In praise of minimalist altars

I often find myself impressed by the images of altars fellow Pagans and Polytheists share on social media. The setups are beautiful and with many objects like crystals, bowls, incense holders, wands, rocks, candles, flowers, etc. While I admire complex altars, I couldn’t have them in my practice. The first reason is that I’m too

Happy Winter Solstice!

Now the longest night of the year has begun. While Sunna was still visible in the sky, I made a small offering of herbal tea and one of the cookies I made especially for the occasion, using the same recipe I did a few days ago. I just substituted the cacao for 0.5 dl (0.2

Knowing Freya. Part 13: Freya and modern Heathens

The world of today is incredibly different to what it was when the worship of the Norse Deities was the main religion in Iceland and Scandinavia. The culture, the language, the values and technology have changed to the point that a Viking Age heathen would feel utterly lost if they somehow found themselves in our

Knowing Freya, part 12: Freya and Ragnarök

Ragnarök, Old Norse for ‘the Doom of the Gods’. Undoubtedly the most famous event described in Norse mythology. Even people who know close to nothing about Norse Polytheism have heard about this great apocalypse. Described primarily in the Eddic poem Völuspa, Ragnarök is a series of cataclysmic events that leads to the death of many

Knowing Freya. Part 11: Seid

To the ancient Norse people and to many modern Heathens, the whole world was and is alive. There is nowhere where Consciousness is not. The trees, the stones, rivers, mountains and even human-made objects have soul. The veil between the physical world and the spirit world is thin, if not non-existent. And for many Heathens,

Knowing Freya, part 10: Gullveig

One of the most important events described in Norse myth is the Æsir-Vanir war, a conflict between the divine tribes which resulted in the unification of the two into a single pantheon. There are a number of theories about the meaning of this war. Some historians believe it is a allegory for the conflict between

New addition to the altar

In addition to the statue of Freya, there is now one of Frey on my altar. I got it from this Etsy store and I’m very happy with my purchase 🙂

Knowing Freya. Part 9: Brisingamen

The Norse Powers and Deities are described has having a number of fascinating objects. Odin has a magic spear that never misses. Frey has a sword that fights on its own. And who can forget Mjölnir, Thor’s mighty hammer which both crushes Jötunn skulls and blesses weddings? But few objects in Norse lore are quite

5 very queer Norse stories

An interesting article from PinkNews: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2022/05/07/viking-norse-gods-lgbtq/ I’m particularly obsessed with this beautiful illustration of Thor:

A prayer poem: Song of Byggvir

I am the son of the soilMy feet are in the dirtMy bones grow downwards like rootsMy soul reaches up high,Where Mother and Father waitAll Their children’s return My body comes from the soil,From the lovely body of Jord, I was bornMy soul comes from Oden,He breathed me to life,Gifted me with spirit and mind,As