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Everything on Culture and related to the Maier files series. A cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings

Children of Ash and Elm – A Vikings Story

Based on the latest archaeological and textual evidence, Children of Ash and Elm tells the story of the Vikings on their own terms: their politics, their cosmology and religion, their material world. Known today for a stereotype of maritime violence, the Vikings exported new ideas, technologies, beliefs, and practices to the lands they discovered and the peoples they encountered, and...
Walpurgisnacht engraving

Walpurgisnacht

In the last days of paganism in Germany, the druids’ sacrifices were subject to punishment by death at the hands of the literalist Christians. Nevertheless, at the beginning of springtime the “druids” and the populace sought to regain the peaks of the mountains so that they could make their sacrifices or experience their celebrations at these remote locations, intimidating and...
Witch

European Witch-Craze

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. —EXODUS 22:18 The European witch-craze. Evil thrives on lies, the most malignant of which have drained all through populations and nations—even the world—with devastating consequences. Nothing is more dangerous on this planet than a mob of idiots and ignorant human beings using their childish, literalist mind-set! What follows is a mere glimpse of the misery wrought by the obliteration of truth. James VI of Scotland (later James I of England) felt under […]...
Sheela na Gig carving

The power of the Vulva

From the earliest historic age, there are references to goddesses who are whimsical, erotic, and ferocious. The first texts of this sort have their provenance in the Near East; the female figures described in these texts are erotic, but they do not appear in the “magical” crouching or dancing positions evinced by their Neolithic predecessors. Anasyrma is literally “the exposing...
fairy tales

The Initiatory Path in Fairy Tales

Hidden within age-old classic stories lie the hermetic teachings of alchemy and Freemasonry. In his Mystery of the Cathedrals, the great alchemist Fulcanelli revealed the teachings of the hermetic art encoded in the sculpture and stained glass of the great cathedrals of Europe. What he did for churches, his disciple Bernard Roger does here for fairy tales. It is customary...
funeral

The greatest secret of the North that only two know.

The crime that finally turned the gods against Loki was his role in the death of Balder, however this event is also one of the great puzzles of northern mythology. Why were Odin and Frigg, with all their knowledge, not able to prevent the disaster? What did Odin say -before he climbed on bale-fire- into the ear of his son? This is maybe the greatest secret of the North that only two know. Snorri lets us know that Balder is […]...
Raven T-shirt design

The secrets of the Crow

Hrafn The Bird Goddess is believed to be the earliest and best-documented deity. During the Paleolithic period (Old Stone Age), carved figurines and cave paintings began to appear in a vast area that stretched from the Pyrenees of France to Lake Baikal in Siberia, just north of Mongolia. Crows are mentioned in the mythology of many cultures throughout the world...

Meet the Disir

Apart from gods or goddesses, medieval authors often refer to female guardian spirits identified as dísir and sometimes fylgjur. The conceptions under-lying these two kinds of spirits undoubtedly differed initially, however some of the later authors employed the terms interchangeably. Reference is made several times to sacrifice to the dísir, conducted at the start of the winter season. The ritual...

The Goose Girl and the Significance of Three Drops of Blood

“The Goose Girl,” a Grimm fairy tale, weaves a tapestry of maternal blood, identity, and heritage. The tale unfolds with the princess embarking on a transformative journey, her fate entwined with three drops of blood. Beyond a cautionary narrative, the story delves into the complexities of self-awareness, adoption, and the magical, protective power of maternal blood. The Symbolism of Blood The narrative commences with a poignant act – the queen’s blood, a symbolic connection to the impending separation. The drops […]...
Holle - Teich - Meissner

Holle’s kitten

Tidbits on the tale of  Frau Holle’s kitzen. There is a mountain in Hessen, Germany called the Meissner where one still can find traces of the central German goddess Holle, Holda or Helja. It’s a place where her cult seems to have survived for a long time. There are roads going to the mountaintop and there are many hiking paths....
King Arthur's sword

The Hidden Secrets

Trying to understand one of the many hidden histories and layers within Maier files is trying to understand the Grail quest and its influence on many even nowadays. The Arthurian legends are an obvious start. The fabulous stories of King Arthur and the Grail are currently so well known that they extensively researched and remarked upon by many different authors...
Holle Teich

Holle: a nearly absolute power?

Hella, Hel, known to all Germanic peoples, including the Goths as Hellarunester. A Gothic word for “witch” was Haljoruna. The name itself stems from a root meaning “to hide”. The word Hellirunar describes people who ‘rune’ (Speak, sing, whisper) with Hel/Helja, the goddess and realm of the underworld. “Hell”, in its original meaning is the hidden realm, the dark and foggy place where the dead and unborn dwell. Often the term is used in a sinister meaning. The bishop Wulfila […]...
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