One of the biggest mysteries for the scholars studying the Scandinavian mythology has always been Hâvamâl stanzas 138-145, dealing with what has been interpreted as Ôðinn’s self sacrifice, birth or how he learnt the runes. If you care to join me on a journey to the past I will give you a look at what really happened…
138.
Veit ek, at ek hekk
vindga meiði á
nætr allar níu,
geiri undaðr
ok gefinn Óðni,
sjalfr sjalfum mér,
á þeim meiði,
er manngi veit
hvers af rótum renn.
«I trow I hung
on that windy tree
nine whole days and nights,
stabbed with a spear, offered to Ôðinn,
myself given to myself,
high on that tree of which none hath heard
from what roots it rises to heaven.»
What we are really looking at is a person undressing and hanging his clothes in the sacrificial tree growing on the burial mound, to make it look as if he has hanged himself. He pierces the clothes with a spear, for the same purpose. He then enters the burial mound to find what he perceive his old body, the body he had in a past life; he pretends to be a dead person and is thus escorted by Ôðinn into the grave; Ôðinn is the Scandinavian Hermes, who escorts the dead to their resting places. He has sacrificed himself to himself.
139.
Við hleifi mik sældu
né við hornigi;
nýsta ek niðr,
nam ek upp rúnar,
æpandi nam,
fell ek aftr þaðan.
«None gave me refreshments
no food and no beverage,
crying aloud
I lifted the secrets,
then back I fell from thence.»
His clothes just hang there, for the nine days and nine nights it takes to become an initiate and to learn the secrets. They remain there through the whole process and will not be taken down and be put back on until it is all over.
140.
Fimbulljóð níu
nam ek af inum frægja syni
Bölþorns, Bestlu föður,
ok ek drykk of gat
ins dýra mjaðar,
ausinn Óðreri.
«Nine mighty songs
I learned from the great
son of Bad-Thorn, Bestla’s father;
I drank a measure
of the wondrous mead,
with the Mindstirrer’s drops
I was showered.»
He brings a mistletoe (=the bad thorn), the key, the sacred item he needs to present to the actress waiting for him inside, for her to teach him the sacred songs. He does not actually drink anything, but he learns the secrets, the sacred songs, that stir his mind. He sits in silence and listens to what the actress has to say.
141.
Þá nam ek frævask
ok fróðr vera
ok vaxa ok vel hafask,
orð mér af orði
orðs leitaði,
verk mér af verki
verks leitaði.
«Ere long I bare fruit,
and throve full well,
I grew and waxed in wisdom;
word following word,
I found me words,
deed following deed,
I wrought deeds.»
He learns the songs well, and he becomes better. He grows and waxes in wisdom. He gains the Hamingja of his former self, of the dead man in the grave, and becomes him; the words and the deeds of his past lives are no a part of his current.
142.
Rúnar munt þú finna
ok ráðna stafi,
mjök stóra stafi,
mjök stinna stafi,
er fáði fimbulþulr
ok gerðu ginnregin
ok reist hroftr rögna.
«Hidden secrets shalt thou seek
and interpret signs,
many symbols of might and power,
by the great Singer painted
by the high powers fashioned,
graved by the Utterer of gods.»
He has become a chosen, a man with a Hamingja. He can pick up the valuables the dead was burried with and claim them to be his own; these mighty weapons, fashioned by the honourable dead, are now his.
143.
Óðinn með ásum,
en fyr alfum Dáinn,
Dvalinn ok dvergum fyrir,
Ásviðr jötnum fyrir,
ek reist sjalfr sumar.
«For gods graved Ôðinn,
for elves graved Daïn,
Dvalin the Dallier for Dwarves,
All-wise for Jötuns, and I, of myself,
graved some for the sons of men.»
All the Honourable deeds of the past are remembered, the deeds ingraved into the Hamingja. He is now a man with a Hamingja, so he will ensure that his Honourable deeds are added to the list. He will ingrave some himself, for his ancestors.
144.
Veistu, hvé rísta skal?
Veistu, hvé ráða skal?
Veistu, hvé fáa skal?
Veistu, hvé freista skal?
Veistu, hvé biðja skal?
Veistu, hvé blóta skal?
Veistu, hvé senda skal?
Veistu, hvé sóa skal?
«Can you write them?
Can you read them?
Can you paint them?
Can you prove them?
Can you ask them?
Can you offer them?
Can you send them?
Can you spend them?»
He has learnt to write the secrets, to read them, to paint them, to prove them, to ask them, to offer them, to send them and to use (spend) them.
145.
Betra er óbeðit
en sé ofblótit,
ey sér til gildis gjöf;
betra er ósent
en sé ofsóit.
Svá Þundr of reist
fyr þjóða rök,
þar hann upp of reis,
er hann aftr of kom.
«Better ask for too little
than offer too much,
like the gift should be the boon;
better not to send
than to overspend.
Thus Ôðinn graved ere before time;
then he rose from the deep, and came again.»
He ends by giving those who will come after him some advice, on how to wield the powers he was taught in the deep, in the grave, advice that he himself gave in a life long gone, before he returned to this world again. His mind was the same, and he rose back to life when he returned to the grave, sacrificing himself to himself – to become himself. Again.
So Hâvamâl stanzas 138-145 are really just the same story all over again, the one we already know from here and from «Sorcery and Religion in Ancient Scandinavia». It is a description of the most important European rite of passage, of how a person without a Hamingja can become a person with a Hamingja. It describes how man can become a god himself, by connecting to the Hamingja of those who lived before him, and by continuing to add to that power himself, through Honourable deeds in life.
You can read a thousand books by so-called scholars and learn nothing, or you can listen to your blood, to the voices of your forebears, to your intuition, and you will understand it all in less than a second. HailaR WôðanaR!
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“…he pretends to be a dead person and is thus escorted by Ôðinn into the grave.”
Is the initiate pretending to be a dead person escorted by Ôðinn, or is he himself impersonating Ôðinn who escorts the dead Baldr (mistletoe), or both at the same time?
He pretends to kill himself, then take the role of Ôðinn, then take the body of Baldr, which would then be his own, and then enter…
What do the lines “high on that tree of which none hath heard – from what roots it rises to heaven” refer too? Are the roots the secrets of the dead? From the secrets of the mound riseth the tree to heaven? And is it your translation?
Have you any theory on the Valknut? :/ It feels bad asking about everything but I don’t want to wait twenty years for the answer if I have to come up with it myself. It would be great if you had something to say and then I can check more specific stuff and see if I/my intuition agree/-s on it
Good work with this interpretation of these stanzas of Havamal. This also confirms what has been said about Voluspa. In my opinion would be very useful a new article about the Ancient Democracy, because maybe today you know more things about it than in the past and is always a very important topic. Mine is just a suggestion, however, not an actual request (or maybe yes?
) !
so when are you going to do a blog on Odin and the pineal gland (third eye)? How about Sleipnir and near-death experiences? the 9 worlds in relation to circuits of consciousness? you can’t ignore the real Bifrost forever.
let’s not be irrational. even the Ahnenerbe was interested in this stuff. DON’T LET LIBERALS HAVE A MONOPOLY ON THE REAL, TANGIBLE SPIRIT WORLD!
In 1998 I published a book (“Germansk Mytologi og Verdensanskuelse“) discussing all these subjects so I wouldn’t say I “ignore” these subjects “forever”. Maybe you should stop ignoring my books instead?
But, it is only published in Norwegian and Russian, and today it is only available in Russian, published on ExNordLux, so that might do you know good after all…
“The real Bifrost”?
“Lets not be irrational”?
Okay….
Sadly I don’t speak norwegian neither russian… Is there any chance of seeing an english or german translation of this book?
Excuse me chieftain, but “none” talked, among other things, about “Odin and the pineal gland (third eye)”; to that you answered that you have already discussed all the things he mentioned in “Germansk Mytologi og Verdensanskuelse“. Does that mean that you have discussed there the existence of centers of subtle corporeality and consciousness according to Nordic Tradition, or you were only talking about the other things he mentioned? Because I would really be interested in a (very) brief summary explaining the functions and locations of the subtle centers of the body and how you see them; I have only read that the Hindu “subtle centers” (“chakras”) were related to the Norse notion of “hvelir”, of which I know very little and from good intentioned but maybe not completely reliable sources.
I know you have little time, and I would gladly buy your book, but I know nothing of Norwegian or Russian…
i just readed about the ancient saami religion and it was basically the same as european religions what i have been reading from here, but samis came from east Russia/Asia so how they can have the same religion but with different names, Varg do you know anything about that?
It’s the same because all religions on this planet come from and are based on the European religion…
The Sami too descend (partly) from Neanderthals, so this should not come as a surprise.
Oh, sounds like Europe is the birth place of honour
You said that all religions on this planet came from Europe but doesn’t Africans have really different religions than other people or what i have seen, also i guess that the witch, shaman drum and “spells” (not talking about music like actual spells) part of sami religion came after christianity.
Well, I think that even they have their superstitions from a Negro interpretation of the European religion, which they naturally have come into contact with several times even in the Stone Age.
Ah of course
I readed that in ww2 Russia they banished foreigners (mostly finnish and estonians i think) into Siberia. You know, maybe that could be used on the mongler-samis because if they don’t behave here they can go back to were they came.
But that problem isn’t big in Finland because lapps and samis don’t care about moving into south and the south finns definitely don’t care about moving into cold Lapland. 
Also race-mixer lapps should be banished too, last thing that sami race needs is negro blood in it!
Sorry to disappoint you there, but there is much more Negro blood in the Asian Laps than in ANY Europeans….
Oh i remembered that Marie wrote something that the asian isn’t race it’s part sapiens, neanderthal and denisova, so is there any way that they/us can become denisova again or are we always gonna be mixed race?
Also what about finns, many of them have mixed with mongol lapps long time ago and they look kinda asian so who should they breed with? That’s probably why finns have been said to be mongols i think first time this topic was discuss was in 1700-century, here’s one example (finnish singer)
http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/29814229/Rauli+Badding+Somerjoki+RBS.jpg
and i think pure finn looks something like this (Kiira Korpi finnish figure skater):
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HkB2ELYYY2I/TVi0ZNpj1MI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/dU5q7SLn780/s1600/kiira-korpi-7.jpg
Okay i readed atala and it seems that papuans are pure asians and the mongolian asians are just mix of neanderthal/sapiens/denisova(papuan) and now that my ancestors (mongolian samis) came to Europe and mixed with the finns (europeans almost neanderthal) so basically i make jews look like an master-race because how mixed i am, and also i realised that lapps can’t never become any pure race, that’s kinda depressing…
they have an ancient history like all mongolians, they adapted…Jews have always been mongrels, and have continually interbred, which is why they still look hideous and subhuman now.
Do not despair, none of us our perfect. All you can do is make sure you do not make things worse, then things can only get better through racial hygiene…
Given the strange background of samis I guess it’s up to you if you would rather be Asian or European…but as Varg says, trust your “impulse” and what feels to be right. Asia has fantastic culture and history, at its peak practically on par with Europe’s classical culture.
Maybe there is another hominid besides Denisova we do not know about…Asians look nothing like aboriginal Australians that for sure (apart from Indians)…but of course given the similarity in culture they must have a high amount of Neanderthal DNA still…
I must also add that, in relation to what Varg (and perhaps you too) said a while ago about the Sami leeching off Norway’s benefits and mixing with the population, I personally would not blame this on them…I don’t think you can really blame it on anyone, except in the case of Jews…it is always the state that lets them get away with it, and furthermore, encourages them to get away with it – “here, please, take our money, and our women!”
My point being, don’t feel ashamed to be a Sami. Your culture may be more distant, in fact I may venture you have a similar problem to Roma gypsies, except that (crucially) Sami are actually bothered about knowing where they come from (or you are at least), however, we’re not worlds apart…you still have them same potential, and duty, to amend the past, to become a great man…this is what we all strive to be, what we must strive to be, for our survival…
Well i don’t think sami people (the ones who live in even more north and have the sami culture) know that they have been mongolians and lapps (i use that term to describe people who have sami ancestors but don’t have the culture) definitely don’t know that, they look in the mirror and see that the skin is white, they are happy about it and don’t think more of it even though they have alot mongolian look like the people here in Rovaniemi, Finland. As for the mixing with Scandinavians it’s probably because the christians came and put finns and samis to live on same cities to work as for their slaves so there they probably have been mix, maybe jews had the same racemixing propaganda at those times too.
Indeed…Christians despite possessing some of our values, and for this some of them do deserve a certain degree of respect despite everything, do have a Jewish mentality, which includes a contradiction of incredible hatred and bigotry on one hand and a very casual attitude towards race mixing on the other…hence why colonizers had no problems with stealing and breeding with so many native American women, and why they did not have a problem with stealing “black” aboriginal Australian children to raise themselves…
Also lapps, samis and many finnish people have alcohol problem because they couldn’t take it the same way like the Europeans can, you know kinda like what happened to native Americans.
Yes, the Asian gene…. not very good at dealing with alcohol.
good point, that + less sunlight and cold weather..Same in Russia I guess….Asians are less tolerant of dairy as well, far east Asians anyway…for me this is not a defect at all or a big deal as I don’t see why humans need milk past infancy anyway.
So is it possible to know who was your ancestor and where to find he’s body, or do you have to became god before you can do that?
There is the old tradition of “grave sleeping” where you sleep on a known ancestors grave and ask them thru dreams where to find the last ancestor or, whatever question you might ask, since they are beyond the grave they might know a bit. I can tell you the dead are just as opinionated as the living. you are already a god so if you want to ask your ancestors something make a cauldron of your head and wait for the broth! you already have the marrow bone!!
I’m still kinda sceptical about the ancestor spirit thing, i don’t want to sound like party pooper but is there any proof of that it’s real. Well maybe it could explain the suomalainen sisu thing (finnish sisu google it up if you haven’t heard that term
)
I’ve been in this world several times. I woke up one morning and knew it. Noone can know that better than yourself. It’s impossible to convince me from the opposite.
Honestly i do feel that sometimes too, sometimes i feel like i’m a soldier who just didn’t get the last hit and was killed before it, or maybe that’s just called being finnish
Maybe autistic people feel that even more, who knows.
I once jolted awake from a deep sleep delusional and under the belief I was a totally different person…I am sure this happens to some degree all the time and we don’t even realize it because of the fleeting nature of dreams…I am sure our forefathers, especially the neanderthals, had more complete, memorable and vivid dreams (and past memories?…)
It’s been long journey for me from Europe and Africa to here, not only in time but also in miles
And from Siberia too. Yes, a long walk indeed…
Too bad that the adventures can’t begin anymore because everyone has to settle down for capitalism, det som en gang var…
its not to say the actual spirit of your actual ancestor is visiting you..more like you are unlocking your subconscious mind with keys of tradition you know deep in your DNA, and it appears as your ancestor because, well it is.. the ancestor that is still living thru you that gave you your flesh thru DNA
I think the whole point is to get into a dreamlike state where you can understand that which is in your blood memory. You aren’t going to be visited by a spirit or anything, the point is that the knowledge is already within you and you need to access it.
As for proof, you’ll hear people on both sides of the fence whom it either worked for or didn’t work for. Might as well try it for yourself. Remember, the point is that you have to get yourself into the right mood. The ‘ritual’ itself is nowhere near as important as it is to go into it clearheaded and able to concentrate on the topic at hand.
Good luck,
Varg, do you have any opinion on the concept of sacred geometry? I was playing around with circles today and noticed some very weird stuff.
We had forefathers with burials on burning ships, also with their belongings (similar to Balder). I guess they already were chosen, and already was in contact with their Hamingja. These type of burial was for the elite, not for everybody. Do anybody have any thoughts on this?
well one thought is that after the threat of foreign looters the person was burnt up with their belongings instead of leaving it there to be desecrated?
or the belongings divided amongst the living kin?
Well, it seems that the grave mounds were established in “homesoil” and besides farms and other permanent establishments, so the “Ætt” (the kin) could use it for different purposes and rituals. More or less the same way they often had their “ætternut”, were those of the ætt (kin/family) who were, by age or other reasons, a burden to their ætt, in honour chose to pass on… It seems natural for me to think that the burning ship ritual, would be more linked to either a ritual of a passing, away from homesoil, or a specific ritual for a person of high rank (or both). There are also many examples of burial mounds build up as a ship (or in a ships shape). This is only my personal thinking though – I have never read anything about the reasons for the different graves/rites, and I would be pleased if any other had more information about this.
So you dont think they ate any amanita muscaria mushrooms? I think our ancestors ate a good amount of wild mushrooms including these, which bears are also known to eat! Perhaps not in this particular ritual but what about the Berserkers eating mushrooms before battle? And also drinking mead and cider was quite common, but i dont know how these may have been used in ritual. Probably more of a dinner table /party affair. Maybe “mead” simply refers to “a spirit that alters consciousness”. But I personally believe that during certain rituals these mushrooms were consumed under the guidance of a more experienced person say, a druid. But my ancestors are mostly from Ireland and Scotland and we are kind of reckless i suppose..:) Vikings were known for their cleanliness, perhaps this applies to their minds as well.
I do not think they ate poisonus mushrooms. But, I do think they drank mead/bjór/wine. Our dear myths use everyday pictures and metafores to communicate them, and these pictures I believe are a part of the everyday life of the Nordic. By saying this, I also believe (and it is quite obvious) that the Scandinavians were not drunken and stupid. If they consumed drinks of alcohol, it was always linked to a rite, or a significant happening. I believe it in many cases were a part of a rite, but the intention were not to party or get drunk. The Scandinavians still today have a simple life (at least some of us!), were there is no culture of drinking with nothing to mark or celebrate. If you do, you are concsidered to have a problem. The continental lifestyle and drinking habits, have never been a part of our tradition or lifestyle. For us, it has been a sacred act (were the brew itself represented different aspects. I aslo believe that the Scandinavians got drunk, it would in my opinion be naive to think otherwise, and the Christian re-writings of the litterature and sagas tell about this. I do not believe this is all a lie. But, we have to remember that honour in our old days always was #1. Therefore you can not compare drinking Scandinavians saturday night in the city with nothing to celebrate or mark (and in most cases with no honour what so ever), with our honourable anchestors. The stanzas in Hávamál concerning this, illustrates this quite well, I think.
What is the exact date of “ForeBears” being released, Varg?
it will be released when it is finished. Have you ever made a film? there is always more work to be done! A true work of art is never finished, only abandoned..
I thought it was in production stage.
Did women also do this or was it only men?
I actually built a LEGO model of a burial mound with a tree on top of it and made a little story with it, haha, with a figure who performs this ritual.
I love the ‘veistu’ verse in Beinteinssons recording, he did a great job singing those verses
Pictures please?
I just bought my son another Lego set (City) yesterday. Comes with helicopter, two four wheeled “bulletproof” vehicles and a “weapons museum”. $50.00!
Very expensive but he loves them and its the only “toy” he plays with.
Here are some pictures of it with a story to go along with it: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=79555
I love LEGO, it is a great toy
It is great that your son likes it, it is very creative 
Very cool.
That’s awesome. I showed my son, he loves it.
Did you personally just put your character together using different parts? Because I know you can buy customs. At $15 a piece and more! For a single figure!
I put him together from lots of different figures x) The face comes from an Exo-Force character, the torso from a Viking, the hair from a tennis player (from LEGO collectible minifigures = CMF), the cape from the CMF elf x) The bare torso is from the Poseidon CMF
the arms and legs are just well… arms and legs x)
Some figures are very expensive yeah :/ There’s a special limited edition Elrond figure which I don’t have… x)
http://jrwaldther.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/my-lego-cimbrian/
When I play with my son, this is the guy i use.
He looks tough! Are those the legs of the gladiator figure?
The Roman legionnaire and Roman emperor are some of my absolute favourites. And of course the Spartan warrior, he looks like a 300 guy x)
Yep, gladiator pants and I’m not sure about my “leather and fur” upper (armor). Viking beard, black:/
Helmet from a guard in a “Kingdoms” box. Which the “Viking helmet” has stinking wings! I found a saex somewhere, and put together a Norman long axe, instead of a short one (Francesca). I’m dying to find a red or blonde beard like that one.
And I gave him a head with fair skin (not yellow) with a VERY icy stare;)
Yep, gladiator pants;)
There’s a Spartan?
And I thought the $35 minecraft set my cousin wanted for Christmas was bad… Has Lego always been this expensive? I remember when I was young I traded a lego kit and $20 for an N64 and 10 or so games, must have been worth more than I thought at the time too.
In actual prices they are more expensive, like… If something costed 10 bucks before, it costs 15 now (just random numbers I have no exact numbers…), but how the currencies have evolved with inflation and stuff I do not know (as I am not some money-freak)… But yeah, much more expensive now than before. It is however much cheaper in the US than in the EU (Europas Untergang), and EU countries which don’t have Euros have even more expensive Lego. The most expensive it seems to be in Australia…
I think LEGO (and Playmobil) is so expensive because it is one of the few products still MADE IN EUROPE. When we pay more for LEGO than for the crap made in Asia we simply pay for QUALITY. I think it is worth it.
Lego is great. It is worth it but my son rarely gets the bigger/biggest boxes.
Has anyone played Lego Batman 2 for Xbox? Its really great. As well as LoTR. Great graphics and you can pick.up and throw Gimli like a battering ram!
The Hobbit legos are brutal on prices. But you DO get a lot of guys with each pack.
Minecraft Lego set?
I think LEGOs are the best toys you can give to your children to play with. It improves mathematical skills and problem solving a lot. I think I ended up being an engineer and a scientist because I got LEGOs when I was a child and I really loved them.
Nomen est Omen, LEGO = Leg Godt, ‘play well’.
yes due around March I think. I think they’re great, my only problem is they don’t sound organic enough. The over the top choirs at times, the keyboards, the Tibetan chanting…it’s not needed, they could go for the same approach just stripped down like Daemonia Nymphe and sound even better
I’m torn here with your comment. I sort of agree, but I love keyboards and synth. It gives it a “somber mysterious” darkness.
What are the huge horns named? Dordeduh uses something similar.
Me too, I listen to loads of electronic music, I am just increasingly losing interest in “hybrid” music these days, I prefer folk to sound as authentic and natural as possible…they have a lot going on anyway with the chants and the various instruments and nature samples, they don’t really need keyboards…
Their website might tell you about the instruments, I know it has pictures of them making their own deerskin drums…
“Tibetan” chanting? Or just tribal chanting? If its “Tibetan” … I will agree.
Well I don’t know if all cultures used it at some point…admittedly even the sublime daemonia nymphe have used it on at least one track…I guess in Asia’s case it is ultimately Mongolian. it fits, it is primal, tribal, and does not distract from the Norse feel, I would just like to hear a more serious attempt at making authentic Norse music as the likes of daemonia nymphe and Atrium Musicae have done with Greek music
I’m going out on a limb here but I could definitely see some sort of chanting. Especially during rune readings or “reading the bones” as some say.
The only way keyboard isn’t mandatory for me, is when a player can make his guitar sound like one. Or if the tones are ultra ambient.
In that sort of music though a band using it just seems superfluous to me, or even suggests that it only needs the artificial sound of keyboards because the folk music alone would not serve its purpose. Surely that defeats the object of making serious folk music in the first place.
Well they’ve had plenty of time between records to hone their sound.
Maybe they will change their formula? Considering they may be missing elements (people) seeing how they’re not a “full time” unit.
In don’t see what is ment by sending the secrets. I think to understand what prior mean, though I’m not certain.
Could you tell more about sending and spending the runes? Thank you.
It could be a translation problem.
“Spending” could well be translated as “using” or actually “destroy” — like in “using up”.
Sending could well mean simply “teaching others”.
Do you feel that runes too are mere symbols? What are your views on supposed rune divination? Do think this idea of rune divination is just a shallow assumption made by those who do not at all understand what the culture is about? Do “runes” simply mean pieces of knowledge or moments of enlightenment?
Archetypes.
What rune books do you read or appreciate?
The only one I can really recommend is Varg’s. I did pick one up a while ago but it was just really pompous and cynical about the importance of runes, making no effort whatsoever to see things through the eyes of ancients…
Guido von List is interesting, he was a strange one though…you may want to read his “secrets of the runes” our of curiosity if nothing else
As far as I know, Edred Thorsson is “rune master”.
Yes I’m familiar with Von Lists ideals, though never read his books. Mostly excerpts.
There is “runeology” in SRAS?
Edred Thorsson, I have to point out, is the guy who said the only old growth forests of Europe were to be found in Norway, and also, an ex-Laveyan. No other book has what SRAS has since it was his own knowledge (not excerpted material compiled). It’s also one of the small, small handful of pagan / Scandinavian rune/lore books that doesn’t have a pro jungian / psychology reference (e.g. all weiser books add that in no matter what the subject).
What was more important though is the blog entry here, it’s deep. And you can see where the eastern mystics had taken some of the material for themselves. They do have a nectar which falls from the throat that is produced during a type of guided third-eye meditation that goes through tiered inner voyages and regions. So the mead is his wisdom. But if Ôðinn is (partially) Hermes Trismegistus then that may explain the number 9 in the Hâvamâl mentioned twice here, one for days and nights and the second time, for nine mighty songs. 3+3+3 broken down to 1+2 + 1+2 + 1+2 or 12+12+12, and so probably 36 is a clue. I estimate at least 9 songs for 36 gods each and then he interpreted signs. The signs would be doubled, one for day and one for night, in 3 levels and in 12 months cycle. So his mastery over the world happened, when he sacrificed himself to himself, which is 1, and the day and night is 2, so: 1+2=Hermes Trismegistus (who came later). There’s no conclusions here, no beginning, no end. Thanks, Varg Vikernes.
I think maybe use and yield would be a better translation, though a bit far fetched with yield maybe… The problem with spend and send is that they don’t at all alliterate (sp- only allowed with sp-, sk- with sk- and st- with st-).
So using them and waering them of? Could you give an example of such a runestone from a gravemound? It would make things more clear to me I guess.
Thank you.
In austria like said before we have lots of pagan rites. One says that you should not hang up closes in diffrent nights like 21.dec or walpurgisnacht etc…
Do you think this stands in relation to odin? I have no idea where this comes from?
It could well be because of that, but naturally I cannot know for sure. I only know the little you have told me about this.
But dont you think that its very impressive that this pagan rites are still in the head of our people? In fact austria is “christian” since 1500 years but the fire is still burning.
It needs just a little bit and it can become an inferno…
Oh, yes very impressive — and we see this all over Europe, so obviously our roots are very strong. Not even two millenia can destroy them!
One drop of water to those roots and they will grow a green and fertile tree again in no time.
I was reading in Tacitus’ Germania of Nerthus and her sacred island, and looking at some maps trying to divine the location of it. Any ideas, V?
Unfortunately no, I cannot help you located that particular lake — but…. yes, there is a big but here; she had many sacred lakes all over Europe. Like this one; Nervannet (“the lake of Nerþuz”)
And like this one; Vevatnet (“the sacred lake”).
And like Skadvatn (“the lake of Skanþe [=Nerthuz' husband]“).
I could do a few other searches in Google Maps if you like to…. These sacred lakes are all over the place. It was not just one lake. Sure, a certain lake was sacred to this or that tribe, but all the tribes had their own sacred lakes dedicated to Nerþuz.
I still don’t understand one thing. Why is it so important to do things symbolically? Why have they been hanging clothes as symbol for hanging a person and using pebbles as symbol for seed?
Because they believed in sorcery and the effect all of this had on the mind.
Why are you scared when you watch a scary movie? Isn’t your fear *real *even though you only see *symbols *of what is real?
I just thought about the wedding ring on my finger. I have one, because it feels different when I wear it.
You’re right, for a second I was thinking that I wasn’t doing things symbolically but of course I do because it really does matter. Thank you
Our culture is rooted in symbolism…both ancient and modern…You may want to check out Slavoj Zizeck’s views on this, he’s very interesting…you can tell he is influenced quite a bit by Freud and Marx, but he is Slovenian, and does talk a lot of sense in relation to symbols and “illusions” specifically in popular culture (I know of him through film studies)
This is one of the best poems for me and your interpretation makes sense in every way. We all can become the god that lives in us by sacrifice/discipline….
Why is the misteltoe so important? (Balders Death, odins victim…)
It is seen as the body of Baldr, and is the key to open up the grave. Like Cinderella does, with her mother’s grave, using the branch that her father brings back to her after his journey.
If you impersonate Ôðinn and go to the realm of the dead you will still not be let in, unless you have business being there; and if Ôðinn — the god who escorts the dead to Hel — brings a body, then he all of a sudden has business being there, so the grave opens up for him and he can enter.
Thanks
Interesting. It makes very much sense.
Odin is giving advices to himself to “gain” (I’m sorry for bad English) an Hamingja. How can we keep in contact with ourself and “gain” our Hamingja ? We should pay our respects for ourself/ancestors.
Watch “ForeBears”…
Everytime I watch the trailer it strengthens two feelings inside me. The one is of course the pleasant anticipation and the other one is the will to have children. Yours are really inspiring for they seem so vivid and beautiful.
I’m SO looking forward to become a father
It will also make you a better man. It will force you to become a better man…. :-/
I am so much more efficient now than I was before I had kids, because now I have so little time for everything. They really do take up a lot of time, but I produce more now with less time than I did before with more time.
I believe you. Sometimes I wonder how you manage to run this side and therefore to answer the countless questions of your followers and also to argue with the douchebags who come around at times. Are your children that standalone already?
No, but I have a wife….
And I have to admit that I don’t have the time to answer all questions. Quite often the questions are lost to me, because they disappear in a sea of comments. :-/
You know, beeing the offspring of you two I would give them credit for anything
But a good mother is invaluable, of course. And I think that her love should teach you that you shouldn’t impregnate a woman (and don’t sleep with anyway) that hasn’t as much love and passion to give for your coming children as your own mother had for you.
Varg, I have an off topic question. I use amazon a lot so I’m wondering if when I buy Burzum songs (or SRAS) do you get any proceeds from the purchase? If not, where would you like me to buy from? Plastic head is UK and not accessible to me.
This all makes sense. It really does. Perhaps not as glamorous as if we read the tales of our forbears literally, but this version Vikernes presents is after all reasonable and down to earth.
But still, it’s hard to reject the idea of “something” beyond the horizon where the sun sets. Something outer wordly.
Now, I wouldn’t say I rule that out, do I? It might simply not be what you or others expect it to be.
Most young people today dont even read the scholars books.You cannot find the truth,without some basic knowledge in the first place.They are not the best place to start with,but are still better than nothing.
I liked how mixed your views on different topics here.Please continue in the same way.:)
Beautiful…
One question: What makes you think that they did not literally drink mead? You seem rather reluctant to accept or discuss the possibility – fact even, might I venture – that our ancestors enjoyed and drank mead, ale, wine etc., in a ritual setting as well as an everyday setting. Just because most people today for some bizarre reason enjoy drinking themselves into a stupor (thankfully I have well and truly moved on from this, but I was still much more sober than other students generally are). this does not mean that they treated alcohol in the same irresponsible way. And I am sure they could have used it responsibly and seen it as a “divine” beverage or substance without just using that as an excuse to get wasted all the time as modern pagans do, and as many cretinous scholars claimed the Vikings/berzerkers did, in order to reach another state of mind and being…
Much more on these rituals will be disclosed on Atala.fr in the near future. Well, after the “ForeBears” film has been released, that is… in late March.
Cannot mead be connected to berserkers though? It is made of honey and bears seem to like honey :3 haha
That is a good point, but Varg has hinted that more will come on the subject of bears and honey so perhaps best to leave this be fore now…
High likelihood is though that they consumed nothing to enter a new state of mind…it was more than that anyway, not about entering a trancelike state but about taking on a new spirit, the winter spirit of the wolf or bear, as stated in SRAS…but of course Christians and equally close-minded “scientific” atheists are too stupid and blind to comprehend the notion of this so they just dismiss it as the result of consumption of hallucinogens or whatever…
Yeah the ForeBears film is highly anticipated:) It will be the first time I have to buy something from amazon though… I hope it is not difficult. My hope is that a Swedish web shop will have it (like with SRAS that I bought from a mainstream Swedish web shop).
Fasting is well spread in rituals. I heard of indians who dance without eating and drinking for quite a long time to enter a higher state of mind. And as a guy with irregular habits of sleeping, eating and drinking I know that you think quite differently and percieve things in another way after having stayed up very long without food… Not very healthy though, so I should try to change this.
If you’re in Sweden, surely you can just order from amazon.co.uk? It will be available across all amazon I expect, so you could order it from amazon.fr or amazon.de as well…You can order from any of them I think – I can even order from amazon Japan, but obviously the further away you are the higher the shipping costs…shipping costs for amazon japan > England were pretty hefty when I looked once.
Oh :0 Great, I’ve ordered stuff from Germany before so it will probably be alright then
This is maybe the wrong place for saying this… but
it is beginning to get hard to lead a double life at university trying to pretend not to be against their lies… they teach us about Tannen, Bernstein, Chomsky etc. Highly suspicious names. I even argued against the teacher yesterday, he couldn’t back up his hollow lies so he lost his face and became almost aggressive. Quite entertaining.
Not the wrong place at all, it’s a good place to share out stories…I feel your pain, I expect this is the same anywhere, all academia is expected to revolve around Marx and Freud (looking at newspapers from the 70s today for a project I read a prophetic article by a Nottingham professor complaining about this change)…
I am quickly giving up on the idea of taking my history degree further to a MA/PhD level, even at university now they oppress and retard you and tell you what to write, there is just one standard accepted interpretation of everything from a Jewish perspective that everyone is supposed to just regurgitate in the same way. I’m just striving to me a non-professional/independent history writer, hopefully I’ll put something together that’s worth publishing eventually…but there’s just no way I could work under the constraints of the politically correct, very un-historical and very unscientific professional field that is just about politics, not about truth.
It is a great shame
The history as the established professors present it is so full of flaws, though not all of it is worthless…
If you get something published in the future I will read it for sure! I myself might get some poetry published soon, though my editor hasn’t sent me any response since early December…
I study to become a teacher in Swedish and German. I hadn’t thought much about it before I chose university but now I see that it is all political. Well, change must happen somewhere, if I can help some youths, whoever they are, to become more critic then it will not have been in vain. The brainwashing in school is even more horrible than I ever imagined. It is scary how people believe they have an opinion of their own, when they share it with everyone else and base it only on what society wants them to think and what they have been tricked into thinking in school since they were kids. The so called “norm critics” for example. :/ While I do think home-schooling would be a good thing, I think a good school might be even better. Now we don’t have a good school, but in the future perhaps. A place where thoughts could be shared and matters discussed.
Drinking seems a must for people these days. Try telling them that you Don’t partake and they stare at you like you’ve got a disease….. sad
So Hamingja is some kind of Charisma isn’t it? The more honorable you are in your life the more your Hamingja grows and your children will have that energy through your blood, like indian karma?
I believe it is simply your honor, a direct translation if im not mistaken?
Just got the Odin shirt in the mail today
Great post. I post this so I can subscribe to other comments on this post.
The Burzum Odin shirt? I should really buy a recent Burzum shirt design…either that or Filosofem…beats just getting a shirt with a band logo on – real works of art…
have you read “summoning the gods” Varg? how do you like colin creary’s interpretation of this same passage? i believe that you both have similar takes on it
No, I haven’t read that book, but I would be interested in knowing how his interpretation is similar to mine. What does he say about this?
It is not similar. Its a really good book though. Cleary believes that our ancestors could make the Gods appear, literally.
he is trying to use “heideggerian” thinking to explain the “idea of gods”, he uses the whole “das sein” concept, a german word that my american brain wrapped in anglo-saxon language cannot fully grasp . i don’t think they made them appear, he means that this way of looking at the world, as in “non-rationally”, or “dionysian” as opposed to rationally “scientifically”. there can be no gods in cubicles and shopping malls with boxed food, but i recall that he has a different attitude towards non-recreational drug use.
http://www.counter-currents.com/2011/04/what-god-did-odin-worship/
Yes. The Filosofem shirt seems hard to find over here! I also got the Aske one, which I’d been looking for a while.
try plastichead, it’s UK based but I see no reason why they would not ship internationally…loads of Burzum shirts are on there, including Filososfem
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