As for Brünnhilde, we will see her and the valkyries again in chapter 7, when Odin goes to war.
Mortal Meetings
It is interesting that so many women are attracted to Odin, given that he is so masculine a god. Based on many conversations, my impression is that women, on the whole, may actually find it easier to connect with him than men do. In That Hideous Strength, C. S. Lewis has a character observe that we are all feminine in relation to God. I think that (except when he himself is being ergi) that may also be true of mortals who encounter Odin.
As we shall see in chapter 7, the wod ecstasy of the berserker was usually a masculine path, but these days, men as well as women are socialized to value calm and control. Whereas a woman who knows how to consent can open herself to Odin's ecstatic energy, when that divine wind begins to blow, many men react by trying to resist its power. Usually, the best advice is to either (try to) cut off contact with the god entirely or, as Heinlein used to put it, to “relax and cooperate with the inevitable.” Sara MacLachlan's song “Possession” was not written about Odin, but it expresses quite vividly the way some people feel toward him.
A woman may relate to Odin as an employer or a guardian, as a daughter to a father, or as a lover. This account describes the experience of one young woman who is just beginning to work with him.
My first experience with Odin was this: one summer day I was taking a shower and all of a sudden this really beautiful, strong tune came into my head (mind you, I don't write songs), and I was just like “Okay, cool” and kind of brushed it off. That night this really intense energy filled my room and Odin showed up and my first reaction was “Fuck,” just because the energy was so intense; I was a little bit scared. I asked if he wanted me to write him a song, he replied “Yes,” and I got on writing that song.
My first few times interacting with Odin were generally characterized by that intense energy and me being intimidated by it. About a year after Odin first showed up in my life, I went to an Odin devotional and that totally changed how I view him and how I interact with him now. During the devotional, Odin gave me some tools to help deal with some issues that were/are really hard for me. That night, I saw that Odin was much easier to connect with than I thought, he was very willing to help me with the things I needed help with, and to top it off loves math like I do.
I am beyond happy I went to the Odin devotional, as I now feel much more connected to him and feel much more comfortable actually working with him. Also, truthfully, at the devotional he still said/did things that could have been scary, but really they just pushed me to move through fear, so I guess it's much more my perspective of him that has changed, and since the devotional, I have started wearing a valknut and got a statue of two wolves for my altar, so I have been converted to an Odin fan.
For some, the experience of connecting with the god while in a trance state can have a sexual component, as energy flowing through the body may activate those centers as well. One priestess of Odin, asking for insight, received the following comments as dictation.
I take it what you want is how to pursue that ecstatic moment when all else drops away . . . and in nine easy lessons. Well, I'll give it to you in one: ergi. Reflect on this, this receptivity meant by the word. Think of it, not as unmanly, but as unmanning—the difference is profound.
Make of yourself a vessel. A vessel for what? Well, if you would experience the ecstasy of being one with a god, then you must be open to them, and that to which they connect. . . . Yes. You must make the way for the sea to be poured into a thimble, for the stars to all be held in a bucket of milk. You must make of yourself a vessel for the universe entire, and that is no small thing.
But that is what you seek, that is the way of it. Reflect on the concept of receptivity, and hollow yourself out so that your essence is . . . passive. Not unresponsive, but able to move out of the way. You can use Us to fill in what has been made empty by your own passing. Like any other act, it will be difficult on the first attempt. Like the nervous virgin, you will be tight and cannot hold much (and I have known very many spiritual virgins . . .). But, as you grow, the more you hold, the more you can hold, and the sooner you will attain that which you seek.
Still, it's very much like sex, so if you have hang-ups about that, they may come to haunt you here. They will come and live with you, filling up that space where you would have us live, where you would put all the universe you can stand. And that . . . will not do. But to open the way to ecstasy, make of yourself a vessel. Even I have done it, from time to time . . . although you can well imagine I can hold a little more than the average one of you, yes?
When you allow the universe, All that Is, to penetrate you for even one shining moment . . . or, by proxy for it, any of Us . . . you learn a little better how to respond to it the rest of the time. That's how you respect us in the morning: by remembering how to talk to us waking as well as you do when sleeping or meditating. Sex is good. Moments of mind-shattering ecstasy are wonderful (and I'm an expert). But it's the respect in the morning that really gets the job done as far as we're concerned.
Do you understand? It's important, it's what keeps the task going once the fun is just a memory.
Some women have made a formal commitment as a Godspouse. In Flateyjarbók, there is a story in which a temple of Frey is managed by a priestess who is known as the god's wife. There are also peasant traditions from Denmark, in which a maiden was “married” to a figure made from the last sheaf, representing Wodan and called “the Old Man” (de Vries 1931). So far as I know, the first to actually go through a marriage ritual with Odin in modern times was Freya Aswynn, author of Leaves of Yggdrasil and Powers and Principles of the Runes. She began to sense Odin's presence in the early 1980s, when she was still practicing Wicca and the Western Mystery tradition, and dedicated herself to him. In 1993, she suffered a psychic assault that “astrally” disconnected her. This is how she describes it.
One day I woke up and Odin was gone! So far as I was concerned, I was finished and ready to “go and see him in person” and find out what the f*** was going on. As I was contemplating my one-way ticket to Asgard, my wolf brother rang up with some question or comment about Valkyries, and he intuited that something was very wrong.
He went out on a vision quest and contacted Odin about this matter. Odin showed him a little crusted cap of some rust colored material on my crown chakra. Kveldulfr was instructed by Odin to strike it with Gungnir, the cap burst apart and I was back to normal. I was however very anxious about the fact that any asshole with a grudge could disconnect me from Odin, my Inner Plane contact. I was thinking about finding a way to eliminate this possibility forever, well at least for this incarnation. I had the idea, but not quite the audacity, to suggest it.
I had read in Voodoo literature that devotees sometimes “married” the Loa. At the same time, I knew that in Sweden in the Middle Ages a female priestess was considered by all to be the bride of Frey and drove around with a cart and Frey's statue. When I very subtly questioned Kveldulfr, by coincidence he had come across “Contributions to the Study of Othin” by Jan de Vries. In this was mention of a ritual involving the “last sheaf” and Wodan. After due consideration and various consultations, we decided that this was the only way for me to progress, both esoterically as well as for personal spiritual growth. On the 28th of November 1993, with a small circle of kinsfolk in attendance, I was married to Wodan. The ceremony was based on a traditional agricultural harvest rite, written and researched by Kveldulfr Gundarsson. The vows I took are personal.
From the beginning in '83, I somehow always was aware of his presence. This became even stronger after the wedding until 2002 or thereabouts, then life went to shit and I had to fight for my survival in the mundane. He was still there though. I always had and have access to His guidance and I even surprise myself as to the accuracy of my Rune Readings. In addition to this, I have ever since my wedding been in excellent health considering my age, which is sixty-seven.
For a deeper discussion of oaths and initiations, see appendix 1.
I myself have never been called to make this particular commitment. By the time I realized how deeply connected to Odin I had become, a formal recognition seemed redundant. My status is more like that of one of his old girlfriends, and I think that leaving me with apparent freedom makes it easier for him to work through me in connecting to other Powers.
Odin may not be visible, but a relationship with him is very real and may cause difficulties in the human partner's other relationships. Taking this step requires careful negotiation. For a discussion of the issues, see the collection of articles under the link for godspousery at https://darkam-berdragon.wordpress.com, especially those from Beth Lynch.
Oski is the Desired One, but what do we desire? We have spoken here of Odin and women, but gender is not relevant when an empty heart desires to be filled.
The gifts we ask of him as the Jul being are not the ones we want when the crops have failed or the foe is at the gates. When Odin follows his desires, almost invariably it is because a greater purpose must be served.
Practice
1. Hold a dinner party for Oski.
The dinner can be for two or a feast to which you invite others who honor him. Set a place for each guest, including one for the god. At one ritual that happened to be on Sadie Hawkins Day (February 29), we also set places for each of the goddesses with whom Odin has a relationship.
As you eat and drink, tell stories that honor him. A color scheme of blue and silver will set the scene. Serve whatever delicacies you feel he would like. Drinks may include red wine, akvavit, or mead. When dinner is over, set the contents of Odin's plate outside where they may be consumed by local ravens and wolves or their equivalents.
2. Bless a cup of mead, then sit down and write a poem.
It does not have to be complicated—free verse or simple four-beat alliterative lines like the ones in the poem below will give you the right to taste the mead. The topic can be Odin, or love, or simply something that moves you.
3. Fifth Night Meditation: The Desired One
Set up your altar as usual and light an orange candle. You may combine this practice with the feast for Odin described above. Then say:
Odin, by these names I call you:
Oski (God of Wishes, Fulfiller of Desire)
Sadh or Sann (True One)
Thekk (Pleasant, Much Liked, Clever)
Unn or Udh (Lover, Beloved)
Njótr (User, Enjoyer)
Glapsvidhr (Seducer)
Oski, our/my desires fulfilling,
Welcome, Wish-father, to our/my hall!
To Thy delight let us/me drink deeply—
Thekk, our/my thanks we/I offer thee!
Or
Wild as the wind Your ecstasy,
Deep as the sea my desire.
Solid as stone Your love for me,
my need more fierce than fire.
This moment is set apart for you,
I open my heart and my hall.
Joy is a gift I give back to you,
Odin, I offer You all.
Close your eyes and think about what you have just said. What things do you desire—the desires that are created by need not frivolities. What do you want and why do you want it? Who would it benefit, and what would you be willing to give to the god to achieve your desire? When your thoughts are clear, sit quietly, counting your breaths and opening your heart for his reply.
The Head-Ransom
Lord, hearken to't
(Well beseems that),
What song I've wrought,
If there's silence got.
Most men heard say
How the King made fray;
But Odin saw
Where the slain men lay.
Wax'd rattle of swords
With clank of wards;
Sour wax'd round Lord:
Lord ranged for'rd.
Heard was the croon
Of the iron-storm's tune:
Sword-river's moan,
Where the spate swirl'd down.
No jot waver'd
The web dart-broider'd,
Where the King's merry
Spear-fields serry,
In bloody shallows
‘Neath banners wallows
Seal's plain, and thunder
Gives tongue from under.
On the shore the folk sink
‘Neath javelins’ clink,
Loud fame gat
Eric from that.
—verses from “The Head-Ransom”
by Egil Skallagrimsson, translated by E. R. Eddison
(1930, 1968)
Fig. 14. Sigfather
CHAPTER SEVEN
Battle God
Egil Skallagrimsson is one of the most striking figures from the Icelandic saga era, a truly Odinic hero. We saw something of his rune lore in chapter 4, but he is best known as a skjald and warrior. The verses above are from a poem called “The Head-Ransom,” written while he was a prisoner of his enemy King Eric Blood-Axe to persuade the king to let him go free. Translated by novelist E. R. Eddison, it captures the gusto with which the Viking Age skjalds celebrated war and the kings who waged it.
As Victory father, Odin provided battle magic, protection, and advice. He is the patron of the bear-sarks and the wolf-coats who were used as shock troops in battle, and lord of the einherior, the heroes who wait for Ragnarök in Valhalla. Today, this aspect resonates with people in the military or other professions involving stress or danger and can be an inspiration to men in prison as well.
The Father of Armies
In Price's list of Odin's names, those relating to warfare comprise 25 percent of the whole. This total is hardly surprising, considering that the people who most often made war were also the people who paid the poets, who, in turn, must have spent a lot of time thinking up new and different ways to refer to the god to whom their patrons sacrificed for victory. The selection of names discussed below covers the variety of martial roles that Odin mastered.
As a leader of armies Odin is Herjafadhr (Army Father) along with six other names with the element her, a term originally referring to a troop of raiders rather than a formally organized army. Kershaw (2000, 17) defines him as having originally been the mythical leader and personification of the herr. He is also Ófnir (Inciter), Hvatmódh (Whet Courage), Sigfadhr (Victory Father), and eight other names that include Sig. Among combat names, we find Atrith (Attacking Rider), Geirdrottin (Lord of the Spear), and eight other names with “spear” as an element. The spear Gungnir is Odin's emblematic weapon. He is also Göllnir (Battle Screamer), Herteit (Glad in Battle), Hildolf (Battle Wolf), Hjalmberi (Helmet Bearer), Járngrím (Iron Mask), Svölnir (Shield Bearer), and Vidhurr (Killer). Names that indicate his role in battle magic include Haptagudh (Fetter God) and Hramm (Fetterer, Ripper), and possibly Gunnblindi (Battle Blind) and Herblindi (Army Blind).
Interestingly enough, despite all these titles, in the mythology the only fight in which we see Odin personally taking the field is the one in which he faces the Fenris Wolf at Ragnarök, t
he fight that he will lose. Thor fights giants in single combat, Snorri says warriors should call on Tyr, and in Skirnismál, Frey is called “general of the gods.” Yet it is Odin to whom kings sacrificed for victory.
For an image of the god in this role, look online for the Arthur Rackham picture of Wotan galloping off to punish Brünnhilde for disobeying him (from the illustrated libretto for Wagner's Die Walküre).
Battle Magic
The spells at the end of Hávamál describe the kinds of aid Odin can give. Some of them are protective. Spell number three blunts the blades of enemies so they will not cut. Number five stops arrows in flight. With the eleventh and thirteenth spells (Hávamál 156, 158), Odin protects his followers—
I know an eleventh, if I shall to battle
Lead old friends,
Under shields I sing, and they fare with might,
Whole (healthy) into battle,
Whole from the battle,
Whole wherever they walk.
But as we see from the names listed above, despite all the spear shaking, it is mind power that Odin uses to bestow victory. Odin whips up the spirits and courage of the side he favors, while he blinds the minds and binds the limbs of the foe. When Sun Tzu says in The Art of War that subduing the enemy without fighting is the supreme art of war, he is talking about the psychological element in warfare that can overcome physical advantage.
There are two parts to that equation. Standing fast while you face a line of other people who seek to kill you takes the conviction that your leader is worth following, that the people standing with you in the line are worth dying for and feel the same about you, and that you yourself are the “scariest M—F—in the valley.” It helps if you believe that the gods are on your side. In Ynglingasaga 2, Snorri describes Odin's ability as a morale builder:
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