Spirit Writer

Thor Credit:  Lorenz Frølich, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Hail Thor! Friend of the people, protector of Asgard. You wield Mjolnir to ward off chaos. Son of Wise Odin, warder of Midgard. Champion of the Gods, we honor you and ask your blessing  of the new year. May we go forth inspired by your strength, courage, and fortitude. We are weary, but as we emerge from this time of darkness, we trust that you will strengthen and preserve us. Hail Protector! Hail Thor! Happy Yule and New Year's Eve everyone. © Trish Deneen

"Holda, the good protectress." Credit: Friedrich Wilhelm Heine (1845-1921), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons This will be a "greatest hits" sort of post as I'm running on empty today, and I'm still learning about this fascinating goddess myself. Today, I honor Mother Holda, a Germanic goddess of winter, spinning (as in thread), housekeeping, and the work that needs to be done heading into the new year. She's beloved of witches, crones, and a protectress of women. She's associated with Perchta and in this aspect, she knows who's been naughty or nice at Christmastime. Some resources I found helpful: Holda  by Diana Paxson at Hrafnar. Holda and Perchta by Heather Marano at The Merry Spinster.   Video presentation of Holda: Queen of Fire & Ice by Jack Gale.  Video of  Holda, Goddess for Lockdown w/Raven Kaldera. I'm barely touching on her lore here. She has many aspects from benign to terrifying. She appears in some lore as a protectre

Tyr and Fenrir. Credit:  John Bauer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Image description: Norse war god, Tyr, places his hand in the great wolf Fenrir's mouth. "Tyr is a name of another of the Aesir. He is the boldest and most courageous, and it is very much up to him who wins the battle." ~ High to Gangleri in The Prose Edda, Jesse Bycock translation, pages 35-36, Penguin Classics, 2005 I have a confession. I feel more of an affinity to Tyr than I do to Odin.  Phew. Glad I got that off my chest. Seriously though, doesn't it seem like Odin gets all the press? Per lore, the gods feared Fenriswolf, a child of Loki and Angrboda, for he was prophesied to be the death of Odin at Ragnarok. They decided they must devise a plan to bind him instead of kill him because spilling his blood in their sacred space would defile it. As Fenriswolf was growing up, Tyr was the only god with the courage to feed him. The gods asked the wolf to try out a binding that he surely would be a

Coal wagon. Credit: InstagramFOTOGRAFIN/Pixabay I began this day intent on honoring the ancestors during Yule. I still am, but my preparations reminded me of an excellent article by Ben Waggoner in The Troth's magazine, Idunna: A Journal of Northern Tradition , Issue 120, Summer 2019. But let me backtrack. I begin, as I stated in my Yule #1 post , with my most recent departed relatives as I believe they are our closest ties to the deep ancestors from whom we all descend. Here's where we get to the reason for my posting a picture of a coal wagon above. Both of my grandmas were coal miner's daughters, one from the North and one from the South in the USA. They were children during the Great Depression. I saw their love for handicrafts and frugality but also learned of some of their fears and paranoia at change. They loved and fought each other like sisters and their influence on both of my families I feel imprinted on my soul. I started with prayers written by Ceisiwr Serith

  Skadi Hunting in the Mountains Credit: Signed "H. L. M.", Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons On this Yule day, I've honored Skadi, a winter and hunting goddess. My time has been limited today, but I wanted to at least share with you some resources to learn more about Skadi, a goddess that I have a particular affinity to but am still building a relationship with. She's classified among the Aesir, but her heritage is actually that of a frost giantess. She was given status among the Aesir when she married Njord, a member of the Vanir, who was also given honorary status among the Aesir. I've shared liquor, praise, and offered prayers to her and will do a journeying meditation this evening with her. Here are some of my favorite sources of info and insight: Lady of the Mountain Hall:  A Skadi Devotional by Rev. Laura "Snow" Fuller of The Troth. You can read my review at Amazon . Black Stone Sanctuary is the newest project by author and polytheistic monast

Northern Gods Descending.  W. G. Collingwood, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons On this day, I'm honoring the Vanic deities, Frey and Freya . These siblings became honorary members of the Aesir after the end of the Aesir-Vanir War. Freya is associated with love, sexuality, beauty, prosperity, and choosing the war slain. Cara Freyasdaughter has a handy 101 handout on the Goddess called "Freyasbok" over at her blog, Silver and Gold , along with a list of other resources. Like his sister, Frey is associated with wealth as well as fertility, peace, health, and a bountiful harvest. As you can imagine, these two were incredibly popular throughout heathen lands. A heathen devotional by author Hester Butler-Ehle I will often turn to one of my devotionals to begin my prayers and finish with my own personal devotions. Today, I will make offerings of praise, food, drink, and prayers of my own and from Hearth and Field as pictured above. I find the author's poetry inspiration

Credit: Scarlet_Letter/Pixabay Eir was one of Frigga's handmaids and is a Goddess of healing to include childbirth and surgery. Icelandic poet and historian, Snorri Sturluson , described her as an "extremely good physician." She was also a valkyrie , and unlike her sister Valkyries who chose who would fall in battle, she chose who would recover. On this day, I'll offer dried herbs from my summer garden, praise, and prayers for healing so desperately needed around the world due to COVID as well as personal healing prayers for my family. Source not linked above: McGrath, Sheena.  Eir: Goddess, Valkyrie, Healer .  We Are Star Stuff, March 21, 2020. © Trish Deneen

"Frigga Spinning the Clouds." Credit: John Charles Dollman, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons After reading a few posts, you can probably guess I'm not a traditional heathen in most respects. All of these Yule posts are generally UPG except for the fact that many heathens celebrate the Disir during Yule , others at different times of the year.  I don't feel a great affinity for Odin besides being a leader among the gods. I have a stronger connection to the god, Tyr. I do, however, feel a strong affinity for Odin's wife, Frigga, aka Frigg, more than any of the other Norse goddesses. I used to see her as someone who puts up with a great deal of crap, but I've come to see her as more complex than that. She's known as the Queen of Asgard, the realm of the Aesir. She is the All-Mother to Odin's, All-Father. In her excellent article at Frigga's Web, Of Being and Knowledge: Thoughts About Frigg, Nerthus, and Odin , Winifred Hodge reminds me of some of

Credit:  Annie Klingensmith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Good Yule to you and yours. I hope the season finds you as well as you can be in 2020. This is the night I make offerings of praise, a candle, and liquor to Odin. I thank him for the gift of the runes after sacrificing himself to himself. I thank him for the wisdom to know when to commit to action and take it and when it is time to sit back and observe.  "Don't hold on to the mead-horn, but drink your fair share. Say something useful or stay quiet. And no one else will judge you poorly if you go to sleep early." ~ from the Wanderer's Havamal, Dr. Jackson Crawford translation Hail Odin! © Trish Deneen

Tomten from Scandinavian lore. Credit:  Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain Good Yule to you and yours. As promised in my first Yule post this year, I'm back with a little snippet of what I'll be doing for my day two devotional Yule celebration. According to author Mike Smith, the Tomten is a sort of house spirit. I'll be making an offering of cooked oats with a little honey and a big pat of butter. I'll also offer my gratitude in the form of prayers for supporting my household. I'm sharing some of my Yule practice as inspiration. It's not meant to be a dogmatic suggestion. In other words, you do you. If you want to learn more, check out Mike Smith's quick video below. 

Part of my ancestor altar in honor of my grandmothers. Credit: P.J. Deneen Good Yule to you and yours and Happy Solstice to you all. I walk a blended path, and I begin my personal twelve nights of Yule on the Winter Solstice. Others start to celebrate in January.  On this night I will pour a blot to my disir, aka female ancestors. This is called Disablot by some heathens. I don't have a group that I celebrate with, and right now during a pandemic, I wouldn't do so anyway. So it will be a solitary rite.  I'll light a candle and say prayers in their honor and make offerings that I believe they would have liked in their material forms, i.e. tea, butter cookies, Coca Cola, and a cigarette. I believe our most recent ancestors are the closest to us in terms of spiritual connection to our deeper ancestral line which connects us to the ancestors of all creation. This is not what every heathen or pagan believes. That's okay. Others celebrate the Winter Solstice as being the long