#germanic pagan

[fernthewhimsical]

So, a Dutch Yuletide tradition was that during the second night of Yule, New Years, the coming of the new year was celebrated with laughter, singing, drinking, and lots and lots of noise.

On the first morning of the new year, people would rush to their loved ones houses to bring them dried boar or pig, which would bring blessings and good cheer for the coming year. This might have been a holdover of the sacrifices done for Freyr.

I am a vegetarian, but was charmed by this idea! Nowadays the giving of meat has changed to giving a marzipan pig, or a speculaas (a type of spiced cookie) pig. I don't like marzipan, and although I looked, I couldn't find a pig shaped speculaas mold. But! Pinterest gave me a cute idea of making a pig out of pink cookies!

Roze koeken (pink cakes, or glacé) are also a Dutch staple by now, so I got some roze koeken, stacked them, and added candy eyes and sugar paste ears. I enjoyed them as our first snack of the new years with my wife, and they turned out so freaking cute!

[tall-waves-deep-sea]

Fern's introduction to: Nehalennia

Nehalennia is a Goddess associated with sea-trade, prosperity, the harvest, and the North Sea. She is also a psychopomp. She was revered in Zeeland in the Netherlands, near the Rhine in Germany, and in England. We are not sure if Nehalennia was Germanic, Celtic, or Roman. The name points towards Roman, but she was likely a local Goddess that was given a Romanized name.

We know Nehalennia due to altar stones that have been found near Colijnsplaat, Zeeland. Symbols often found on the stones are dogs (symbols of the underworld), baskets of apples, pears, and bread (harvest and prosperity), a ship's wheel or ship's bow, a shell shaped ceiling, and a distinct short cape that Nehalennia wears on all her stones. She is also often depicted in the same style as the Germanic Matronae, or Mothers, and in some stones from Trier in the same triad as the Matronae. For this reason she is also thought of as a Mothergoddess.

The stones were dedicated by seafaring tradespeople as payment for a safe passage, often to England. They sold fish sauce, salt, and wine. The first set of stones were discovered in 1645 when a hug storm eroded part of the coast. There were no museums or historical societies back then, so the stones were displayed in a church. Tucked into the back, they were underneath a leaky roof and covered in moss. A few years later, the church was struck by lightning and burned down, and the stones were lost. Luckily sketches and drawings of the stones were still preserved.

Then, on the 14th of March in 1970 a fisherman found a strange stone in his fishing nets. Instead of throwing it back, he called the historical society in Leyden, and started fishing for more stones. Together over the course of a few months they found over 150 votive stones and fragments, all dedicated to Nehalennia. This is when she emerged again from both the see and from obscurity, and why I celebrate Nehalennia Resurfacing on this date.

Fragments found of the temple itself indicate that there were probably fresh water wells, where the boats could get the drinking water they needed for their journey over the North Sea. A replica of the temple (smaller and without wells) is open to the public on Colijnsplaat.

As stated Nehalennia is a Goddess of trade over sea, of the harvest and prosperity, and she is a psychopomp, bringing the souls of the departed to the Otherworld.

Because of her realm of sea travel I associate with her: lighthouses, storms, the stars (navigation), shells, grey pearls and moonstone, sailing and boating, protection, selkies, merfolk, knotmagic, sea magic.

Because of her realm of harvest I associate with her: apples, baskets and cornucopias, wheat and grain, bread, nature, fields, growth, prosperity both physical and spiritual, bonfires, harvest festivals, fertility.

Because of her role as a psychopomp I associate with her: dogs, the cycle of death and life (see also, harvest), a safe voyage to a land over the sea (for example, Avalon), traveling through the realms, protection.

I see Nehalennia as the Wildmother, (a name I had for her before Critical Role). She is the Goddess of land and sea, of abundance and life. She is a warm and loving parent that protects, but does let you figure things out for yourself. She is a deep tie to my land and the people who have lived here before. Hail the Lady of the North Sea, Nehalennia Hail!

My devotional blogs: Nehalennia, Baduhenna, Cernunnos, Elen of the Ways, the rest of my personal pantheon. Find me on my main, my witchblog, my website, and my pinterest.

[rune-folk]

Among the many, many tales about Baba Yaga, there is one that just struck me insanely familiar.

In short, a hardworking, good hearted girl lives with her widowed father, who remarries an evil woman with a daughter. The stepmother treats the girl very badly, and one day sends her into the forests to Baba Yaga. The girl goes there, and Baba Yaga gives her tasks, which the girl does, hard working. Baba Yaga is so impressed, that instead of eating the girl, she sends her back home, with gold etc like a princess. The stepmother’s dog announces that a noble woman is approaching, and the stepmother is angry that the girl was sent back with gold and treated so well. She wants that for her own daughter. But her daughter is lazy and bad, so when she is sent to Baba Yaga, she does not want to work properly. So Baba Yaga eats her, leaving only the bones. The dog announces that the bones are returned.

So, I have read the Grimm’s Fairy tales, obviously as someone who has grown up in the Alpine regions of Europe, and this is almost exactly the story of Frau Holle. Frau Holle is less brutal, the evil stepsister is not getting eaten but pitch is poured over her (a classical image for a villain in german folklore)

But it is very similar, even down to the dog who announces the girls returning. Frau Holle is also described as having incredibly large teeth, which is a common description of Baba Yaga too.

As I have posted about previously, I found out that Frau Holle, Frau Perchta and Frigg are essentially the same entity, only the German, Austrian and Norse version respectively. Seeing this connection of Frau Holle and Baba Yaga through basically the same myth gets me thinking.

Baba Yaga is often the villain, and often portrait as evil, though in general she is very morally ambiguous. Perchta is also more morally ambiguous, in the way that if someone is not behaving well and not doing their work, she will cut them open, remove their guts and stuff them with straw and stones (gotta love austrian folklore <3).

I find this incredibly fascinating! I have to do more research, and see if others have made this connection before. Baba Yaga has always been difficult to place in context to other female pagan gods in europe, but with this one story, the similarity is just so insanely striking to me! Baba Yaga is absolutely unique of course, and very fascinating, and I am not saying that she is the slavic version of Holle/Perchta/Frigg, especially as mostly she has very different attributes, but still. Interesting

[im-just-a-mushroom]

Vidar, God of vengeance, rip apart the jaws from the heads of the depraved Zionist soldiers, as you will do with Fenris at Ragnarok. Split their vile heads in two for the crimes they have committed. May they experience brutal defeat at the hands of the occupied. Smite the Israeli war criminals and help the resistance oust them from their land.

🇵🇸

[hildshall]

Told "NO".

I don't usually ask for stuff from the Gods. Most of the time, my offerings are just recognition of all they do for us, and gratitude for it.

But I have had a bad, bad run of weeks, y'all. One of the hardest I've ever experienced, with major personal losses, grief, and stress.

So I made an offering and asked for a PAUSE. Just... please, give me a break. I need a BREAK!

And I went to light some alcohol like I often do, to transition that request to the other world.

It wouldn't light.

Huh, never had that happen before. Tried again. No fire.

I tried three times. Neg-a-tor-reeee.

I do believe I was just told NO. That my request isn't going to be granted and that I better just keep rolling with the punches.

Ok, then.

[threebirdsonawire]

Phandom/Heathen crossover?

[myteaplace]

Dance of the Wild Men (Wilde-Mändle-Tanz), folk ritual in southern Bavaria involving thirteen men in costumes made from moss found only in the Allgäu Alps

[pagansphinx]

Emil Riester (German, ) • Moth brooch • Gilded silver, abalone, chalcedony, green paste, garnet, pearls • German • 1907

[notthesomefather]

Hallowing/banishing prayer

Perform this cleansing rite with a candle, preferably beeswax or a basic unscented white candle. Light the candle and say:

Sacred flame, in Freyja’s name, cleanse and bless this space. Banish from it all baleful wights and wills, and make it whole and holy. In Freyja’s name, oh sacred flame, so let it be. Hail Vanadis!

Pass the candle in front of and around your body. Bring the light to all corners and chase out the shadows. Set the candle back on the altar or shrine after making one clockwise round about the room.

[[written by Laine Mardollsdottir]]

[fernthewhimsical]

Arcanua, Dutch deity of magic and the dawn?

What we know.

The bronze and enamel rooster is the biggest source of information we have on this Goddess. In the area surrounding the temple, more roosters like this one have been found, but this is the only one with and inscription. It reads: DEAE ARCANVE VLPIVS/ VERINVS VETERANVS LEG VI V•S•M•L, meaning ‘To the Goddess Arcanua Ulpius Verinus, veteran of the sixth legion, has redeemed his vow, willingly and with reason. The mention of the legion and the name Ulpius Verinus makes it very likely that this little rooster is older than originally thought, probably dating from somewhere between 123- and 142 A.D. Which makes it the oldest mention of the term DAEA we have to date.

The statue is made of bronze, with enamel eyes, beak and wings. The back of the rooster is hollow, which leads historians to believe that it was used to burn candles or perhaps oil in it’s cavity. This statue differs from others found in the Netherlands, which are usually sandstone altarstones depicting humanoid figures, sometimes accompanied by animals. This could mean that the rooster was an important attribute to the Goddess, or it could mean that the statue itself is not from the Netherlands, but could be from Brittania, where more of these roosters were found.

The leaf gives us little more information about who this Goddess was. It reads: D/ ARKANV/ AE/ M•I•AM/ L•M, which we can compement to D(AEA) ARKANVAE M(ARCUS) I(ULIUS) AM(—) L(IBENS) M(ERITO), which means ‘to the Goddess Arcanua Marcus Iulius Am— has devoted this, willingly and with reason’. Nothing is known for sure about Marcus, or why he would devote anything to this Goddess.

What I think.

We don’t know anything else about this Goddess, what she stood for, what her attributes are, it’s all guesswork. So this is what I think this Goddess was. The rooster is a symbol of the dawn, of the rising sun. Combining this with the idea that the rooster was used to burn candles or oil, it could mean that Arcanua was a Goddess of light. A Goddess of the morning and the rising sun, the light after the darkness.

The meaning of her name, ‘the mysterious one’, could point to Her being a Goddess of the Underworld, many Goddesses of mystery are also Goddesses connected to the Underworld. The keepers of the hidden, that which is behind the veil. Many of these Goddesses, like Hecate, are also seen as Goddesses of magic. Arcanua has the word ‘arcane’ almost screaming at you when you see it. Furthermore, roosters are seen by the Celts and Germanics as messengers to the Underworld. A rooster would cry out if there was danger to the soul of a fallen. Combine that with the fact that the rooster was devoted by a veteran, and Arcanua might have been a Goddess who brought the souls of slain warriors to the Underworld.

Correspondences:

Rituals: endings and new beginnings, greeting the sun, unveiling mysteries Colours: golds and bronzes, set off with bright yellow, red or blue Symbols: roosters, candles, a golden veil, (autumn) leaves, the sun Stones: amber, citrine, goldstone Metals: gold, bronze

Sources:

Book – Antwoord op de vraag, door het Zeeuwse Genootschap de Wetenschappen – Jona Willem te Water Book – Over de beoefening der Nederlandse mythologie, naar aanleiding der jongste tot dat onderwerp betrekkelijke geschriften – Johan van der Wal Book – Verhandelingen over het Westland – Derk Buddingh Book – Nederlandsche volksoverleveringen en Godenleer – L. Ph. C. van den Bergh Article (PDF) – Born-Burchten – W.J.H. Willems Website – rgsm.de (in Dutch) Website – the Limburs Museum (in Dutch)

[Disclaimer, this is an older post, originally on my website that I decided to share here.]

[underworldhadess]

Isle of the Dead, 1883 - oil on panel

— Arnold Böcklin (Germany, 1827–1901)

[rune-folk]

Im obsessed with the Frigg - Frau Holle/Holda - Frau Perchta - Baba Yaga connection

I cant get it out of my head. The more I read about them, the more connections I find. Some are more benevolent, some are seen as evil, but they share so many traits and aspects and stories. So much overlap.

[im-just-a-mushroom]

With my mind on the crisis, I pray to my deities, Tyr to deliver swift justice to foul bastards who kill with joy and depravity. I pray to Woden to instill rage and ferocity amongst the Palestinian resistance. I pray to Thor to protect those who need to be protected from the Zionist entity. And I pray to the Vanir twins, Freyr and Freyja, to bring a lasting peace to the Palestinian people and comfortable homes for them to reside in.

[blackwattlenemeton]

Water is really underrated as an offering, especially for ancestors. Think about how hard it was to get clean water, historically. Water clean enough to drink! The fact that it's relatively easy for modern people to get our hands on doesn't take away its value for our ancestors.

[redpanther23]

If Jesus fought Superman, who do you think would win?

[grymrot]

Animal materials and their correspondences

Antlers :

Strength, endurance, masculine energy, (it can symbolise the horned god), protection, strong connection nature and the earth element, deflecting hexes/baneful energy, hope

Horns :

Wealth, the home, determination, aggressive protection, connection to that which is man made, cursing/hexing

Wings :

Adventure, deviating from the norm, sending/receiving messages, travel, starting a new adventure/path, hope, luck, wishes, comfort, (the type of bird would also affect the correspondences)

Chicken feet :

Wisdom, work, loyalty, connection to one’s property/land, safe keeping of the home, the fire element, (other bird feet can be used as well but may have slightly different correspondences)

Fur/feathers :

Creativity, warmth, connection to the air element, shielding from negative energy, protection, invisibility/hiding, warding (again, the type of animal affects the correspondences)