While reading Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe my husband turned to me and asked me; Do you know Habetrot? I didn’t know her. So I googled her, oh my lucky stars did I want to know her. This story is quite different from where we have been before. I fell in love with Habetrot and her tribe of spinning spinsters…so here you go, I would encourage you to read the entire tale.
http://www.allfiberarts.com/library/poetry/blhabetrot-f.htm
In the beginning is a lovely woman child who is just not good at spinning. She is the outdoorsy type. Today we would call her a granola. It is not that she disdains the art of spinning, she really wants to please her mother and her society she just is not good at it. No amount of beatings and coercion can make her good at it. In the past when spinning was so important to the livelihood of the family this was a serious flaw, but nature is nature. In our current world we also have certain expectations of what girls should be or do. Sometimes they are just not that way like in our story. I really want my daughter to become a medical doctor, but that might not be her nature at all. She might really want to join a Harry Potter rockabilly band. I think this is a valuable lesson for mothers here in this story; girls do not always do what we would like them to do. Sometimes if the girl is resourceful and smart that is the best thing for her.
Upon the girls despair she runs into Habetrot next to the self-bored stone. Habetrot offers to help her. And she takes the lint with her to her group of earth spinning women. When the girl wakes up she hears Habetrot say “I’ve promised the yarn and Habetrot always keeps her promise”. I have wanted to write about promises for a while, but have yet to have the opportunity until now. As heathens we take pride in keeping our word. We hold our words sacred especially those spoken into the horn. Along with the words spoken externally as sacred so should the words spoken internally. Promises made to oneself should be as sacred as promises made to another person. If we as women cannot hold ourselves to the promises made internally how can anyone externally hold us to a promise made? Heathenry starts in the spirit first, then the hearth and then maybe the tribe if part of one. On this new moon be mindful of promises you make to yourself. If you say I will walk 5 miles today then do it. If you say I will learn how to make cheese this weekend then do it. Hold yourself to your own words. Be your own Thule!
In the beginning I asked if you knew Habetrot. I am still asking that question right now. Is she a spinning goddess? Is she an earth goddess? Is she a land wight? Is she a disir? Is she an old maid part of a tribe? Or is she all of those things? Myths and Symbols put her as a land wight. Some folklorists make her to be a goddess on par with Frau Holle. The spinning goddesses are a powerful lot, and should never be underestimated. Spinning is the work solely for women, and these goddesses are all about the divine feminine. I have never spun thread, and I can imagine very few modern women have spun. I would like to try it, as I get the impression the repeated monotonous motion would lend itself easily to travel between the worlds. The mind free to wander as the body stays to do the work. I think it would be a good experiment, so if any Heathenettes try this let me know. But back to Habetrot I think why Davidson puts her in the land wight bucket is because she lives under the self-bored stone. Which makes sense to us. But I am not sold on the idea of her being a land spirit. Whatever she is, she is a powerful motivator and leader. Which we could always use more of in Heathenry.
As a person who is less esoteric in my thinking than most Heathens what I see in Habetrot is a real person in a tribe. If we look at her in a tribal archetypal position, in my mind, it makes more sense. Not every woman will marry in a tribe, and some will marry and their husbands will die. If unmarried how would they support themselves? A few days ago I was browsing through craigslist and there was a posting for a free piece of cake! Wow a free piece of cake, so I clicked on the link. The woman who was giving away the free pieces of cake said she would travel anywhere in the metro area to give them a piece. The pieces of cake looked very good from the photograph. And then if you really liked the free piece of cake you could buy the whole cake for $20. This is when I thought of Habetrot. This is exactly what she did, secured an income for herself and the unmarried women. By knowing or spae that the girl would become the Lairds wife, she quickly took advantage of the situation. When the Laird did not want his new wife to become disfigured he gave Habetrot the contract! What a clever thing she did.
This story embodies the essence of my blog. This story is all about place in society. And making a place in society if there is not one yet created. The girl/now bride found her place as the Laird’s wife. This was perfect for her as she could be outdoors as much as she wanted and fulfill her true nature. She married a man who encouraged her to fulfill her true nature. Habetrot created a place for herself. Where some unmarried women became drains on their families Habetrot stood up made a career out of the divine feminine. Not all of us are spinners, not all of us are the wives of Laird’s, but there is a place for each and every one of us!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
If I were to have a patron goddess….
It would be Frau Holle. The original goddess of the wild hunt, and supreme earth mother. I love the story of Frau Holle because this is where a deity was allowed to live on in the consciousness of a people. Through the underestimation of the power of our mother goddesses. So sit back enjoy as we fall deep into our well of the unconscious feminine memory.
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm024.html
After looking through so many tales I think the symbolism is fairly straight forward at the beginning here. We have our girl who has begun to bleed and transforms into a woman. When the reel was completely bloody that is when she is ushered into a parallel world. The world of the gods. This is the destiny of all women even if ignored. All women have the power to walk between the worlds, and I believe this is the power to walk between our conscious and unconscious selves. Jung made this popular, but this is not something new points out Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill: “The way so-called depth psychologists go on about the subconscious nowadays you'd swear they had invented it, or at the very least stumbled on a ghostly and ghastly continent where mankind had never previously set foot. Even the dogs in the street in West Kerry know that the "otherworld" exists, and that to be in and out of it constantly is the most natural thing in the world....”
In the parallel world the heroine comes across talking bread and talking apple trees. Our American psyche has labeled bread as an evil. Carbs are bad. I think it is funny that a unit of food is labeled as evil or bad, but that is my personal opinion. The wonder bread of the supermarket is not the most optimum source of nourishment. Most of the breads sold in grocery stores contain high fructose corn syrup which do a number on the liver. (Just to combat the HFCS advertising when HFCS is ingested the body thinks it is getting sugar and prepares the proper chemical release to handle the sugar. The problem is HFCS is significantly more sweet than sugar so the body cannot keep up thus damaging the liver. And HFCS in moderation is NOT the same as sugar don’t believe the advertising!) Bread made with whole grains and natural yeast is very nourishing and good for your body. Natural fermentation of bread produces enzymes that are very good for the body. Here is how to make your own sourdough starter using natural yeasts in your geographical area. *this is taken from Paul Pitchford’s Healing with Whole Foods
Sourdough Starter
1 cup water
1 cup whole-wheat flour
In a sterilized jar and with a sterilized spoon mix flour and water. Cover with a cotton cloth. Live airborne yeasts will begin to turn it sour. Stir daily with sterilized spoon for uniform fermentation. After 3 days your starter will be ready. Loosely cover with lid and store in a cool place
Sourdough Bread
14 cups whole-wheat flour
5 cups water
1 ½ t. salt
1 cup sourdough starter
Mix 7 cups flour with water, salt and starter. Add remaining flour slowly until dough becomes to thick to stir. Knead gently until smooth, uniform and elastic. Cover and let rise 2 hours in non metal bowl. Replenish starter. Knead dough again. Shape into 3 or 4 loaves. Cut shallow slits in top to keep from cracking. Place in oiled and floured bread pans. Cover let rise 4-6 hours. Place in cold oven with a pan of plain water on oven floor. Bake at 425 F for 15 min. Lower heat to 350 F continue cooking until golden about 45 minutes.
The newly bleeding girl now meets Frau Holle. From Frau Holle the girl refines her skills to make her a better bride. She is so industrious Frau Holle rewards her with a dowry. With the help of the earth mother she is magically transformed.
In a previous post I talked about the fact we do not have a ritual in modern society of a girl starting menstruation. Saying good bye to the girl we were. While reading Women’s work by Elizabeth Wayland Barber I came across the “string skirt”. Barber conjectures that the string skirt was symbolic of having reached menarche, but not menopause. Of childbearing age. This would be an awesome tradition to incorporate into our Heathen ways. The women of the tribe work on making a string skirt for the young girl who has reached puberty. Recognizing her new status in the community and blessing her with fertility for the future. Of course Frau Holle would be the one called upon.
Our young woman is ready now to walk among the conscious. She is ready to be part of society and find a mate. I think this is interesting as most teenage girls do seem to be sleep walking. I know I did. I barely remember 13-17. I see flashes of memory but always with a dark haze over them. I slept a lot, and when I was awake I still was asleep. In future posts I will talk about this stage of life as we have many tales that teach us about our sleeping phase.
The other daughter goes through the same process, and has very different results. This girl was not fit for marriage. Frau Holle can guide someone who is willing and ready, but she can’t guide someone who is lazy and unwilling to work. On a spirit level I think there is a lesson here. Those who dabble into a parallel world will end up with pitch or a curse. Those who are diligent in their work with be blessed with riches. We cannot think going to the world of the gods is going to be a walk in the park like the other daughter did, it takes hard diligent work.
In the end of spirit or of material the moral to all Heathen women is the same, the industrious woman will receive the blessing. A good solid Germanic moral. So happy baking and WAES HAEIL!!!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Awkward hussies, crazy blockheads and wretches
And today I am a little late, last time to early now late. We are preparing our way to moot in the Poconos so it has been more hectic than normal. I have read that this is a little known tale, but it was my favorite growing up. I would read and retell the story over and over. I remember playing pretend to this fairy tale also. So I will share my gem with you today. It is Snow White & Rose Red.
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/rosered/index.html#THIRTY9RET
As we can see from the tale we are challenged with the same themes I have talked about before; duality of the sacred feminine, beast husbands, and transformation.
There are some very interesting other gems within this tale, that puzzled me as a child. The first aspect of the tale is the naming of the girls. The girls are named after 2 beautiful rose bushes on the land. It was the custom to plant roses on someone’s grave, so I can’t help be reminded of our Heathen custom of naming our children after our ancestors. If the tale just said Sara & Jane we would not have known that they took the names of ancestors, but snow white & rose red we are given a clue of ancestral reverence. I have raised a horn to my “little ancestors” our future children. Maybe the child is the reincarnation of the ancestor whose name it bears, or maybe its cellular memory causes the child to resemble the ancestor. Either way it is a beautiful blessing to have a “little ancestor”.
There are so many Rose myths about the creation of the red rose. But always the rose started out white and then was transformed into red. I have read the dog rose rosa canina was dedicated to the goddess Frigg. And to me this makes sense as most of the fairy tales are about making one suitable for marriage. So the goddess of marriage and motherhood would be a beautiful symbol in a tale. Our goddess representations are all around us we need to have a watchful eye.
The red rose is our modern symbol of love. Our lovers day is almost upon us. I have heard women say they do not like roses. Maybe they really feel that way I don’t know, but being presented with a bouquet of red roses, to me, is the essence of the divine feminine. Some say cut flowers are a waste of money. And being ever so vigilant of my families pocket book I can see how it would appear as a waste of money. Flowers cut or in a garden represent the cycle of life. And like I said, the divine feminine cycle of life. Budding, Blooming, Dying.
Roses were used as a protection for milk and butter. When I first read that I thought hmmm…most women are far removed from the farm. The milk most drink is pasteurized, as is the butter. I drink whole raw milk from a local farm. When I tell people I drink this milk they always tell me of so and so who caught some illness from raw milk. And it is very true raw milk can carry disease. But instead of caring for the cows/farms and making them clean the government has banned raw milk and pasteurized it. If you are interested in raw milk here is a very good resource to learn about it’s benefits. http://www.realmilk.com/
A note is made on surlalune which I found very interesting. The women sat around the hearth reading to each other. We may not think this is a big deal, but it really is. These ladies are educated. A very important lesson for Heathen women. Education is paramount. Our daughters must be educated. Not just in things domestic, but in maths, science, philosophy etc. This is what attracts the bear to his future mate.
Now we meet the evil dwarf. I have to say he is pretty evil. He says some really mean things to the girls. The bears approach to solving the dwarf problem and the girls approach are radically different. This is the difference between men and women. Sometimes women give and give and all they get in return is name calling. Why the girls kept helping this insolent dwarf mystified me as a child. And I am still a little perplexed, but when I look at the Women who love to much book on Amazon I see this is a big problem for women. When reading the story I get the impression the cycle would have continued forever. The dwarf is so ungrateful for them saving his life he even offers them up as sacrifice instead of himself.
As a society there are whole groups of people with this dwarf’s mentality. And I am sure there are many within your own families who act like this. In a wise woman seminar I went to once the whole lecture was how as women we can say no. By saying no we force others to stand on their own. The girls were constantly helping the dwarf out of his situations that he got himself into, until one day they could not help him anymore.
As a child I always thought it was so funny that out of nowhere the prince had a brother. Popped up “and rose red married the prince bears brother”. Where did he come from? Who is he? Why wasn’t he helping the bear hold on to his treasure in the first place? But it does not really matter in the end. If they are the same girl, or if they are separate girls they both found love in the end. And may you also find love!
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/rosered/index.html#THIRTY9RET
As we can see from the tale we are challenged with the same themes I have talked about before; duality of the sacred feminine, beast husbands, and transformation.
There are some very interesting other gems within this tale, that puzzled me as a child. The first aspect of the tale is the naming of the girls. The girls are named after 2 beautiful rose bushes on the land. It was the custom to plant roses on someone’s grave, so I can’t help be reminded of our Heathen custom of naming our children after our ancestors. If the tale just said Sara & Jane we would not have known that they took the names of ancestors, but snow white & rose red we are given a clue of ancestral reverence. I have raised a horn to my “little ancestors” our future children. Maybe the child is the reincarnation of the ancestor whose name it bears, or maybe its cellular memory causes the child to resemble the ancestor. Either way it is a beautiful blessing to have a “little ancestor”.
There are so many Rose myths about the creation of the red rose. But always the rose started out white and then was transformed into red. I have read the dog rose rosa canina was dedicated to the goddess Frigg. And to me this makes sense as most of the fairy tales are about making one suitable for marriage. So the goddess of marriage and motherhood would be a beautiful symbol in a tale. Our goddess representations are all around us we need to have a watchful eye.
The red rose is our modern symbol of love. Our lovers day is almost upon us. I have heard women say they do not like roses. Maybe they really feel that way I don’t know, but being presented with a bouquet of red roses, to me, is the essence of the divine feminine. Some say cut flowers are a waste of money. And being ever so vigilant of my families pocket book I can see how it would appear as a waste of money. Flowers cut or in a garden represent the cycle of life. And like I said, the divine feminine cycle of life. Budding, Blooming, Dying.
Roses were used as a protection for milk and butter. When I first read that I thought hmmm…most women are far removed from the farm. The milk most drink is pasteurized, as is the butter. I drink whole raw milk from a local farm. When I tell people I drink this milk they always tell me of so and so who caught some illness from raw milk. And it is very true raw milk can carry disease. But instead of caring for the cows/farms and making them clean the government has banned raw milk and pasteurized it. If you are interested in raw milk here is a very good resource to learn about it’s benefits. http://www.realmilk.com/
A note is made on surlalune which I found very interesting. The women sat around the hearth reading to each other. We may not think this is a big deal, but it really is. These ladies are educated. A very important lesson for Heathen women. Education is paramount. Our daughters must be educated. Not just in things domestic, but in maths, science, philosophy etc. This is what attracts the bear to his future mate.
Now we meet the evil dwarf. I have to say he is pretty evil. He says some really mean things to the girls. The bears approach to solving the dwarf problem and the girls approach are radically different. This is the difference between men and women. Sometimes women give and give and all they get in return is name calling. Why the girls kept helping this insolent dwarf mystified me as a child. And I am still a little perplexed, but when I look at the Women who love to much book on Amazon I see this is a big problem for women. When reading the story I get the impression the cycle would have continued forever. The dwarf is so ungrateful for them saving his life he even offers them up as sacrifice instead of himself.
As a society there are whole groups of people with this dwarf’s mentality. And I am sure there are many within your own families who act like this. In a wise woman seminar I went to once the whole lecture was how as women we can say no. By saying no we force others to stand on their own. The girls were constantly helping the dwarf out of his situations that he got himself into, until one day they could not help him anymore.
As a child I always thought it was so funny that out of nowhere the prince had a brother. Popped up “and rose red married the prince bears brother”. Where did he come from? Who is he? Why wasn’t he helping the bear hold on to his treasure in the first place? But it does not really matter in the end. If they are the same girl, or if they are separate girls they both found love in the end. And may you also find love!
Friday, January 9, 2009
An apple a day keeps the trolls away
I am a little early as we still have about 36 hours before the moon is totally full. My weekend is chock full of activities so I need to write this today. Let’s start off with the delightful tea of vanilla rooibos & red clover to honor the full womb/moon. It sounds like a strange combination but it quite good and nourishing. I am going to write about the story ‘east of the sun west of the moon’ an enchanting Norwegian tale.
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/eastsunwestmoon/index.html
Above is an annotated version, I don’t always agree with the notes but they are interesting none the less. This story is very complex and there are many layers to the tale. As with many of the tales we have been given this tale is about the transition from girlhood to motherhood. We start off with an arranged marriage. Not just any arranged marriage, but a marriage to a beast. This is no longer part of the paradigm of western women, but we can all imagine what it must have been like to be forced into marriage. I can imagine to a young girl any man would be a beast of sorts. This kind of tale like beauty and the beast teach the girl men can change into decent human beings.
For so many years I have heard physiologists say do not try to change a man. Wouldn’t that be nice. But any Heathen woman truly connected to her folk soul knows we have to change our men. If we didn’t we would be living in filthy homes and have Budweiser breakfasts; true beasts. A strong Heathen woman can take a beast man and make him into a civilized man. I have seen it time and time again. Men I thought would never settle down, once the right woman came along they did change and became house bound. Not only did they become house bound they told me they were happy! My Heathen husband has made remarkable transformation for the better. He is a true gentleman, but it took a lot of work and nagging. My husband says to me quit nagging me, and I say back to him if I didn’t love you I wouldn’t nag. A woman who loves her husband wants to see him transform to be the best he can be, and we nag for it.
Our Lass riding on the back of her new beast husband on her way to a faraway place. I have read many a commentary about the sexual nature of this. I am not sure I agree with it, but it could be the moving from girl to sexual girl with the symbolism of riding on the beasts back.
As our Lass settles into the castle it is not a normal place, and she has never seen her husband although lying next to him in bed. I have to think this is a retelling of the Psyche and Cupid tale by the northwomen. Her mother convinces her to look upon her husband.
This is what most modern interpretations take from the story. And most equate this to adultery. I get the feeling though this is a broader spectrum than just adultery. It is anything we refuse to face as women. And all of us do this in our lives. We choose, and I will state this again WE CHOOSE to live in darkness. We may not know we have made the choice, but we have. Adultery is the easiest, because when our partner is unfaithful we know it, but many times choose not to address it. But there are many other things that we ignore instead of deal with. I was 5 months pregnant, I was sitting in my car and I thought to myself wow this is weird my pants still fit me. A week later I was walking around at a county fair and I felt wetness. I thought to myself wow I must be sweating a lot. What I knew, but refused to hold a candle to, my baby was dead. A week later I was forced to deal with the fact. The mother is the one who counsels us to look where we fear to tread. The divine mother who knows it is better to deal with something now rather than wait for it to blow up. She appears to be a nag, but like I said earlier she would not nag if she did not love. The beast is afraid of her, he is afraid of her wisdom and tries to prevent the Lass from talking to her mother. No one can stop the concern from our Disir, they will speak and if we listen we will be rewarded.
Our Lass travels to find her lost love. She is given 3 things by 3 crones. A golden Apple. A golden carding comb. A golden spindle. The 3 things to make a perfect wife. Fertility, Physical Beauty and domestic excellence. From this story I see another transition in the divine feminine moving from being sexual to being wife. This fits in with our model today. We are sexual long before we are wife. The awakening of the sexual part of our being helps in the transition to the domestic part of our beings.
The golden apple. We love our golden apples as they make us think of Idunna. The beautiful goddess. Here is a wassail from North Somerset to the apple tree you can say the next time you pass one or are in an orchard:
Old Apple Tree, we wassail thee
And hoping thou wilt bear
For the Lord doth know, where we shall be,
Till apples come another year
To bear well and bloom well,
So merry let us be
Let every man take off his hat
And shout to the Old Apple Tree
Old Apple Tree, we wassail thee
And hoping thou wilt bear
Hats full, caps full, three-bushel bags full
And a little heap under the stairs
I will touch briefly on the troll bride because there is a beautiful story for the duality of bride I will talk about in a later time. Here we shown the duality of the feminine she is both troll bride and beautiful bride. As we all are. We cannot be beautiful bride all of the time, especially when we hold a candle to something we have chosen not to see. Every woman then becomes Troll. Some women cause thousands of dollars of damage, but we all know the feeling of being cheated on and what it does to our personalities.
Through the domestic wonders of our beautiful bride she is able to win the prince and bear children. Our tale is about transformation. Men can transform yes, but usually always with the help of a woman. A woman transforms on her own through examining her own person, examining her shadow her troll. Let us all celebrate the journey to transformation!
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/eastsunwestmoon/index.html
Above is an annotated version, I don’t always agree with the notes but they are interesting none the less. This story is very complex and there are many layers to the tale. As with many of the tales we have been given this tale is about the transition from girlhood to motherhood. We start off with an arranged marriage. Not just any arranged marriage, but a marriage to a beast. This is no longer part of the paradigm of western women, but we can all imagine what it must have been like to be forced into marriage. I can imagine to a young girl any man would be a beast of sorts. This kind of tale like beauty and the beast teach the girl men can change into decent human beings.
For so many years I have heard physiologists say do not try to change a man. Wouldn’t that be nice. But any Heathen woman truly connected to her folk soul knows we have to change our men. If we didn’t we would be living in filthy homes and have Budweiser breakfasts; true beasts. A strong Heathen woman can take a beast man and make him into a civilized man. I have seen it time and time again. Men I thought would never settle down, once the right woman came along they did change and became house bound. Not only did they become house bound they told me they were happy! My Heathen husband has made remarkable transformation for the better. He is a true gentleman, but it took a lot of work and nagging. My husband says to me quit nagging me, and I say back to him if I didn’t love you I wouldn’t nag. A woman who loves her husband wants to see him transform to be the best he can be, and we nag for it.
Our Lass riding on the back of her new beast husband on her way to a faraway place. I have read many a commentary about the sexual nature of this. I am not sure I agree with it, but it could be the moving from girl to sexual girl with the symbolism of riding on the beasts back.
As our Lass settles into the castle it is not a normal place, and she has never seen her husband although lying next to him in bed. I have to think this is a retelling of the Psyche and Cupid tale by the northwomen. Her mother convinces her to look upon her husband.
This is what most modern interpretations take from the story. And most equate this to adultery. I get the feeling though this is a broader spectrum than just adultery. It is anything we refuse to face as women. And all of us do this in our lives. We choose, and I will state this again WE CHOOSE to live in darkness. We may not know we have made the choice, but we have. Adultery is the easiest, because when our partner is unfaithful we know it, but many times choose not to address it. But there are many other things that we ignore instead of deal with. I was 5 months pregnant, I was sitting in my car and I thought to myself wow this is weird my pants still fit me. A week later I was walking around at a county fair and I felt wetness. I thought to myself wow I must be sweating a lot. What I knew, but refused to hold a candle to, my baby was dead. A week later I was forced to deal with the fact. The mother is the one who counsels us to look where we fear to tread. The divine mother who knows it is better to deal with something now rather than wait for it to blow up. She appears to be a nag, but like I said earlier she would not nag if she did not love. The beast is afraid of her, he is afraid of her wisdom and tries to prevent the Lass from talking to her mother. No one can stop the concern from our Disir, they will speak and if we listen we will be rewarded.
Our Lass travels to find her lost love. She is given 3 things by 3 crones. A golden Apple. A golden carding comb. A golden spindle. The 3 things to make a perfect wife. Fertility, Physical Beauty and domestic excellence. From this story I see another transition in the divine feminine moving from being sexual to being wife. This fits in with our model today. We are sexual long before we are wife. The awakening of the sexual part of our being helps in the transition to the domestic part of our beings.
The golden apple. We love our golden apples as they make us think of Idunna. The beautiful goddess. Here is a wassail from North Somerset to the apple tree you can say the next time you pass one or are in an orchard:
Old Apple Tree, we wassail thee
And hoping thou wilt bear
For the Lord doth know, where we shall be,
Till apples come another year
To bear well and bloom well,
So merry let us be
Let every man take off his hat
And shout to the Old Apple Tree
Old Apple Tree, we wassail thee
And hoping thou wilt bear
Hats full, caps full, three-bushel bags full
And a little heap under the stairs
I will touch briefly on the troll bride because there is a beautiful story for the duality of bride I will talk about in a later time. Here we shown the duality of the feminine she is both troll bride and beautiful bride. As we all are. We cannot be beautiful bride all of the time, especially when we hold a candle to something we have chosen not to see. Every woman then becomes Troll. Some women cause thousands of dollars of damage, but we all know the feeling of being cheated on and what it does to our personalities.
Through the domestic wonders of our beautiful bride she is able to win the prince and bear children. Our tale is about transformation. Men can transform yes, but usually always with the help of a woman. A woman transforms on her own through examining her own person, examining her shadow her troll. Let us all celebrate the journey to transformation!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Seven Tears into the ocean
I was laying in a hot tub with an herbal oil that I made thinking about my empty womb and the empty moon. In my mind I saw a naked woman standing on the shore. I saw her under a new moon on the isle of Skye with a peat fire in the distance. We all know this woman even if we don't know her name, she is the Selkie Woman. Every woman is a Selkie Woman and she is empty like we are empty once a month. Here is a version I really like. This folklorist tale puts in details that make the story come alive, but the essence remains exactly the same.
http://www.chalicecentre.net/selkie.htm
I was not raised with this tale. This tale was introduced to me through a book called 'Spinning straw into gold' by Joan Gould. Ms. Gould is a very good author and this book is a good read. The story had a profound impact upon me. In fact from the time of my last post to this one I had a in depth conversation about our Selkie woman with a co worker. My co worker is not of European decent, but the story resonates with all women. This woman is recently married, and 3 months ago gave her new husband a child. She told me she felt as if something was missing in her life and she was going to go to counseling to figure it out. I am not opposed to counseling, and have gone to counseling before. But there are things in life that are so human and in her/our case so feminine there is nothing a counselor could do. I told her this and told her the story of our Selkie woman. This is what I told her:
All women loose a part of themselves when they marry. This is the way. This is how it always has been and always will be. This is what keeps our species alive. Once we bear children again we loose a part of ourselves. Our European story tells us this. Somehow in our modern culture we think there is something wrong with this, but why? Those selkie men do not make good husbands the stories clearly tell us this. And you cannot continue to party under the new/full moon while there is a husband or children at home, but why would you really want to? That is who we were, accept who you are now.
During our conversation we chatted about past loves, and how those men would have been horrid fathers. It was a good conversation and any time I talk about our women's lore is good. As I sit here I cannot really think of how I mourned my maidenhood. I did not tell her goodbye, I did not honor her. That is not something that happens in our culture. The closest thing I can think of is when a bride is carried over the threshold. From one life to the next. But that is not very common anymore as most women think of it as a sexist act. I have to think that not acknowledging the transition somehow we are still left with the lingering thought that something is missing. I will think on this and do more research as this is the first time I have thought about a ritual of sorts to Honor the feminine transitions in life.
Our Selkie woman is so alone. She is empty. This is not a negative as emptiness is a transition into fullness. So honor the empty, honor the barren, honor the Selkie. I have found some interesting theories on the Selkie. When put in the context I am about to write it adds a richness to our stories. If what I write is true or not, know one can really know, but it is quite irrelevant as the lesson is still the same.
For quite some time many believed the Selkie and the Fin people were 2 distinct races of faerie. They most definitely are different now as our myths evolved through the centuries. But what if they are one in the same? If they have the same origin then our Selkie stories make more sense. And what if the Selkie/Fin were Saami fishermen? Sailing south because of the mini ice ages. And what if a northman fisherman rescued a Saami from the shores and they married? Ahh, then we see clarity in our story. Put in context religion. The Saami never really converted to Christianity. So the Christian fisherman marries the pagan Saami. She would have been so different from him she could have been from the ocean or mars.
Our Selkie/Saami woman now alone in a foreign country. She would have been a good mother. She would have loved her children. But she was not with her own kind. Instead of worshiping Skadi in the forest with her people she would be stuffed every Sunday into a church worshiping a god she had no connection to. When her husband is at sea she walks the shoreline to be closer to her gods as she has not given them up although stranded on new soil. When her husband is home during the long winter months she hums the songs of her gods and he sulks by the fire. The chance to worship her gods on her own soil must have been a powerful call. And she will be faced with a decision that will change everything.
Here I would like to point something out. In every version of the story I have read the fisherman is a good man and a good father. He is everything you want in a husband. He is not a drunkard. He has a job. He has a home. When home in the winter he spends it with his family. He loves his children and cares for them. He teaches his children how to fish and thus gives them a skill to sustain their lives. But this story is not about him. It is not a story for men, except maybe a cautionary tale to be careful whom you choose as a bride. But even then who is to know what decision a woman will make when faced with a choice? Some women hear the call so loudly it does not matter if the husband is good.
My mother used to say growing up "women don't just leave. there is always a reason why a woman leaves her family". But that is not a true statement, and years later I see the folly in this kind of thinking. My mother would use this as an excuse to remain unmarried. Every single man she would meet she would say the above statement, as they were all divorced. The truth of the matter is women do just leave. My husband and his first wife were married at 19. I imagine one day she woke up and said this is not the life I want. And she left. There were no children, but if there were I think she would have left them also. She is not a bad person, but when faced with the call of the selkie she made the decision to leave.
And in the context of our story being of the Saami, I imagine another happenstance of a Saami person sailing by as our Selkie woman walked the shore. Her sealskin had returned. Her way home. The story points out the children were almost grown. I wonder if she would have made the same decision if the children were still little. We will never know because that is not how it was told.
Most modern interpretations take the story literally, and I think there is a very literal point to the story like I mentioned with my husbands first wife. But what about the spirit side of the story? I was raised in a apocalyptic fundamentalist christian religion. One of my ex boyfriends broke up with me because he said he was afraid I would go back to the religion. As if the call would be too strong to resist. He was certain he was with a Selkie. If I look deep into my spirit honestly, I see the longing. When I left the religion I lost almost everything. When I say almost everything the only thing I did not loose was my spirit. If I were to listen to the call and return to the 'tribe' I would instantly get it all back. So there I was, empty. Godless, friendless, motherless, fatherless, homeless, and possession less. I would be welcomed back with open arms and I would get my inheritance. I would be the prodigal child. Just like our Selkie. One can never truly know the future or the decisions we are faced to make. So I will not say I would never go back to that religion, but the odds are very unlikely as my previous life was not a life of love, stability or nurturing.
My takeaway from a story like this is honor the inner Selkie woman. If we ignore her she will come and bite us in the ass, and we will feel as if there is no way out except to make the the most drastic of choices. So in this monthly time of emptiness do something that brings her honor. Take a bath with oils, get a massage or drink a hot cup of Skull cap, oat straw & angelica tea!
More info than you could imagine on the stories of the Selkie:
http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/selkiefolk/
http://www.chalicecentre.net/selkie.htm
I was not raised with this tale. This tale was introduced to me through a book called 'Spinning straw into gold' by Joan Gould. Ms. Gould is a very good author and this book is a good read. The story had a profound impact upon me. In fact from the time of my last post to this one I had a in depth conversation about our Selkie woman with a co worker. My co worker is not of European decent, but the story resonates with all women. This woman is recently married, and 3 months ago gave her new husband a child. She told me she felt as if something was missing in her life and she was going to go to counseling to figure it out. I am not opposed to counseling, and have gone to counseling before. But there are things in life that are so human and in her/our case so feminine there is nothing a counselor could do. I told her this and told her the story of our Selkie woman. This is what I told her:
All women loose a part of themselves when they marry. This is the way. This is how it always has been and always will be. This is what keeps our species alive. Once we bear children again we loose a part of ourselves. Our European story tells us this. Somehow in our modern culture we think there is something wrong with this, but why? Those selkie men do not make good husbands the stories clearly tell us this. And you cannot continue to party under the new/full moon while there is a husband or children at home, but why would you really want to? That is who we were, accept who you are now.
During our conversation we chatted about past loves, and how those men would have been horrid fathers. It was a good conversation and any time I talk about our women's lore is good. As I sit here I cannot really think of how I mourned my maidenhood. I did not tell her goodbye, I did not honor her. That is not something that happens in our culture. The closest thing I can think of is when a bride is carried over the threshold. From one life to the next. But that is not very common anymore as most women think of it as a sexist act. I have to think that not acknowledging the transition somehow we are still left with the lingering thought that something is missing. I will think on this and do more research as this is the first time I have thought about a ritual of sorts to Honor the feminine transitions in life.
Our Selkie woman is so alone. She is empty. This is not a negative as emptiness is a transition into fullness. So honor the empty, honor the barren, honor the Selkie. I have found some interesting theories on the Selkie. When put in the context I am about to write it adds a richness to our stories. If what I write is true or not, know one can really know, but it is quite irrelevant as the lesson is still the same.
For quite some time many believed the Selkie and the Fin people were 2 distinct races of faerie. They most definitely are different now as our myths evolved through the centuries. But what if they are one in the same? If they have the same origin then our Selkie stories make more sense. And what if the Selkie/Fin were Saami fishermen? Sailing south because of the mini ice ages. And what if a northman fisherman rescued a Saami from the shores and they married? Ahh, then we see clarity in our story. Put in context religion. The Saami never really converted to Christianity. So the Christian fisherman marries the pagan Saami. She would have been so different from him she could have been from the ocean or mars.
Our Selkie/Saami woman now alone in a foreign country. She would have been a good mother. She would have loved her children. But she was not with her own kind. Instead of worshiping Skadi in the forest with her people she would be stuffed every Sunday into a church worshiping a god she had no connection to. When her husband is at sea she walks the shoreline to be closer to her gods as she has not given them up although stranded on new soil. When her husband is home during the long winter months she hums the songs of her gods and he sulks by the fire. The chance to worship her gods on her own soil must have been a powerful call. And she will be faced with a decision that will change everything.
Here I would like to point something out. In every version of the story I have read the fisherman is a good man and a good father. He is everything you want in a husband. He is not a drunkard. He has a job. He has a home. When home in the winter he spends it with his family. He loves his children and cares for them. He teaches his children how to fish and thus gives them a skill to sustain their lives. But this story is not about him. It is not a story for men, except maybe a cautionary tale to be careful whom you choose as a bride. But even then who is to know what decision a woman will make when faced with a choice? Some women hear the call so loudly it does not matter if the husband is good.
My mother used to say growing up "women don't just leave. there is always a reason why a woman leaves her family". But that is not a true statement, and years later I see the folly in this kind of thinking. My mother would use this as an excuse to remain unmarried. Every single man she would meet she would say the above statement, as they were all divorced. The truth of the matter is women do just leave. My husband and his first wife were married at 19. I imagine one day she woke up and said this is not the life I want. And she left. There were no children, but if there were I think she would have left them also. She is not a bad person, but when faced with the call of the selkie she made the decision to leave.
And in the context of our story being of the Saami, I imagine another happenstance of a Saami person sailing by as our Selkie woman walked the shore. Her sealskin had returned. Her way home. The story points out the children were almost grown. I wonder if she would have made the same decision if the children were still little. We will never know because that is not how it was told.
Most modern interpretations take the story literally, and I think there is a very literal point to the story like I mentioned with my husbands first wife. But what about the spirit side of the story? I was raised in a apocalyptic fundamentalist christian religion. One of my ex boyfriends broke up with me because he said he was afraid I would go back to the religion. As if the call would be too strong to resist. He was certain he was with a Selkie. If I look deep into my spirit honestly, I see the longing. When I left the religion I lost almost everything. When I say almost everything the only thing I did not loose was my spirit. If I were to listen to the call and return to the 'tribe' I would instantly get it all back. So there I was, empty. Godless, friendless, motherless, fatherless, homeless, and possession less. I would be welcomed back with open arms and I would get my inheritance. I would be the prodigal child. Just like our Selkie. One can never truly know the future or the decisions we are faced to make. So I will not say I would never go back to that religion, but the odds are very unlikely as my previous life was not a life of love, stability or nurturing.
My takeaway from a story like this is honor the inner Selkie woman. If we ignore her she will come and bite us in the ass, and we will feel as if there is no way out except to make the the most drastic of choices. So in this monthly time of emptiness do something that brings her honor. Take a bath with oils, get a massage or drink a hot cup of Skull cap, oat straw & angelica tea!
More info than you could imagine on the stories of the Selkie:
http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/selkiefolk/
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Hazel Trees and Glass Slippers
Hello and happy full moon! My first real post on my blog to fulfill a boast I made at our Thanksgiving sumbel. I have a lot of things on my mind, but I thought I would start on one of the most famous stories we know in the west. Cinderella. This story is so powerful and filled with an immense amount of wisdom for the Heathen woman we just need to look for it, and think about it.
There are 2 popular versions of the story one from Grimm and one from Perrault. Both contain a similar story, but with changes to minor details. Here are the links to both versions you can read with a good cup of gingerbread spiced coffee which I am drinking now.
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/perrault06.html
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm021.html
Being of cinder is more than representing a life of service, but a life of mourning. We can see Cinderella mourning the loss of her mother. She mourns the loss of her station in life. She mourns a father who is unavailable and unloving. Grimm brings this home as he said she ‘wept and prayed’. I think of the times when I was in the ashes. Times when all I could do was weep and pray. Some spend their lives in this state. In the tale Cinderella asks for her father “break off for me the first twig that brushes against your hat on your way home." This action is what sets everything in motion. It is this request that propels her into action. As in life usually it is one simple action or decision that changes the course of our lives. Cinderella takes action by planting the twig, and she changes her life.
When faced with the times of the cinder, the times when life is so overwhelming the story teaches Heathen women we can make a difference. There is nothing too bad that we cannot change. There is nothing so mournful we cannot overcome. If we allow ourselves to sit in the cinder nothing good will ever come to us.
The tree she plants turns out to be the powerful Hazel tree. When I read that for the first time I think my head spun around. Holy crap she planted a Hazel tree!!! A reaffirmation these stories germinated from our own Heathen culture. To Celtic Irish the Hazel & nut were regarded as symbols of wisdom and knowledge. And like other nuts there existed the tradition of procreation and fertility. It is also said hazelnuts are bringers of good luck. I have also read where Irish immigrants immigrating to Vinland carried hazel twigs in their pockets for luck and protection. And it is with this rich back drop we are presented with the Hazel tree in the story.
Cinderella goes to the tree asking for help. For us we recognize exactly what she is doing here. The tree is part of her ancestral worship. And it is this tree that gives her the necessary skills to do what has to be done. The idea of dresses falling from the tree is so magical, but I like to look at things from a pragmatic point of view. If the tree is ancestral knowledge then she would have been shown the way to rise above her current situation. “Borrowing” a dress or as in the movie Ever After it is her rightful dress she puts on again. However she got the dresses, magic, stealing or family inheritance the fact of the mater is the same; she disobeyed her step mother. She was told not do something and that is exactly what she did. That is a powerful lesson for women, following orders is not going to get us what we desire in life. Especially when those orders are against our nature or against our station in life.
For Cinderella to be a capable mother she needed to go through this period in her life. I love when reading commentary about this story sometime we forget this is not a tale of rags to riches. This is a tale of a woman taking her rightful birth place. She takes action when it appears as if no action could be taken. As the cliché is born out we are our deeds.
Moving through the story Grimm gives us a shocking glimpse into the thought process of the family. The shoe is taken and given for the ladies of the household to try on. The first step sister cuts off her big toe as her mother says to her “When you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot." The next sister cuts off her heel and the mother says the same thing to her.
This tale seems shocking at first blush, but the more I thought about it the less shocking it became as I look at what women in our society do to make themselves eligible for marriage. Plastic surgery, cosmetics tested on animals, cosmetics that cause deliberate imbalances to our hormones, starvation and overall plain torture. Cinderella just was. Beautiful inside and out. Perrault shows us this in her kindness in dealing with her stepsisters.
I picked up a copy of Rosemary Gladstar’s book on beauty remedies. The preface of her book is very interesting as she refers to the Greek goddess Cosmeos. I find her description similar to our Idunna. A natural sense of beauty balance and harmony. These goddesses teach us to accept our innate beauty, not changing who we are to fit in. Through the goddesses or our Disir we are can learn how to be beautiful in our own way. We are told in this society you have to look a certain way to be beautiful. These rules we should challenge and look at every woman as holding beauty in her own way.
On the new moon 2 months ago I got an organic facial. The woman giving the facial asked me your pores are so clean what do you use? I am very careful about what I put on my body and in my body. I make my own face wash which is the best I have ever used in my life. Someone randomly told me this recipe at a women’s conference I was at. It is:
1 Part Raw Honey
1 Part Castille soap
1 Part Rose Water
I am about out of my first batch. With the second batch I am going to add some essential oils to make it smell better and provide some additional health benefits to my skin. Here is a good example of how beauty can be simple, joyous and non lethal to our bodies and the earth.
This simple familiar story teaches us so many things I could go on, but won’t. Heathenry is rich with real world examples that are applicable for women today. We need to search them out. These stories are our birth right, love them, live them, cherish them.
There are 2 popular versions of the story one from Grimm and one from Perrault. Both contain a similar story, but with changes to minor details. Here are the links to both versions you can read with a good cup of gingerbread spiced coffee which I am drinking now.
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/perrault06.html
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm021.html
Being of cinder is more than representing a life of service, but a life of mourning. We can see Cinderella mourning the loss of her mother. She mourns the loss of her station in life. She mourns a father who is unavailable and unloving. Grimm brings this home as he said she ‘wept and prayed’. I think of the times when I was in the ashes. Times when all I could do was weep and pray. Some spend their lives in this state. In the tale Cinderella asks for her father “break off for me the first twig that brushes against your hat on your way home." This action is what sets everything in motion. It is this request that propels her into action. As in life usually it is one simple action or decision that changes the course of our lives. Cinderella takes action by planting the twig, and she changes her life.
When faced with the times of the cinder, the times when life is so overwhelming the story teaches Heathen women we can make a difference. There is nothing too bad that we cannot change. There is nothing so mournful we cannot overcome. If we allow ourselves to sit in the cinder nothing good will ever come to us.
The tree she plants turns out to be the powerful Hazel tree. When I read that for the first time I think my head spun around. Holy crap she planted a Hazel tree!!! A reaffirmation these stories germinated from our own Heathen culture. To Celtic Irish the Hazel & nut were regarded as symbols of wisdom and knowledge. And like other nuts there existed the tradition of procreation and fertility. It is also said hazelnuts are bringers of good luck. I have also read where Irish immigrants immigrating to Vinland carried hazel twigs in their pockets for luck and protection. And it is with this rich back drop we are presented with the Hazel tree in the story.
Cinderella goes to the tree asking for help. For us we recognize exactly what she is doing here. The tree is part of her ancestral worship. And it is this tree that gives her the necessary skills to do what has to be done. The idea of dresses falling from the tree is so magical, but I like to look at things from a pragmatic point of view. If the tree is ancestral knowledge then she would have been shown the way to rise above her current situation. “Borrowing” a dress or as in the movie Ever After it is her rightful dress she puts on again. However she got the dresses, magic, stealing or family inheritance the fact of the mater is the same; she disobeyed her step mother. She was told not do something and that is exactly what she did. That is a powerful lesson for women, following orders is not going to get us what we desire in life. Especially when those orders are against our nature or against our station in life.
For Cinderella to be a capable mother she needed to go through this period in her life. I love when reading commentary about this story sometime we forget this is not a tale of rags to riches. This is a tale of a woman taking her rightful birth place. She takes action when it appears as if no action could be taken. As the cliché is born out we are our deeds.
Moving through the story Grimm gives us a shocking glimpse into the thought process of the family. The shoe is taken and given for the ladies of the household to try on. The first step sister cuts off her big toe as her mother says to her “When you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot." The next sister cuts off her heel and the mother says the same thing to her.
This tale seems shocking at first blush, but the more I thought about it the less shocking it became as I look at what women in our society do to make themselves eligible for marriage. Plastic surgery, cosmetics tested on animals, cosmetics that cause deliberate imbalances to our hormones, starvation and overall plain torture. Cinderella just was. Beautiful inside and out. Perrault shows us this in her kindness in dealing with her stepsisters.
I picked up a copy of Rosemary Gladstar’s book on beauty remedies. The preface of her book is very interesting as she refers to the Greek goddess Cosmeos. I find her description similar to our Idunna. A natural sense of beauty balance and harmony. These goddesses teach us to accept our innate beauty, not changing who we are to fit in. Through the goddesses or our Disir we are can learn how to be beautiful in our own way. We are told in this society you have to look a certain way to be beautiful. These rules we should challenge and look at every woman as holding beauty in her own way.
On the new moon 2 months ago I got an organic facial. The woman giving the facial asked me your pores are so clean what do you use? I am very careful about what I put on my body and in my body. I make my own face wash which is the best I have ever used in my life. Someone randomly told me this recipe at a women’s conference I was at. It is:
1 Part Raw Honey
1 Part Castille soap
1 Part Rose Water
I am about out of my first batch. With the second batch I am going to add some essential oils to make it smell better and provide some additional health benefits to my skin. Here is a good example of how beauty can be simple, joyous and non lethal to our bodies and the earth.
This simple familiar story teaches us so many things I could go on, but won’t. Heathenry is rich with real world examples that are applicable for women today. We need to search them out. These stories are our birth right, love them, live them, cherish them.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
welcome
My first post. As the title indicates this blog is about place and what that word means. My bio is not really a bio but an explanation of this site. I want to state I am not a "scholar", but an ordinary person. I read and think about what I read. I might not quote sources in this blog as that is not my intention. This is a personal journey not a scholarly research paper.
I am a student of herbs. As a boast I have spent thousands of dollars on herbal education, and plan to spend much more in the upcoming years. Currently I am apprenticing under herbalists in the Appalachian Mt's. As a yule gift my husband has gifted me a wise woman retreat in the summer in Ashville. I am looking forward to this.
That is me. Wise woman, herbal apprentice, wife, engineer, and Disir willing mother soon.
I am a student of herbs. As a boast I have spent thousands of dollars on herbal education, and plan to spend much more in the upcoming years. Currently I am apprenticing under herbalists in the Appalachian Mt's. As a yule gift my husband has gifted me a wise woman retreat in the summer in Ashville. I am looking forward to this.
That is me. Wise woman, herbal apprentice, wife, engineer, and Disir willing mother soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)