The Nine Worlds: Niflheim

Niflheim

The name Niflheim means, The Home of Mists, In the norse mythology and cosmology this is a cold and frozen realm, one of the two worlds that collided and created all the other worlds and life forms, and when i mean worlds, is it because in the myths, there are nine different worlds, but in truth, it is just one, huge enough, with many realms, with different weathers in each one and different fauna, this led people to belive, that there are different worlds, because each realm they visited is so vast, that seems to be a world.  

In this frozen realm, glaciers and mountains were once solidified a long time ago by a great river called Elivagar, the meaning of its name is, icy waves. This great river crystallized all things into frost, and thus, everything turned into ice. When Muspelheim collided with Niflheim, fire and frost, the ice in Niflheim began to melt away in the southernmost areas. By this time, the first being was created from this union, Ymir the frost-giant.

 Time and Seasons: 

There are a few seasonal changes in Niflheim, but those are very similar to any artic area of our own world. For those who live in the artic reagions, it is easy to them to know which season the area might been in, but for those unfamiliar with that, it might just be winter all the time because snow and frost covers everything. The days are long and the nights longer and at winter, the night doesn't seem to have an end. 

Geography:

Half of Niflheim is covered in snow and ice, and it will never melt and the weather is often cloudy, one of the reasons that turns to a difficult work to know in which season this realm is, because the sky is covered most of the time. It is easy to get lost in here, since the landscape is covered in fog many times and blizzard conditions with lots of snow falling, the cold is terrible and deadly, this may be the last place you want to get stuck in. Towards Svartalfheim, the landscape turns more mountainous and the ice starts to melt there. In here, the land is nearly all water, with some mountaintops here and there, forming islands. The water that floats here is freezing cold, running with icebergs.

If you are looking for shelter in Niflheim, it's vain to look for any kind of building, if those ever existed, they wouldn't survive the storms. All the inhabitants burrow underground in caves. Frost-etins have made a lot of cave-tunnels, but if you try to get shelter in those, that is a mistake.

The most important geographical feature in Niflheim, is probably Hvergelmir one of the sacred wells. Unlike the other wells that are small, Hvergelmir is an enormous hot-spring of turbulent water from which many rivers flow. Hvergelmir is located near the gates of Helheim.

 Flora: 

In the Frozen area of Niflheim, none dwell, but there are some plants near the islands and in the tundras.

Fauna: 

Like our artic places, in Niflheim there are some artic-type animals close to the snowy rigions, there are also seals and other cold-water mammals. 

 

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Working with the gods: Loki

Those who work with the god Loki the Trickster, said to be a very hard god to work with and to handle. The first thing you need to have in mind if you are a spirit-worker willingly to work with this god, is that Loki will likely do things to the spirit-worker, that he/she will not like or expect. The knowledge i have earned with the shamans i speak with and an important friend who is also a shaman ( RavenKaldera ), it was told to me, that when working with this god, it is important to have an other god as your protector, to set limits when working with Loki, so you dont end up "bad" or doing things that goes beyond your likings. Also this god may not stick to the agreement and the rules you may have had and stipulated, before you started the spiritual work.

When inviting this god to work with, you dont have to worry about which food he might like, he will eat all kinds of stuff, but that doesn't go the same way when dealing with drinking, in that he will prefer alcoholic beverages with cinnamon and red pepper in it if possible.

Don't forger and always keep in mind, that if you will work with Loki, you best be prepared for the ways and doings of this god, and it is always better to work alongside with an other spirit-worker who already has a good relationship with Loki or perhaps if you work with Hela, in case you need to protect yourself, you can always call upon Loki's daughter to calm him down.

Ancestors' Blót - 11th of November

Normally, the ancestors day is held at the 1st day of November in the case of the celtic old pagan beliefs, after Samhain at the 31st of October, or in the midle of October with the Dísablót and the Alfablót, which are specific celebrations for the ancestors in the old traditional paganism of the northern lands of Europe.

But in the northern neo-pagan beliefs and germanic reconstructionism there is the existence of the Ancestors blót at the 11th of November, which consists in a celebration, or a blót, to the ancestors, as the name indicates. This celebration is different from the old celebrations to the ancestors, when these feasts were just a family gathering, at the farmsteads, honoring the dead, offering food and drink to the gods and the landspirits, feasts that would also take place at the sacred mounds of the family, and only family members could be around, no other person was welcomed. The celebration of the 11th of November is also a gathering, but in these times of change, all are welcomed to join the feasts and remembering the ancestors of each family, in fact, the main objective, is to remember the ancestors as a whole group of people who used to live in this world, and take care of the land. Today this celebration is turned to nature and to the landspirits living in it, and how we need to protect our surroundings as our ancestors did, and still do. Unfortunately we are living in a time, were we are ruining the planet constantly, but on the other hand, we also live in a time, were communication with other nations, is easier, and it is also easier to alert people of what is happaning to the world because of our deeds, trying to change things and make this world a better place to live again.

Also in America, the 11th of November is the Veterans' Day, remembering those who fought and died for the country, so the Heathen communities and the neo-pagan groups linked to the northern pagan traditions in America, celebrate this day as the Feast of the Einherjar. The Einherjar are the warriors of Odin, the best and bravest of all the warriors that go to Valhalla, the most skillful and the protectors of the innocent, so at this day, it is a good combination to remember those who gave their lifes, for noble causes, i am not talking about wars with other countries, nor political interests, not even talking about specific soldiers of any country, i'm talking about those who fought and died to protect the innocent, each day, those of our ancestors and all the others who were there as a beacon of light and protection, watching for the people who aren't strong enough to protect themselves, for exemple.. a policeman, a fireman, doctors etc. all those who gave their attention and care, and helped the ones in need. This is also what this day is about, remembering the great deeds of others, and try to take similar paths, to become better persons.

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Working with the gods: Hela

Hel or Hela, is the goddess of death and of the underworld in the norse pantheon, i have talked about her in a older post, i will not delve into the subject of who is she and her purpose as a goddess, nor will i talk about her gifts. I will write about her in a different matter. How to work with her and a spiritual manner, of course to those who already know her, it will be easier to interpret.

 Hela is a different kind of deity, while the other gods and goddesses are a symbol of light and we see in them that light which brings us joy and bliss, Hela is the opposite, a darkness that can absorb the light, maybe this is one of the reasons that brought people to fear her, and often mistake her with an evil being, because she also lives in a gloomy place, and with christianity, the term Hell for the underworld, came after her. As you may read in other posts about the gods and mytholgy, you know it isn't such, but it is very hard to work with her, and the spirit-workers working with her, are few, not all have such honor, but those who have, can teach us to think in a different way, and let go all the mysticism and lies that were created around many pagan gods.

Working with Hela:

When meeting with Hela, she likes to drink tea or dark coffee. She also likes alcoholic drinks, but she prefers something that has been home-brewed. Food is rarely important to her.She likes to wear long simple robes of black or in tones of grey. Some Spirit-workers like to paint half of their faces with a "skull-mask" shape in her honor. One of the things that she likes, is to wear a ring on every joint of every finger of the left hand, in order to mimic the feel of hard bones. She may give her left hand to people to kiss. She never holds out her right hand to the living, only to those who have passed on, or are at the moment of dying a physical death. Hela usually works with female spirit-workers, but occasionally, it is possible for her to also call of male spirit-workers.

Hela walks with a limp, slowly, is quiet, and extremely still. When she is speaking, her hands may move and gesture, but the rest of the time she is still as a statue when sitting or standing. She speaks in a hoarse voice, and she is very direct and to the point. If she grips someone's hand or arm in order to say something important to them, some say her touch can burn flesh. 

Suported by Ravenkaldera.

Note: The artwork to illustrate this post is a drawing of Hel made by me. If you have any questions for me or if you want to see my artistic works, check out my Facebook page and make a Like if you can by following this link --> http://www.facebook.com/ArithHarger

Viking Burial Customs

Much of the knowledge we know about the Viking societies and other northern people from Scandinavia, comes from their burial rites.

After death, it was belived by the Vikings, that they would go to the realm of the their gods, to a place where they would continuing to do their works, their crafts, making battle, hunting, fishing, studying, farming, and all those things people do in this world by that time. As such, they would need in the afterlife, all the tools for each profession, and all the other objects they used in their mundane life, so these things they would take with them to their graves. All the important things of a person, would be taken to that person's burial, in this way, we can actually know what kind of people they were and what things they would give importance to. Imagine yourself, what would you take to the afterlife? I bet nowadays, i wouldn't be something as simple as the things in those times were. Maybe your computer?!

Generally, men took their weapons and other tools of their trade, if they were craftsmen, or blacksmiths, they would take the tools of their work, farmers would take utensils of agriculture and in some cases, dead farm animals would also go. Women were buried with domestic equipment, their jewellery.

We have that common idea. that these burials were made in boats or even ships, and that is true, but not all would be in such matter. Those who could not afford these burials in burning boats, would be buried in land, in mounds, surrounded by a ring of stones, laid out to make a shape of a boat. Also in these cases of burials in land in stone rings, could also be mounds of more than one person, a family burial mound, built near the family's farmstead, so in this way, the family members could visit them and celebrate with them throughout all the celebrations of the year, especially in the celebrations of October, like the Dísablót, Alfablót and the Vinternatsblót, celebrations more turned to the ancestors.

Of course to make a great journey, and one as important as this one, the final journey to the afterlife, food was needed, so in this matter, food was also something of great importance, that these people would take to the after life in their burial. Depending on each one's wealth, all sorts of food would be put in their burial, the food that the northern peoples were used to eat, most of it was seafood and meat, but also fruits, vegetables, bread, cheese, and because food also  requires drinking, cider and mead were the main drinks.

Food is always important for one's nutrition, and in these times, food was even more important than nowadays, it was scarce, and most of the food existed in specific months, such as the fruits, it was important to conserve food for the coming winter, and there were many techniques to do such. Winter was always a trial, and those who had a great year of harvest, and could store food and had time to dry the meat and smoke the fish, would pass this battle against winter, and be happy to see another spring. This was why the food was so important, and as i told you, the northern peoples would only take with them important things to their graves.

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Working with the gods : Idunn

Who is Idunn / Iduna?

Idunn is one of the Asgard deities, a goddess who is seen most of the time as a youthful and beautiful maiden, and hard-working. She is the goddess who takes care of the orchard of Asgard, she takes care of all the fruits for the Aesir gods, and of course, including those very special golden apples so familiar to all of those who know the myths, the golden apples that give eternal health, youth and immortality to the gods.

Idunn/Iduna is a goddess of health and rejuvenation. As a hard-working deity, she believes taht physical labor, is one of the best things you can do for your health, especially working the earth.

This goddess teach us, that the best thing for our health, is to have the proper nourishment. She belongs  to the group of the agriculture and healthy food gods, she is the only such deity who is one of the Aesir.

She is married to Bragi, the norse god of Poetry, and like her husband, she is a peacemaker rather than an affiliate of war.

Idunn can be called when there are any health problems, to get back in shape, over food issues, eating healthy food instead of the so called fast food/ junk food, and as it is expected, to bless those who possess orchard or any other fruit trees.

To honor this goddess, you can make offerings of cider and various fruits, as well as herbs. Taking care of trees, working in gardening, it doesn't have to be your job, but an hobby, taking care of the earth is a great way to honor her and other agricultural gods, as well the landvaettir ( the spirits of the earth ) and a great way to do a regular exercise which is good for your health. Making your own garden, planting and harvesting. eating more fruits and vegetables, without the overuse of pesticides that takes away the very health of what you plant and it takes away yours as well.