Gudrun's sacred woods
The German forest is immense, vast, dense, dark, and impenetrable. It is the refuge of the exiled and of outlaws. A site of lairs for terrifying and often monstrous animals. The dwelling place for brigands and marginal individuals. The woods thereby forms a natural frontier. The Bohemian Forest (or Nemus Boemicum) to the south connects with the Bavarian Forest and the Austrian Nordwald; the forest...
Women's work wood carving
Women today tend to trivialize goddess Frigg’s functions. If you try to unravel the different levels, connections, storylines and hidden meanings in Maier files, getting into the world of Disir and ancient European goddesses can be very helpful. An interesting read is the original work of Mrs. Karlsdóttir. Mrs. Karlsdóttir in her book Norse Goddess Magic  states that women today tend to trivialize goddess Frigg’s functions. The...
runen
The rune row or runic alphabet is not an alphabet comparable to the Greek or Roman alphabets. The rune row begins with another set of letters—f, u, th, a, r, k—and thus the rune row is called the Futhark. The order of the runes in this rune row was found on Gotland. On the Kylver stone, and on other items like the Vadstenabracteate and the Grumpanbracteate. The most common theory regarding the origin of the runes is that they are […]...
Valkyries
Valkyrie which is composed of two words: the noun valr (referring to the slain on the battlefield) and the verb kjósa (meaning “to choose”). Together, they mean ‘chooser of the slain’. The Old Norse valkyrja is cognate to Old English wælcyrge. A malevolent female demon, a sorceress or a female witch. Among the Anglo-Saxons the valkyries were female spirits of carnage. So the nowadays picture...
Odin_and_Sága_by_Frølich
In the Maier files puzzle and quest everything adds up to something and there are several intertwined levels that will eventually result in solving the Otto Maier enigma. One clue and deeper meaning can maybe be found in the history of Saga because a Saga records the history of a people’s soul. Saga is one of the Norse goddesses who are numbered among the Asynjur....
twelve night of Yule with Holle
Holle the goddesses and Yule. Frau Holle is connected to springs, wells and lakes, where she lives in a land on the bottom of the water. She is also connected with the fog. Holle can be seen as a bright shape drifting in the fog, and her fog maidens are “die Hollen”, who move over the land to come to the aid of women and children. Yule is a twelve day holiday, it begins on Mōdraniht “Mothers Night” (December 21st) and ends […]...
ilmarinen finnish folklore
An enigmatic depiction of the golden fleece quest: an Athenian Red-figure cup discovered in 1834 and attributed to the Athenian painter Douris (c. 480 BC) shows in its interior the goddess Athena who watches as a huge serpent disgorges a man, alive. Behind them is a tree with a ram’s skin in its branches. These clues assure us that the hero is Jason. The artist...
Crows are brought up in the mythology of countless cultures around the world as they are frequently characterised as guides for traveling between worlds. European folklore explains that crows convene courts, pass judgments, and also execute guilty members. Connected with the Goddess’s death aspect, crows came to be perceived as evil or simply fearsome. Witches’ foot In medieval days, finding the foot of a crow,...
Horselberg
Grimm writes that the Hörselberg of Thuringia was still considered in the 10th through 14th centuries to be the residence of the German goddess Holda and her host. He cited legends of night-women in the service of dame Holda.  Those women rove through the air on appointed nights, mounted on beasts. He asserted that they were originally dæmonic elvish beings, who appeared in woman’s shape and did men kindnesses. Grimm asserted that the identity of Venus with the German goddess […]...
Hexen kommando
It’s almost Walpurgisnacht, no better moment to have a closer look at our witches or Hexen. Where did this cruel hatred against women and the ancient pre-christian sanctuaries start? When Pope Innocent VIII (1484–92) professed his belief in witchcraft, he condemned it, and dispatched inquisitors to Germany to try its supposed practitioners and punish them unimpeded. Singling out Mainz, Cologne, Trier, Salzburg, and Bremen, the...
gansemagd maier files
The story of the Goose Girl starkly shows the process that sets out when any one chooses to neglect or simply reject reality. And as a result chooses not to move into action. The Goose Girl, once an exquisite little princess who held tremendous promise, slowly but surely lost her dignity, her horse, her clothing, and last but certainly not least her personal identity. Your identity is not only who you were, nor is it who you may be. It […]...
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