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Veiling - In Our Practice

This is not meant to be an informational post beyond sharing what veiling looks like for us and our practice.

What is Veiling?

Veiling is the act of coving your head/hair. This is most commonly done for religion and/or cultural reasons. However, there are many reasons to veil. A common veil you may hear about or see is a hijab. The term hijab is for Muslims. However, the style is not necessarily closed, so long as the wearer is respectful.

Why Do We Veil?

We veil for several reasons!

Religion

We are primarily heathen, and not many heathens veil. However, we feel very called to cover our hair. It's kind of a reminder that the gods are all around us.

Modesty

We prefer to be modestly dressed. This isn't always possible to the extent we wish, but covering our hair helps us feel more covered.

Protection

We are an empath, so veiling helps us protect our energy. It just helps us feel more inside our own bubble, if that makes sense.

Medical

We have trichotillomania (aka compulsive hair pulling). This is obviously not good for our scalp, so having a physical barrier helps us to not pull our hair.

More About Our Veiling

We mainly veil in public. We let family see our hair, and if we had any friends, they'd be allowed to see our hair too.

We veil in many styles, and it usually depends on the type of scarf and our outfit.

We don't dedicate our veiling to one deity. Instead, it's more of a devotional act the the pantheon as a whole. It's very hard to explain in general terms in a tumblr post.

Questions?

We'd be happy to answer questions, so feel free to send asks and whatnot!

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The Runes - An Introduction

Hello! Today, we're going to be looking at the runes. This is the introductory post for our rune study, which will be an in-depth look at each rune individually.

Before we get to that, we need a little history and background, so this is an introduction. There will not be any divinitory meanings explored today. We are simply looking at the runes and learning about their history.

Different Runic Alphabets

Many heathens are aware of two runic alphabets, Elder Futhark and Younger Furhark. However, there are more runic alphabets than just those. Some other alphabets are the Germanic Futhork and Medieval runes. While there are many runic alphabets, this blog will primarily explore the Futharks.

Elder and Younger Futhark History

As one might guess, the Elder Futhark gets its name because it came before the Younger Futhark. I have found some discrepancies over when Elder Futhark first appeared. That being said, somewhere in the 1st or 2nd century, Elder Futhark began being used by the Norse people.

By the Viking age, so around the 8th century, Elder Futhark turned into a different, shorter, alphabet that we now know as Younger Futhark.

Differences in Elder vs Younger

As stated before, Younger Futhark is much shorter. In fact, Younger Futhark is only 16 letters long. This is much shorter than Elder Futhark's 24 runes.

Another difference is that Younger Futhark has 2 different versions. They are often called Short-Twig and Long-Twig. Both of these versions mean the same thing. It's kind of like modern-day cursive versus print handwriting.

Were the Runes Just Alphabets?

This is a hard question for us to be 100% sure on. We have had some sources and people tell us that the ancient people did not believe the runes to have a deeper meaning than being characters in a writing system.

However, this is slightly contradictory with the mythological story we have about the runes (more on that below).

It is possible that they believed the runes held a deeper meaning, but did not use them for divination as we do today.

Odin and the Runes

In Norse mythology, Odin "discovered" the runes while he hung from the world tree, Yggdrasil, for nine days and nights after he impaled his heart with his own spear. It's said that the runes came to him from the Well of Urd, which is the source of fate.

Many people say that Odin put himself through this dangerous event because he knew the runes held great meaning and wisdom.

In Conclusion

The Elder and Younger Futhark are very interesting pieces of history and of the heathen path. I hope this post helped explain their history and background. I'm excited to start our in-depth study of the runes! We will start with Elder Futhark and then move to Younger Futhark. Below, you'll find quick charts of what the different Futharks look like!

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Deity Spotlight: Gerðr

AKA Gerð, Gerdr, Gerd, and Gerthr

(Some people translate the ð to a d, and some to a th. We use a d because it has yielded more search results.)

Quick Facts:

Tribe: Jötunn by birth, Vanir by marriage

Domain: Fertility and Abundance

Parents: Gymir and Aurboda

Spouse: Freyr

Child: Fjölnir

Mythologically Backed Facts (VPG)

Gerdr is a goddess of abundance and fertility. She was born a Jötunn, one of the giants, but she is considered a Vanir goddess thanks to her marriage with Freyr (more on their love story in a bit). Both her parents, Gymir and Aurboda, were Jötunns. With Freyr, she had one child, Fjölnir. Fjölnir is said to have become the king of what we now call Sweden, making him the first of the Ynglings.

Gerdr and Freyr's Love Story: One day, while sitting on Odin's throne, viewing the nine realms, Freyr saw a beautiful Jötunn, Gerdr. I have seen sources disagree on if Njord, Freyr's father, or Freyr himself sent Skirnir, but either way, Skirnir was given Freyr's magical sword in exchange for him wooing Gerdr for Freyr.

Skirnir tried to persuade Gerdr into coming with him to meet and marry Freyr, but it is said she refused. Skirnir is then said to have resorted to threats, under which Gerdr agrees.

Once they wed, Gerdr became a Vanir goddess. It is also said that Freyr will die in Ragnarok because he gave up his sword.

My Experiences (UPG)

We love working with Gerdr. She is so sweet! She is a big part of our practice, along with Freyr. For us, she has a very kind and loving energy. We often compare her vibe to a gentle wind rustling through tree leaves.

We take walks with her out in nature, we have a candle for her, and we cook with her! We've found that she really likes shades of green, golden yellow, and certain shades of brown.

She is very understanding and an amazing deity to work with.

As always, if we get anything wrong, please let us know nicely! If you have any questions, feel free to ask!!

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Poetic Edda vs. Prose Edda

What are they? What's the difference? And why are they important?

Simply put, the Eddas are collections of stories about Norse mythology. They are the closest thing we have to a primary source for the tales that ancient Scandinavians told. Since the people who originally told these stories passed them down orally, these texts are not 100% accurate. However, as with everything, they are based on truth. Thus, we must look at them with a critical eye.

There are a couple of important differences when looking at the Eddas. The Poetic Edda draws from the Codex Regius and has several versions. The text tells the tales of the Norse gods and heroes, and the stories themselves may date back to the 8th century. However, the Codex was written in the 13th century. The author of the Codex is unknown, and some people believe that it was put together by several people. There are several translations available today.

The Prose Edda, on the other hand, was complied by, or possibly written by, a 13th century scholar known as Snorri Sturluson.

It is important to note that these texts were written down after the Chirstanization of the area. Therefore, there is probably a lot of bias in these tales.

These texts, along with the Sagas, are the best known texts for Norse mythology. This is why most modern Norse Pagans and Heathens read, or want to read, these texts.

Our thoughts on them

We are currently reading (and annotating) a pdf of the Poetic Edda. After that, we will move on to the Prose Edda. We have chosen the Jackson Crawford translation.

We are very excited to dive deeper into these texts! We always keep in mind the potential biases present, and we hope to report back to yall with some insight after reading!

If we made any mistakes, please let us know! We try to research and fact-check as much as possible, but we are human.

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Hello! We are the Crow Coven!! We are an 18 year old system and an eclectic pagan witch! Please use they/them pronouns for us! Below, you'll find some information on us, our boundaries, and our plan for this blog!

Some fun facts about our practice!

We've been practicing for over 4 years.

We do a lot of divination, including but not limited to tarot, runes, charm casting, and pendulum.

While we are eclectic, we have a focus in the Norse pantheon and traditions.

We're a veiled individual.

We are courting for godspousal.

Here are some things we hope to do on this blog!

Study the runes!

We hope to provide some history on them, and we hope to create an in-depth post for each one.

Deity spotlights!

We hope to create easy to read yet in-depth posts for deities to aid people in working with them. We will provide both historical and mythological background, as well as UPG and personal experience.

Answer questions!

We hope to be able to answer some questions on witchcraft and pagan topics to help people.

Finally, here are some important boundaries to keep in mind when interacting with our blog!

No discourse!! We will not engage in discourse surrounding systems or godspouses. Frankly, we don't care what your beliefs are. We are here to provide some information and connect with fellow witches and pagans.

No discrimination! This blog is a safe place for people from marginalized groups, and hate will not be tolerated.

No cultural appropriation! It's important that we respect all cultures. Therefore, we will not tolerate cultural appropriation.

Be kind! Above all else, be kind to us and each other.

Disclaimer: We are not an expert, nor are we the final authority on anything. Always look at things with a critical eye and don't take things at face value.