muspelheim71

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Made a Madhubani style drawing of a certain one-eyed god and his wife.

A bit of me and a bit of AI

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A small burial mound and a flock of sheep near Midlaren, The Netherlands

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I visited Zweel today. There is an old church there that was build on the foundation of a pagan temple or place of sacrifice (source: zweelerkerk.nl). The church was built on the foundations of its predecessor, a wooden church from the 12th century, which was built on its predecessor from probably the 8 or 9th century. According to historiography, the existance of a few farms and a church were recorded in the 10th century.

At the entrance is a devil's grid; an iron grid that was used to guide, count or deter game or cattle, and sometimes also to prevent people or the supernatural from entering certain sacred or delimited areas in pre-Christian times.

In pagan cultures, such grids could also have a symbolic or ritual function. For example, they marked the transition to a sacred place, such as a place of worship, a cemetery or an area where gods or nature spirits were worshipped. Due to their unusual shape or placement, they could also serve as a boundary between the world of the living and that of the spirits or gods. Sometimes they were associated with magical practices, such as warding off evil forces or protecting livestock and crops.

With the advent of Christianity, these grids received a new, Christian explanation: they were meant to stop or catch the devil. (see also: Heidense Heiligdommen, Judith Schuyf, p. 278).

The use of such a grid is another indication for the existance of an older sacred temple.

The stone in front of the entrance of the church served as a sacrificial stone in earlier times, so the church explains. A local guide explained: “At the time the church was built, it was mandatory to build the church on foundations of pagan temples or places of sacrifice”. Originally, the sacrificial stone was under the choir, but when it was restored in 1929, it was deposited at its current location.

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King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands

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Roman goddesses Ceres and Diana in the garden of Château Nijenhuis in Heino, the Netherlands

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Yesterday I visited the Externsteine near Detmold in Germany. A distinctive sandstone rock formation located in the Teutoburg forest. A very long drive from our home.

The Externsteine are by some identified as a sacred site of Germanic tribes, and the possible location of the Irminsul reportedly destroyed by Charlemagne. There is a round hole on top of the most upper stone, that maybe supports the idea of an inserted pillar on top; the Axis Mundi.

At the east of the Höhenkammer is an apse with a circular window and an altar. It has been noted that the sun shines directly through this window at sunrise at summer solstice (Wolfhard Schlosser / Jan Cierny. Sterne und Steine. Eine praktische Astronomie der Vorzeit (German). Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. Darmstadt. 1996. p.93-95).

Archaeological excavations have yielded some Paleolithic stone tools dating to about 10,700 BC from 9,600 BC. Beneath a rock overhang arrow heads and blades were found. Evidence of fire sites was also found.

Nearby is also the "Hermann Memorial" or Hermannsdenkmal to commemorate the Cherusci war chief Arminius (in German: Hermann) and his victory over the Romans at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD. Experts say the battle itself took place many kilometers to the north-west. The statue is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Germany with over half a million visitors a year.

During thunderstorms the prominence of the statue causes it to be frequently struck by lightning. The Blitzortungnetwork of lightning detectors recorded 234 strikes per year on or near the statue.

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Today I visited three small prehistoric burial mounds near Gieten. I have no idea whether these have been investigated, but similar mounds in the area were investigated in 1948; one mound even appeared to have been thrown up three times during the Bronze Age (three times between 2000-1200 BC).

They are located in a forest that you can reach via an unnamed dirt road from Varik. A little further is a larger mound.

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Visited Hunebed D16 today between Balloo and Loon. D16 is one of the larger hunebeds. It stands a few hundred metres to the north of a nature reserve.

The hunebed can be reached by a sandy path. It is more or less complete and has a portal and ringstones.

In the vicinity of this dolmen a probable settlement of the Funnel Beaker Culture has been found. The finds can be seen in the Drents Museum in Assen. Celtic fields (raatakkers) have been found on nearby nature reserve and there are several burial mounds.

A Celtic field is a small, more or less rectangular, contiguous field that was used from the Late Bronze Age to Roman times as an agricultural system for growing primitive grains such as emmer and spelt. The fields themselves are not related to the Celtic culture.

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Mount Odin and mount Thor, Baffin Island

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“Flieg Gedanke, flieg Erinn'rung

Kündet ihm von Midgards Los

Sagt ihm, seine Kinder warten

Seine Schar ist nicht mehr groß

Doch noch lodert seine Flamme

In die kalte Nacht hinaus”

Fly thought, fly memory

Tell him of Midgard's fate

Tell him his children are waiting

His flock is no longer large

But his flame is still blazing

Out into the cold night

From the song “Boten Asgards” by Carved in Stone

Art found on Pinterest and added my own twist

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Sky Father and Earth Mother

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Modern heathen struggles:

When you browse the net for a shrine-worthy picture of Odin and all you get is weird Marvel fan art

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My god was already on the path to self-realization and self-knowledge before the buddha did!

Fijne Woensdag! Happy Wōdnesdæg!

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Viking tattoos be like…

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There was a little Moor frog at the tombstone of my great-great-grandparents (see not so well focused picture).

In the study of Indo-European mythology and language, Anna Engelking highlights an intriguing connection between frogs and themes of the underworld, sickness, and death. This linkage can be traced through various cultural and linguistic elements found in Indo-European traditions.

Frogs are often associated with water, swamps, and moist environments, which are symbolically linked to the liminal spaces between life and death. In many mythologies, water and marshy areas are considered entrances to the underworld or realms of the dead. The frog, living both in water and on land, becomes a fitting symbol for creatures that exist in these transitional spaces.