Rituals and getting into the Mood

 A lot of magicians are very strict when it comes to ritual magic and how a ritual shold be composed, what a magician has to do and how he needs to prepare himself. While it is right to "follow the rules" when it comes to already established rituals or rituals that stand withing a specific context, the magician is pretty free to use all her immagination and creativity to create her own rituals. 

A lot of the side details are merely created to get you in the mood, shift your conscious from your everyday personality to the person who communicates with the gods and spirits. In this respect I like to get into the gear, step into ths circle, take a deep breath and start to swing the sword. However, I do not believe that all of this is really necessary, at least not in those cases where I follow my own ritual purpose. 

I like to improvise, act on impulse and to go with the flow. Maybe it is related to my mundane profession (I am a lawyer and used to stand in court having to react on situations that develop completely different from how you had thought they would go). However I do recommend to have some basic experience and understandiong of ritual work before going on your own. 

This also helps me a lot since I have changed my focus from the more formalistic ritual practice of the GD to Germanic heathen practice. There are no real established traditional rituals and little "cook books"for this. And whenever you read a book about Germanic or most likely Nordic Magic, you will find that the person who wrote it has  - to some extend  - some roots in the GD, OTO or Wicca. Thus, words have changed of course but the ritual structure often is similar. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I like to keep things - as much as possible - within their context and you can not just exchange one got for another. It becomes worse when these authors pretend that the ritual described consists of or is based on ancient Germanic traditions. Likely it is not as we have very little knowledge about how the ancient Germanic peope had practiced and structured their rituals . 

And exactly this lack of knowledge gives me a lot of freedom . In this regards, I invite you to go out and play, be creative, innovative. You will fail, you will learn, you will adjust and you will have success. And  - although some people say this is serious stuff - you will have fun!!

When did the gods became softies - what about the blood?

I was actually looking for a more provokative title but then I also did not want to insult anyone. So what do I mean?

Modern pagans are talking a lot about their personal relationship to the gods and rituals including sacrifieces. They create a nice altar, flowers, self backed bread and cakes, wine and for some of the very masculine gods even hard liquor. Sounds very nice and must look beautiful. And I mean it without any sarcasm or irony intended. But then, I always thought something is missing.

When we read about the ancient/historic heathens in pre-Christian times, we can also read about rather archaic rituals, slaughtering of animals, spreading of blood and even as the ultimate gift to the gods, the human sacrifice. Now, I am not advertising to go around and butchering the guy from next door who is creepy anyways (or is that you?). But as far as some modern pagans even claim to have linage to their ancient ancestors, why flowers and cookies would do these days? Of course we would find ourselfs having to explain to those in uniforms what the hell we were thinking when cutting the throat of that lamb in the garden, smearing the warm blood all over ourselfs and ours.

But seriously, unless we believe that the gods have changed in their nature, why would their needs, their preferences, their demands have changed? Odin is not just that obscure god of a bit of war and wisdom who brought  the runes. He was the one who was pleased by blood. If you take your paganism serious, you have to take the gods nature serious. This specifically counts for those who add magic to their beliefs and practice as the energies we call upon are very specific. We cannot just modernize the gods so they fit in with our yoga class and caffee lattes.

Thus we need to find ways to add that which has always been part of it. Some are hunters and then things may be easyer. But it is not everyone's thing to butcher even a chicken having looked into its eyes. But there are other ways. We may order meat for the specific purpose of a sacrifice, keep it bloody. Come up with something creative other than pie.

If the ritual or its purpose is really important I am even using what comes closest to human sacrifice, I am using my own blood. Of course I am not cutting of my legs or arms or take out organs but a ritual cut and a few drops of blood do more of a representation of a sacrifice than grapes and flowers. Unless you do a sacrifice towards your prefered female diety. But then, are you sure you really know her?

Runes and Germanic Traditions - Introduction

If you are interrested in Runes, I am sure you have already found tons of pages with explanations and interpretations, rituals and all that. So why to add sand to the desert? When learning something new, I like to understand the background of what I am studying. I like and need to know the "whys" and "whats/" and most pages or books do not satisfy this need.

A lot of what you find in books or online about Runes does not even contain any scientific background or somewhat solid description of what the Runes where, became and are - and, not to forget, what they are not. Most publications repeat what has been written by others and lack real and scientific based background information. This specifically refers to the esotheric use and those trying to link the Runes to (their) ideology. Both approaches usually lack any real understanding of the Runes, their background in history and linguistics and the underlaying Germanic traditions. Others only see runes in the context of Vikings which are and always have been popular and  are further popularized without seeing the Vikings and their use of the Runes in the wider context of the Germanic peoples and the develpoment of language script and overall tradition.

What I plan to do is providing some information about the Runes, Germanic Traditions and Mythology free from any ideology or specific agenda based on scientific research (not my own though). Additionally I will of course add my own understanding and interpretation of meanings, practices, rituals etc. Most of that will be based on solid foundations, some will be my very own interpretations and understanding. However the latter will be marked as such. I will not claim overall validity of what my understanding is.

I also should add that I am not a historia bny profession. I am also not a linguist or philologist and so unfortunately am not able to read the original sources in their original languages. For that I have to rely on those with proven qualifications.

Having said that, please let me give you some references for getting a general understanding about Runes, Germanic Traditions, hisrotic and linguistic context as this is the necessary basis for the studying of all that. Unfortunately a lot of the books I am refering to are in German only as this is my mother language and a lof of publications are related to German history or those writing about it. I will add some links to English books at a later point.

For Runes in general you will find tons of books. As I said before, a lot lack solid understanding of the historic and cultural background and understanding. I recomend to start with older books but leaving those out that have a proven agenda and ideology behind them (Like the publications by Guido von Liszt and others who followed, who link the Runes to the Germans in a very particular way...).
I recommend "About German Runes" (Über Deutsche Runen) by Wilhelm Carl Grimm, who is one of the famous Grimm brothers who often are only seen as the collectors of fairy tales but who have been the founders of German Philology foremost. Like all older books you have to see its content in its historic context (meaning the context and status of issue related knowledge of the time of its publication).

Also his brother Jacob Grimm has published a huge book about German Mythology. Both of these books contain a lot of knowledge and understanding of the Runes and their underlaying tradition and mythology.

Of course there is Tacitus and his "Germania". While Tacitus not specifically refers to the Runes as such, he refers to the diviniation practices of the Germanic tribes which made use of wooden sticks with carved symbols on them. It is not said that Tacitus in fact described the use of Runes for diviniation. However, it is not unlikely that what he described refers to the use of Runes in a diviniation context as Runes as such most liekly have already existed at that time.

I peronally like the "Handbuch der Runenkunde" by Helmut Arntz (not sure it had been translated). Although he had been a Professor in Germany in the 1930s and  the book has been initially printed in Germany during these times with it's last edition printed in 1944,  he had rejected the idea that the Runes should be used and/or be interpreated in an ideologic way. He explains the development of the various runic alphabets as we know them and also describes the runes in their historic and linguistic meaning and development. He also refers to potential magic meaning, use and understanding of the Runes.

There are several good books from scandinavian authors as well (will add some also at a later point) of course.

For those who prefer to watch videos, I recommend Jackson Crawford's you tube channel. He is a specialist on old norse language and has a bunch of awesome videos not only about old norse language but also about mythology, specifically the Eddas and Sagas of the Viking times but also on the Runes and their use. He also has published translations of some Sagas, the Havamal and the Poetic Edda. Jackson also adds a lot of references to his videos and in some he refers to english books about Runes. His additional webpage you find here.

Additionally, for Norse Mythology there is the channel of Mathias Nordvig. He also has a separate page with more information here. 

Apart from that for the mythology, read the Eddas in an uncommented version. Read other historic texts, such as Tacitus, Ceasar, Saxo Grammaticus (about the Dahish History), the Sagas...

Only after that I recommend to read some more modern books (if not those of modern scholars) about Runes and Germanic Mythology.

When it comes to most modern books which deal with Rune Magic, Germanic (or Viking) Magic etc, note that most are based on other systems of magical practice such as the Golden Dawn in its various manifestations, Thelema or Wicca when describing magic practice and rituals. Of course we know little about magical practice and rituals as well as their specifics as lived and perforled by the Germanic tribes and what we know is little detailled. But the books you find mostly link modern esoteric thinking, interpretations etc to what they call Germanic Magic, while there is not explanation nor any basis for such interpretations. One example is the attributions of color, gem stones, planets, star signs and much more to runes. This has no basis at all in the historic development of the Runes as we know it. Also there are no sources that would indicate such attributions having been used by the ancient Germanic priests, seers or other people who knew and used Runes. Of course it is ok that modern people create magical systems and interpretations in their own way including Runes. However no one should claim that this has any basis in the historic use or interpretation of the Runes.

With this I will end this post. It is my idea to have a more Rune related introduction followed by posts that are related to the single Runes. I will focus on the elder FUTHARK as I am not focussed on the Viking Traditions as such. However a lot of what we know of the Runes derives from the Viking and post Viking ages.

I also will post about Runes in magical use. Specifically here I will have to rely to my own understanding rather than claiming any historic basis or knowledge.

Stay safe
Arcad

Changes

Initially this blog was aiming to share my thoughts and experiences as a solitary practitoner of the Golden Dawn tradition. However, in the meantime the worlds have changed. That means the outer world, as we all experience it, my own personal "world" and finally also the GD world as we or better I knew it.

The first I do not need to decsribe to you as I do not need wo write about the obvious.  As for the second, I already wrote about that in my last post(s). My spiritual world views somewhat crashed and I am still dealing with the aftermath. However, I have chosen a different path that gives me more freedom and relates more to my general views and understanding of things. It also is more linked to me and the traditions I see myself ultimately belonging to. By ultimately I want to point out that as much as I do cannot claim for a direct link (since for some people linage is everthing, and if you do not have one, you create one irrespective of how obscure the link is) but there is a link by where I most likely come from and the land I am born on and feel related to. Now I need to point out that this statement is free from any blood and honor context at all. Due to lack of prof, it rather is a statement of feeling and choice. I may write more about this at a later point but this is not the place.

At last, also the world of the Golden Dawn has changed a lot. A lot of the blogs and with that the people I was following have gone. Some of these people meant a lot to me in the way of spiritual inspiration and in a way as being teachers, supporters, advisers and listerers of my confusions on the path within the jont GD Tradition we are/were devoted to. I am sure that this was somewhat announced but I missed it due to my long absence. Even Google was not helpful in finding them and although I also have not been on FB for years, I am sure they have been dissapeared from there as well.

However, we all know the world and everthign related to it is going in cycles. And so we just have reached another point in the ever ongoing live.

One of the good things though is that at least my material world has significantly changed as well which made a lot of things easyer. Who ever tells you that material things do not matter either is using that mantra in order not to freak out because they have no material security or have a lot of material security and with that lost contact to earth. We are all depending on material things as we have to feed ourselfs and our families as well as provide for shelter, education and you name what.

So there we are. A new beginning? Well, maybe not because I rather see it as changes that occured, taking another path or road from the ongoing never ending main street. But that road will always have intersections leading back linking the current path with the main one that is not a past one as it is always there continuing. Life does not end but goes on, so do our experiences. The present becomes past while the future becomes present but nothing is lost.

Having said all that, also this blog will change. It will more reflect my experiences outside of the GD though I never completely left that Tradition. This is where I started and the teachings are still valid. However my link to it has weakened for now and so I will shift the focus of this blog. I have thought about changing its name as well but at least at this point I refrain from doing so in case someone still receives messages when a new post is published, remembers this name and trys to find me and also finally because I could not come up with a good alternative name.

If you read this and if you have done so before I would be glad if you leave a short comment saying hi.

Now I am getting another cup of tea and will write my first magic related post since years.

Wishing you all well specifically in these crazy times.

In LVX
Arcad (A name that I may have to rethink too...)