Svartalfheim & Nidavellir - 2nd part

Little is known about the conflicts and the great war between the elven kind, but it is certain that a group of elves were exiled and came to Svartalfheim when they were expelled from their homeland in Ljossalfheim. It appears that this race of elves weren't welcomed anywhere else, only in the dark lands of the Duergar (Dwarves).
The Duergar granted shelter to these elves and since today, a tenuous peace and reasonable harmony lingers. The dark elves, or Dokkalfar as I have written on the previous post, couldn't live any other way, the Duergar outnumber them and control most of their homeland. There are many terms and conditions for both races to live in the same realm, however, none knows for sure which of those are.
As it would be expected, there is trade between the two races, but not as much as anyone might think.

Few are the deities that live in this dark land, one of those deities is the goddess Niorun, the goddess of dreams. Despite from being a goddess little-known to many, both the Duergar and the Darkelves honor her a great deal. As I have written on the previous post, Svartalfheim is a dangerous place to travel into or dwell during the day, and at night its impossible to be safe. However, the hall of this goddess, Niorun, is one of the few places (if not the only one) that a travel might take shelter, be safe and not being bothered by any of the outside realm. Apart from being a relatively safe place, it isn't beautiful, the very sight of it often makes people uncomfortable and the sense that it isn't safe at all.

Winter Nights 31st October - 1st November

Note: This was a scheduled Post.

Note2: The Drawing was made by me and you can watch my works at my Deviantart


"A sacrifice was to be made for a good season at the beginning of winter…"

In pre-Christian Scandinavia, Veturnætur, Winternights, was a period of two days around the middle of October which marked the beginning of the winter half of the year. At this time the cattle would be brought in from the pastures and, as there was only fodder enough to see the breeding stock through the cold season, the remainder would be slaughtered and the meat preserved to provide food for the farmers throughout the harsh winters. This necessary yearly cull provided an excellent excuse for a big sacrificial feast at which gods, elves and ancestors were welcomed. Friends, relatives and honoured guests would gather at farmstead feast halls decorated with festive tapestries. Descriptions in the Icelandic Sagas suggest that they would play ball games on the frozen lakes during the day and eat and drink to excess during the night.
Also there was and still are two rituals that are held during this festival, álfablót and Dísablót, which i will talk in a later post when the time comes.
This is also a time to remember the dead ones, the ancestors, the importance they had in our lifes and still have as a memorie and their presence still lurk in the other world to this one, also it is the time to remember the female strong power and love, guidance and kindness, mortals, dead ones and Goddesses, but taht is a subject that belongs to Dísablót.

Also there is a similar celebration in the celtic wheel of the year, Samhain the harvest festival or the end of the harvest, when the christianity came into Europe, these pagan festivels, were turned to be a diferent celebration, All Saints' Day or Souls day, it still has this only connection to the pagan roots, the dead, but nothing more, because Winter Nights or Samhain is also a day to celebrate the coming of winter and how good it was all the harvest till this day, to ask for protection, shelter, food and health, happiness and love for the coming winter, the harsh winter.
Dont forget that we are connected to all our ancestors. and they are a part of us, we in turn will be a part of our descendants, as i've told in a earlier post about the ancestors, they continue to play a big part in the role of our lifes.

This is also the time of the wild hunt, when Odin in the Norse mythology comes with the valkyries and the dead ones, and they can be seen in the sky in their wild hunt, hunt for other to join them, ridding in extasy, in trance, this is a great day and and opportunity, or in the Celtic Mythology, Cernnunos the Horned god, i had an experienc in this day, you can read all about it in a post in "Personal Thoughts and Experiences" for this is the day where a tiny gap is opened between this world and the other and the dead ones, the spirits, the gods and so many other beings can visit us and we communicate with them. Unfortunately this day is also called Halloween and it is simply celebrated by wearing costumes of monsters and other scary beings, and people have forgotten their roots and the real celebration, but this has a bit of the old traditions, for the Celts in this day, wear costumes ans masks to be mistaken in the midst of the dead ones, the souls that could come into the world of the mortals, and so no mortal nor spirit would be scared of one another and could celebrate togheter.

For a Shaman, this day can be an easier day to "work" but i leave here and advice, do not let yourself be troubled by this mystical day, the magic and mystery of it, let your mind flow and let your dreams take you away in a difterent journey that may change your life, dont struggle against this and do not be afraid.

Have good celebrations! Farewell!

Dreams and Visions

Note: The photo was taken by Missloony

Dreams are a part of us, and what would become of us without them? If we dont dream, then we are not alive, unemotional, there are no objectives, dreams can guide us, warn us, or travel in our mind to escape for sometimes the harsh reality, to excape the city life, social problems, the stressful routine, we can learn from dreams and i will give you examples.

Most of the dreams we have are just reflexions of your daily needs, problems, anxieties, wishes and fears, even if you dont remeber and you ask yourself "what kind of a dream was that?!" all those emotions stay hidden in the back of your brain, and while you sleep, your brain "goes" there and pick all those images, and you can control your dreams, you can think of something while dreaming and it will happen in the dream, but that is most tiring for your brain, and it will reflect in your entire body, because you are thinking in your own thoughts, and when you wake up, its like you have never slept the entire time you were dreaming.
But few times ( but for some people it is regular ) your dreams may be visions, warnings, jorneys and even you are actually in somewhere out of your body interacting with real people, souls, spirits even Gods. Sometimes you see in your dreams people that were important to you, people that have gone away from this world, most of the time is just your brain working, picking the need to see those people again, to talk with them, say a last word, your wishes and needs, dreadful needs that make you so anxious and your brain starts to enter in a state, that is a burst of images. But few times you actually seeing them, but that doesnt happen so often, and even if it realy happens some day, you will not guess it out.
As i've tould, we may be in contact with other beings, in situations we think that it is just a dream, that is also why in many times we do not pay any attention to dreams, but they can realy help us in times of need.
I will give you few examples of jorneys or places and situations that have happen to me, out of the body and not a dream, but first i would like to tell you how do you know it is not a dream, if it is real, if you are actually living that. We have to train our brain, our body, we have nightmares and we are led by them to a mournful state of mind, wariness, fear, sorrow, but we have to let it go, train yourself and dont let your dreams / nightmares control you, you can control them, you can wish hard and concentrate, meditate and you can make your dreams become a real jorney, out of your body experiences, i've work hard in that but i dont have those jorneys too often, since i can remember i have lots of dreams, about things i've never seen before, wars, madness, people getting killed in medieval dark times and even before that, of course today that we can see in books, movies, paintings, but for a child, that the only places to see were the rooms in the house and the garden outside full of beautiful natural things, that may be a bit awkward, runing as a tall adult man in the snow among naked dark pine trees in a great forest, dressed with clothes made of animal fur, with others like me, runing and screaming with swords and axes, towards an hidden enemy that is shouting beyond the snowy hills, and other dreams like these as i was a child, to see myself killing and blood everywhere, but the visions were not always this, but also beautiful places, so beautiful to my eyes, and i was just standing there in awe. So in time i have development a capacity to know what is a dream and what is a vision and what is a jorney, i know what i am actually living, and what is just a dream to joke about, sometimes i dream with my eyes open, hallucinations and i know that, but other times i see and it is real, so i will now give you examples of what i have seen, few examples that might be very interesting.
Once while i was resting my body in the bed, i closed my eyes and i went to a place of complete darkness, there was nothing to be seen but i was there moving and hearing sounds, nature sounds, the wind in the trees, my steps over fallen leafs and the cracking of twigs, and i've heard voices, and laughter, there was a light in tones of autumn, all around there were naked trees, helm and oak trees, i went there, all i saw a great bonfire and people dancing around it, but they were all shadows, then i saw a great shadowed shap of a man, tall, taller then a normal person, with horns of an elk, and like the others was just a shadow, dark, but i was glad, and i was happy, joy filled me, i almost wanted to dance around the fire, but i was uneasy because i couldn't see the faces and it was moving to fast, in trance and extasy. I had this dream long ago in the 31 of october, then after this i came about a text in a book, and it was talking about the importance of that day, the 31st of october to 1st of November, Samhain, and the night that there is a gap between this world and the other, where the dead can joy us, in every religion talks about this, and that there is a God, a celtic one, ( of course that are many who come in this day, like Odin for the Wildhunt, which in the celtic myths there is also the wildhunt ) in this specific day, calls many to join him, Cernunnos the horned god, this was strange and i had that dream withoug knowing all of this.
An other dream i had, was about a place, green and yellow, far as the eye could see, i was standing in a great hill, and there was a huge tree far away, i could see its branches touching the clouds, i went down the hill to meet this great tree, when i was closed to it, i saw that the trunk was so large, that i couldn't see anything else of the landscape to the right or to the left, i passed the tree, and i went inside of it, like a ghost, inside there were stairs, all around the trunk but inside, and it went up, always up till i could see no more but a great light in tones of a soft blue and white, i saw many people going for it, hundreds or maybe thousands of souls and i knew they were souls, glowing, the inside of the tree was beautiful and the bark so smooth, tiny yellow lights dancing everywhere, like butterflies but glowing like fireflies, there was grass where i was standing in amazement, so green and clean, fresh with dew drops, i saw then a man, clothed in grey, a great white beard, there was a shadow in his face by his left side, there was no left eye, and a wolf behind him, they were both walking in my direction, and all was well.
Another that i had was not so long ago, about 2 weeks ago, while my girlfriend was playing the lyre she gave me as a gift, the music she played, the sound of it was strange, the melody was beautiful and yet so sad, but the sound of the strings could not make sadness reach my ears, each string made an happy sound, i was relaxed, i smiled and i closed my eyes, but i opened them again and somewhere between my room and what was going on, i say in front of my eyes a dream, but i was awake in there, in the room with my girlfriend, and i saw a beautiful deep forest, all in tones of green, the top of the trees in dark greens, the ground of light green and roots gently embracing all the surroundings, it was a grey sky, and a soft rain, mist came intertwined with the trunks of the trees, leaving the moss so green and fresh, i was just there, between the border of the forest and a vast green field that ended with an other part of the forest, it was a glade in that valley, i saw then the tall grass moving, something walking to me, it was a wolf, he was calm and so was i, he stoped, then in the forest to my left there was a standing figure, starting to walk in my direction, clothed in animal fur, and a voice near the wolf said "He is Dagda..." and something else that i cant remember, after this was over, i went to see if Dagda meant something, and i read that he is a Celtic God, older then all.
Also when i am with my girlfriend, in a more intimate situation, in other words, making love, when i reach the orgasm, i see often wolves runing towards a hill, amoung trees, many trees, and i am runing with them, and i am also a wolf, i can hear them breathing fast, i can fell the wind in my fur, the howls, and i can smell all things, in a clear night of full moon, and its silver light in our backs, in our gray fur, the sensation is of total freedom, something that i've never had before and i can see this for about 1 year and a half, then all of us wolves, get to the top of that great hill, and in fact it was a mountain, because down, far below, there is a great valley as far as the eye can see, with many forests, and few wooden houses with smoke coming out of the stone chimneys and a great river that flows to the horrizon, shining in silver and white because of the light of the moon, all so fast in extasy and happiness we stand there at the top of the world howling.
I dream a lot, but i have also visions and jorneys, but unfortunately those are few, but when i have them, it changes me completly.


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Cσρуяιgнт © 2011™

The Innocent mind of a child

Note: The picture is a photo of myself taken long ago, i thought it would ilustrate well what i am about to write.
Also as a token of my gratitude i will link a group who has helped me advertise my blog, here it is the link [Link]

Children have a way to see things, to see life, in a whole different perspective...
When people are young, till a certain age, they see things others can not, we all do, and we stop seeing those things when our inocence is broken or when fear dwells in our hearts and mind, so it doesnt depend on the age we have, in how many years that pass, i can not explain exactly why we see such things, but be sure that has everything to do with our inocence and the absence of fear. Every child sees ghosts, spirits and other beings, and have a realy good connection with the unknown and supernatural, often they can see spirits of the forests, of the earth, rivers, feel and see what we think it isn't there to be seen, we shouldn't encourage children to forget what they see, but try to understand them and talk to them, with an open mind and heart, trying to speak about it and embrace it.
For exemple ( my own exemple ) when i was a little baby i saw things and i remember very few of them in a misty dream in the corners of my memories, but too young those things were taken away from me, it took time for my innocence to be broken but too early i felt the poison of fear in my heart, i begain to understand death very young, and the fear of the loss and the unknown, and that fear made me ill, sadness and sorrow took over me, and too soon i forgot the things i could see in my innocence, when i knew not about the dreadful  and inevitable death, i could not understand why it had to be like that and i didn't knew what was to come after it. As i always say "fear does not give any profit" and it is true, fear takes the freedom and happiness of our hearts, and here i let a plea, do not fill the mind of your children with useless things, like a religion, do not impose any religion to them, or politics, not even any footbal club, this may look very naive in your minds, but it will change dramatically your child, let them grow in joy, in a cheerful life, in amazement, in time they will grown and understand, and make up their own mind, have their own thoughts, and so they will chose what path to follow, teach them that, to follow their own hearts, of course you have to educate your children in other things, and show to them the importance of life, the importance of nature, and teach them to respect both as they respect their parents, educate the children, so may on day you dont have to imprison the adult, a wise man once said.
Religion, football, politics, those are subjects you dont have to show to your sons and daughters, especially death, avoid showing them that, put your children away from it as well as you can, that they will know one day, but let time show to them, meanwhile, hide death from them, they need not to feel sorrow and fear so soon, remember, those are moorings to your children, they born free and let them be so.
In time, in an other post, i will talk about things we see, the diference between dreams, reality and visions, and my own experiences.

Best Regards

Arith Härger

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Cσρуяιgнт © 2011™

Note: .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

Of Fire and Mischief

NOTE: The Picture was taken by MissLoony, All Rights Reserverd.


I will talk about the Natural Elements and today the subject is the elemental fire and the importance it has even as a therapy.
The Fire is the source of all creation, it all began with it, i see fire as a living creature, that breathes to live and eats or consumes all arround, so it can grow, it moves, it pulses with life. Fire can be a cosy friend but also a terribel enemy, above all else, when working with it, we must have the utmost care and respect it.
The fire as a therapy is like magic upon our minds, try to sit or lay near a bonfire or a fireplace, in a chair or bed, close your eyes and listen the crackling of the fire, imagine yourself in a distante place, beautiful, dreamlike, near a river or in the mountains, the wind is cold, you feel inside your heart, the bliss , you feel warmer, or you can even think about a place inside a wooden house, snow outside with the sound of the wind blowing hard and the yelp of the wolves. You will fall asleep and have a great rest upon your pillow. Of course you can imagine thousands of situations at the sound of the crackling fire.
Just like the God Loki, he has an outstanding power and skills over fire, and he gained all this knowledge with the Giant Surt the black of Muspellheim, surffice to say, he is the lord of fire. But that is another story for an other post. And speaking of Loki, i avail what i have said, to speak about it, many people see him as the devil of the christian myths, i can tell you, that is a mistake often taken, in the Norse Mythology there are no evil gods, each one has his purpose, his own skills, powers and doings, Loki is the God of Mischief, fire, magic, shapeshifting and cunning, and all of us in our daily lifes, when working with other persons, we have to be cunning, eyes opened, or the society will "eat us alive", also we have to shapeshift, not like loki, but in a metaphorical way, play a bit, not with evil purposes, or to gain things we want and pass over others, but in a way so we can help others and ourselves, it is easy to make evil, and hard to do good, that is the true lesson and the real task.