thor

Winter Solstice / Yule

hrukjan

Subscribe to continue reading

Subscribe to get access to the rest of this post and other subscriber-only content.

Short Opening Prayers for Galdr, Practice, and Ritual

hrukjan

Subscribe to continue reading

Subscribe to get access to the rest of this post and other subscriber-only content.

Þórr’s Wagon

hrukjanLeave a comment

The cult of Thor generally revolves around the community, fertility, farming, and the daily routine that most humans experience. Because of this, Thor was the most widely worshiped of the ancient gods and was the chief deity observed by the common folk. Thor protects man and the world from chaos, endowing power into our material forms. This force keeps man strong, driven, and determined, acting in accordance with honor, loyalty, and vitality. Thor represents the physical and temporal qualities of human life, things we can build, destroy, and manipulate in accordance with our will. Thor establishes order out of chaos, rhythm out of randomness. He represents the “tempo” of the seasons, symbolized by the wheel (or fylfot), and like the wheel, carries us forward safely through time and space.

May all revere the Thunder god.

“Reid is reins,
Reid is spokes,
Thor’s wagon,
Behind the goats.”

ᚱ : ᚱ : ᚱ : ᚱ

Hailaz

Völuspá/Voluspo

hrukjanLeave a comment

One of our weekend practices is a full recitation of the Bellows translation of the Völuspá/Voluspo.

The Völuspá is one of the most well-known poems that emerged from the Pagan North during the Middle Ages. The title translates to “Prophecy of the Seeress” or “The Wise-Woman’s Prophecy,” consisting of various tales regarding the creation, destruction, and rebirth of the world. This is told from the perspective of a dead Volva (Witch/Seeress) to the god Odin who has temporarily brought her back to life in order to gain wisdom of the past, present, and future.

Although heavily criticized by some Pagans for containing seemingly Christian influences, we can see through the comparative study of other Indo-European religions that most of the primary subject matter inherent in the poem is authentic and does in fact give us insight into pre-Christian Pagan thought. A few themes of the poem that are echoed in other Indo-European myths are the being Ymir, the primordial bovine Auðumbla, and the battle between the serpent (Jörmungandr) and the thunder god (Thor).  If anything, any added “Christian” elements are fairly subtle.

We hope this will be useful to your practice.

Hailaz