culture spirit work #witchblr #pop culture practices #pop culture correspondences #lotr paganism #fellowship pantheon #lotr witchcraft #tolkien witchcraft #tolkien paganism

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cursecuelebre · 6 months ago

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Top Recommendations for Norse Pagans that aren’t Problematic.

There is a lot of books by people who are racist and part of far right side of Heathenry and I’m going to try my best and list the books I have that helped me on my path that isn’t problematic and have questionable intentions. Books and YouTube channels.

Anglo Saxon Socerery and Magic by Alaric Albertson. He is very knowledgeable in his work and path especially on runes which includes the rune poem to make your own interpretation and witchcraft side of things. He even talks about the Elves which I appreciate because not a lot of Norse authors talk about them. It’s more Germanic than Norse but I can’t see any problem adopting certain aspects since they are very similar. I will say he does take himself a bit serious at times but his information is so good and worthwhile. I have not read his first book on Travels through middle earth but it focus on more the pagan side.

Poetic Edda and Prose Edda: it’s what every Norse pagan needs. It’s the foundation of Norse paganism not bibles but myths and tales that can help along our journey. There is tons of translations, but my favorites are Dr. Jackson Crawford Poetic Edda and Anthony Fawkes Prose Edda. But look into other sagas as well like Volsung which Dr Jackson Crawford also wrote about.

Beowulf. More of a Germanic tale but again includes it has roots of Germanic sorcery, traditions, religion like the concept of Wyrd (Fate), the runes, and values within his society like loyalty and mythical creatures. Again there is many translations even Jrr Tolkien did a incompleted version of Beowulf but I think Tom Shippey finished that version I could be wrong. Nonetheless explore more than one, the oneI have is by Seamus Heaney.

Grimm Fairy Tales this mostly German Folklore but it’s still quite important to learn about in German folk magic, creatures and entities in German folklore tends to be very real to the practitioner in their spellwork.

The Way of Fire and Ice by Ryan Smith a very progressive outlook in Norse paganism, he talks about creating communities in Norse paganism and calling out and denouncing Nazis in the community how Norse Paganism is inclusive and how to be open to all types of people. But he has a beginner approach to the deities, beliefs, values within Norse paganism.

Look into a lot of academic sources that’s where you will find a lot of information on Norse paganism and religions.

Tacitus Germania - A Roman historian talking about the Germanic tribes their culture and customs.

Saxo Grammaticus history of the Danes

The Viking Way by Neil Price it goes good in depths about magic in Scandinavia like Seidh

Dictionary of Norse Mythology a quick guide to northern myths, if you are trying to find a specific god and you don’t have time to look up in a book it’s in there with great information to each one.

Children of Ask and Elm: History of Vikings by Neil Price on Scandinavian culture during the Viking age

Some YouTube Channels

The Norse Witch: Bente lives in Germany and their channel encompasses all of Norse paganism more around magic. They do interviews with other Norse witches of folk magic like Icelandic and Danish. Even gives good book recommendations and advice on general spellwork as well!.

Dr Jackson Crawford he is an author but he also has a YouTube channel. He was a professor in Colorado on Norse culture, mythology, and language and now is a full time YouTuber. He did a series of videos on the runes which are more historically accurate. Discusses the myths and the language and what do they mean. Jackson Crawford isn’t a Norse pagan nor he doesn’t care if you are one but just letting you know he isn’t coming from a pagan perspective.

The Welsh Viking also like Jackson Crawford but still has really great knowledge on Viking culture.

De Spökenkyker who is a channel that focus on German Folk magic living in Germany who is a practicing German Folk Witch.

Please feel free to add on any recommendations that are helpful and useful to the Norse pagan Community!

Update:

Just adding new sources from the comments that I really enjoy I have been notfied that some YouTubers aren’t that great after all. You may find other people’s reblogs with their names but I have edited them out. But here’s some more reminder these are good perspectives and ideas as well in the community that aren’t problematic it’s okay to listen to these folks and gain some perspective or historical insights of course let me know if I’m mistaken or they are problematic that I didn’t know about.

- Welsh Viking (YouTube) and his more historical like Jackson Crawford in that sense

- Mathias Nordvig (Author) - Notably Astaru for Beginners

- Arith Harger (YouTube)

- Call of The Runes by Walter McGrory (his teaching of the runes is really great and includes the rune poems)

- Elves, Witches, and Gods by Cat Heath - If your interested in magic especially Seidr Cat does a great job of explaining her practice again HER practice it’s following someone’s example but you can adapt into your own practice of course.

- A Practical Guide to Asatru by Patricia M Lafayllve - She has interesting points and a good read.

These some of these authors utilise their knowledge based on history and their own practice and I think it’s okay to read or listen to them.

#paganism #norse paganism #norse pagan #norse witch #norse mythology #norse heathen #norse polytheism

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literaryvein-reblogs · 7 days ago

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Common Fantasy Subgenres

The broad tent of fantasy literature has spawned many fantasy subgenres that range from mythical and gritty to modern and otherworldly. Understanding the different fantasy subgenres can help aspiring writers find their niche so that they can create a fantasy series that readers can enjoy for years to come.

Fantasy novels take on many forms, and the number of distinct fantasy subgenres seems to grow with each passing year. Here are 18 particularly important subgenres within the world of fantasy:

Dystopian fantasy: Sometimes grouped in with science fiction, speculative fiction, and literary fiction, dystopian fantasies imagine worlds gone wrong. The settings are at once familiar to contemporary audiences and also alarmingly worse than the present world. Jack Vance’s Dying Earth series is a pulpy example of this subgenre of fantasy fiction.

High fantasy: Sometimes called “epic fantasy,” high fantasy is set in a magical environment that has its own rules and physical laws. This subgenre’s plots and themes have a grand scale and typically center on a single, well-developed hero or a band of heroes, such as Frodo Baggins and his cohorts in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings or Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves in The Hobbit. George R.R. Martin combines high fantasy with elements of medieval fantasy and romance in his Song of Ice and Fire series (and the Game of Thrones television series based upon those books).

Low fantasy: Set in the real world, low fantasy includes unexpected magical elements that surprise ordinary characters, like the plastic figurines come to life in Lynne Reid Banks’s The Indian in the Cupboard.

Magical realism: While similar to low fantasy, magical realism characters accept fantastical elements like levitation and telekinesis as a normal part of their otherwise realistic world, as in Gabriel García Márquez’s magical realism classic One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Sword and sorcery: A subset of high fantasy, this subgenre focuses on sword-wielding heroes—such as the titular barbarian in Robert E. Howard’s Conan pulp fiction stories.

Urban fantasy: Urban fantasy is a genre of literature encompassing novels, novellas, and short stories in which fantastical characters and concepts are placed in a real world urban setting, often in the present day. Urban fantasy novels have devoted followings and they have spawned film and TV adaptations. Urban fantasy stories often draw from noir and gritty police procedurals. They also may incorporate fantastical elements and supernatural creatures. These could involve undead zombies, vampires, druids, demons, wizardry, witchcraft, and other such fantasy tropes. For example, The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.

Paranormal romance: This fantasy subgenre combines romantic themes with fantasy elements like vampires, werewolves, shifters, faeries, and zombie armies. Many contemporary fantasy series blur the line between urban fantasy stories, coming-of-age tales, and paranormal romances. Patricia Briggs and Jeaniene Frost are popular authors in this subgenre.

Dark fantasy: Combining elements of fantasy with the horror genre, dark fantasy’s aim is to unnerve and frighten readers. For example, consider the gargantuan, otherworldly monsters in H. P. Lovecraft’s universe. Gothic and Victorian dark fantasy tends to embrace a paranormal setting and supernatural elements, which can range from vampires to werewolves and beyond. Note that by no means is every paranormal fantasy a dark fantasy.

Grimdark fantasy: One step beyond dark fantasy, grimdark novels pry into the blackest depths of the human condition, often in the proverbial underbelly of an alternate world. The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith Spark is a popular book within this subgenre.

Fables: Using personified animals and the supernatural, fables impart moral lessons, like the stories in Aesop’s Fables and Arabian Nights.

Fairy Tales: Intended for children, fairy tales and folk tales are typically set in distant magical worlds (with beginnings like “Once upon a time, in a land far, far away…”) where trolls, dragons, witches, and other supernatural characters are an accepted truth, as in the Brothers Grimm’s Grimms’ Fairy Tales.

Superhero fantasy: Unlike stories in which a hero acquires special abilities through scientific means, such as exposure to radiation, the protagonists’ powers in more fantastical superhero stories are supernatural. Many superhero stories are set in a low fantasy world—one that’s quite similar to our own world. Superheroes ranging from Wonder Woman to Thor bring fantasy elements to worlds that otherwise obey the known laws of science. Many superhero fantasy authors have worked in the comic book medium, from Stan Lee to Bob Kane. As such, superhero fiction in the fantasy genre is also known as comic fantasy or comic book fantasy.

Fantasy of manners: This subgenre, exemplified by fantasy books like Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake, combines supernatural world-building with the type of society-centric concerns one might encounter in a work by Edith Wharton or Noel Coward. Human drama and pettiness may outweigh magical powers in this subgenre of fantasy literature.

Crossworlds fantasy: Sometimes called portal fantasy, this subgenre involves characters transporting from a normal world to a magical one. This requires authors to engage in both magical world-building and grounded realistic world-building. Crossworlds fantasy stories often appeal to children, as seen in the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis and Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. These works also fit a category known as juvenile fantasy.

Steampunk fantasy: This highly specific subgenre combines the Victorian science and technology of the Industrial Revolution with contemporary takes on robots and machines. As such, steampunk fantasy is at once alternate history, science fantasy, and a modern fantasy—although the specifics vary with specific novels. Soulless by Gail Carriger is a particularly well-regarded steampunk fantasy novel.

Arthurian fantasy: These historical fantasy stories exist in a magical world of King Arthur, although Arthur himself is not always the main character. Due to their magical setting, Arthurian fantasy novels and short stories tend to feature mythic creatures like dragons, and many of their heroes are knights—which also makes them part of the heroic fantasy subgenre.

Sci-fi fantasy: These stories can be set in any variety of time periods—which means they can be a contemporary fantasy, a modern fantasy, a futuristic fantasy, or even historical fantasy—but they establish a new world where scientific advancements have changed the rules of engagement, while still incorporating magical elements. The Star Wars series and the various works of Isaac Asimov have helped set the bar for sci-fi fantasy.

Wuxia fantasy: This subgenre is rooted in classic Chinese literature. It involves elements of fantasy interspersed with martial arts. Jade City by Fonda Lee is an example of wuxia fantasy.

Source ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

#fantasy #genre #writing notes #writeblr #literature #writers on tumblr #writing reference #dark academia #spilled ink #writing prompt #creative writing #writing inspiration #light academia #luis ricardo falero #writing resources

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creature-wizard · 21 days ago

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Where most of this stuff about programmed alters really comes from...

This stuff going around about highly specialized forms of DID alter programming (such as flower programming, jewel programming, delta programming, etc.) comes from conspiracy theories promoted by Fritz Springmeier (a self-proclaimed deprogrammer) and Cisco Wheeler (the alleged Monarch slave he claims he deprogrammed). They published three books - They Know Not What They Do: Illustrated Guide to Monarch Control (published 1995), The Illuminati Formula Used To Create A Total Undetectable Mind-Controlled Slave (1996), and Deeper Insights Into The Illuminati Formula (1997).

They claimed that Project Monarch was practiced by the none other than the Illuminati! Here are some quotes from The Illuminati Formula:

Over the years, I have spent thousands of hours studying the Illuminati, the Intelligence agencies of the world, and the occult world in general. The centerpiece of these organizations is the trauma-based mind control that they carry out. Without the ability to carry out this sophisticated type of mind-control using MPD, drugs, hypnosis and electronics and other control methodologies, these organizations would fail to keep their dark evil deeds secret.

Illuminati--The Illuminati are 13 elite bloodlines which have manuevered themselves into control over this planet. They lead double lives, one for society and a hidden one which is based on a gnostic luciferian philosophy which consists of lots of blood rituals.

The Monarch program is based upon Illuminati and Nazi goals to create a Master race in part through genetics. If knowledge can be passed genetically (which it is), then it is important that parents be found that can pass the correct knowledge onto those victims selected for the Monarch mind-control.

The Illuminati, of course, supposedly plans on instating a one world government - a conspiracy theory that's right out of The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion:

New World Order-- The New World Order is the global design for a One-World-Government One-World-Dictator and its constituents. Insiders call themselves the "network" and "the neighborhood".

They also claimed autism is a traumagenic "emotional problem" and described it as a state of being withdrawn from reality:

According to someone who has helped with the programming and Moon Child ceremonies, occasionally the child while in the womb when traumatized by the Moon Child rituals, retreats into its mind like a cocoon, and develops autism. Autism is an emotional problem where the child withdrawals from reality and goes into its own private world of altered states.

They claimed that numerous slaves were given "end time programming" to help put the Anti-Christ into power:

…programmers can place in post-hypnotic commands to do something on a certain date. The end time programming, that has Monarch slaves doing something at a specific date to create anarchy or to help the Anti-Christ come to power has been put in at this level.

They claimed Disney films are designed for programming and mind control:

Most of the Disney films are used for programming purposes. Some of them are specifically designed for mind-control.

They claimed The Lord of the Rings contains Illuminati programming:

Rings play a significant part in the lives and programming of slaves. One section that is coding/programming found in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

They claimed the Illuminati controlled people's thoughts with electromagnetic frequencies:

They have found that ELF and VLF electro-magnetic waves can be used to control people’s thoughts.

And of course they claim rock 'n roll music is an evil conspiracy:

Elvis & the Beatles were chosen by the Illuminati to introduce rock music to the United States.

They claimed the Samurai were practitioners of witchcraft and demonology, because these conspiracy theorists are nothing if not racist:

But the Samurai and many other martial arts also use occult powers, which are actually different forms of witchcraft and demonology, even though they don’t recognize it as such.

They claimed Delta alters are telepathic:

Telepathy is used by Delta teams to coordinate their activity and to sense if one of them is in danger.

They claim the Illuminati is in possession of a white gold powder that will make you psychic, cure all your diseases, and make you glow:

After ingesting the white gold for over 9 months, a subject will become extremely psychic and disease free. The person’s body will also glow.

They claimed that Monarch slaves can remember their Satanic genealogies going back to ancient times:

The memory storage area for the computers include the Emerald City Library (staying with the Wizard of Oz theme) which contains alters who's only function is to memorize & retain with photographic memories pages and pages of information. … The libraries contain the historical genealogies of satanic iniquity from early ancient times to present.

Many people today don't know the real origin of these ideas. Some try to downplay or hide them. But make no mistake, once you start start researching the actual origins of the Project Monarch mythos by tracing citations and comparing what various people are publishing, its origins in far right conspiracy theory culture are undeniable!

This type of programming has allegedly been practiced in the US for at least seventy years. And in all of this time, not a single document written by or for the programmers has ever come to light! The only people who know anything about it are people who come across literature written by conspiracy theorists, or those who have been demonstrably influenced by conspiracy theorists in some way.

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