swedishshieldmaiden

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Feb - Apr 2025, different tree bark textures & colours

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L'anse Aux Meadows. The only completely authenticated European site in North America, a Norse settlement dating back to around 1000 AD. Discovered on Newfoundland in 1961. Studies of ancient Icelandic sagas indicate that this was the land known as Vinland to the Vikings. Leif Erikson, the son of Erik the Red, is credited with first landing in Vinland.

officialabouthistory

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My journey as a Pagan has genuinely changed my life. My outlook on life and my perspective on a lot of things has changed and made me happier because my pagan views have taught me to appreciate the smaller things in life. I worship the natural world and the way the universe works. I worship the dirt that holds all of us up. I worship the math used to create a pattern in nature. I worship the way the light from the Moon hits a car's hood and its shine that hits my eye. I worship the path the planets take around the Sun. I worship the homes webbed by spiders. I see everything, all life, all natural phenomena, all science, as divine. My pagan faith teaches me to recognize the beauty in everything. Since I started taking a moment everyday to notice the littler things that we take for granted, its helped me become a happier and better person.

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Walk barefoot upon the earth. Feel the energy of the nature of which you are a part and an outgrowth. Connect without barriers to the dirt and dust and grass and forest pathways and realise the life of the ancestors whose existence returned to the ground upon which you tread.

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The Sjörå [Swedish mythology]

In Swedish folktales, the Rå are a group of spirits associated with a particular habitat, which they protect and rule. The Bergrå, for example, rules supreme over the mountains whereas the Skogsrå is a forest spirit and the Gruvrå inhabits mine tunnels. Though their appearances aren’t set in stone, generally they can appear as humans or human-like beings but with some supernatural characteristics, such as a back that is hollow like a through or the tail of a fox.

Among them is the Sjörå, the water spirit. They usually inhabit lakes or pools, but some particularly powerful Sjörå rule over entire lake systems that can cover huge areas of land. A Sjörå resembles an exceptionally beautiful human woman with long, usually greenish hair. These beings are not malicious, but they can be dangerous nonetheless. Those who disrespect or insult the spirit often experience some misfortune which leads to a death by drowning.  Then they become food for the fish that live in the Sjörå’s lake. But on the other hand, a fisher who pays tribute to the local lake spirit – by throwing a handful of coins in the water – might get rewarded with an exceptional catch. If a Sjörå likes the offering someone gives her, she may also warn them about bad weather and incoming storms. Sjörå are known to herd strange, cattle-like creatures that somewhat resemble cows. Very rarely, these creatures can be seen from a distance, but if someone approaches they will quickly retreat into the water where they transform into pikes. Therefore, someone who catches an abnormally large pike fish in a Swedish lake should return it to the water immediately, lest they attract the wrath of the Sjörå.

Another aquatic spirit from Swedish folklore is the Näcken, a malevolent creature that is related to the Dutch Nikker, the Danish Nøkken and the German Nixe. Näcken and Sjörå, however, despise each other and will never live in the same body of water.

Sources: Lecouteux, C., 2016, Encyclopedia of Norse and Germanic Folklore, Mythology, and Magic, 329 pp. Kvideland, R. and Sehmsdorf, H. K., 1988, Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend, Norwegian University Press, 429 pp. Egerkrans, J., 2013, Nordiska Väsen, B.Wahlströms, 126 pp. (image source: Johan Egerkrans)

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Kvarngubbe or Kaboutermannekin - the mill spirit in Scandinavian cultures

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Odin, Huginn, and Muninn by Anna Hodyrevskaya

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Sigyn, Norse Goddess of Victory, by Elora Sperber

Two weeks ago I went to the Comic Con in s Hertogenbosch and I got the chance to meet Elora Sperber, a very talented artist. Check her arts on Instagram, they are AMAZING.

@elorasperber (on Instagram & twitter)

I commissioned her for a portrait of Sigyn, and she sent me today this beautiful masterpiece!! :D

If you can, do commission her, she's lovely and very talented ;)

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~ Norse mythology - Odin

The All-father, God of war and death

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One of the things that's been annoying more and more is modern media depictions of vikings where they basically dress in bland colored furs and leather and they look and act like Klingons.

Wish more movies and TV shows would have the gumption to use accurate costumes.

Also throughout all periods of history people wore colors!!! Even the puritans wore colors and only wore black on Sunday.

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skadi, norse goddess of winter, the hunt, and mountains

(none of the above photos belong to me. all photo rights to their owners.)

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Göteborg,Sweden 

midsonmmer 2022

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Took this photo yesterday (20th of June), on the summer solstice. The light from the sun was so strong, and it looks nice on the forest floor. Anyways happy solstice to my fellow pagans and happy midsummer! I hope the gods bless all of you and the ones you love!

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Botanical Sun

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Glad midsommar!

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Edward Robert Hughes (1851 -1914) - Midsummer Eve, c. 1908

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Runic illustrations from the runic oracle card set by Dilyana Bozhinova.