an introduction to the germanic tradition by edred thorsson

8/9/2019 An Introduction to the Germanic Tradition by Edred Thorsson

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Introductiont o t f j e6ermcmic traSition

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Introduction to t f i e 6ermcmic t>aition


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Copyright (c) 2001by Runa-Raven PressAl l rights reserved. N o part of this book, either in part orin whole, may be reproduced, transmitted or utilized in anyform or by any means electronic, photographic or mechan-ical, including photocopying, recording, or by any inform-ation storage and retrieval system, without the permissionin writing from th e Publisher, except for brief quotationsembodied in literary articles and reviews.For permissions, or for the serialization, condensation, orfor adaptation write the Publisher at the address below.

Published byR U N A -R A V EN PRESSP.O. Box 557Smithville, Texas 78957

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Information on the Rune-GildThe Rune-Gild is a school of esoteric knowledge basedon th e Odian system of the Runes. Th e Gild is a world-wide organization with Halls in North America, Englandand Australia. Within the Gild there are works, such as theGildisbok, which are otherwise unavailable to the generalpublic. If you are interested in joining th e Gild, write aletter of application for sponsorship to:

The Rune-GildP.O. Box 7622Austin, Texas 78713The letter should contain your legal name, address and anyinformation on your back-ground in Runic studies, areas ofspecial interests, and any other information yo u think th eGild should know about you as an applicant forsponsorship. Include a fee of $50.00 ( U S A ) or $60.00(foreign). If for any reason you can not be sponsored youwill receive the fee back along with an explanation. Thefee entitles you to one year's membership in the Gild, acopy of the Gildisbok, an d four numbers of the Gild'sofficial insider publication, Rune-Kevels.

ISBN: 1-885972-17-2

Printed in the United States of America

Note: The Gild canno t at this time accept mem bers whoare in prison or otherwise incarcerated because our systemrequires personal contact.

Odian Outer Rune GH dWorkshopPO Box 369 Centralia IL62801-0369 USA (27)


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Introduction to the Germanic Tradition


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Information on Runa-Raven PressThe mission of Runa-Raven goes beyond mere "book-selling" the purpose of Runa-Raven is transformative.Transformation occurs when knowledge is put into action.But for the changes to be strong an d true, th e knowledgemust be accurate. Run a-Rav en's objective is to provide aknowledgeable reading public with the best material in avariety of "cutting edge" fields with a concentration inthe area of Germanic lore and magic.Runa-Raven's mission is to publish deeper level worksin the Germanic tradition that larger an d more commercialhouses will no t print. If the tradition is to be deepened an ddeveloped beyond that superficial level, a deeper level ofliterature must be produced. Also, we seek to publishworks that are on the leading or cutting edge of thought invarious areas of literature and esoterica. These tend to beworks that would prob ably otherwise go unpublished.Please note that books published by Runa-Raven areclassified into three categories: The first are those bookswhich we try to distribute as widely as possible. Thesem ay show up in your local bookstores with someregularity. The second group includes those sold only tocertain "cutting edge" bookstores. While the third groupare those which are not available in bookstores, bu t whichare exclusively available by mail from Runa-Raven. Booksfrom al l three categories are, of course, always availablefrom Runa-Raven directly.To obtain a catalog of the com plete line of Run a-Ra ventitles, write to:

Runa-RavenP.O. Box 557Smithville, Texas 78957runa(a)texas.net

if yo u know the price of the book yo u want (see notes inthe bibliography) you can order books from Runa-Ravenby simply adding $4.00 for the first book an d $1.00 foreach additional book for postage an d handling.Information on the Rune-Gild

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AbbreviationsOEON Old EnglishOld Norse

A Note on OrthographyThe text of this book contains some special charactersparticular to the old Germanic languages. These are thethorn b and the edh 5. The thorn is usually transcribed as a"th" and the edh may also be a "th," although it is alsooften transcribed as a "dh" in some books.


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. A Book of Troth. Smithville: Runa-Raven,2001, 2nd ed. ($16.00) . Northern Magic. St. Paul, MN:Llewellyn, 1992.. Rune-Song. Smithville: Runa-Raven,1993. ($19.95). Green Runa: The Runemaster'sNotebook: Shorter Works of Edred Thorsson. Volume I(1978-1985). Smithville: R una-R aven, 1996. ($12.95). Witchdom of the True: A Study of theVana-Troth and the Practice ofSeidr. Smithville: Rfina-Raven, 1999. ($15.00)-. Blue Runa: Edred's Shorter Works III.Smithville, Runa -Rav en, 2001. ($11.00)The Nine Doors ofMidgard. Smithville:Rflna-Raven, 1997. ($15.00)

Zoller, Robert. Skaldic Number-Lore. Smithville: Runa-Raven, 1999. ($5.00)

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BibliographyChisholm, James A llen. True Hearth: A Practical Guide toTraditional Householding. Smithville: Runa-Raven,1994. ($12.95)Flowers, Stephen E. Runes and Magic: M agical FormulaicElements in the Older Runic Tradition. Bern: Peter LangVerlag, 1986. Th e Galdrabok: An Icelandic Grimoire.York Beach, M E: Sam uel Weiser, 1989.-. Fire and Ice: The History, Structure, andRituals of Germany's Most Influential Modern MagicalOrder: The Brotherhood of Saturn. St. Paul, MN:Llewellyn, 1990.-. Runarmdl I: The Riina-Talks, Summer1991ev. Smithville: Runa-Raven, 1996. ($9.00). Ibn Fadlan's Travel-Report as itConcerns th e Scandinavian Rus. Smithville: Runa-Raven, 1998. ($7.00). Johannes Bureus and Adalruna. Smith-ville: Runa-Raven, 1998. ($10.00). The Northern Dawn: A History of theReawakening of the Germanic Spirit. Smithville: Runa-Raven, [forthcoming].List, Guido von. The Secret of the Runes. Trans, an dintroduced by S. E. Flowers. Rochester, VT: DestinyBooks, 1988.List, Guido. The Invincible. Trans, and introduced by S. E.Flowers. Smithville: Runa-Raven, 1996.Steddinger, Inga. Wiccan Sex-Magic. Smithville: Runa-

Raven, 1999.Thorsson, Edred. Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic.York Beach, ME: Weiser, 1984.. Runelore: A Handbook of EsotericRunology. York Beach, ME : Weiser, 1987.. Runecaster's Handbook: At the Well ofWyrd. York Beach, ME: Weiser, [1988].-. Rune-Might: The Secret Practices of theGerman Rune Magicians. St . Paul, M N: Llewellyn,1989.(24)

IntroductionA great tide of reawakening is sweeping the land. Thegods an d goddesses of our ancestors ar e stirring oncemore. Runes are being carved and their names sung again.Is the age of rebirth and reawakening upon us? Has Hoenironce again begun to read the R unes aright?This age of reawakening will not just "happen." It mustbe attended by inner and outer work by us, the descendantsof those who lived in a more heroic time. It is thereforenecessary for us to become familiar as quickly aspossible with the basic lore of the Germanic Way. It isto this end that this book has been written. This is a guide-book to the Germanic tradition in that it is designed toplant seeds of knowledge and show the path to furtherknowledge. It will outline for you who the Germanicpeople are and what a worker in the Germanic tradition isand can become. Essential to the understanding of whoyou are is the soul-lore, or "psychology," of the ancestralpath. This further defines wh o yo u are in a more preciseway. Once you know who you are, you must orientyourself in the world. Y ou must have information on thelore of the worlds, or cosmology. Y ou must gain anunderstanding of the highest models of consciousness andright action the gods an d goddesses of your folk.Beyond this yo u must learn the ways of working waysof conducting symbolic actions and thoughts designed toopen yourself and your environment to the reawakening athand. In the Germanic tradition these ways are four-fold.Each of these methods are introduced here as guideposts

for further work.This effort to reawaken the Germanic spirit has beengoing on for centuries since the time shortly after theofficial "conversion" of the folk to Christianity. There hasbeen a long-standing undergroun d movement to reestablishthe old ways many of which never died out, but justchanged forms, the meanings of which were "forgotten." Itis our task to remember. This monumental history of thismovement will be outlined in The Northern Dawn (Runa-Raven).(1)


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Wh o Is Of the Germanic Folk?This is an essential question to pose, and an essentialone to answer. Readers will most likely recognize at oncewhether they are or are not Germanic in their being afterabsorbing what it written here. The Germanic peoples areof northern and central European ethnic stock. They speak as a native tongue a Germanic language. All thosewho have German, English, Dutch or a Scandinavianlanguage (Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Faroese orIcelandic) as a native language are Germanic. It has beenshown that the language(s) one learns as a child actuallycontributes to the organic structure of the brain. Thereforethere is a symbolic/linguistic component added to geneticheritage. One is Germanic if one is of Germanic stock,and/or has grown up speaking a Germanic language.Also there are those who have familial links to German-ic culture. These are prevalent in the Mediterranean reg-ion especially Spain, France an d Italy all heavily Ger-manicized at the time of the fall of the Roman Empire. Inthis southern world the earliest fou ndatio ns of nationalidentity were laid by Germanic peoples: Visigoths,Swabians and Vandals in Spain and Portugal; Franks,Visigoths and Burgundians in France; and Ostrogoths andLangobards in Italy. In the Viking Age Germanic rootswere also heavily laid down in otherwise non-Germanicregions: e.g. Ireland an d Scotland in the west, No rma ndyand Sicily in the south, as well as Russia in the east.It is therefore no wonder that the appeal of the Germanictradition is so broad today. As the spirits of the old godsgoddesses of the north reawaken in the minds of thedescendants of those who honored them before, individualsfrom an apparent variety of cultural backgrounds will feelthe draw. This inner call is not some random force it isthe reawakening of a definite ancestral, natural kind ofbeing which is innate, or in-born. An encoded seed-formhas been activated, and is beginning to send information tothe brains of the folk. The Germanic tradition, for thosewh o are Germanic, is not a choice such as what shirt towear, or what revealed religion to believe in today butis a matter of wh o you really are.

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peoples of the Germanic lands, from North America toEurope, from Switzerland to Sweden, and all around theworld, all concentrated on their own traditions and culturemany a fortune built on marketing foreign ideas to theGermanic world would be lost.It is the work of many organizations dedicated to thereawakening of Germanic spirituality and the inner workof the Rune-Gild, to make our traditions once more readilyavailable and understandable to our people. This little bookis intended as a call to action on your part. First begin toSeek the R une the Mystery at the heart of your ow nBeing. Once the first stirrings of this has been achieved,begin to seek ou t others of like mind and of like missionwith whom to share and build on your enterprise. Thework is an timeless one, and one that requires heroic kindsof individuals to take upon themselves at this time.Listen! The ravens have flown forth, the hour of Need isat hand: Seek the Rune and Become Who You Are Thusthe Word is Spoken.

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this organization in English, and it generally remainsshrouded in mystery. Th e only work available on it is Fireand Ice.The Germanic tradition has been a secret well-spring ofesoteric cultural renewal for centuries, and this willcontinue in the future.ClosingThe Germanic system of esoteric knowledge andtraditional religion is perhaps the most neglected inmodern times as far as the mass-culture is concerned. Thisis ironic as it is the one that is most natural to thedominant culture of the 20th century. Despite their lip-service to "nature" and "naturalism," the mass-culture ofth e 20th century, with fe w exceptions, embraced onlythings which were in fact unnatural and often toxic -

to it. In the coming century it will be increasingly realizedthat what is natural to the culture is healthy for it. Thiswill result in an ever greater number of people beginningto understand what it means to become wh o they are.It should be emphasized that the true Germanic traditionharbors no ill-will toward an y other people or race, th eGermanic peoples of old were in fact quite xenophilicthey were very friendly to foreign peoples an d ideas. (Thisis at the root of our sometimes unbalanced love-affair withth e exotic an d "multi-cultural" today.) However, th e timehas come too for us to take a more active interest inourselves, and in a cultural fashion give ourselves toourselves in order that we can better understand andbecome who we really are. Then, an d only then, will w ebe able to respect, and be respected by , other peoples ofthe world.Nevertheless, the Germanic tradition will probablycontinue to spawn some fear an d loathing in others. Th epossible root of this feeling lies in the fear of the real an dthe genuine. The "occult mill" and other forces interestedin "selling" as many different products an d lines of thoughtas possible, in order to maximize their profits, have avested interest in the Germanic market being small. If thegreat mass of monied consumers represented by the

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Become Who You Are!This is the greatest command of the Germanic tradition."Knowing," or "believing" who you are in one thing. Bu tdoing th e inner an d outer work necessary to become w hoyou innately and really are is another. Becoming who youare is the chief work of the Germanic tradition. Becomingis a process of development of change from on econdition to another, of transformation from on e pattern toanother. Being is, however, a stable, firm, steadfast state ofrelatively timeless perfection, or completion. This latterquality is exactly th e same for us as it was for ourancestors. Ou r task in this matter an d theirs remain th esame. It is our belief that in this endeavor our ancestorswere more advanced than we are at this time. Their codes- of pride inwork, honor, and courage inbattle, loyalty,love or freedom (willingness to take responsibility an dbear the consequences) and of the pursuit of wisdom an dknowledge were fa r superior to the ones commonlyheld (or neglected) today. We may be richer intechnological wonders but when it comes to innerdevelopment and even th e pursuit of true happiness we arewoefully impoverished.Workers in the Germanic tradition be they followersof the Vanir or iEsir, ethical practical philosophers orseekers of Runic knowledge all share the main task ofbecoming wh o they are. Who you ar e is like an embryoinside yo u which yo u must bring forth and to which yo umust yourself give birth. How you develop this embryo isth e object of a variety of techniques. But before thesetechniques, or ways of working, can be gainfully applied,knowledge must be won about where th e individual findshim- or herself as defined in the tradition. It is also thecase that the true character of the higher models of action(divinities an d heroes) and the true nature of the soul ortotal constitution of the individual must also beunderstood. Such understanding is not won overnight.These vast areas of knowledge comprise the traditionalcosmology, psychology an d theology of the Germanicpeoples.

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Germanic CosmologyThe Traditional World-ViewOur Germanic ancestors knew well that our totale nv i ronme nt is a comple x an d mysterious thing.Traditionally they sa w that this world th e world ofmatter, animals and humans is at the center of reality.Hence they called this world Midgard or the Middle-Yard. Arrayed around this focal point of the world is anumber of other worlds, or dimensions of reality. Theentirety of the model consists of nine worlds in aframework called the World-Tree. This World-Tree iscalled Yggdrasill in Old Norse. As we will see there is astrong link between the idea of the cosmos beingsymbolized as a tree and human beings who were said tohave been shaped from trees (i.e. veetable matter) by thefirst God of Consciousness (W6den-Wili-We)Th e traditional arrangement of the nine worlds is shownin Figure 1.Asgard (ON Asgardr) is the enclosure of the Gods of

Consciousness the J&sir, or Ases. It towers above, in thehighest reaches of the Tree. Th e ^Esir are the SovereignAncestral Gods of Consciousness, that is they are meant torule our actions, we are descended from them and theirpower is that of consciousness in the human being. Thechief of them is Woden, or 6binn.Hel is at the lowest point below the Tree. It is the realmof the dead and a peaceful abode of the souls waiting to bereborn among their descendants who are still living inMidgard.Lightelf-home (ON Ljossdlfheimr) lies between Midgardand Asgard. It is the abode of the ancestral elves of innateintelligence. The elves (ON dlfar) are the mental facultiesof the ancestors, and this is their separate dwelling-place inthe cosmic order.Darkelf-home (ON Svartdlfheimr) is the polar oppositeof Lightelf-home. It is situated just below Midgard, on theroad to Hel. The dark elves are also called dwarves (ONdvergar). These embody the shaping powers in thecosmos, and the innate (inherited) crafting skills ofhumanity.

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Continuation of Germanic Traditionin Western "Magical" TeachingsThe ancient tribal traditions of the Germanic folk werecarried on in secret long after the official coming ofChristianity. It is no accident that Germany and the Northbecame hot-beds of secret lore in the Middle Ages, in theRenaissance and in modern times, as well.In the prophesies of the "western" magical tradition,there is mention of an arising of a great "Lion of theNorth." This "Lion" is not a man, but the renewal of theesoteric Tradition of the North and of the Pole.In the Renaissance times the North was the spawninggi ound of some of the greatest "occult" thinkers of the age:Theophrastus Bomb astus von Hohenheim (Paracelsus),Cornelius von Nettesheim (Agrippa), and John Dee. TheRosicrucian mo vement was essentially a Northernphenomenon. What the Germanic mind brought to the"occult sciences" was a pragmatic and rational, virtuallyscientific, spirit. This spirit of verification goes backdirectly the most archaic times when the divinations of theRunecasters had to be verified with other corroboratingsigns in order to be worthy of being acted upon.One German magical myth has perhaps shaped ourmodern age more than any other: that of Faust. Faust mayhave been a real magician who lived in the 16th century.But around his personality a vast legend grew. It hinged onthe idea that a man, despite having learned all that can belearned in science, hungers for more more knowledge,more power, and yes, more pleasure. For this he is willingto give anything to sell hi s soul to the Devil, as theMedieval Myth w orld have it. Some have seen in this thestory of "Western Man" over the past four-hundred yearsor so. If this is true, the key to understanding our presentworld, and being able to transform it, is rooted in thismagical mythology. The deep-origins of the Faust Myth liein the mythology surrounding the Germanic God Wodanwh o so desired Knowledge that he "sacrificed himself tohimself."More recently there arose in Germany the magical ordercalled the Fraternitas Saturni. Little has been written about

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SeidrSeidr holds great fascination for the modern mind. Thisis perhaps because it had a "sinister" reputation amongma n y in the ancient North. It is a kind of magic,distinguished from galdor, which is the mainstay of theVanic Goddess, Freyja. Freyja is said to have taught thisform of magic to65inn as well.This form of magic is often confused with "shamanism,"with which it may or may not have links. It also hasaffinities with forms of Indian tantrism.In fact, it seems that seidr is a Northern spiritualtechnology fo r which th e keys have been lost, th e best wa yto try to recover these keys is through experiments usingthe few clues that were left behind in the literature of theNorth.Seidr involves th e submersion of consciousness into anundifferentiated state where th e seid-man or seid-womaninteracts with th e realm of the fabric of the universe, orwith entities contained therein, on a semi-conscious basis.To obtain this altered state of consciousness, the seid-worker uses several techniques: drugs, sleep-deprivation,sensory-deprivation, sensory-overload (through pleasur-able/sexual stimulation and/or techniques of torture) orsimply rhythmic chants an d songs sung by others. Seidralso involves the ability to sing in an otherworldly voiceproducing se/d-sounds with the ability to heal or kill.These are not "words," butvocal effects.Th e main work of the set'5-worker involves "travellingto other worlds" to obtain knowledge or power. Perhapsth e simplest rite of seidr would be one in which the seio-

worker "sits out" all night on a hill, or at a cross-roads, oron a grave, in order to obtain a vision of his or her fetch-animal. This is a manifestation, in animal form, of theperson's guardian spirit, or an entity which is a puremanifestation of the basic being of the person. Knowledgeof this form will lend the individual great power win futureendeavors in seidr.The whole topic of seidr is discussed in more detail inWitchdom of the True, as well as in inner workings of theRune-Gild and publications of that organization.(20)

Midgard (ON Midgardr OE Middangeard) is the centralfocus of the cosmos as it now exists for us. In Midgard the world of matter things happen and her things can betransformed. Note that only Midgard an d Asgard share th edesignation as "gards" as protected enclosures. This isbecause both are focal points of consciousness an d need tobe shielded against th e forces of non-consciousness inorder that progressively more conscious forms can bedeveloped within them.These five realms form th e vertical axis, or pole, of theentire cosmic order th e central column of Yggdrasill.Lying around this central column are the four organicabodes two of natural forces and two of natural entities.Muspell-home (O N Muspellsheimr) is the realm of purefire/energy. In it swarm the "fire-giants," i.e. cosmicnatural forces of expansion an d dissolution. According totradition it lies in the south. It is from this realm that th eultimate destruction or cosmic order , or any ordered cycleof being, issues.

Nifl-home (O N Niflheimr) is the world of pure water-ice/substance. In it dwell the "frost-giants," i.e. comsicnatural states of entropy and gravitational mass. Thetradition has it lying to the north. Th e directions "north" or"south," "east" or "west" have symbolic rather than literalmeanings.Wane-home (ON Vanaheimr) is the kingdom of theVanir the gods and goddesses of (re-)productive power.From this western realm issues th e power to produce an dto reproduce organically. The Vanir are the divinities oforganic power in the universe. Their abode in on thehorizontal plane because the organic/natural realm issymbolized by the horizontal plane of the Tree.Etin-home (ON Jotunheimr) is the world of the etins(ONjotnar). These entities are also organic and their realmlies to the east on the horizontal plane. They are the forcesof the flux and chaos of organic/natural existence and life.They are agents of evolution an d mutation, although theythemselves do not change. In ancient times they were oftenworshipped as local deities, and so are not necessarily"evil."

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Figure 1: The World-TreeIt should be noted that this arrangement owes nothing to

the Cabalistic "Tree of Life." The texts from which theGermanic system is derived are far older than any kno wnreference to the "Tree of Life." Besides th e Biblicalreferences to this tree never equate it with a cosmicstructure it is more likely that the Cabalistic idea of atree being the cosmic structure was taken from Indo-European lore, rather than the Germanic World-Tree beingsomehow based on Cabalistic ideas.

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The Runes of the Older FubarkNo. Name Translation Esoteric meanin gof the Name of the N a m e

Dynamic powerVital formative forceBreaker of resistanceSovereign ancestral powerVehicle on path to cosmic powerControlled energyExchanged forceharmony of like forcesSeed form an d primal unionNeed-Fire (resistance/deliverance)Contraction (matter/anti-matter)Orbit (life-cycle)Axis (tree of life/death)Evolutionary forceProtective an d tutelary num enSun-wheel (crystalized light)Sovereign orderBirch nume n (container/releaser)Twin equine gods (trust)H u m a n order of divine originLife energy and organic growthGestation/containerDawn/twilight (paradox)Self-contained hereditary property

Runic RitualRituals involving Runes can be simple or complex. The realkey to wielding the pow e r of the Runes lies in the level ofRunic Being the Runer has attained. The construction of a workof Rune-Galdor, the actual Runic formula, often requiresknowledge not only of the Runes, but of the proper language touse with the Rune-staves.The basic Runic ritual consists of 1) carving the staves whilesinging the name of each Rune as it is being carved, 2) coloringthe staves with red dye, paint, or blood, and 3) singing orspeaking the whole form ula. The more advanced the Runer, thesimpler the rite becomes. In these, and other similar technicalacts of Rune-Work, the Runer is imitating the divine patterns ofaction initiated by the First Rune-Carver: O5inn. The moreaccurate the Rune-Work, the greater the resonance with thetimeless divine patterns.

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GaldorGaldor is the craft of operative work that stems from theuse of signs and symbols derived from the realm of theGods. The Runes were called "divinely descended" in themost ancient tradition. Galdor is the use of verbal symbols,songs, poetry, Runic consciousness in speech and writing,to directly enact the divine parts of the human being, oncethese aspects have been reawakened through the disciplineof Rune-Work. This discipline is best discussed in the NineDoors ofMidgard (Runa-Raven, 1997).The practice of galdor is under the aegis of the GodWoden, or 65inn as he is called in the North. 65innreceived the Runes in a flash of inspiration as he sacrificedhimself to himself on the World-Tree, Yggdrasill. At thatmoment he found what he had sought the Mystery(Rtina). Those who seek to immulate O5inn and notworship him, do as he did they "Seek th e Mystery."This is chief requirement of all who would be calledOdians. From this search stems all true power in galdor-craft.Essential to Runic understanding is the Runic fujjark.This must be learned in its basic traditional forms. Thereare traditional shapes, names and ordering of the staves(Rune-shapes). Recent years have seen pseudo-rune booksan d authors who play fast and loose with the traditionand thus loose all possibilities of connecting with the oldpowers and meanings. (The hand of O5inn can be seen inthe blinding of would-be rune-masters, which causes themto make fools of themselves.)Th e Runic table presented below provides th e basicinformation the traditional Runer needs to begin his or herjourney into the Rune-Realm . The names of the Runes arein Proto-Germanic, the common language spoken by allGermanic peoples b efore around 700 CE. The translation ofthe name provides the basic exoteric meaning of the Rune-Name, while th e esoteric meaning indicates what thatname really meant to the ancestors.The Runic tradition can be explored in any number ofmy books listed in the bibliography. I recommendbeginning with Th e Nine Doors ofMidgard.

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Soul-LoreGrasping the soul-lore of our ancestors opens the doorsof understanding to the world and to the gods. Ourancestors had many names for parts of the soul. They didnot learn these in schools in mysterious forms of initiation:they were built right into their everyday experience andhow they processed what they did and what happened inthe world. In the present day soul-lore is the specialty of"psychologists" and the like and for every psychologistthere seems to be a different "psychology." Ou r ancestorsha d a complex technical vocabulary for the soul and itsworkings because they were intimately familiar with itsworkings. What people know well, they have ma ny namesfor. Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram which outlinesthe various parts of what we like to call the body-soulcomplex. We use Old Norse names for the parts of thecomplex simply because most people are most familiarwith these terms.It is thought that if we can return to an understanding ofthe workings of the timeless soul of our ancestors, we willnot only be able to understand the mythology, runicinscriptions, and art forms which they left behind, but thatwe will also once again become more effective as humanbeings. W e believe that in the area of "psychology" ou rancestors were far in advance of where we stand now.Their complete l i f e linked as it was to all levels of theirculture found its instrument of expression andperception in the model of the soul we present here. If the"modern" individual can internalize these structures, he orshe will be able to transform the self in ways that can onlybe imagined now. This too is part of becoming who we are.H ugr: Th e hugr is the thinking an d feeling part of thehuman being. These two faculties are much more related inour ancestral soul then they are in the conventional thoughtof modern times.65r: The odr is the divine inspiration to whichindividual can open themselves, who know how to do so.It is a dangerous faculty, an d should not be trifled with.This is the part of the soul over which the high-god 65innis the master.

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Minni: The minni is the repository of memories. Theseare not just personal memories of past events, and so on,bu t rather the well-spring of eternal shapes and formsthe archetypes of existence an d consciousness. Th e 68renergizes us, the hugr guides us rationally and with a goodheart, but the minni provides th e eternal meaning an dpurpose for what we do in Midgard.Ond: This is the breath of life. It feeds the whole systemof the body-soul complex with an energy which wasoriginally given to humanity by the God OSinn. It is thepower which "keeps body an d soul together."Sjalfr: The sjdlfr is the "self," the synthetic whole of theperson, or even of a god.Ek: This is literally the "I," the ego. This faculty, orfocal-point of consciousness, can exist at any one point inthe whole body-soul complex. The place of this focal pointin any individual's life will determine what kind of life onewill lead. It can be moved around within the system bu tthis requires great effort to overcome habits of focusing theek in the wrong places. Ideally it is balanced among thedor-hugr-minni.Lik: The Itk is the physical, completely natural, part ofthe human being. It is the organic structure into which thegods infused the divine elements which made us human.Hamr: The hamr is the subtle "shape" of the body. It isintimately connected to the hamingja, the dynamic part ofthe soul. If one looks at a recently dead person, one cansee that there is something missing, even though theexternal shape appears to be the same. This "something" isth e hamr. In life certain individuals can manipulate theirhamar so that they ca n appear different at differenttimes sometimes they look older, or younger, forexample, many actors can do this and it is at the root ofthe pheno men on kno wn in ancient times as "shap e-shifting," or hamramr.Fylgja: Th e fylgja, or "fetch," is the contra-sexual partof a human being which acts as a "guardian spirit," and asa repository for the fate or destiny of the individual asthe effects of deeds done in past times (even past lives)play out in the present.

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5. LoadingThe speaker pours drink into the horn and says:"W e give you the gifts of our works woven an d blendedwith the might an d main of this drink. It lends us godsan d folk together help in our striving toward the shiningplain where the worlds and wights dwell in wholeness."

6. DrinkingTh e speaker then drinks from th e horn an d pours th eremainder into the blessing bowl on the harrow. The hornis then refilled and passed to each of the gathered folk.Each makes the sign of the hammer J_over the rim of thehorn before drinking. Each time the remainder of the drinkis poured into the blessing bowl by the speaker.7. BlessingThe speaker now dips the evergreen twig into the bowlan d sprinkles the harrow and the gathered folk with thewords:"The blessings of all the gods and goddesses of our folk beupon us!"8 GivingAfter the blessing is completed, the speaker pours thecontents of the blessing bow l out upon the bare ground tothe east of the harrow with the words:"T o Woden, Tiw, Balder, Frigga, Idunna, Thunar, Freyja,Freyr and to all the gods an d goddesses of our folk!"9. LeavingThe speaker returns to the harrow and says:"Thus the work is once again wrought, it renews our heartsto do worthy deeds, and to strive toward our goals withmighty moods, wise words, and trust in our own might andmain ever holding to our oaths to ourselves and to ourfolk!"

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3. RedeThe speaker says:"Today/tonight we gather as in times of yore to honor allthe gods an d goddesses wh o dwell in Asgard, and all ourow n forebears who dwell in the halls of Hdrr and Hel. Wecall upon them to make ripe their might and main in ourlives. We call upon them all the holy gathering living as a whole as is Woden's Law."4. CallThe speaker makes the following calls. After each call,th e gathered folk give welcome to the god or goddessbeing called with their name, and the words: "We GiveThee Welcome!"

"Woden, we are awed by thy craft,Tiw, we stay true to three forever,Balder, thy brightness and boldness guides us,Frigga, thy fruit an d wisdom keeps us all,Idunna, thine apples strengthen our souls,Thunar, thy thunder wards our stead,Freyja, we get freedom from thy frolic,Freyr, from thee we get a harvest of frith."

Then a litany of divine attributes of the gods andgoddesses just called is recited by the speaker. After eachthe gathered folk shout: "We give thee welcome!""Rune-Lord,One-Handed G od,Holder of the Hringhorn,Lady of the gods an d goddesses,Keeper of the apples,Guardian of Asgard,Holder of the Brisingamen,God of the Wane.""Again we all to you in all your names, be among ushere this day/night:Hail all the gods, hail all the goddesses,Hail all the holy onesWho dwell together."

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H a mingja : Th e hamingja is the dynamic power of thesoul. It is the luck of an individual as well as a repositoryof personal power inherited or passed from person toperson.Sal: Th e sal is not important to the living person. It isthe after-death shape of the person, and that which holdscertain elements together in the after-death state in Hel.

Diagram 2: The Structure of the Soul-Body ComplexThis diagram is only meant to suggest certainrelationships between the v arious kinds of soul, what partsinteract closely, which ones are considered more isolate,which ones are considered to be more all-encompassing,an d so forth. Th e soul exists for the most part in higherdimensions of space. Th e soul is like the hyper-body ofthe individual it reaches back in time and participates intimelessness and it extends itself into the unformed realmthe profane call the "future."The soul-lore is outlined in more detail in A Book ofTroth and Runelore.

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God-LoreThe gods and goddess of our ancestors are still livingamong us, of course. Stop and think about the names ofthe days of the week: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,Friday. Where did these names come from? These indicatefirst the two sovereign gods: Tiw and Woden, then theThunderer of the gods, Mrr (OE Thunor), and finally thegoddess Frige. These names hav e persisted for close to twothousand years. This is testimony to the enduring strengthof our gods and goddesses. When you, or anyone, stops tothink: Who are our own gods and goddesses? Do you reallyhave to look any further than the names of the days of theweek? The god-lore is discussed in more detail in A Bookof Troth, Witchdom of the True, and most of the otherbooks in the bibliography.In ancient times there were essentially two kinds of godsand goddesses: One received cultic service, while the otherwa s a being in the mythology, but was not worshippedwith special rites. The first group comprises the high-divinities of the nation and tribe. Here we will concentrateon these. Other divinities are discussed in the Edda ofSnorri Sturluson, for example.65inn: This god is known as W6den among the English,and he is the high sovereign and ancestral god of the folk.65inn is the archetype of the priest-magician. He is thegod of magic, poetry, inspiration and transformation thisincludes th e transformations from life to death, an d fromthe dead back to the living. 65inn wa s often feared inancient times, but in our present age his ways have perhapsbecome more familiar. (See th e article "The Way ofWoden" in Blue Runa.)

Tfo: He is the god of justice and right. In the my tholog yhe sacrifices his hand for the sake of the good of the divinecommunity, he is the god of self-sacrifice for the commongood, but he is also an archetype of a wise judge-king.E6rr: He is the warrior of the gods. With his greatphysical power that of thunder an d lightning hepushes back the borders of divine order, destroyingmonsters of chaos and unconscious giants. He is thegreatest friend of every man and woman.(10)

The Ail-Around Blessing FormulaThe Harrow ("altar") is set up in the standard fashion, asshown here:

Drinking Horn

Evergreen Twig1. HallowingMake th e sign of the hammer J_ in the four cardinaldirections, north, east, south an d west. Each time yo umake it say: "Holy hammer, hallow this stead!" Then,when you are facing north again, make the sign above yo utoward the ceiling an d below yo u toward th e flood an dagain repeat the wo rds: "Holy ham mer, hallow this stead!"At the conclusion of this the speaker says:"This stead is hallowed for our work here today/tonight.As the god Heimdall wards the Bifrost Bridge, so thisstead is warded against all unholy wights and ways."2. Reading (Lay)Th e "Voluspa" is to be read or recited to the gatheredfolk.

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Thing-Tide (late August): This is the time of the greatnational or international gatherings to do business and tocelebrate the social an d organizational aspects of the troth.At this time too, disputes ar e traditionally settled in apeaceful an d lawful manner.Harvest: (autumnal equinox): Th e cycle of natural forceis drawing to a close, the rewards of the expression of vitalaction in the past year ar e being taken in . this cycleculminates in the Night of the Mothers.Although the descriptions above note times such as"vernal equinox," it was not necessarily traditional toobserve such mechanical celestial events. More traditionalis the careful observation of certain signs which ar eparticular to the region in which one actually lives. Themechanical events are merely guidelines and orderingprinciples.Thus the wheel of the year looks like this:

Yule-tideWinter Night Disting

HarvestWinter Finding

Thing's-tide

Easter

WalburgaMay DayMidsummer

This eight-fold division of the year wa s traditional in thefar North, and the day was similarly divided into eighttimes of the day, as well.(14)

Frigg: She is the wife of 65inn and the mistress of thegods an d goddesses in Asgard. Sh e oversees the divineorder as a mistress does her household. She is also aseeress.Freyja: The name of this goddess merely means "theLady." Under this name perhaps a variety of femininedivinities were worshipped in ancient times. She is theGreat Goddess of the North. She has magical aspects, aswell as ones relating to war, but most especially to thepowers of wealth, well-being, and pleasure.Freyr: He is the brother of Freyja, and his name literallymeans "the Lord." Freyr wa s widely worshipped in ancienttimes, as he was the bringer of good harvest an d materialgain and well-being.Njor5r: He is the father of both Freyr and Freyja. He is agod of the sea and of bounty an d well-being. He , like hischildren, is a member of the Vanic class of gods, whichare distinguished from the JEsii although all of the Godsand Goddesses mentioned in this list no w dwell among thejEsir and are in Asgard.

Ways of WorkingThe Germanic tradition is one of action, not merelythought. It is not just a matter of belief, bu t rather doing,as well. So what should one do ! There are three majorkinds of meaningful action, or ways of working. Theseencompass three areas: troth, galdor an d seidr.Troth means "faith," or more pointedly: loyalty. Thisloyalty extends from the individual out to the family, to theclan and its chief on to the tribe and its elders an d king, ifthere is one. Bu t from there, it extends back in time to thegods an d goddesses themselves. So that the essence oftroth, of the "religion," lies in the concept of loyalty ofremaining true to one's gods and tradition, and to one'sfamily and its heads.Galdor is work with verbal an d meta-linguistic signs andsymbols, such as the Runes, to impress the will of thegaldor-man directly onto the warp an d weave of the world.Seidr, on the other hand, works with trance-states, magicalsubstances (such as herbs), and non-v erbal symbols.(11)


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TrothThe most powerful single way of working in theGermanic tradition is through conscious action in theworld. This action, this way of doing, builds increasinglevels of hamingja, or naming, in the individual. There areto main ways of building this haming in the way of truedoing: with the practice of the Nine Noble Virtues, and/orwith the regular enacting of the seasonal rites of the folk.Th e Nine Noble Virtues are:Courage (Heartiness)TruthHonor (Worthiness)Loyalty (Troth)Discipline (Hardiness)Hospitality (Friendliness)Industriousness (Hard-Work)Self-Reliance (Freedom)Perseverance (Steadfastness)Here the classic forms, or definitions of the Nine NobleVirtues are given, with the more traditional worlds in old-fashioned English provided in parentheses. These virtues,or strengths, are to be practiced on a moment by momentbasis. With each virtuous deed, luck is drawn in to yourbeing much like reeling in the strands of the threads of"fate" so that good fortune will be yours. The magicale f f i c a c y of this mode of acquiring good fortune is beyondcompare.A worker in troth will begin his or her day bymeditating on the Nine Nob le Virtues and will end the daywith an assessment of how the goals of the day were met,or not. To the extent that one finds one's self wanting inthe virtues, one makes the resolve to do better the nextday, and so on, day by day. Beginners may start out withon e virtue, or thew, an d work on realizing them one at atime, until all nine have been explored. Then, as soon aspossible, al l nine should be meditated an d acted upondaily. Balance of development is key here.Another important way of working in troth is byperforming and/or participating in the major customaryblessings, or blotar. By participating in these you are

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returning ho nor an d worth to the gods an d goddesses, an dyou will therefore not be a thief as you enjoy the fruits ofMidgard. Taking part in the blessings of the troth is one ofthe main ways the tradition is kept alive and active. Ageneral blessing formula is provided below. From this yourow n rites can be developed, or you can consult furtherwith the contents of A Book of Troth, which contains awhole calendar of such rites.The traditional calendar of the ancient north includesmany seasonal celebrations:Winter-Nights (three nights in mid-October): This is theen d of the harvest season, when the forces of nature haveexpended themselves fully. It is the Norse new-year, andthe beginning of the sacred mid-winter time.Yule-Tide (December 20-31): Th e Yule-Tide beginswith the Night of the Mothers and ends on Yule proper.This is the time of the rebirth of the solar power in thedepth of the year, and the time when the ancestral spiritscome closest to the world of the living. It is the holiesttime of the year to the Germanic folk, in elder times aswell as today.Disting (mid-February): This is the Norse festival of thedisir ancestral female spirits. The forces of nature are ina stage of renewal and reinvigoration. The way must bemade clear for their manifestation.Easter/Ostara (spring equinox): This is our ancient riteof spring. The name "Easter" is a purely heathen name (ofthe Germanic Goddess of Spiring) which had to be adoptedby the Christians, it is the blooming forth of the powers ofnature.Walburga (April 30): In the night of April 30 the forcesof chaos and darkness are acknowledged in the rite ofWalburga, the divine seeress. The nest day, May 1, orMay-Day, the force of light is honored with the erection ofthe May-Pole the axis of heaven.Midsummer (summer solstice): The victory of the sunover the darkness is celebrated an d honor is given to theconcepts of peace and plenty provided by the Sun. Theforce which was given birth on the Night of the Mothersha s come full cycle.

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an introduction to the germanic tradition by edred thorsson

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