Havamal Part 8 - The Mating Game

Blessings Darlings!

This week in the Havamal - Odhinn trashes women. And men. Or at least dating. Or speaks of the challenges of actually finding intimacy. 

While the words used usually say love here .... more of the time it sounds like lust, or day dreams.  For all logic, all sense is thrown away.  This is not about finding someone to spend the rest of your life with! 

At best it's love as illness, love as destroyer.  Tristan and Isolde-level strurm und drang.  I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise, given the era this came from.  Survival then really did depend in large part on wise choice in a mate and their family.  You had a role in the survival of your extended family, your clan, your tribe, your village to uphold.

It didn't matter if you were gay or straight, for that matter.  You  needed to marry, to form an alliance to strengthen your tribe and to have children, explained   Alexi Kondratiev in a class at Sacred Space Conference some years back.  The group was more important than the individual.

No man should trust a maiden's words,
Nor what a woman speaks:
Spun on a wheel were women's hearts,
In their breasts was implanted caprice,

To love a woman whose ways are false
Is like sledding over slippery ice
With unshod horses out of control,
Badly trained two-year-olds,
Or drifting rudderless on a rough sea,
Or catching a reindeer with a crippled hand
On a thawing hillside: think not to do it.

Naked I may speak now for I know both:
Men are treacherous too
Fairest we speak when falsest we think:
many a maid is deceived.

Gallantly shall he speak and gifts bring
Who wishes for woman's love:
praise the features of the fair girl,
Who courts well will conquer.

Never reproach another for his love:
It happens often enough
That beauty ensnares with desire the wise
While the foolish remain unmoved.

Never reproach the plight of another,
For it happens to many men:
Strong desire may stupefy heroes,
Dull the wits of the wise

Yeah, the blood leaves the brain and goes to regions farther south, in both men and women.

The mind alone knows what is near the heart,
Each is his own judge:
The worst sickness for a wise man
Is to crave what he cannot enjoy.

So I learned when I sat in the reeds,
Hoping to have my desire:
Lovely was the flesh of that fair girl,
But nothing I hoped for happened.

I saw on a bed Billing's daughter,
Sun white, asleep:
No greater delight I longed for then
Than to lie in her lovely arms.

"Come" Odhinn, after nightfall
If you wish for a meeting with me:
All would be lost if anyone saw us
And learned that we were lovers."

Afire with longing" I left her then,
Deceived by her soft words:
I thought my wooing had won the maid,
That I would have my way.

After nightfall I hurried back,
But the warriors were all awake,
Lights were burning, blazing torches:
So false proved the path

Towards daybreak back I came
The guards were sound asleep:
I found then that the fair woman
Had tied a bitch to her bed.
WHY is it that "All would be lost if anyone saw us and learned that we were lovers'?  I'm thinking that would have been a question he should have asked and dealt with up front.  Probably back to individual pleasure over the needs of the tribe?

Many a girl when one gets to know her
Proves to be fickle and false:
That treacherous maiden taught me a lesson,
The crafty woman covered me with shame"
That was all I got from her.

Certainly this rings true about dating/courtship.  Odhinn here seems to have wanted to get laid, rather than the public 'we are an item' coupling, and certainly not marriage.  If marriage was the goal he'd not have agreed to keep things secret.

Courtship.  Let's look at the third definition from the Bing dictionary: friendly and often ingratiating attention for the purpose of winning a favor or establishing an alliance or other relationship.  Were any of the folks talked of so far doing anything working towards marriage, towards intimacy - the #1 definition of 'courtship' from Bing (the period of a romantic relationship before marriage)?  Nope.  It's all game playing. 

Now, I personally think that dating to have fun and even get laid is fine - not all dating SHOULD lead to marriage.  But I'm of the opinion that if you're out for a good time, be up front about.  Own it.  It's okay. 

But some folks ARE going to lie about their intent and lead you on to think that they are on the same songsheet you're on.  Which is why you test, you evaluate.  How do they treat others?  What are their values? Especially if YOU are into dating/courtship in search of marriage and real intimacy.

Gunnlod sat me in the golden seat,
Poured me precious mead:
Ill reward she had from me for that,
For her proud and passionate heart,
Her brooding foreboding spirit.

What I won from her I have well used:
I have waxed in wisdom since I came back,
bringing to Asgard Odrerir,
the sacred draught.

Hardly would I have come home alive
From the garth of the grim troll,
Had Gunnlod not helped me, the good woman,
Who wrapped her arms around me.

Here, of course, Odhinn is the jerk, having tricked Gunnlod into giving him 3 'sips' of the mead according to Prose Edda version of the story, one for every night spent schtupping.  Not unlike Freya sleeping with a dwarf for every stone in her necklace Brisingamen.  Of course, Freya didn't totally empty the supply of amber, while Odhinn DID drink all the Mead of Poetic Inspiration!

Shun a woman, wise in magic,
Her bed and her embraces:
If she cast a spell, you will care no longer
To meet and speak with men,
Desire no food, desire no pleasure,
In sorrow fall asleep.

Snort. Baby boy, a woman wise in magic doesn't need spells to keep a man.  Or just cue my dear Frank Sinatra singing "Witchcraft".

 Sigh....  Ahem.  Back to the Havamal..

Never seduce anothers wife,
Never make her your mistress.

Never open your heart to an evil man
When fortune does not favour you:
From an evil man, if you make him your friend,
You will get evil for good.

I saw a warrior wounded fatally
By the words of an evil woman
Her cunning tongue caused his death,
Though what she alleged was a lie.

Is all of this, really, about putting one's self and one's personal desires above those of your tribe?  About forgetting to judge a potential mate by the same standards you judge the worthiness of your friends and associates? Of putting pleasure above sense?

I'm going to have to puzzle that one out more over time.

Frondly, Fern

Ornithomancy

Blessings Darlings!

The Mighty Suzanne Thackston has a new Pagan Examiner article out! 

I would SO love to know more about birds and ornithomancy. Of course, the basic bird knowledge would have to come first.  At this point I don't recognize enough of them to do any divination via them. 

Just another thing on my to-do list.  And it's a heck of a LONG to-do list!

Frondly, Fern

Victimless Genocide

Blessings Darlings!

The wonderful Morgan blogged about St. Patrick. And included full citations. You - each and every ONE of you - should read it.  http://lairbhan.blogspot.com/2012/03/st-patricks-day-snakes-and-irish.html

In short:  The neopagan "we are eternal victims mythos" about Patrick are not based in fact.  They are simply a way to justify neopagans playing the victim card.

Many people are amazingly invested in playing the victim card.  A person on Twitter tweeted the "St Patrick committed genocide" thing, I cited sources showing it's not true and asked for HER sources.  Turned out the woman is a few sandwiches short of a picnic, and is now accusing me of being a part of the Russian mafia, involved in sex trafficing, just saying I'm in Druid and Wiccan groups because I'm trying to shut her up.  And asked "REAL Druids" to "Take Fern Out" (and implied a few times she's going to hex me).

In response I DID get a date offer (we riffed on 'taking me out').  Keeping the joke going I suggested we catch the Trans Siberian Orchestra.

Frondly, Fern

Hamanatashen Failure

Blessings Darlings!

Last week the festival of Purim started, Wednesday night at sundown. It's a Jewish festival that celebrates the salvation of the Jewish people as recorded in the book of Esther.  It's a fun holiday, where folks dress up, drink heavily, etc.

I'd probably celebrate it even if my son wasn't Jewish for the party aspects.

But since 'Esther' and "Mordachai" there are probably revised versions of the Pagan Gods Isthar and Marduk, and nothing like the events in the book were actually recorded during the reign of the king mentioned in the book (Xerxes 1 or 2, I've forgotten which it was supposed to be), I figure it has it's roots in some pre-Judeo/Christian/Islamic Pagan spring festival anyway.

So I figured I'm make Hamantashen, one of the traditional foods eaten then.  It's a 3 cornered cookie with a fruit or seed filling.  But I had pie on my mind*** so figured I'd try  making them with pie crust instead of with a cookie base.

It didn't work well.  The pie crust was GREAT.  I used the all-butter pie crust recipe from America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book, known around our house as "Big Blue". However, the pie dough didn't hold the shape, so flopped over into a circle topped with the blueberry filling.  NOT at all Hamantashen.

OTOH, they tasted GREAT, and were a lovely dessert.  But I had to have the Spawn pick up REAL Hamantashen on the way home.

Failure still tasted good.

Frondly, Fern

*** This COMING Wednesday is Pi Day, March 14, as in the mathematical Pi, which is 3.14(etc). I was working on figuring out what Pies to have for dinner that day - Should the main course be Shepherds? 4-can? Pizza? Pasties? Pot Pie? And what sweet pie for dessert?

Archetype Spells

Blessings Darlings!

Blessings Darlings!

We've covered common spells, we've covered insta-spells. 

More powerful yet, and ones that I've only thought about in theoretical terms and not even tried to create yet, and Archetype Spells.

These would take a team and probably decades to put in place.  These are the type of spells taught in Harry Potter - do a hand motion JUST SO while saying a word or two JUST SO. 

My theory is that doing this takes the insta-spell set up, plugs it into a superior source of power, and makes it so anyone can pull the trigger.  One person or a group can create it and get it to the insta-spell stage.  From there the rest of the group works on it, maybe daily, certainly at least at certain times of the month, to make it universal.  All using the same Otherworld set up, all using the same gesture and words.  Maybe it has to be taught by 'apostolic succession' - those who created it taught others, who then taught others.  Could the apostolic succession take place in dreams? Sure, why not - plenty of sacred stories show that happening.  It's a way that can't be relied on, but WOULD explain the re-discovery of types of magic long lost that are being recovered.  Ivo Dominguez, Jr, talks about inspiration he's gotten that sounds much like that in his book "Castings: Creating Sacred Space" - recently released by Weiser books!  Yay Ivo! Yay Ankhie (the Weiser logo is an Ankh).

Ultimately I suppose that the spell would move from servitor to egregor ....

Of course I'd like to see these type of spells being done again.  Will it happen in the next astrological age? Dunno.  I'm quite sure I won't be creating any this life time!

Frondly, Fern

WORKING with Plants

Blessings Darlings!

Herb books are GREAT for medicinal properties assigned to herbs.  They may give some other associations they have - planets, Gods, chakras, sepherot (and sometimes the books occassionally agree on what those associations are!).

But .... if you want to bond with the Spirit of the Herb/Spice/Resin .... that's a different thing.  That takes some extra effort.

Yes, start with the book/internet knowledge.  Especially find out if it's safe to take internally, because that's one technique we're going to discuss!  Study.  Memorize. Learn everything you can about the plant. Grow it if you can, or find it growing wild.   If it's safe to take internally, eat or drink some of the plant.  See what physical effects the plant has on your body.  NOTE - IF THIS IS A KNOWN PSYCHOACTIVE PLANT, DO NOT NOT NOT DO THIS, ESPECIALLY AT THIS STAGE.  DO THIS, FOR EXAMPLE, WITH OREGANO OR HOT PEPPERS, NOT WITH DATURA.

Oh, and you might ingest the plant in an orderly fashion, if possible.  Leaves, seeds, bark, root all might have very different properties.  Again - book knowledge first. The only part of, say, Poke weed that won't be toxic will be young shoots.

Make an offering to the spirit of the plant.  Yes, it's best if you can leave it at the plant, and bonus points for finding it growing wild, but if it doesn't grow in your area that's okay.  Explain your intention to the Spirit of the Plant, and that you're giving the offering as a token of your respect.

From here, move on to building up a good visualization of the plant.  This would take me a week, but you might well be better at visualization than I am! I start with pictures on Google, then work on making them 'come alive'.  You could make a sigil of the plant name, if you are inclined that way.  I'm not a sigil person .... yet. Maybe I'll get there this life.

Finally, head into trance, hold that visualization or sigil, introduce yourself to the plant, and get to know it.   What offerings does it like? What wisdom can it share with you? What plants/animals/spirits does it play nice with .... and which does it NOT play nice with?

Record this UPG (unverified Personal Gnossis) you get from the plant in your BOSL.  Remember to give the plant an occassional offering, and an occassional visit - after working with it more you're likely to have more, not less, questions for it!

Frondly, Fern

Immoderate

Blessings Darlings!

The [very] few of you who have commented on my blog over the years know a secret - I don't moderate the comments here.  The go up immediately.   I read all the comments after they go up and would pull any TOTALLY inappropriate ones .... but I've never had to pull any comments yet.

OBVIOUSLY my readers ROCK. And maybe my wards keep the spammers away, I dunno.

I bring this up because I read other blogs - some regularly, some as I see an interesting link.  I also comment on those blogs if I have something to ask or say.  And 20 hours ago I asked the author of a blog to cite her sources on a definition and claim she made.  I'm still waiting for my question to make it out of 'moderation limbo'. 

Oh, it's very clear that the author knows my question is there - in checking for new comments here I can see what site readers come from.  And I saw the hits from the ADMINISTRATIVE level of her blog.

Being in moderation limbo isn't a problem for me.  I'm flexible enough to win at that dance .... and get a blog post out of it.  Because I want MY reputation to be that of being open, above board, honorable, not that of hiding disagreements behind the scenes and in electronic limbo.

But that's just me.

I'm immoderate.

Frondly, Fern