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[broomsick]

Lovely project. Have fun my friend!

Holy spaces & shrines in the modern norse path

Before we dive into the oh-so-diverse topic of holy spaces, let me first specify a few practical tips!

I’m very much aware that the definition of the term “holy” is deeply subjective and varies depending on one’s opinions. I’ll elaborate on a few of my thoughts on the topic further!

In no way are you bound by any rule regarding this aspect of paganism.

I will base my post off of my research, granted, but also on my personal experiences and practices!

Now, what makes a holy space sacred? Not necessarily "holy" per say, but simply sacred.

The very first factor to consider is, what is sacredness? Lots and lots of pagans engage mostly in solitary practice, so much is true. Which is why lots of us find ourselves gravitating towards spaces others may not necessarily find any sense of "sacredness" in. The corner of your room where you tend to pray the most? Sacred. Or the spot in your garden where you perform your harvest ritual every year! It’s the connection we feel to the space that makes it sacred in the first place. But a space being holy depends on whether or not we choose to anoint it in such a way.

When something is sacred to me, I tend to feel a sort of spiritual pull. A swelling of the heart, if you will, like the feeling I get when faced with a breathtaking landscape. The feeling of spiritual connection to a particular spot is the first intuition one needs to tune into when choosing a holy space. After all, staying in tune with one's intuition might be one of the most important aspect of any spiritual practice.

Within nordic practice, a holy space is often called vé, a sacred enclosure. Vé's are attested in numerous toponyms as well as ancient texts, such as Beowulf, or the Skáldskaparmál. Their omnipresence in Scandinavian toponyms might, when considered through a pagan lense, signify something quite interesting: the holiness of a space depends on the space itself, its location, rather than what's inside it— or rather, how grand and ornate it is. When building a holy space for oneself, one does not need lavish decoration, or an elaborate shrine with the gold foil and the statues.

However, there are a few steps one can follow in order to anoint a space as holy, if one wants to reconstruct a few practices from pre-Christian Scandinavia. Although I'll specify that as always, no rule is set in stone when it comes to neopaganism. The choice to abide by them or not is entirely up to the practitioner. And in any case, even as I was gathering these few ideas, it was clear that, as always, pre-Christian practices centered around holy spaces vastly differed depending on the place and the time. Regardless, I think it's fun to do some research on the topic in order to reconstruct on our own terms a holy space in the nordic tradition.

The first step? Having a good knowledge of your area. Both before and during the Viking Age, holy places were more often than not located outside. It can be a great help to know where to find the greenery in one's area. Is there a beach near home that the public has access to? How about a large park where you can spend some time alone without being bothered? Even your backyard does the trick! Anywhere you can see the sky and breathe the open air is already perfect. Now, the Germanic tribes would generally worship near an object of particular importance, such as a grove, a body of water, a clearing in the forest, a hill... Although this doesn't seem to be very present in historical attestations, and considering I'm devoted to Yngvi-Freyr, I'm an especially big fan of worshipping in plains, or fields!

I think it's important for me to note that if you are lucky enough to live near a body of water, you can choose to engage in one of the most popular forms of offering in nordic historical practice: throwing offerings out to sink into the water! This practice was especially widespread, evidence of it having been found as far as Britain and Iceland. Evidently, if one chooses to engage in such a practice, it's important to respect the ecosystems and stick with offerings that won't damage them (acorns, stones, flowers and the like). As for an outdoors shrine located in a forest, or near woodland, it would have been customary during pre-Christian times to center a holy space around a tall tree, perhaps representing the World Tree Yggdrasil.

Considering lots of neo-pagans prefer to keep their practice discreet, it goes without saying that the holy space of your choosing does not need to be especially big, nor especially decorated. It can be as small as it is humble! One of the spaces where I most like to worship is the little corner of the yard, tucked under a cedar tree, where I rebuild my hörgr every year, as soon as the snow melts for good. Nothing too flamboyant!

Now, the second step to building a little outdoors shrine for yourself is to choose a representation of the deity to adore. It's said that the human-like appearance of this representation mattered little to the Germanic tribes, whose representations of the Gods could be rather simple, and not especially ornate. For this reason, it would be perfectly logical to even choose an object associated with the deity in question to serve as the main representation placed in the sanctuary. If we're talking about Freyja, a falcon statuette, or feather could do the trick! As for Fenrir, any wolf imagery could work as well! In the case of Thórr, one could replicate the case of Donar's Oak and choose to center their shrine around a particular tree (the rowan are the oak would make the best choices, if one is to pick a tree sacred to Thórr). These are just examples, and the possibilities in this regard are limitless. This "main" representation can be used as the center of your sacred space, and given offerings during rituals or celebrations. In my case, I like greet this representation both when "entering" the sacred space and when leaving it, as a sign of respect!

If one so desires, it's possible to set up some kind of "delimitation" in order to mark the entrance of the sacred space, or its outline. I like to place either ribbons on nearby branches, or litter stones here and there to lie in a loose circle (we wouldn't want to block the rays of the sun from reaching the earth and keep the greenery from growing). In order to signal the entrance of shrines, the Germanic tribes would generally use heaps of dirt or pillars of stone, among other things.

Another intresting element one might include in their sacred space is the presence of fire! Whether this be a bonfire, incense, a simple candle or even just a handful of ash, there's lots of ways to include the "element" of fire into a modern day shrine. It's a means of warming up the space, so to speak: tending a fire in the shrine is akin to having a hearth in the home!

Ideas for common, historically attested offerings: Ethically-sourced animal bones, gold or golden jewelry, tools, representation of the Gods, beads and beaded jewelry, alcohol, food and meat…

Now, let's pull away from the history lesson and let's dive into modern, neo-pagan practice! I'd wager some of you are wondering, how exactly can one keep a whole shrine, but make their practice as low-key as possible?! After all, I know firsthand that solo practice is especially common among neo-pagans. So my answer to this question is, who said anything about keeping? One piece of advice I've already given to a few fellow pagans in the past is to create a little portable shrine all to yourself! Let me explain myself: you arrive at your chosen location, you put down a basket full of decoration and you put up a temporary space in which to worship for an hour or two. You take out a deity representation, a few candles (if they're allowed on site!), a handful of offerings and a cloth on which to place them. And when you're done with the ritual, you pack up your things and make sure you leave the site as clean as when you first found it. In other words, what I’m suggesting is the possibility of gathering a few designated worship items in order to make oneself a portable, personal little shrine! It might seem like a silly idea at first, but I’ve discovered it’s not only a fun habit, but it’s also greatly helpful on a tight schedule to have a quick and easy way to engage in outdoors practice.

As always, I wrote this post aiming to help fellow pagans find ways to balance historical practice and modern, solo practice! I hope these few ideas did the trick, and wish you all a good and plentiful spring season!

First picture

[broomsick]

Hey. Would you put more information on norse gods? I want to find the one who fits me 😭 I'm sorry if that's too difficult

Hey, Nonny! I'm a bit confused by what you mean. Are you asking for me to make a post that explains who the Norse gods are? If so, I actually recommend you take a look at @broomsick 's account because they are MUCH more knowledgeable than I am. They have lots of posts that are already made. c:

Take care! 💚🖤

[broomsick]

Kevin Crossley-Holland’s are great as well! I highly recommend checking them out, they’re well written and a very fun read!

have you any adaptations of norse myth as complete as the eddas but in a more accessible format? or a modernized english translation? ive tried reading the eddas a few times but struggle with the archaic language so i prefer other texts, including those on your site, but they all focus (understandably) on the more well-known stories while only briefly mentioning others. they solve the antiquity of the eddas but in the process omit lots of gems! am i chasing unicorns here?

It's out-of-print, but I generally recommend d'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths for a first-time read.

It's a children's book, so the authors gloss over a few of the cruder things (such as Loki tying his balls to the beard of a goat to make Skadi laugh), but the way they've chosen to adapt these oral stories into a linear book-format is nothing short of brilliant. They've woven a shocking amount of extant and historically-attested tales within the book, and being that it's a children's book, everything is very easy to read and understand.

They objectively did a spectacular job with how they organized everything. I think it helped that Ingri d'Aulaire was Norwegian and grew up with the oral tradition. It's clear to me that she didn't need to rely on how these tales are formatted in the old Icelandic sagas; she knew how to restructure them while still conveying the same information.

One thing to note about this book, though, is that it's not designed to give you the same experience you'd have with the oral tradition, nor is it intended to fulfill the same anthropological function. Its purpose is just to share the cultural stories. But the fact it's extraordinarily successful at fulfilling this purpose is why it's my go-to recommended retelling at this point in time.

[broomsick]

⚡ Subtle Thorr Worship ⚒️

Fall asleep/meditate to the sound of rain/thunderstorms

Taking care of yourself physically

Exercising; making sure to stretch/move your body in general

Spending time with loved ones, especially any younger relatives you feel close with

Supporting human rights, abuse survivors, or homeless care organizations

Cook a warm meal for someone in need; give bottled/warm drinks to someone in need

Have a candle that reminds you of him (no altar needed)

Keep a picture of him in your wallet

Wear jewelry that reminds you of him

Donate food, clothes, umbrellas, raincoats, winter clothes, and general supplies to a homeless shelter

Have imagery of Mjölnir, lightning/storms, or the Helm of Awe symbol around

Have a stuffed animal goat

Participate in a protest for something you believe in

Engage in activities that you're passionate about

Eat a hardy meal, especially with meats or filling foods

Drink mead, coffee with honey, tea with honey, etc.; raise a glass to Thorr

Make a list of your personal strengths; acknowledge all that you've overcome

Ground yourself often, decompress after a tough day

Play in the rain (safely please)

Work hard on something, especially with your hands; crafting, wood-carving, building, etc.

Be kind to your fellow humans; practice compassion and generosity

Honor your ancestors; learn about your family history

Keep your space clean; make it your own

Help with household chores or errands

Support local farmers

Volunteer at a homeless shelter

Take responsibility for yourself and your actions

Be kind to retail/customer service workers; leave good tips when you can

Learn to trust yourself more; trust that you can protect yourself, listen to yourself, and have faith in yourself

Be patient with yourself, especially if you struggle physically

Hold the door for someone; offer help to anyone who seems to need it

Collect rain water (feel free to use it to water plants)

Start a garden; tend to plants, especially produce and herbs

Listen to music that empowers you; dance to it

Practice venting your anger through healthy avenues; be comfortable with any of your negative feelings/emotions

Take a walk outside with a cloudy sky or during a rainstorm (be safe with this please)

Pour a drink for someone else; pour a drink in honor of your ancestors

Stand up for yourself and others

Celebrate your accomplishments often; celebrate your loved ones, too

-

I'll add more to this later! For now, this is my list of discreet ways to worship Thorr. I hope this helped, and please take care, everyone! May your cups never be empty. ❤️

Link to Subtle Worship Master list

[broomsick]

Devotional to Thor

Hail the bringer of storms. Forged in the flames of hardships, your hands know strength: The strength to grasp gently and protect; the strength to nurture and tend.

Hail the wielder of Mjolnir. Powerful as your mighty hammer, your hands know might: The might to defend tirelessly; the might to persevere ‘til the end.

Hail the delight of Sif. Most powerfully of all, your hands know love: The love in cherishing your loved ones and self, the love that will ascend.

Hail the ally of the downtrodden. Fearsome Thor, champion of Midgard and slayer of the cruel. Beloved Thor: cousin, uncle, brother, son, husband, Lord, and friend.

Hail Thunaer! Hail Ása-Þórr! Hail Donar! Hail Thor!

[broomsick]

Freyja in the honeysuckle breeze,

Freyja in the sap of the trees,

Freyja in the way beauty turns my cheeks red,

Freyja in the fight to get out of bed,

Freyja in the gold of my great grandma’s rings,

Freyja in the sound that the mourning dove sings,

Freyja in the tears when I cry out so lonely,

Freyja in the fact that love heals me.

Freyja in the taste of a first kiss,

Freyja in the fight against injustice.

-Velvet Rose (written by me)

[broomsick]

Freyja literally translates to Lady but that will not stop me from calling her Lady Freyja bc it sounds more proper to me

[broomsick]

Holy spaces & shrines in the modern norse path

Before we dive into the oh-so-diverse topic of holy spaces, let me first specify a few practical tips!

I’m very much aware that the definition of the term “holy” is deeply subjective and varies depending on one’s opinions. I’ll elaborate on a few of my thoughts on the topic further!

In no way are you bound by any rule regarding this aspect of paganism.

I will base my post off of my research, granted, but also on my personal experiences and practices!

Now, what makes a holy space sacred? Not necessarily "holy" per say, but simply sacred.

The very first factor to consider is, what is sacredness? Lots and lots of pagans engage mostly in solitary practice, so much is true. Which is why lots of us find ourselves gravitating towards spaces others may not necessarily find any sense of "sacredness" in. The corner of your room where you tend to pray the most? Sacred. Or the spot in your garden where you perform your harvest ritual every year! It’s the connection we feel to the space that makes it sacred in the first place. But a space being holy depends on whether or not we choose to anoint it in such a way.

When something is sacred to me, I tend to feel a sort of spiritual pull. A swelling of the heart, if you will, like the feeling I get when faced with a breathtaking landscape. The feeling of spiritual connection to a particular spot is the first intuition one needs to tune into when choosing a holy space. After all, staying in tune with one's intuition might be one of the most important aspect of any spiritual practice.

Within nordic practice, a holy space is often called vé, a sacred enclosure. Vé's are attested in numerous toponyms as well as ancient texts, such as Beowulf, or the Skáldskaparmál. Their omnipresence in Scandinavian toponyms might, when considered through a pagan lense, signify something quite interesting: the holiness of a space depends on the space itself, its location, rather than what's inside it— or rather, how grand and ornate it is. When building a holy space for oneself, one does not need lavish decoration, or an elaborate shrine with the gold foil and the statues.

However, there are a few steps one can follow in order to anoint a space as holy, if one wants to reconstruct a few practices from pre-Christian Scandinavia. Although I'll specify that as always, no rule is set in stone when it comes to neopaganism. The choice to abide by them or not is entirely up to the practitioner. And in any case, even as I was gathering these few ideas, it was clear that, as always, pre-Christian practices centered around holy spaces vastly differed depending on the place and the time. Regardless, I think it's fun to do some research on the topic in order to reconstruct on our own terms a holy space in the nordic tradition.

The first step? Having a good knowledge of your area. Both before and during the Viking Age, holy places were more often than not located outside. It can be a great help to know where to find the greenery in one's area. Is there a beach near home that the public has access to? How about a large park where you can spend some time alone without being bothered? Even your backyard does the trick! Anywhere you can see the sky and breathe the open air is already perfect. Now, the Germanic tribes would generally worship near an object of particular importance, such as a grove, a body of water, a clearing in the forest, a hill... Although this doesn't seem to be very present in historical attestations, and considering I'm devoted to Yngvi-Freyr, I'm an especially big fan of worshipping in plains, or fields!

I think it's important for me to note that if you are lucky enough to live near a body of water, you can choose to engage in one of the most popular forms of offering in nordic historical practice: throwing offerings out to sink into the water! This practice was especially widespread, evidence of it having been found as far as Britain and Iceland. Evidently, if one chooses to engage in such a practice, it's important to respect the ecosystems and stick with offerings that won't damage them (acorns, stones, flowers and the like). As for an outdoors shrine located in a forest, or near woodland, it would have been customary during pre-Christian times to center a holy space around a tall tree, perhaps representing the World Tree Yggdrasil.

Considering lots of neo-pagans prefer to keep their practice discreet, it goes without saying that the holy space of your choosing does not need to be especially big, nor especially decorated. It can be as small as it is humble! One of the spaces where I most like to worship is the little corner of the yard, tucked under a cedar tree, where I rebuild my hörgr every year, as soon as the snow melts for good. Nothing too flamboyant!

Now, the second step to building a little outdoors shrine for yourself is to choose a representation of the deity to adore. It's said that the human-like appearance of this representation mattered little to the Germanic tribes, whose representations of the Gods could be rather simple, and not especially ornate. For this reason, it would be perfectly logical to even choose an object associated with the deity in question to serve as the main representation placed in the sanctuary. If we're talking about Freyja, a falcon statuette, or feather could do the trick! As for Fenrir, any wolf imagery could work as well! In the case of Thórr, one could replicate the case of Donar's Oak and choose to center their shrine around a particular tree (the rowan are the oak would make the best choices, if one is to pick a tree sacred to Thórr). These are just examples, and the possibilities in this regard are limitless. This "main" representation can be used as the center of your sacred space, and given offerings during rituals or celebrations. In my case, I like greet this representation both when "entering" the sacred space and when leaving it, as a sign of respect!

If one so desires, it's possible to set up some kind of "delimitation" in order to mark the entrance of the sacred space, or its outline. I like to place either ribbons on nearby branches, or litter stones here and there to lie in a loose circle (we wouldn't want to block the rays of the sun from reaching the earth and keep the greenery from growing). In order to signal the entrance of shrines, the Germanic tribes would generally use heaps of dirt or pillars of stone, among other things.

Another intresting element one might include in their sacred space is the presence of fire! Whether this be a bonfire, incense, a simple candle or even just a handful of ash, there's lots of ways to include the "element" of fire into a modern day shrine. It's a means of warming up the space, so to speak: tending a fire in the shrine is akin to having a hearth in the home!

Ideas for common, historically attested offerings: Ethically-sourced animal bones, gold or golden jewelry, tools, representation of the Gods, beads and beaded jewelry, alcohol, food and meat…

Now, let's pull away from the history lesson and let's dive into modern, neo-pagan practice! I'd wager some of you are wondering, how exactly can one keep a whole shrine, but make their practice as low-key as possible?! After all, I know firsthand that solo practice is especially common among neo-pagans. So my answer to this question is, who said anything about keeping? One piece of advice I've already given to a few fellow pagans in the past is to create a little portable shrine all to yourself! Let me explain myself: you arrive at your chosen location, you put down a basket full of decoration and you put up a temporary space in which to worship for an hour or two. You take out a deity representation, a few candles (if they're allowed on site!), a handful of offerings and a cloth on which to place them. And when you're done with the ritual, you pack up your things and make sure you leave the site as clean as when you first found it. In other words, what I’m suggesting is the possibility of gathering a few designated worship items in order to make oneself a portable, personal little shrine! It might seem like a silly idea at first, but I’ve discovered it’s not only a fun habit, but it’s also greatly helpful on a tight schedule to have a quick and easy way to engage in outdoors practice.

As always, I wrote this post aiming to help fellow pagans find ways to balance historical practice and modern, solo practice! I hope these few ideas did the trick, and wish you all a good and plentiful spring season!

First picture

[broomsick]

Smelling the most divine mix of flowers I could ever imagine when there’s no flowers in sight and thinking of Freyja!

something I don't often see pagans talking about is smelling random things that associate with ur deities even if that thing is nowhere near you. sometimes I'll smell the perfume I use for Aphrodite when I'm not wearing it, or the ocean, or the Pirates of the Caribbean ride water (iykyk), or the Soarin' smellitizers. I feel like Lady Aphrodite uses this olfactory skill the most but others stop by too in this way and it's always a nice lil reminder that my deities are always with me :)

[broomsick]

When you feel the most disconnected from the gods, what do you do to improve that feeling?

Hi there! Thank you so much for the ask. I think this is such an important question to ask ourselves, as pagans. After all, each and every one of us experience periods of both high and low spiritual connection. Feeling disconnected from the Gods is a perfectly healthy and normal part of the pagan religious experience.

I find that this often happens when elements of our lives make it harder for us to feel connected to anything, really. For example in my case, I might feel so stressed by something that my mind is always wandering back to the cause of stress rather instead of focusing on my hobbies, my well-being, etc... It's interesting to observe that when in a perfectly content state of mind, we might naturally, subconsciously devote a certain amount of time to our spirituality in order to feel connected. While we might not usually notice this habit, it's easy to realize that we do feel less connected when that amount is not met. And the various stress factors of life are often exactly what keeps us from devoting to spirituality whatever amount of time we naturally would be inclined to devote.

I believe that's because mental health and spirituality go hand in hand. If you're somebody who needs to nurture a spiritual aspect in their life, you'll notice that when mental health thrives, spirituality does. The opposite is also true. But there is nothing wrong with that! Much like spirituality, mental health experiences high's and low's as well. We're constantly working to improve both these aspects of our lives, and sometimes, it's easier said than done.

In my experience, disconnection from the Gods is a terrible, terrible feeling to have to go through. However, considering I've been practicing for about eight years now, I've had time to adjust and develop strategies to both cope with the feeling and find solutions to it. No matter what the situation is, I think that the most important is to start by understanding why it is we feel this way. I've come to understand that if I feel disconnected, it's because my mind is clouded by stress, depression, or other factors of discontent. I've always thought faith was one of the most important aspects of religious belief. It's like a flame that never goes out, no matter what happens. And so I tell myself that no matter what, the Gods exist as they've always had. They haven't disappeared and they certainly haven't abandoned me. That's the first step which keeps me going though these rough patches. And in the meantime, I try to stay connected as much as possible, even if the "feeling" of closeness with the Gods has faded for the time being. I keep lighting my devotional candles, I keep making offerings when I can, and above all, I keep praying. Even if I don't necessarily feel heard, I have faith that I am being heard, and that the Gods still listen, as they've always had.

[broomsick]

I loved this book! Highly recommend.

I don’t usually do book recommendations/reviews on here, but for this one, I had to. This was an incredible read, both because of the depth of description of this specific Norse Pagan practice, but also because of how well-researched it is and the author’s firm stances on inclusion and anti-fascism. There’s an entire chapter section devoted to identifying and condemning fascist movements trying to co-opt Norse Pagan practices, and some of the literature cited to explain fascism are texts that I have used in my grad program (I specialize in Holocaust and Genocide Studies), which was really awesome to see! Definitely highly recommend this book 👍🏼

Also, I’d love to hear your book recommendations! I keep a running wishlist for my books, so let me know what should be added to my list!!

[broomsick]

The kenning God of the World rings truer and truer in my heart with the years.

[broomsick]

Sweeter is He, sweeter than honeyed tea

And fresh, light as a May morning.

Hailed may He be, the Ruler of the elves,

And spoken His name above every sowed seed.

For He sows in my heart the seeds of peace

And so I give back to the earth in His name.

[broomsick]

So, I started writing "Vafþrúðnismál but it's haikus" yesterday morning.

I'm now 80 haikus deep, and only just covered about half of the original poem (based on the Henry Bellows translation).

At least it's not going to drive me insane like Hávamal but it's haikus did.

[broomsick]

I highly recommend the website Norse Mythology for Smart People! Its articles are not written from a religious standpoint but rather using a scholarly approach (sources are always cited). And it's such an unbiased, detailed, and useful ressource!

Does anyone know if there’s an equivalent to the Theoi website but for Norse mythology?

I wanted to do some very light research but I’m very very unfamiliar with Norse mythology and don’t really know where to start.

[broomsick]

Ancient amulets of slavs and vikings, XI - XIII century

[broomsick]

Eid Mubarak, I love you all, may we witness a free Palestine within our lifetimes inshallah