Working with the Gods: Skadi

Winter finally came and why not begin this journey with the northern goddess of winter? It seems to me appropriated.

Who is Skadi?

Skadi is the goddess to whom bowhunting, skiing, winter and the mountains are associated with. She is of the Jotnar kin.
The Aesir gods have been at war with the Jotnar kin for many generations and one of the casualties of that war, was Skadi's father. To have her vengeance, Skadi went to Asgard to kill the god Odin for killing her own father. Odin instead of a having a brutal combat with her, he offered her wealth in all sorts of manner and she could even pick a husband from among the Aesir gods, but those would be behind a curtain, so she had to choose by looking at their feet. In this way, she chose to be her husband, the god of the seas, Njord, she was deceived, because Njord's feet were so beautiful, not like the rough feet of Tyr, used to walk in all sorts of battle fields, or Thor's feet, full of scars for having fought the giants most of his time, by looking at Njords feet, she thought that those belonged to Baldr, the most beautiful of all the gods.
Njord and Skadi had so many differences, she loved the mountains and the cold wind, the howl of the wolves and hunting in the shadowed woods and skiing in the frozen lakes. Njord was fond of the sea, hearing the sound of the waves, sitting on top of the rocks at the beach with the salty wind gently touching his face, the sound of the seagulls and the merry singing of sailors near by or at his halls. So Skadi and Njord would have to divide their time and share the likings of each other, Skadi would pass some days of the week at her husband's halls and Njord would pass the rest of those days of the week in her Wife's Halls, so in this manner, they could be together and share the places each one loved and do the things they would feel most happy to do. But Skadi wasn't happy when she was by the sea, the salt scorched her skin, the crying of sea birds ritated her, the sand of the beach bothered her, for eating was always seafood and she hated it and the sun saddened her. On the other hand Njord felt sick with the cold of the mountains when he was at his wife's halls, he couldn't sleep with the wolve's howls, the land was covered with snow, ice and frost, it was a wasteland of sadness to him, no bird singing and it was always meat for dinner. With all these inconveniences, they had no time nor the mood to give love and attention to each other and so they split up because together, they had no happiness.

Working with Skadi.

Skadi loves animal fur, especially white fur skins to wear ( this is because she lives out there in the cold mountains, and in those places, only animal fur will keep someone warm enough to survive). She likes cold drinks and wine. Be very polite to her and courteous, she likes strong and respectful people. She preferes to work with a female spirit-worker,  but she takes both gender, as long as the person is ready to go off with her into the snow. She preferes to come during winter time or if you live in a cold area which has snow most of the year, she will also come.

Winter Finding 14th of October

What is this Winter Finding?

Well, as all the celebrations taken in the months where Autumn begins till the time it ends, most of it is about the preparations of the coming winter, be that praying to the gods and spirits for the good year of harvest and a better one after the winter is gone, or honoring the ancestors and land spirits, or asking for the strength to survive winter and live through that to see an other spring. But the main objective, without talking about the spiritual and religious matter, is the preparations that are made in these times, for the coming of the harsh winter and deadly cold. So this is what Winter Finding is all about, because winter wasn't an easy passing season and was harder to survive to it than nowadays. Winter was a time of trial, the need to have enough wood chopped or coal dug for heat, a time when the pigs were killed and their meat was salted as in means to conserve it, after an entire year taking care of them, giving food so they can be fat enough to give a lot of meat for the entire winter, this seems very cruel, but in these times supermarkets didn't exist, the people lived out by their hard work every day, cultivating the soils and harvesting. At winter, the soils were covered in snow, no one could plant anything because nature it self died, everything went into a dark atmosphere, and the snow, ice and frost ceased the growth of plants, vegetables and fruits. So before winter was at hand, the fish needed to be dried, smoked the meat, hid it in the ground, safe from deterioration, dried the fruits and catch enough root vegetables. This is also the begining of the hunting season, making the traps, bows and arrows prepared, traning the aim, knowing the forest and the wilderness, each corner and hideout, be cunning, think like an animal and also understand their behaviour, dig the snow for mushrooms and other roots, the trial for every living creature, a time to develop skills, intelligence and the senses.

At this celebration, we need to remember our ancestors, and the strength of mind and soul, the will to survive and keep the families safe, it is because of them and the battles they won agaisnst the powers of nature, that we are still here, we owe them that, the least we can do is to honor them, by becoming men and women of great strength of mind, independent, wise, cunning, righteous, hardworking, proud, honorable, faithful to our families, friends, convictions, beliefs and true to ourselves, honest, respectable and to respect nature and others thoughts, always knowning that we are bound to nature and its laws, we aren't above of it, learning how to live with it.

Surpassing the Winter

Surpassing the Winter


There is no King nor Queen
to rule over this land
the last remnants i have seen
have sunk under the sand

A time of great rulership
now forgotten in ancient lore
when honor in men went too deep
and by the sword they swore

The wooden halls were sacred
blessed by gods, elves and wights alike
wise man's words weren't wasted
wisdom was the law's strike

The wolves howl and the ravens croak
the waking of a new dawn
campfires and their black smoke
time to store wheat and corn

Winter approaches with freezing wind
the realm of lords of hunting
hares and deers were skinned
back in the farm, the pig's grunting

Hard works ended at October's eve
burning the soil, a blessing of fertility
the falling of the first leaf
the season's beginning of nature's hostility

Gathering wood to feed the flame
snow and ice covers the door
to gods, we call upon their names
in need, they won't ignore

Surviving to watch the sun rise
one's victory every waking day
as the winter fades and dies
we may rejoice at it's decay.

Arith Härger

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