On Being Godspoused to Odin

So I never really publicly discussed this on the Internet before, as I didn’t want to be seen as piling onto the Odin godspouse train, but he has been my husband since early 2017, and we’re coming up on two years now.  It’s much easier for me to talk about Samael and Michael with you guys than Odin, as Odin, to me, is much more someone I worship, a being to devote myself to as both priestess and professed Heathen, in the eyes of the gods, whose bloodline and past life claims on me when I was his skald run deep as my Viking blood.  Honestly, I never really talk about it out of respect, because Odin is MY god, the Norse gods are MY pantheon, and Odin, King of the Aesir, Loki, Freyja, Freyr, and Hela and the ancestors, are much harder things for me to describe.  How do you describe the frenzy of a storm, or lightning striking your oak tree and sanctifying your space, or being claimed by the Madman?  Those who have been following my blog since 2017 remember the frenzy of Odin madness and the mead of poetry leaking out of my ears.  Not only have I been compared to a young Freya Aswynn by people that knew Aswynn very early on, Odin is, in truth, the most like me out of any being.  As a Yngling, he is ultimately my mythic ancestor.

And it’s very difficult to talk about the God that is you, if you were immortal, and is closest to you out of all the gods and goddesses at the heart of your worship.

Odin is everything I aspire to be.  Odin is all the parts of my that I cherish, and all the parts I fear.  We were married in my most prominent human past life and the earliest one I remember having memories of.  I was his volva, traveling skald, and priestess.  Runes, galdr, seidhr, divination, prophecy, poetry.  Those are not Samael or Michael’s gifts. Those come from the Old Man in the Sky, who raised me on stories in pre school.  Some of my oldest memories are climbing a “ladder” to Odin on the moon in the stars and thinking it was Disneyland.

I don’t think I have much to add to the Heathen conversation, god knows there are people like Stephen Flowers out there and Galina Krasskova that I greatly admire, Beth Wodandis and Freya Aswynn herself at the heart of His mysteries.  Unlike Samael and Michael, I am NOT Odin’s equal.  I’m not a god.  I will never be a god.  I am purely human and devotional in the sense I dedicate myself to Odin.  Monthly blots in his honor, devotions at the core of our household where his lavish altar is set up, weekly whiskey and wine and mead on Wednesdays. To me he is the storm.  I am a hurricane.  We are both wind.  My very  good friend, a Lokisman, once said there is nothing in me that is not Odin.  It’s a very private practice that I don’t feel like regurgitating over the whole Internet, because to speak of my relationship with Odin, would be like trying to quantify my ardent worship of nature, or explain poetry, or tame lightning.   Odin is so eminent in every sphere of my life from my madness to my frenzy to my poetry to my scientific passions to the Nelsons, Westendorfs, Wilkes, and Plounks, all of whom are either German, Anglo-Saxon, or Norwegian.  He is a god, not an angel, not a demon, but someone I worship.  I don’t worship Michael or Samael.  I revere Odin.  He puts me into madness, into ecstasy, gives me the ability to cross the hedge and travel the Nine Realms, from Asgard to Vanaheim to Helheim itself.

There’s a reason, on our wedding night, Samael and Michael built my palace and seat of my power in Asgard.  I am a daughter of Odin, in every sense of the word.  He is at the very heart of my devotional practice, and my husband.  He claimed me more strongly than any god ever had or has or ever will, in fact, he’s the only one that claims me.  I don’t plan on going to Heaven or Hell.  I am a daughter of the North, and to the Northern Soul I will return.  Wotan, id est furor.

He know’s I’m too smart for my own good.   He knows I’m a lazy smug little shit that doesn’t have to lift a finger to sit atop the world.  His genius, I possess in spades.  His wit, fuels every aspect of my life from my novels to poems to doctoral work to teaching to academic articles.  Make no mistake, Odin to me is at heart, a teacher.  I am his student foremost, and unlike the Abrahamics, it’s not equal footing.  I am subservient, I am his pupil, I am Odin’s follower.

This is hard to talk about, because compared to most prolific and amazing Odin devotees and godspouses, I feel quite small. It’s difficult for me to talk about the Heathen gods because they hold a place at the core of my heart so deep, with Odin as king, that I can’t make trite poems to capture their majesty.  There are so many great minds that have come before me, from Jung to Aswynn to Flowers to Krasskova to Kaldera, that I will never be on equal footing with, and I love it that way.  It’s nice to be a layperson sometimes, to not be a leader in some dead Demiurge cult or crazy mystic for Jesus.

I’d like others to do the work, the critic in me thinks.  Odin deserves more, though.  Maybe I should share my knowledge.  I’ve studied the lore since the time I was a girl.  Among all my Pagan friends, I’m viewed as a “lore whore.”  A walking Encylopedia of Norse Mythology, as it were.  There is truly no other mythology or world religion that compares to the values of Norse Myths, from love and acceptance to fighting for what you believe in and valuing wisdom and the pursuit of truth and honor above all.  It’s magic is more potent than any other system for me, and totally organic.  I can’t tell you how I instinctively do seidhr or galdr or bloodwork or divination or prophecy, I don’t know if volvas are supposed to.  Above all, I am his skald.  To the Abrahamics, I may be some fucking sacred whore, but to Odin, he called me skald when he claimed me, and he values my wit and words.  Though Audhumla is sacred, I’m not some stupid cow.  I’m more than fertile soil to till.  I’m more than just some wine and cheese altar girl meant to crown the glories of God or Lucifer.

To Odin, I am human.  To the Norse Gods, I am not equal.  I worship them.

To Odin, I am real.  I am my silver tongue like Loki.  I am a witch like Freyja. I am a girl of nature like Freyr.  I am strong like Hela.  And I am an eternal student.  If you want what little I can contribute to Heathenry, Odin to me, is the eternal student.  It is what makes the best of all kings. It is what makes the best of all scientists.

Curiousity and passion for learning, always make for the best students, teachers, and leaders.

Odin wins, not because he is better, but because he is strong, and he takes, and he exerts, and he claims, and gambles, and smoothtalks, and uses his wits and strength, and everything I just said about him, I am saying about me.  Queenship of my Yngling blood.   Magic of my German ancestresses.  The witches and magicians that didn’t burn.

A madman, laughing, swaying from a noose.

Madness, yes.  Poetry, yes. Darkness, yes.  Inside us, uncontrollable thirst.  Death.  A raging destructive storm that razes all in its path.

Wodan, id est furor.

I too am, at my core, fury.

Odin is the most like me out of any spirit alive, but he is a god, and he is who I beseech and pray to and model my life after.

Piety.

Prophecy.

Passion.

Poetry.

And, Power.

I am wed to Blindi.  I am wed to Gangleri. I am wed to Bolverk.

I am claimed by Wodan, and no other.

And I am a storm.

So here’s one for the Old Bastard.

I am proud to be His.

Sinmara

Sinmara

Hail Sinmara! Dark-hearted goddess of gold!

In your womb nest dragons, in your hair crows.

The fires of Muspell alight in your eyes, and you

are flame and flushing water joined in primal

elements, magic weaver of iron barb roses, a

steampunk dream of a Gordian knot encircling

a rusting sky. You are Surtr’s sheath, you the

fiery enchantress, dancer of lust and love. All

golden ferocity and placid rain on a window –

fire-rain. Dance-simmer. Stew of lava eruption.

Yours is a magic dark as the depths but alove

light with passion, measured temper, even breath.

Breathe with me, Sinmara! Let me see in the dark!

Oh sweet Sinmara, teach me your flaming arts!

Keeper of Damage Twig. Tender of the celestial

hearth. Pale nightmare. Druzy lips. Giantess pallid.

For the tail feather of a cock you grant me Lævatein.

For a kiss you grant wisdom eternal, throne bearer.

And but for a whisper, magic beyond measure ever

thus foretold. Hail Sinmora, Pale Dancer, Flame Jotun!

Hail Sinmora, Keeper of the Sword! Hail Sinmora, rosy

bringer of Dawn! Hail Sinmora, may you burn away all

my rusting doubts and forge anew a life of pallid gold.

Sinmara 2

Freya Goldhearted

Worship the petals of my sex, my fragrant little sister,

rub the goddess marigolds onto my heaving bosom!

Make love to me by living! Speak in delight at my name!

I am Freya Goldenhearted! Witchblood seidhrkona of old!

I taught Odin his tricks, I taught Loki his names, and from

Folkvangr, I can see through the fractals of my swords and

warriors, brave women bold, sweet men soft as Ingvi-Freyr,

to the end of Fimbulwinter, through sheer fire and ice! I will

emerge in Hel’s cold fires, I will walk on alone into Baldur’s

new reign, and Heith is my witch name, Gullveig my shield name!

It was I that spoke the Voluspa, I that told Ottar his deeds, I searched

for Od and wept fragile honey blossoms, I am femininity wild and lustful,

sweet yet somber yet flirtatious as sin, only I know no sin, for I am holy.

So let us make love, little sister, raise your fragrant rose to my chrysanthemum.

Sing ecstasy in my name and dance the dance of volvas, pound your skald staff

into the roots of Yggdrasil and churn the cosmos with my Norns after my direction.

We will hail Yule and the Disir, come the Disablot! My ladies, Hela’s ladies, Frigg’s.

We are the Three, We are Holy. Hela. Freya. Frigg. Crone. Maiden. Mother. We see

all between Asgard, Vanaheim, and Helheim, and every woman has a pinch of us!

Odin gambles all away for glory, but I count my cards, roll my knucklebones, and feast.

Honey on my tongue, pollen in my hair, brass on my  brow, beeswax sweet my fire.

Loki speaks too soon, I measure my words, I am the prize of the gods, sought by Giants.

I am mead sweet on the lip. Poetry in my fallen. Valkyries in my wake. Shieldmaiden.

Thor would trade the worlds for a thrash at Jormungandr. I strike only the fatal blow.

I am Death. I am Deliverance. I am Mountain. I am Mystery. I am Falcon. I am Founder.

Know my names well, know your Dead, count the jewels in my hall and laughter wise.

We have pastimes aplenty, and fish from Noatun, and boars from Alfheim, we feast!

Seek out your fortune in my name, my daughters, and remember, I am All that Is.

 

Shape of You

Oh curves like a mandolin, sweet seraph symphony,

my Platonic ideal, angel girl, pillow cloud breasts and

eyes like sparkling cider, all honey gold, hair of gold,

let’s drink the champagne of the big city life like coins

cast into a stream, our glimmering wings refracted in

the rushing water, make a wish on a quarter like a

moon, there’s this place in the city hidden in a church

grotto carved out by our ancestors where the dead walk,

but they are loving ancestors, so let’s go there girl, light

a candle for the Mother, incense for the Son, and a dollar

for the Holy Ghost, Trinity of tears of joy like Christmas

every day, for your present, my heart, I will always protect

you, schema of a woman, perfect form, impossible architect

of shapes and madrigal blues, how do you see me, Freyja?

Valkyrie, Vanadis, Syr, Mardoll, Percha? Sweet Lady of Cats

and Amber!  We are thick as thieves, and you are my healing

bubbling warrior queen and seer of death, prophetess Heith

fullsprung as a heart and delight of witch women from Loki,

Gullveig Goldlust, Voluspa narrator and winner of falcon cloak

and beautiful Brisingamen, I wonder what I write, and my poetry

moves from my lips to mouth to throat backwards into my core,

then spurts out my fingertips in this lovesong, you are the girl the

girls lust after, mooncloud arms and sunbeam smile, enchanted isle.

Pink And Battle Sow

Oh great Syr, tusks of gold and sun between pert ears,

how you charge into battle breast bloody, how your pink

snout roots out the weak, only Ottar-worthy on to Folkvangr!

Ride the Battle Sow, Heimdall blows his horn and Valfreyja

roars with motherhood of warrior-ferocity, shieldmaiden and

bright enchantress, wreaker of passion and vengeance on the

corpses of all who oppose us!  And after our spears pierce the

hearts of all who stand in our way, let us feast, let us drink mead,

let us beat our breasts in witch dances and prophesy Fimbulwinter.

Hnossa is safe, Odr wanders, and as Odin hangs, we are the Name

he Whispers.

Gangleri of the Grove

Oh wise Old Bastard, from the raven’s feet on your eyes

I can see the wisdom paths of the mad king, hanging

spear-wounded while nursing bloody mead, flow to

the rivers of Helheim with me and grant me the path

of the wanderer, hail in your hair, gray storm beard,

out of all the troths I have pledged, to you, my lightning.

Father of the Wolf

 

O Father of the Wolf! Heed my howl!
Grip me in mischief’s embrace and
quicken my mead with your wits, O
Loki! O Father of Death! Grant me
the sly shapechanging to elude even
Odin’s mad frenzy, Hail! Heed my cry!
Father of the Ourobourous! Give me
utgard, give me seidhr, give me a cock
tied to the nanny goat and teach me
treachery, to have a tongue of knives,
O how I love you, Loki, like your yellow
dandelions and summer grass eyes!
Trickster Immaculate, Balder’s Demise!
Wrap me up in slender freckled arms
and elfin locks and let us sail on a
ship of nails to this Ragnarok. Breathe
into me, Lodr, I am quickened blood in
your pulse, running wild a skald, my
Northern blood venom like Gangleri.
I can slip into the earth and drink
down poetry from Gunnlod’s cunt, I can
see the end and shape of things! Oh
Loki, wife of Angrboda, husband of Sigyn,
enfettered like my mind, these chains suit
us well, and when no one looks, our madness
breaks free, oh Scarlip, oh Flaming Bastard,
oh tricksy muse of crackling wind and flame!
Can I count the ways I love thee? With all
my Yngling blood, with all my spaekraft, I
am your daughter, I am Lokisdattir, I am
penitent at your knees, Storyteller. Hail
the Wanderer, Hail the Outcast, Hail Loki!

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Fin Troll

I sit with Freyja Golden-Tears on top of a barrow mound

pour barley beer and hops of spring in honor of Ingvi,

Freyr blossoms like a snowdrop, white, resplendent,

and we talk long of summer days and strawberry wine.

Thor walks out from the raspberry brambles, lips bitter

with the taste of early fruits, he delights in the sun,

god of thunder ruddy bearded with his April rain.

Odin carries Gungnir Ever-true and parts lush ivy,

a storm brews, the Fin troll tramples the sea, I take

Thor’s hammer and turn troll to stone at dawn,

he a cathedral pillar, giant who would usurp Asgard.