Runes 401 - Rune Rituals - Freyr's Fertility

Rituals are an important part of my relationship with the Runes.  I don't do them often, February being the last time I conducted one.    Last November, I performed a ritual around the importance of pacing yourself and, before that, it was the end of last summer, when I honored Idunn.

I have been waiting to do this ritual since February, when I acknowledged the return of light (the to the northern hemisphere).  A month later, I acknowledged a very important point in Earth's annual cycle - the equinox.  These were two key times leading up to the moment when I could till the soil and seed the ground.  After an unusually long winter and a short, wet spring, that meant keeping my plants inside for a while longer than usual, planting season has finally arrived along with the optimism that it will yield a bountiful harvest.

A bountiful harvest requires fertile ground and, when I need that kind of fertility, there is only one Norse god whose energy I seek - Freyr, the god of peace and plenty.  It is to his essence that I dedicate my annual planting ritual.

With the soil turned and ready for planting, I go through a three-step process to honor the fertility god.

24 rocks laid out as Ingwaz

First, I lay out 24 rocks in the shape of Ingwaz, Freyr's Rune.  Each rock represents a Rune and I say each one as I lay down a rock to build Ingwaz's shape.  I confess, it wasn't until my third year doing this that I didn't use a reference to make sure I had the Runes in proper order (mostly because I was a little nervous).

Once the rocks are laid out and I have said the name of each Rune as I laid down each rock, I stand and face northwest and say, "I turn this soil in your honor, Freyr."  (Whenever a ritual involves Freyr, I face northwest when chanting or calling to him.  That is my choice for no other reason than it just feels right; I have a friend who faces east to catch the rising sun; so it is your choice.)

Runes laid out as Ingwaz with
dedication plant in the center

Second, I remove the rocks and make a smaller Ingwaz shape with my Runes.  Again, I say each Rune as I lay it down.  I keep this step separate to help show (visualize) how the soil goes from gray/black dirt to the beginning of plant life with a touch of green.  Once the shape is complete, I take one of my plants and place it in Ingwaz's center.  This year I chose 'the runt of the litter', a small melon plant, because I wasn't sure it was going to survive.  With a little TLC, it sprouted a couple of new leaves, signifying to me Freyr's powerful fertility. With the plant in the center, I go around Ingwaz one more time, touching each Rune as I say its name.

To finish this step, I stand and face northwest again and say, "Freyr, I believe in your power to provide fertility to the planet, to nourish the Earth and all things that live here. This plant represents the garden I dedicate to you."

The third step happens after the garden is planted and the green life becomes more obvious.  I have a jar of holy water, received from Freyr through rain, that I sprinkle around the garden.  Expressing my gratitude to the fertility god, I say, "I believe in the power of Freyr to provide fertility to the planet. My gods walk with me and I know that Freyr will nourish my efforts."

My plants waiting to go into the garden

 
I have completed the first two steps and will complete step three later this week, once my plants are in the ground.

Do you perform any rituals that you're willing to share?  If so, leave a comment on this post or email me.

Runes 401 - Rune Rituals - Idunn for joy and vitality

Over the weekend, my family and I went apple picking.  While we were in the orchard, the Norse goddess Idunn came immediately to mind.  We know a reasonable amount about her relative to many other Norse goddesses.  We know about her apples and how they keep the gods strong and healthy, and even stopped them from aging.  We learn this when Loki, the trickster, kidnaps Idunn and gives her to Thjazi the Jotun and all the gods and goddesses begin to lose their youthful beauty and become physically weak..  I tell this tale in my novel, The Son of Nine Sisters, and there are many versions of it in other sources too.

In the orchard, I could sense Idunn peeking out from behind the trees a couple of rows away with a smile on her face and fun-loving mischief in her heart.  In that moment, I felt good and happy, carefree, just as I envision her to be.  To that end, I decided to conduct a Rune ritual to her, focused on the joy and vitality she represents for the gods.

For this ritual, I encircled a bowl of apples, a bottle of apple wine (with the name "Jardin D'Eden" on the label, which means garden of Eden, but I prefer to interpret it as Idunn's garden or orchard), and three Runes with a ring of 24 apples (one for each letter of the Elder Futhark).  Before selecting the Runes, I sat with them for quite a while contemplating which ones would best honor the goddess I view as the epitome of innocence, good health, and fun.  I came up with three that felt right - Wunjo, Dagaz, and Gebo.  I chose these Runes not only for their individual meaning, but for the way they represent Idunn's essence together.  Wunjo is, perhaps, the most obvious choice, but here is my reasoning for all three.

As the Rune of joy and pleasure, choosing Wunjo for Idunn represents that child-like innocence that I sense from her.  More specifically, it serves as a reminder to lead not just a happy life, but one that is uncomplicated.  Keep it simple, because when we are not complicating our lives, we are keeping stress out of it, which makes being happy far easier to accomplish.

Dagaz supports the intent of this ritual by offering warmth and sunshine.  For when do children play and frolic more than on beautiful summer days?  As adults, we need to engage more fully in these opportunities.  Being active increases our energy and, in turn, our vitality.  In short, we feel alive when we are more active, especially if we are enjoying it in the carefree way we did in our youth.

Next to Thor's use of Mjolnir, Idunn provides the gods with perhaps their greatest gift - the apples that give them their vitality and good health - and she seems to do it without any expectation of receiving something in return.  Gebo represents this idea perfectly - give without expectation and be grateful for the basic gifts of life.  I also get the impression that not only does Idunn give the gods these apples, but that they are her apples; she grows and tends them.  She takes care of the orchards.

For the ritual itself, I set up the circle of apples, then placed the contents inside and, as I did so, I thought about each item as I set it down and chanted, "I make this circle to honor Idunn, my goddess, for her wonderful essence and energy.  May she spread good health, joy, and vitality.  May we, in return, be grateful not only for her apples, but for the example she sets for us to be giving and happy without expectation or complication."

I'm not sure how many times I repeated my request in honor of Idunn while setting up the circle, but once the circle was complete and I sat in front of it, I repeated it three more times and was struck by how natural the entire process felt and how much I wanted to do my part in this ritual.  Therefore, to honor my goddess, I commit to the very words I chanted, for this ritual helped me to realize the importance of what Idunn represents for me, my energy and vitality.

How do you honor your god/dess through rituals?

401 - Rune Rituals - Calm and Relaxed

As many of you know, I am engaged in a solstice to equinox passion challenge related to my writing.  So far, things are going well, almost too well.  I am finding myself so wound up and excited about this endeavor that, when it comes time to relax and go to sleep, my brain has other ideas.

Since I am in a very active stage right now, I decided the best way to approach this issue was to conduct a ritual around the theme of calming down.

Isa was the first Rune that came to me.  It seemed the logical choice to include in this ritual given its state - ice.  However, it goes beyond that.  When I think of cold, icy places, my mind moves north to the lands I love, which brings me peace and puts me mentally in a place I long to be.  With this to frame my thoughts, I began gathering the other items I wanted for my ritual journey.

As I went through my Runes, looking at each one, holding each one and considering its meaning, I gravitated to three more - Nauthiz, Eihwaz, and Algiz.  I also considered Tiwaz, but decided against it in the end, because, despite my strong connection with Tyr, this Rune invokes too much energy in me for my intention here.

I looked at Nauthiz in detail a couple of weeks ago and, last month, it was Eihwaz.  I find it interesting that these two Runes keep coming up for me lately.  Algiz, by comparison, comes up maybe once every few months.

Besides the Runes, I turned to my primary element - water - but opted not to include Laguz in this ritual as it is about calming and relaxing, stillness, and a Laguz has strong association with movement through the flow of water.  However, river rocks, which lie still on the river bed, while the water flows over them, seemed the perfect complement.

For this ritual, I staggered the Runes over a pile of river rocks  along with four ice cubes (one for each Rune, though they are hard to see in the picture).  I sat and thought of each Rune and noticed two very similar aspects they shared.  First, I noticed their shape.  Each one contains Isa as its center and is evenly balanced on either side of it.  Second, each Rune represents a form of strength in its meaning - Eihwaz standing one's ground or standing up for yourself, Algiz is the Rune of self defense and protection, and Nauthiz gives us strength by reminding us to look at what we need, what is necessary.

With this ritual, unlike the ones I did with Ansuz and Fehu, there was no chant.  Instead, I sat in quiet contemplation, realizing that not only did my action signify a key aspect of Isa - stillness - but that the other three Runes are giving me subtle strength to take what I need, which is a time to calm and relax myself so that I may sleep well.

As I sat quietly, allowing my mind to wander around these Runes, the most interesting thing occurred. Idunn's essence came to help me through my ritual.  Instead of looking at her as the goddesses who tends the apples for the gods and goddesses, I looked at what the apples do.  They keep the gods young, essentially invigorating or revitalizing them.  And, that is what I seek - a good night's sleep to revitalize me, which in turn, will help to keep me on track with my passion challenge.

By embracing the intention of this ritual and sitting in quiet contemplation of its meaning, I got what I needed.  I knew I needed sleep and this ritual reminded me why; it connected all the pieces and showed me that this endeavor is entirely in my control and part of a larger aspect of who I am and what I want to accomplish.  This ritual reinvigorated me and I am sure I will sleep soundly for the next while.

Wishing you peace and relaxation until next week...

Runes 101 - Runes in Mythology 5

I am very excited that, in a few days, I will add three new books to my Norse Mythology library that were recommended by people who have read my blog and the books are all about the Runes.  I look forward to the added insight they may provide me about the Runes.  I admit that I am a relative newcomer to the world of Runes, but I am cautious and careful with the things I say about them and, especially, when I 'read' them.

That brings me to this week's post.  A few years ago, I bought a book of Norse myths, which I have read and, many myths I have reread several times.  Each time, I notice some new aspect about them and, most recently, I have noticed a couple of uses of Runes that I questioned.  You see, because I am limited to the English translations of the Prose and Poetic Edda, I have learned the importance of cross-checking questionable terms in particular.

One of the myths in this book of Norse myths is The Lay of Vafthrudnir.  In this myth, Odin, who is always seeking knowledge, goes to visit the giant Vafthrudnir, because he hears this giant has no equal among the other giants.  Odin wants to challenge him to a battle of wits.  In the end, he tricks the giant to win the contest by asking him a question he cannot possibly answer.  However, when Odin asks the giant how he knows so much about the gods, this author translates or implies that Vafthrudnir can read the Runes.  He suggests that Odin recognizes this ability in Vafthrudnir and that Vafthrudnir concurs and says that he can, in fact, read the Runes of the gods and giants.  Reading this now, as opposed to almost two years ago when I understood little about the Runes, I halt.  The more appropriate term, in my opinion, is that he knows the fates of the gods and giants.  I have two versions of the Poetic Edda, so I checked both books and neither gives any indication of the giant claiming to know the Runes.  I could be wrong on this, but what I am saying is that the use of the term "Runes" in this instant seemed out of place.  I happily welcome clarification of this point in the story.

The second instance is the myth of Idunn and her apples and how Loki tricked her into leaving Asgard so that the giant Thjazi, in his eagle's cloak, could capture her.  Of course, Loki did this to save his own life.  Once the gods realize what's happened, they threaten Loki with torture and death if he doesn't find Idunn and her apples and bring them back.  You see, without Idunn's apples, the gods begin to grow old.  Loki uses Freyja's falcon cloak to travel to Thjazi's hall in Jotunheim and get Idunn and bring her back to Asgard.  He transform her into a nut so that he can carry her easily in his claws.  Thjazi chases Loki back to Asgard in his eagle suit.  When Loki lands safely within the walls of Asgard, he transforms Idunn back into herself.  Here's the part that seems wrong to me.  When Loki transforms Idunn into a nut, the author says that "Loki murmurs the Runes, says the magic words".  When he transforms her back into herself, the author says that Loki "softly spoke the Runes".  This stood out to me as I have found no other indication that Loki knows the Runes.  When I checked my copy of the Prose Edda (Skaldskaparmal), all it says is that Loki turned Idunn into a nut.  Obviously, she was turned back int o herself, but there is no mention of that at all in the actual prose and no mention of Runes.  That Loki possessed some sort of magic there is no doubt, but the Runes?  I say no.

Am I wrong about these instances?  Or am I on the right track?