This galdr track was created for prayer, meditation, and ritual purposes.
Through the rhythm and words, one is encouraged to dissolve into space and time, traveling with the spirits of the Wild Hunt surrounded by a myriad of runes. Short prayers to Odin and the Norns are recited to gain favor, prosperity, and divine inspiration.
This poem was composed around the Winter Solstice of 2024.
May it be of use to practitioners.
Hailaz and good Yule to all!
In honor of the season and the veil soon thinning, I have taken to studying more macabre and spooky plant lore for fun.
I hope that you enjoy this first tale.
Hungry grass, also known as Féar Gortach is said to be a patch of grass that is indistinguishable from any other section of grass. However, it is said to be cursed by the dead that lay buried underneath.
Should you stand or walk upon hungry grass, you will be overtaken by weakness and hunger.
Variations of the hungry grass story tell of a person stepping upon the grave or burial plot of a victim from An Gorta Mór (the Great Famine) of the 1840’s. The Irish term “féar gorta” can be more accurately translated as “famine grass” rather than “hungry grass.”
This myth may be a folklore manifestation of the historical trauma suffered during the Great Famine (An Gorta Mór) of the 1840’s. When the Famine took hold, men, women and children were left to starve to death as a direct result of the Potato Blight and a misuse of resources under British Government rule at the time.
Over one million people died in poverty, starvation and agony. These poor souls were thrown into mass graves, usually in fields. These spaces became known as “Famine Graveyards”.
The grass eventually grew over the buried bodies and it was said to be cursed.
When scientific reasoning wasn’t particularly widespread, it was probably a fair attempt at rationalizing the unexplained deaths or episodes of fainting that would occur from time to time due to malnutrition.
An alternative version of the hungry grass tale relates that anyone walking through it is struck by temporary hunger. In order to safely cross the grass, one must carry a bit of food to eat along the way such as a sandwich or crackers and some ale.
In a few rare accounts, the hungry grass is said to actually devour humans.
There was the idea that the hungry grass may also eat crops too. Before the term “hungry grass” was coined, people thought that a spirit of a man was, in fact, eating people. The word “féar” in Irish is both “man” and “grass”. So, Hungry Man came to be because they feared him. It was said that if you give relief to Hungry Man, you will enjoy unfailing prosperity, even during the worst periods of famine and death.
Although the hungry grass superstition is outdated nowadays and seems very specific to Ireland, it has a lot of narrative appeal.
Beware the hungry grass!
We are wrapping up the final edits for the second rune book by Hrukjan titled “Wandering the Runic Path: Esoteric Analysis of the Germanic Runes.”
These will be published early next month and copies will be available from us around Samhain.
For those interested in the book, we’d like to share some information from the introduction:
“This book is meant to help guide the runic adept through various untrodden paths regarding the runes and their use in esoteric Pagan practice. Through many avenues such as language, myth, religious comparison, and thorough analysis, one can expand the dimensions of each rune into the endless fathoms of space and time. Each rune of the Elder Futhark has been dissected and tirelessly studied so that no stone is left unturned in their usability and ultimate meaning. Along with in-depth study, each “aett” of runes has also been given a set of common themes that one can ponder in association to their roles within the entirety of the Futhark. Not only this, but it is speculated throughout the book that the order of the runes is not only important, but carefully tells a unique story regarding life, death, rebirth, and the ultimate truth of existence as expressed by the people who created and used them.
While much of this book is speculative in nature, offering a deeply subjective analysis of these symbols, there is also much concrete and objective information regarding their history, etymology, and journey through time. From their many connections to Sanskrit and other Indo-European languages, the reader can form a thorough understanding of these symbols based on thousands of years of transformation. The reader will see how these runes transcend culture and relate to the natural surroundings of the different tribes that used them as they migrated across much of Europe, Asia, and beyond. Through this approach, one will see that the use of the runes is not only universally applicable, but also, not restrained to a certain “folk” or people. By realizing the scope of their use, one can see them as a divine tool for Self-development and transformation, as each rune is a key to ultimate realization.
If you are looking for a book that is not just informative, but also applicable to religious and spiritual practice, then this book should offer you many avenues towards your own purified understanding of these ancient symbols as used by the greatest of sages and magicians of the past. My hope is that this book will act as a compass for the devoted reader as they traverse the dark and endless paths laid before them by these ancient symbols. By doing so, one does not get lost or steered in detrimental directions by those who would rather see you confused and reliant on outside influences. Runic knowledge and the wisdom inherent within them are present in every sentient being, especially those who have the memories of these signs within their very soul. These secret symbols mirror that which exists within us and each rune is a key to unlocking the mysteries that lie dormant within our experience of reality. May this book help you transcend the limitations of individual existence and soar into the ether as Odin once did upon the great World Tree.”
May all sentient beings embrace the runes.
-Ansuz Society
Ansuz Society 