thehungrypancakeknight

[thehungrypancakeknight]

I know this blog is still pretty new and all, but I have decided to make a whole new account dedicated to just things like paganism and witchcraft.

The new blog is grimoire-whispers.

[thehungrypancakeknight]

🌸 Subtle Sigyn Worship 🐺

Drink water; make sure you're hydrated

Take care of yourself physically and emotionally

Give yourself the same love that you show to others

Keep your space clean; take care of your home

Make your space your own; make your space somewhere you feel comfortable in

Do household chores

Have a wolf stuffed animal

Have imagery of wolves, overflowing cups, or breaking chains around

Wear jewelry that reminds you of her

Keep a picture of her in your wallet

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

Take a self-care bath

Drink a calming tea or warm drink; add honey if you can

Eat a comfort meal, especially one from childhood

Support children-focused organizations; Make-A-Wish foundation and Save The Children are great charity organizations

Donate toys, kids' clothes, and the like

Donate to/support local food banks

Volunteer at a homeless or animal shelter

Ground yourself within nature; meditate in nature

Be kind to children; play with them if offered

Prioritize your well-being

Engage frequently with self-care and self-love

Keep a self-care/self-love journal

Give a kind gesture to a loved one; cook them a meal, give them a gift, take them out somewhere nice, etc.

At the end of the day, pour one cup of water into an empty bowl or cup

Cook a warm meal for someone in need

Bake pastries for yourself or your loved ones

Engage with childhood media that you loved

Revisit old childhood toys; maybe purchase a toy you always wanted as a kid

Practice forgiveness, especially towards yourself

Spend time with loved ones, especially any kids in your life

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I may add more later on! For now, this is my list of discreet ways to worship Sigyn. I hope you enjoyed this, and take care! 🩷

Link to my Subtle Worship Master list

[thehungrypancakeknight]

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 ;)

[thehungrypancakeknight]

Hail to Víðarr the Silent One, far-reigning guardian of the forest.

[thehungrypancakeknight]

It’s ok if you find Loki through marvel.

That does not make you less Lokean or pagan or witchy.

It just means that Loki found you in media; They adapted to find you when you needed Him most.

Remember: Loki is a shapeshifter.

[thehungrypancakeknight]

Hello! You said in a recent post that "Antisemitism often masquerades as feminism." I've seen a lot of veiled antisemitism before, but I haven't heard that one. I'm not sure if it's a case of never having encountered it, or if it's simply that I didn't recognize it. Do you have examples?

Sure do!

When people blame Judaism for western patriarchy, acting as if they invented patriarchy and that it was introduced into Europe by way of early Christians. (In reality, patriarchy predates Judaism, and western patriarchy mostly comes from Greek and Roman culture.)

When people claim Lilith was a Sumerian goddess and that Jews demonized her to reduce women's status. (Lilith was never a goddess and ancient Sumerian culture was patriarchal).

When people broadly assume that all Abrahamic religions are inherently misogynist (this is usually a hasty generalization based on experiences with conservative Christianity and very limited awareness of Islam) and decide they're all part of a conspiracy to oppress women.

[thehungrypancakeknight]

Hellenic Polytheism: Hero Worship

Ήρως-Íros-Hero

I’ve casually included hero worship in my own practice, but I’ve never really dug down into it. I knew enough to have a passing understanding and to know what hero worship looked like on the surface, but I’ve been working towards a deeper understanding of it lately. My hero worship until recently has been limited mostly to honoring a hero in relation to a Theos during festival days.

Hero worship was a prominent part of worship in ancient Greece though. Large cities could be home to several hero cults. Cults were built around not only famous figures who were possibly only legends, but around city founders, oracles, athletes, war heroes, and those who were regarded as having divine parentage. Heroes ranged from local entities, honored only in Their own town, to the great legends of epics who were known throughout Greece.

What defined a hero could be difficult to pin down, but it did center around a deceased person who was no longer completely mortal, and was not a Theos. At times the line between deity and hero was hard to define though, especially when looking at heroes who were credited as being of immortal decent.

Redfield notes that a hero was not a figure for emulation, but rather one who could not be ignored.

Types of Hero Worship

James Whitley recognizes and categorized five types of hero worship.

Oikist cults- dedicated to the worship of founders of varies tribes and cities

Cults to named heroes- these were wider spread and worshiped well known and named heroes. Think of Odysseus.

Local hero cults- these were tied to local heroes. These figures weren’t usually wide spread, and didn’t feature in epics. They were relevant only to local worshipers.

Cults at bronze age tombs- preexisting tombs would sometimes have hero worship develop around them as people created stories about who had been buried there

Oracular hero cults- cults of worshiped also developed around oracles and other hero figures who were thought to give prophecy

Hero worship, though similar in practice to ancestor veneration, differed in several ways. First, ancestor veneration was a private affair, tied to families; while hero worship involved an entire polis. Heroes would be worshiped by the city and surrounding areas, as opposed to being worshiped just by the family of the deceased. Second, hero worship didn’t necessarily involve lineage. There might not have been anyone who claimed to be descended from a hero, but that hero would still be worshiped. Thirdly, since ancestor worship was tied to the family, it was often local; hero worship could be local and tied to a gravesite, but could also extend beyond the area where they hero was said to have lived and died.

Most heroes were not thought of as having become deities. They were treated as honored dead, and thought to dwell beneath the earth in Haides’ domain. As such, most of Their worship was khthonic in nature. The term applied when sacrificing to heroes is en-agizô literally meaning ‘I take part in the pollution. Some differences applied to the worship of heroes as opposed to other venerated dead, which I’ll discuss further down. The worship of heroes, and the cultic practices applied to that worship however, appear to have grown out of ancestor veneration, and thus closely resemble the same rites used for the beloved dead and ancestors.

They were also often regarded as local fertility entities. Fertility in the sense of agricultural fertility, as well as for livestock and communities. A good example of this is the cultic worship of Adonis, where women would plant roof top gardens in His honor and it was thought that if the gardens grew it was His blessing of fertility being given.

Hero worship often centered around a tomb or other relic. Several places may have claimed to be the true burial grounds of well known and famous heroes. Also, different cities may have had their own way of tying their worship to a more famous hero. For example, Sparta boasts the tomb of Leonidas. Pausanias also writes of a tree-grove in Sparta which holds a hero-shrine to Cynisca, who was a daughter of a Spartan king. And Sparta also held a sanctuary to Helen, even though Therapne lays claim to Her tomb, and Rhodes claims sanctuary to Helen at a tree where legend says She was hanged.

How to Worship Heroes

As with all Hellenic worship, my first suggestion is always to learn about the entity you want to honor. Read their stories, learn about their worship throughout history, and find things which may be especially relevant to them.

When approaching the worship of most heroes, I’d suggest a khthonic approach. Bothros altars, unmixed libation, offerings given in full, and night time ritual are all elements of khthonic worship.

Eschara altars, low-lying altars, may also be used to burn offerings for heroes. Pausanias seems to imply that eschara style altars were more commonly used for offerings given to heroes than bothros were. The difference being that a bothros is dug into the earth; and an eschara is still an elevated surface like that of an ouranic altar, though it is much lower to the earth.

Khthonic offerings, and thus offerings given to heroes, were historically given in full to the entity being honored. This means food would be fully burned, and libations would be poured out completely. Some heroes who had come to be regarded as Theoi, like Heracles, received offerings in an ouranic fashion, but it was less common.

Types of Libations Given:

water

wine

oil

milk

honey

blood when seeking prophecy

Other Types of Offerings:

Flowers

Fruit

Meat

Votive Offerings

Devotional Activities:

Another possibility for worship is devotional activities. Athletic competitions and processions seemed to be common activities dedicated to heroes in ancient Greece, regardless of specifics.

Beyond that though, you can look at what things may be especially relevant to a hero, and find ways to apply those to your worship. What is the hero in question known for? What feats did They accomplish? What skills did They possess, that can be taken up by modern worshipers as a form of devotion?

Bringing Hero Worship Into the Modern Era

All of this presents an interesting place for modern worshipers. Most of of don’t have access to the places where the heroes of old were worshiped, so we don’t have access to Their tombs and sacred places. Most of us also don’t have any established local heroes.

We can certainly continue to venerate the well known heroes of epics and myth, even without access to Their cultus sites. But it poses the question of whether the hero is with us or not, since The tended to be regarded as localized entities. It puts us in a place where we have the opportunity to examine why a hero might be interested in our area, or if it is our worship which draws Them.

Many aspects of how we worship heroes now have moved closer to the ways in which we worship the Theoi. Idols and symbols of the heroes are used to bring Them into our homes. The nature of Their cult worship has shifted to make Them more accessible to the modern worshiper. Their worship has spread far from the local areas which They may hold sacred.

It also begs the question of how we should go about establishing local heroes for our own areas. One option, when available, is to draw on local heroes who are almost more legend than human and explore cultus options with them. Another is to look at city founders and other prevalent figures in our areas.

There is caution to be had though in building new hero worship. For one, we know that the people we are looking at venerating were real people, and most likely not worshipers of the Theoi. You could argue that we have an obligation to take into account how they would feel about being worshiped. Are they someone who would have aspired to hero status? If they would not be pleased by being worshiped, then is it truly alright for us to worship them? Currie quotes Millar that “heroization has been said to involve ‘a de-personalization of the deceased’, whereby ‘the heroized dead were released from the attachments of the actual life’.” He also writes how the approach of the hero cult separated the person from their posthumous alter-ego of hero, but that these ideas marginalize the hero cult and does a disservice by separating the person from the hero rather than embracing their transition.

Historically, heroization was sanctioned by either an oracle or by an assembly. With no renowned oracles in our time, and no assemblies, I would argue then that the approach should be a combined one of divination and discussion with the communities we do have available to us.

Sources and further reading:

http://www.uh.edu/~cldue/3307/herocults.html

G. Ekroth, The Sacrificial Rituals of Greek Hero-Cults

Carla Maria Antonaccio, An Archaeology of Ancestors: Tomb Cult and Hero Cult in Early Greece

Pausanias, Description of Greece

B. Currie, Pindar and the Cult of Heroes

[thehungrypancakeknight]

x

the wild god. the death god that brings life, that brings fire, instead of shadows and darkness and eternity. the god of blood, not just spilled, but blood pumping in your veins. the god that forces you to do the impossible and laugh when you doubt. the god that wears bronze like a skin and knows his blades better than his lovers. the god to whom the greatest sin is serenity, the most terrible insult being held back. the god who fights to feel alive, who knows that to fight is to be alive, the most alive, so alive it radiates like the sun and burns all who challenge it. the god on fire. the god who leaves fire in his wake, fire and ash and destruction. the god that preaches that when the decision is your destruction or theirs, burn their temples to the ground and dance on the ruins. the god who loves for his children, who kills for them, who teaches them to not need his love to survive even as he gives it wholeheartedly. the god who demands everything you are as his payment, who gives everything he is in reward. the god who sneers at those who hate him, who has no use for those who fear him, who obliterates those who challenge him. the god of surviving purely to spite those who say you can’t. the god of battle cries and screams of horror, of courage and fear and the line between them.

the god of war.

[thehungrypancakeknight]

Just your casual reminder that you are welcome to worship figures of Greek mythology, especially heroes. Some heroes in Greek mythology even had cults of their own, such as Achilles, Heracles, and Perseus. Hero worship is historically proven!

So if there is a mythological figure that really spoke to you, look into them some more, and reach out. It could be a really wonderful time. c:

[thehungrypancakeknight]

ideas for your grimoire - norse witches and pagans

History

Historic cultural exchange with the Sami and modern cultural appropriation

Principles and ethics

Customs and traditions

Blots and holidays

Branches of heathenry

The Nine Worlds and Yggdrasil

Afterlives and reincarnation

Wyrd and öorlog

Aspects of the self (hamr, hugr, munr, hamingja, fylgja)

Verdir spirit

Ancestors and diser spirits

Landvetter spirits

The Aesir deities

The Vanir deities

The jotun

Different magic practitioners

Tools for magic

Sejd, spa, and galdr

Spirit flight

Berserkers

Rune poems

Elder futhark runes

Younger futhark runes

Bindrunes and Icelandic staves

Old Norse plant correspondences

Scandinavian folk magic

Favorite poems from the Poetic Edda

[thehungrypancakeknight]

Gordon Frederick Browne

[thehungrypancakeknight]

🎨✨️Art Magic✨️🎨

Uses, Forms of it, and Why I Think Everyone Should Try it at Least Once.

Foreword

Right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I had been trying and failing to rekindle my flame for magic work. No matter what I tried to do I just couldn't get back into my studies and I was reaching a point where I was convinced I lost my spark and was doomed to live an empty life. Then it all changed when a YouTube Channel challenged how I thought about everything: Molly Roberts. That's when I was opened to the possibility of art magic, and I'll now share my love of it with anyone willing to read on.

What Is Art Magic?

A means to utilize art for spellwork, raising magical energy, or for exploring your magical subconscious. It encapsulates multiple different types of art and is generally not confined by conventional expectation (unless that's what you prefer).

You can utilize art magic by. . .

Using traditional art methods

Digital art methods

Collages

Music composition

Jewelry making

Embroidery

And much more!

How do I know if Art Magic is Suitable for Me?

There isn't a specific thing that'll indicate this form of magic is perfect for you, however I have some anecdotes from my personal experience as both a witch, and a regular artist that form a sort of idea on what could denote this being perfect for you!

First off, craving freedom from personal restraints was a big factor that pushed me towards blending my craft with my passion for art. If you want to run from the monotony of life, if you feel trapped by the social construction of boxes, or if you simply want to challenge your own mental restraints... then this idea might resonate with you.

Challenging yourself with a new form of magic, similarly, can also be a good enough reason to try. I'm the type of person who loves to constantly learn new things and I unfortunately get bored really quickly if I can't get new source materials. Using Art Magic has proven a fun challenge for me that allows me to explore a lot more topics you can't just open a book to find.

For those that may not be able to safely perform a lot of traditional style spells, this form of magic provides a discreet way to practice witchcraft. Most people wouldn't really question someone if they picked up the hobby of making art, and even if they did there's plenty of reasonable excuses out there.

How you prefer your spells to manifest themselves can also affect if this journey is a good idea or not. I find that Art Magic is really good when it comes to subtle spellwork that is more longform (though depending on how you construct them you can definitely create a spell that's the opposite).

Catalog aspects of your magical journey. Imagine a grimoire filled with pages of drawings, each one telling a story of something you experienced or learned as a witch. This especially may be more beneficial for visual learners.

You could use it as a means of meditation, sometimes art can be calming and it can open the door to your mind (so-to-speak). Especially if you're like me and struggle with staying completely still while trying to clear your mind, this may be helpful for you.

Trying to better understand archetypes, deities, types of entities, or even your own self can also be a big part of this. I've used art magic as a way to embody the "energy" of something before so I could better understand it. Especially when you're trying to seek knowledge that isn't often written on, it can provide a great way to explore more.

How Can I perform an Art Spell?

I have a step-by-step process that can give you some insight on how you may approach it:

1) Think of the intention you want. I like to close my eyes and meditate on it for about a minute then I write down if my mind wandered to any specific imagery or ideas.

2) Think of visual symbolism and colors that can help you capture the mood you want. Perhaps you need a warm color palette to invoke positive feelings, or maybe there are specific objects or animals you can include on the composition that represent something.

3) If you feel it fits your composition, you can include sigils, symbols of significance, and include shapes that have certain associations. It doesn't even have to be obvious either. You can use a circular composition to convey something endless for example, or a triangular composition to show priority over something.

4) In general follow what your heart tells you. This is a little cliche, but ultimately follow what seems best to you. Art isn't about boxing yourself in and my guidelines are just general ideas for anyone who's lost!

Why do I think that everyone should try it at least once?

From my experiences as a witch, I find that a lot of paths to be followed are quite rigid. By no means am I implying that a rigid structure is bad-- it creates a foundation from which we can work upon. I myself am exploring rigid, 'traditional' (for lack of a better term) ways of working magic. Art magic pushes you out of your comfort zone in a safe way. It makes you consider how you associate things. It makes you create new sigils and makes you research new symbols you previously wouldn't have used.

So next time you're lost on a spell, or you've lost your way in your Craft and you don't know what to do, think about maybe giving Art Magic a try. I hope my guide was a helpful starting point for anyone interested in the topic!

[thehungrypancakeknight]

[thehungrypancakeknight]

Top Recommendations for Norse Pagans that aren’t Problematic.

There is a lot of books by people who are racist and part of far right side of Heathenry and I’m going to try my best and list the books I have that helped me on my path that isn’t problematic and have questionable intentions. Books and YouTube channels.

Anglo Saxon Socerery and Magic by Alaric Albertson. He is very knowledgeable in his work and path especially on runes which includes the rune poem to make your own interpretation and witchcraft side of things. He even talks about the Elves which I appreciate because not a lot of Norse authors talk about them. It’s more Germanic than Norse but I can’t see any problem adopting certain aspects since they are very similar. I will say he does take himself a bit serious at times but his information is so good and worthwhile. I have not read his first book on Travels through middle earth but it focus on more the pagan side.

Poetic Edda and Prose Edda: it’s what every Norse pagan needs. It’s the foundation of Norse paganism not bibles but myths and tales that can help along our journey. There is tons of translations, but my favorites are Dr. Jackson Crawford Poetic Edda and Anthony Fawkes Prose Edda. But look into other sagas as well like Volsung which Dr Jackson Crawford also wrote about.

Beowulf. More of a Germanic tale but again includes it has roots of Germanic sorcery, traditions, religion like the concept of Wyrd (Fate), the runes, and values within his society like loyalty and mythical creatures. Again there is many translations even Jrr Tolkien did a incompleted version of Beowulf but I think Tom Shippey finished that version I could be wrong. Nonetheless explore more than one, the oneI have is by Seamus Heaney.

Grimm Fairy Tales this mostly German Folklore but it’s still quite important to learn about in German folk magic, creatures and entities in German folklore tends to be very real to the practitioner in their spellwork.

The Way of Fire and Ice by Ryan Smith a very progressive outlook in Norse paganism, he talks about creating communities in Norse paganism and calling out and denouncing Nazis in the community how Norse Paganism is inclusive and how to be open to all types of people. But he has a beginner approach to the deities, beliefs, values within Norse paganism.

Look into a lot of academic sources that’s where you will find a lot of information on Norse paganism and religions.

Tacitus Germania - A Roman historian talking about the Germanic tribes their culture and customs.

Saxo Grammaticus history of the Danes

The Viking Way by Neil Price it goes good in depths about magic in Scandinavia like Seidh

Dictionary of Norse Mythology a quick guide to northern myths, if you are trying to find a specific god and you don’t have time to look up in a book it’s in there with great information to each one.

Children of Ask and Elm: History of Vikings by Neil Price on Scandinavian culture during the Viking age

Some YouTube Channels

The Norse Witch: Bente lives in Germany and their channel encompasses all of Norse paganism more around magic. They do interviews with other Norse witches of folk magic like Icelandic and Danish. Even gives good book recommendations and advice on general spellwork as well!

Freyja Norling: Freyja actually lives in Norway and is a Volva, she focus on so many things within Norse paganism like Trolls, the runes, the gods, knot magic, etc. I love her channel because she actually lives in Norway and very experienced in her work.

Dr Jackson Crawford he is an author but he also has a YouTube channel. He is a professor in Georgia on Norse culture, mythology, and language. He did a series of videos on the runes which are more historically accurate. Discusses the myths and the language and what do they mean. Jackson Crawford isn’t a Norse pagan nor he doesn’t care if you are one but just letting you know he isn’t coming from a pagan perspective.

The Welsh Viking also like Jackson Crawford but still has really great knowledge on Viking culture

Arith Häger he is a channel that comes from a pagan and historical perspective especially on magical side of Norse paganism like Grandir and Seidh.

Please feel free to add on any recommendations that are helpful and useful to the Norse pagan Community!

[thehungrypancakeknight]

✧ Greek mythology ✧  Ares is the Greek god of war. He represents the violent aspect of war, which is in contrast to Athena who represents the military strategy. 

Card for my future Oracle. All rights reserved.

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[thehungrypancakeknight]

Frigg and Odin from Illustration for Children's Stories from the Northern Legends by M. Dorothy Belgrave and Hilda Hart.

[thehungrypancakeknight]

I’ve been feeling drawn to Norse paganism again but I don’t wanna get involved with any neo nazis so does anyone possibly have any blog recs?