The Vǫluspá, one of the most remarkable poems of the Old Norse tradition, stands as a monumental piece of literature within the Poetic Edda. Its narrative recounts the creation of the world, its eventual destruction, and its prophesied rebirth. Within this grand cosmological scope, the Vǫluspá is presented as a prophecy delivered by a vǫlva, a seeress who commands great authority and wisdom. The poem, which captures both pre-Christian and Christian influences, has been analyzed...
The nornir or norns were a group of female supernatural beings closely related to ideas about fate in Old Norse tradition. Karen Bek-Pedersen provides a thorough understanding of the role played by norns and other beings like them in the relevant sources. Although they are well known, even to people who have only a superficial knowledge of Old Norse mythology, this is the first detailed discussion of the norns to be published amongst the literature...
All numbers have meanings, and different meanings within different cultures. But there is one number that seems to cross cultures, transcending religious and ethnic boundaries with its underlying meaning of immortality: Eight – 8 – . To the Egyptians, number eight was the most magical of numbers and meant ‘balance’ and ‘cosmic order’. According to Tim Wallace-Murphy and Marilyn Hopkins, the authors of Rosslyn, eight sacred sites formed a great cyclical ritual performed by Egyptian initiates. The initiates all received […]...
The writer Aventinus stated that the Minne and the Minnesingers did not have anything to do with love and constant courting. That’s not entirely true. There are many enigmas and paradoxes concerning the Troubadour movement and their theme “LOVE” in the middle ages. They propagated the quest for selfhood, the birth of the individual. And the individual’s love is discriminative, personal and specific. You will have heard the old legend of how, when God created...
From his seat in Asgard, Odin, observed the Norns at the base of Yggdrasil, and envied their skills and their foresight. The god twisted his will toward the undertaking of coming to know the Runes. The native home of the runes is the Well of Urd with the Norns and since the runes do not reveal themselves to any but those who prove themselves worthy of such fearful insights and abilities, Odin hung himself from...
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 of the genitals.” This is a form of exhibitionism found in religion or artwork, rather than a display for arousal, […]...
The sator a repo formula was well known throughout the ancient and medieval worlds, and in fact, known as the “Devil’s latin” or the “Devil’s Square”. It remained quite popular in Scandinavia into the 19th century as protection against theft and various illnesses. The magical effect of the formula lies in the fact that if properly spelt and laid out, it constitutes a 25 letter word-square, reading the same horizontally and vertically, left to right...
Emerald. Above all, the glitter of gems has enchanted us and held us hostage. Despite their secret birth underground, they live a rather public life among us, admired, bought, sold, and hoarded. They have become ours in a way a hunk of raw granite never can. Gems have studded ears, adorned fingers, encircled arms, and emblazoned belly buttons. Bits of compressed carbon no larger than a match head have transmogrified themselves into emblems of undying...
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 and are frequently depicted as guides for traveling between the worlds. In European fables, crows were believed to gather courts, […]...
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...
The rich tapestry of human history is often woven with the delicate threads of symbolism and tradition. One such fascinating journey takes us into the ancestral cult of flowers, exploring the deep meanings associated with these blossoms across various cultures and epochs. Among the myriad flowers that have captured the human imagination, the Mayan Nicte and the Rose stand out as emblematic figures in the ancestral tapestry of flora. In Mayan culture, the Nicte, a...
In almost all myths all over the world the same theme reoccurs. The twelve knights, twelve tribes, twelve heroes etc. In his last and longest dialogue (Laws), Plato teaches: There are twelve feasts to the twelve Gods who give their names to the twelve tribes. Also in early christianity, the image of twelve disciples with the Godman figure at their center echoes the twelve constellations which revolve in the heavens around the pole star. Are the twelve knights the zodiac? […]...