Thursday 24 December 2015

Xmas Eve

Our Glory Father glows
As the sun, invictus, grows
All Mother prepares her Runes
And galdr sings her tunes
For Mother's Night feast follows

Monday 21 December 2015

Yule seed thought : Wuldor

Wuldor has been nagging at my subconscious for a few years now. At this time of year when I see the Turneresque-light that word comes forward into my minds-eye like an overlayed image.

A voice booms deep into my subconscious with the name. The light is so different at Yule with the sun low in the sky it is just glorious to see the gold against the deep purple and dark greys of the winter landscape.

What or who is Wuldor? The dictionary says it means "Glory or Splendour" which fits with the light at this time. Modern historians make the Anglo-Saxon Wuldor cognate with the Norse Ullr. Ullr is the god of hunting & skiing and his sacred tree was the Yew as it is used in making bows. In Griminsmal Ullr's home is named a Ydalir, yew-dale. The age of references to Ullr suggest that he was a significant older god perhaps, like Tiw, somewhat overtaken in the later mythology. One of the earliest runic writings is dedicated to Wuldor/Ullr. There is also reference to Ullr taking over the leadership from Odin when Odin was exiled. However, within the Anglo-Saxon world there is little or no mention of Wuldor but wuldor is used extensively within Christian Anglo-Saxon texts as alternate names for God such as wuldor-cyning "king of glory" and wuldor-dreám, es; m. Joy in the glory of heaven, celestial joy. Wuldor, Ullr is also well known for his alters being filled with oath-rings.

So what can a modern Gewessi learn from this? Wuldor seems to have been an important concept to the Anglo-Saxons, this suggests that he may well have been a god. Within England there is continuity around the Yew having been important, some of the older churches, likely to have been built on previously pagan sacred ground, have Yews that are older than the church. Wuldor, assuming he was similar to Ullr was also likely to have been a winter god and god of the hunt or feast. The modern Ullr is the Nordic patron of skiing but this seems to fit less well with Wuldor as England is not known for its long skiing season. Which brings us to Father Christmas in England.

Father Christmas, before he became synonymous with Santa Claus (the Americanized Sinterklaas), was the English bringer of feasts; the twelve days of Christmas being a time of feasting. Whereas the modern Santa Claus is all about gifts for the children, I hear many say "Oh Christmas is for the children" as if it's unimportant for adults, this Father Christmas is all about the community feast which is a much more important affair. This fits with Wuldor as huntsman, master of the feast and god of oaths. At the sacred-feast, or blót, there was the tradition of exchanging gifts to bond friendship and it included sacred oath taking. During the Christmas period in the later Medieval period and into Tudor times there is a long tradition of the Lord of Misrule or Master of Merrymaking taking over from the village Lord for the Xmas period. This is reminiscent of Ullr taking Odin's throne as described in Saxo Grammaticus' "Gesta Danorum".

My personal gnosis would put the Wuldor-faeder as Father Christmas, the god who takes over from Woden for the 12 days of Yule: from the 21st December until the 1st January. He is the huntsman who brings the feast with him, who is the god of gift giving. His Rune would be Gebo which is the X in Xmas and he oversees the oaths given on New Years Eve.

Finally, I have been mulling this over for the past few days but it was in the forefront of my mind as I rode for my Yule ritual to greet the dawn.

I was cycling in good weather and as Sunna crested the hills to the South-East I rode looking at a rainbow to the North-East; suggesting that Heimdall had opened the gate to Asgard. A romantic would think it was a sign that my personal gnosis was being affirmed by the Gods, Wuldor is Father Christmas, the Yew-king. When I got home the heavens opened; I had seen the best of the day.

Friday 18 December 2015

Pantheist Metaphysics

So picking through my Notes from the year I came across this which I don't think I've blogged, although I am getting old and notice that I repeat myself...

The Gods : What are they, and where do they come from?

Whilst the Jungian Collective Unconscious theory from psychiatry is appealing and has some validity within a view of the gods, I think it only represents one side of the coin. If the coin has two faces and a middle, the middle being the relationship between the 2 faces, then it can represent the middle view of the gods. If you interpret the collective unconscious with a cultural explanation - that each culture has it's own Collective Unconsciousness, which in day to day language is explained by cultural stereotyping. I don't think it explains the other faces, the god/esses face OR an individuals own viewpoint.

Which then raises the question of their origin - are they purely human constructs, which supports the Collective Unconscious theory, or natural phenomena that humans interpret as Gods? I tend towards the natural phenomena theory on most days (other days I tend towards the Jungian Collective Unconscious). I'll probably cover whether the gods are 'real' in another post as that leads straight into what is real and what is the nature of reality which as the link shows is a big, big subject.
To continue the coin analogy this means that the gods themselves are a natural phenomena, whilst our interpretation is individual but filtered through our Collective Unconscious which is represented by our language and cultural bias.

Do the myths reflect their origins?

Not in detail, the Norse creation myth has large gaps around the genealogy of many of the Gods - particularly Mimir and Frige but also Hana/Hoenir. There is no Celtic creation myth so that it is unknowable. Particularly if some deities seem to have had human avatars/incarnations such as the Celtic Taliesin or the Norse Rig (thought to be Heimdall) additionally things can get confusing when our culture has been overlaid with monotheism and the cultural filter has been biased by a coherent view of a single god.
I think the myths reflect a culture's relationship with their Gods and how they've listened to their Gods.

How are the gods of different pantheons related?

If the Gods are a natural phenomenon then their appearance will be impacted by their location. Just as my behaviour is different at work and at home, or in a foreign clime I think so are theirs. So are the Celtic Taranis, Ango-Saxon Thunor and Norse Thor one and the same? To be honest I don't know - I suspect that in the same land they are one and the same but the names reflect their appearance at different times viewed through their relationship with a different Collective Unconsciousness.
Is the Greek Zeus the same as the Italian Jupiter or the Celtic Dagda and the Norse Odin? Personally I don't think so or rather we should certainly not treat them so, the differences are too great in both the landscape and the Collective Unconsciousness that they relate to.
Which raises the question, which Neil Gaiman uses as the conceit for his book American Gods, is someone working with Thor in the US working with the same Thor as someone in Sweden?
Are they one and the same or different? The American working with the North American Thunder God whom they have called Thor, the Swede working with the original Norse Thunder God known, amongst other names, as Thor.
I think I tend to believe the latter situation - so for me there is the Gewessi Thunder God in Southern Britain, I feel that his range covers to the south of Brittany in Northern France and North up to the Borders of Britain, in the west it's Wales (it could extend to Ireland but I've never been there) and in the East across to Germany. He has many names, I know him best as Thunor but often use the name Thor as everyone knows that name and few know him as Thunor. Thunor is different to the Nordic Thor but they are more similar than the Thunder God of the American Plains.
Part of the reason, in the example above, the Thunder god is different is because their wives, as Goddesses of the land, are quite different. To take Zeus and Odin as an example Hera, possibly started as a corn goddess, is epitomised as the jealous wife, whilst Frige, whose home in Fensalir suggests a more generic fertility role, is known as the wise wife out-smarting her husband. This may well also drive the differences between the two societies in how women were treated.
Within the Northern tribes and the Indo-European tradition there is the Father Sky - Mother Earth model, and the deities mostly worked in pairs so within the Indo-European tradition I think what we know from both the Celtic and Germanic traditions show similarities to the Shiva/Shakti Hindu tradition e.g. this would relate to the passive feminine Sunna and active male solar energy in Balder, with Mani as the passive male lunar whilst the Disir or possibly Freyja (I would argue) represent the active female lunar energy. The Celtic may have a similar view if we return to the Breton Legend of St. Anne and update it with a pagan Celtic view
“In the beginning there was Annwn, Gwynvyd and Abred and within Gwynvyd there was heaven and earth. And the earth (Anne, Anu or Danu) was without form and void (Anne, Anu or Danu was barren). And darkness (affliction and confusion) was upon the face of the deep (on the face of Anne), and the Spirit of Heaven (Joachim, Beli Mawr or the"Fair Shining One") moved upon the face of the waters (the waters of Anne’s tears to console her). And He said, ‘Let there be light (Mary, the great music or Oran Mor) … and the gathering together of the waters (the gathering of the graces) they called maria (the seas, Mor or Mary).”

How do they interact?

With whom? On an individual basis they appear during meditation, dreams and via natural coincidence or synchronisity. They are the transrational within the patterns of our lives.
On a macro level through their influence on our language and culture they have wider influences which may explain differences between the historical role of women in the Gewessi lands and other lands, such as the eastern Mediterranean. These patterns ripple down to us through history. I would argue that the Northwest European cultures have had a much more equal bias with women than the Classical and Middle Eastern cultures due to this influence, but that is another post.

What is the significance of & the relationship between the natural and cultural attributes they are associated with?

My personal perspective is that the natural and cultural attributes control the perspective that we understand them by - this enables the follower of a pantheon to interpret and gain wisdom by understanding their interactions. The nature of the interactions between land, sea and the sky and the wider natural cycles provide clues to their attributes. For me I think the Gods choose you, not the other way round. Exploring why a God/ess is important to me has enabled me to deepen understanding of myself. This all started, for me, when I chose to be pagan. I verbally and emotionally renounced being a Xtian and chose a pagan path, that seemed to be the invite that brought my pagan pantheon to me. At the time I was naive, cynical and with only an intellectual grasp of natural philosophy as an abstract concept. Events and coincidences which could be wrapped up as 'life lessons' appeared. Loca or Loki, my pagan tutor had turned up, but I didn't know it and was a slow learner, he was a harsh tutor from the school of hard knocks. It took me a couple of years to work out who 'he' was! I'd always felt the energy of the Green Man, who to me is known as Ingvi-Freyr or The Lord (which is always useful at Xtian festivals) once Loca had got me started on this Gewessi path Ingvi then worked with me to deepen my understanding of the gods and the land. Finally when it came to knowing myself my main tutor has been Frige who, turns up unexpectedly and usually within my home - her area of influence.
And yet Zeus, Thor, Thunor, Taranis, Indra, Jupiter and many others could be distinct entities.

What is the function/identity of a thunder god in relation to natural storms?

In my epxerpience Thunderstorms are naturally different in their formation and effect and this is different in different parts of the world and happen at different times of the year. The typical thunderstorm in southern Britain is an exciting event, often providing release from oppressive summer weather and one you'd stay up for and watch - at the right time it provides the water needed to ripen the harvest and at the wrong time can damage the harvest. A typical thunderstorm in Texas is a very different affair, a bigger (well everything is bigger in Texas) and more violent event that you might see from a distance but probably don't want to get caught in.

And to other thunder gods of other cultures?

So Zeus (I'm not lived in Greece and so this is conjecture) is much more of a mightily smiting God and friend to the Aristocracy whilst Thor, although he mightily smites the Jotuns, is seen as a benevolent God who is responsible for the fertility of the land and is a friend to the common farmer.

What is their relationship to the land and ancestry?

Personally I think that the relationship of the Gods is part of understanding a natural landscape and environment. It takes walking through the land, understanding the history of your landscape and feeling the land to understand that relationship - then going to other lands (for example on holiday) and doing the same in a new landscape to realise there is a difference. It goes back to the concept of the male-female energy working together to produce a unique
I think the view of a pantheon is related to a cultural ancestry rather than a biological one. I don't think the gods of the Northern Tribes care too much about our modern racial views of ancestry.
And finally, are these things important to consider or does a simple belief/experience of them suffice? Yes I think they are important to consider so that you can know your own mind and beliefs as a pagan. To know thyself, which I think is one root of modern paganism, you need to understand and. be able to answer questions from outsiders, these questions will tend to relate to your pantheon and the nature of the Gods. If each Pagan owns their relationship with Gods/Goddesses/Spirit or is an atheist it is necessary to understand and be able to articulate your beliefs.

Of course all of this is just my personal view - I could be utterly and completely wrong

Friday 11 December 2015

Yule approaches

Winter Waka

Bare branches reach to drag
Irminsul round.
Twig fingers shiver in the wind,
As crow caws amid Jack Frost lines
Morning star shines.

Friday 27 November 2015

Notes on the origins of Jack Frost/Jokul Frosti

As we've just had the first decent frost of the winter my thoughts have turned to Jack Frost who was a much larger character in my childhood than he is now. When his fingers regularly trace lines on the inside of your window he becomes more important. I've not lived in a place that cold since I was a student! With climate change our winters are milder and wetter it seems and so Jack is in retreat. However, who is Jack Frost and where did he come from?

Our modern view seems to have been invented late 19th Century, a little later than Jack-in-the-Green was created by chimney sweeps for some charity to last them throughout the summer. This is when he starts to appear in literature and images as a mischievous sprite. His name leads us to Jack (Jack as a cultural hero figure) where it may come from the Norse Hjaki - Jack & Jill. The Jokul Frosti name used in Norse seems to have a more ancient link so I went looking for references to Jokul...

Norse - A Frost Giant.

A God of glaciers. A son of Thrym the protagonist where Thor's Hammer Mjollnir is stolen and Thor cross-dresses as Freyja to fool the Jotun and get his hammer back. Brother of Drifta, Frosti and Snoer. On occasion, called Jokul, Iokul, Iokul, Jokul, Jokul or Jokul. John Lindow has it that Jokul (Glacier) is a son of Kari (Wind), Kari son of Fornjot (a primeval father Jotun - I like the translation of his name as Ancient Screamer). Jokul's son is Snaer (Snow) who's children are a son Thorri (fourth month of winter) and daughters Fönn (Heap of Snow), Drífa (Snowdrift) and Mjöll (Fresh Powdery Snow). It's interesting to note that Kari is brother to Logi (Fire) and Aegir/Hlér (Sea). Logi and Loki have an eating contest...

Eldest of the 9 sons of Niorfe

Niorfe or Njarfi could well be the surviving son of Loki. In the saga of Thorstein Vikingsson, Thorstein's father Viking is a grandson of Logi. Here we potentially see a contest again between the descendents of Logi, Thorstein, with the descendents of Loki, Jokul. The story is a tale full of magic and wonder about the feud between these two sets of brothers. Check 'thorsteins saga vikingssonar' In which...

Dis (daugher of King Kol) married Jokul Ironback, a blue berserk. This is not the Jokul we're looking for but an interesting part of the story is one of the few mentions in any literature of a were-boar... Dis' brother Ingjald
Ingjald was out of sight, and instead of him there was a grim-looking boar, that left nothing undone as he attacked them, so they could do nothing but defend themselves. When this had been done for some time, the boar turned upon Halfdan, bearing away the whole calf of his leg. Straightway came Viking and smote the bristles of the boar, so that his back was cut in two. Then seeing that Ingjald lay dead on the spot, they kindled a fire and burned him to ashes.

The Jokul we are looking for is mentioned later on...
King Olaf had a daughter who hight Bryngerd, whom Njorfe married, took her with him, and got with her nine sons: Jokul hight the eldest of these brothers; the rest hight Olaf, Grim, Geiter, Teit, Tyrfing, Bjorn, Geir, Grane and Toke. They were all promising men, though Jokul far surpassed them all in all accomplishments...

The saga continues with an interesting bag that does relate to Jack Frost...
Now I will tell you, continued Ogautan, that I have a belg (skin-bag) called the weather- belg. If I shake it, storm and wind will blow out of it, together with such biting frost and cold that within three nights the lake shall be covered with so strong an ice that you may cross it on horseback if you wish. Said Jokul: Really you are a man of great cunning ; and this is the only way of reaching the holm, for there are no ships before you get to the sea, and nobody can carry them so far. Hereupon Ogautan took his belg and shook it, and out of it there came so fearful a snowstorm and such biting frost that nobody could be out of doors. This was a thing of great wonder to all; and after three nights every water and fjord was frozen.

In all of this there are tantalising glimpses of a Jack/Jokul who is related to cold weather, is related to the Elves or Giants and has much to do with ice and snow. Sadly with global warming most of our glaciers are retreating, I am sure that Jokul is plotting his return.

Friday 13 November 2015

The Obsidian Mere

A still, black hole stared at my face.
Suddenly reason lost all trace.
I stared down, deep into space.
Staring, feeling was lost in pace
and my heart it started to race.

"This is the Mere" Hern murmured
"makes you feel queer?" he continued
"never mind it, here is my space
you continue here by my grace -
not only you but your whole race."

I turned and ran from the glade,
digging I did and hiding too,
but in my head a constant thread
pulled me on to constantly run
to that black pool, so dark, so dread.

Woken up to stare into the sphere,
once again by Mere I was here,
stood blank-staring no ripple shown,
reeds etched up, rushes bow down,
reflecting a dank, brooding sky.

As I stood, blank-staring eventually un-caring
of what grim fear (a head may rear) would scarily appear.
I looked in the obsidian mere, saw as She wove budding blooms;
A skull and flowers, a swan, the lovers, the pelican plucking power
and reason strode my face and my heart did hope to boom.

Friday 6 November 2015

Samhuin Seed Thought - requiem for the year

Being both dead and alive

I spent the evening of Samhuin listening to John Rutter's Requiem, performed by my wife's choir. Rutter is a modern composer but uses his medieval influences to create works that are both modern and old at the same time, much like Druidry. Which is interesting as Rutter has written much Christian religious music but is not, as such, a practising Christian he is agnostic, tending towards atheism when he describes life as a numbers game. As it was Samhuin I meditated, listening to the music, looking at the translated latin Christian lyrics. The theme that the meditation brought was that Samhuin is not only that key boundary between life and death but is also a time when life and death merge...

a picture on our wall

Quantum Samhuin

We are both dying and living at the same time and this is the river of the here and now, where the Awen flows. The cells in our body are constantly dying, creating and living. Cancer is when the cells don't die when they remain alive. Modern western liberal society is a cult of youth that fears death. Contrast that with the Gewessi path where the Anglo-Saxon quote "wyrd bið ful aræd" is very meaningful; my translation is that "Destiny is very determined" can be viewed against the traditional translation that "Fate remains wholly inexorable". My translation is from my modern pagan understanding of the Germanic worldview that Orlog, how a person behaves when facing their wyrd/destiny/doom/fate, has an affect on the web of wyrd afterwards. Whilst the traditional view comes from the classical christian scholarly interpretation that the quote supports a fatalistic worldview. Our Anglo-Saxon forefathers knew full well that death could occur at any time and so their awareness of the balance between life and death was much closer; they lived in a much more uncertain world.
Samhuin is the time to be alive in the balance between life and death.

Jenn, mentioned in my Guldize seed thought, crossed the veil 2 weeks ago

Thoughts upon the start of the Colloquy of Two Druids

I was re-reading this and looking at the beginning of the story poem before the young Druid Nede sets forth on the journey which ends up with the Colloquy...

I. Adnae, son of Uthider, of the tribes of Connaught, was the ollave of Ireland in science and poetry. He had a son, to wit, Néde. Now that son went to learn science in Scotland, unto Eochu Echbél (Horses Mouth) ; and he stayed along with Eochu until he was skilled in science.
II. One day the lad fared forth till he was on the brink of the sea - for the poets deemed that on the brink of water it was always a place of revelation of science. He heard a sound in the wave, to wit, a chant of wailing and sadness, and it seemed strange to him. So the lad cast a spell upon the wave, that it might reveal to him what the matter was. And thereafter it was declared to him that the wave was bewailing, his father Adnae, after his death and that Adnae's robe had been given to Ferchertne the poet, who had taken the ollaveship in place of Néde's father.
III. Then the lad went to his house and tells (all this) to his tutor, that is, to Eochu. And Eochu said to him :" Get thee to thy country now. Our two sciences have no room in one place ; for thy science shews clearly to thee that thou art an ollave in knowledge ".
IV. So Néde fared forward, and with him his three brothers, namely, Lugaid, Cairbre, Cruttíne. A bolg bélce (puffball) chanced (to meet) them on the path. Said one of them : " Why is it called bolg bélce ? " Since they know not, they went back to Eochu and remained a month with him. Again they fared on the path. A simind (rush) chanced to meet them. Since they knew not (why it was so called), they went back to their tutor. At the end of another month they set out (again) from him. A gass sanais (sprig of sanicle ?#) chanced (to meet) them. Since they knew not why it was called gass sanais, they return to Eochu and remained another month with him.

What is the meaning of the 3 flora?

Common Puffball

The Common Puffball is an edible mushroom and also used in an Old Irish love remedy. bolg bélce - Bolg meaning belly/bag/sack and this comes from Cormac's glossary Bolg i [bélce B] i.e. bél-cheo ' mouth- vapour' i.e. a vapour which passes from its mouths I think the English would be belch. Also compare wit the Fir Bolg "Men of Bags". So bolg is a bag and bolg bélchi maybe the fungus puffball now in Munster commonly called bolgán beice. — Cf. bélchi with A.S. bealcan ' eructare.'

Reed or Juncus species

There are many British varieties of Juncus or reed and all grow at the liminal area of marshland or boggy moorland. In Old Irish "Simind" or "semind", the two spellings used, is a common word, though less specific: a (stalk of) rush or reed; a stalk or straw of grain. Modern "sifín" continues the same generalized meaning. Both words, as noted earlier, have etymologies in Sanas Cormaic, the Irish "dictionary" thats dates from ca. 900 A.D. The reed, or Ngetal, in my Ogham notes has this "Reed resembles an arrow by its thinness. It was at one time used to make arrows." You can also compare this with Norse kennings where it's used to describe arrows and spears e.g. wound-reed)

Wood Sanicle or Sanicula Europaea

from here

Stokes guessed that "gass sanais" might mean "a sprig of sanicle". I suppose he made this guess based on the fact that "sanicula", the Medieval Latin name of a plant called "bodán coille" in Modern Irish, apparently comes from Latin "sanus" (= healthy).
DIL says of "sanais(e)" only: "In phrase gas(án) sanais(e) some plant from which armed warriors could be formed by magic."
LEIA notes the same magical property, but doesn't attempt to identify the plant, and says "étymologie inconnue".

I'd like to draw attention to a word with the same shape, but which the dictionaries treat as unrelated: "sanas" or "sanais" (it behaves as both a masculine and a feminine noun), meaning "whisper; secret; counsel; glossary (originally only in the title of Cormac's work, Sanas Cormaic)", and which is cognate with Welsh "hanes" (= tale, report, history). It gives rise to the later words "sanasán" and "sanasaíocht", meaning "etymology". Cormac, by the way, explains "sanas" as ".i. sain-fis" (= i.e. special knowledge).
The marginal gloss on "gass sanais" in our MS is ".i. a shíanas", which is a puzzle at first sight. But if we divide it further into "a shían as" it can mean "its/his 'sían' from it". Now "sían" in DIL means a "continuous or prolonged sound", and more specifically a "humming, lilting; strain of music or song". In Modern Irish it can further mean "hum of voices; talk, report".

Explaining "gass sanais" using "sían" makes perfect sense if the glossator thought the plant name contained the word meaning "whisper; counsel". And what could be more appropriate, in the spirit of serious punning, than that the third and final plant which turns the brothers back because they cannot etymologize its name is precisely the plant whose name could mean "a sprig of whispered counsel, a shoot of etymological explanation"?

Wood sanicle used to be widely used as a herbal remedy and has a long-standing reputation for healing wounds and treating internal bleeding. The herb is traditionally thought to be detoxifying and has also been taken internally to treat skin problems. A potentially valuable plant, but it is little used in modern herbalism. The leaves and the root are alterative, astringent, carminative, expectorant and vulnerary. The leaves are harvested in early summer and the roots in mid to late summer, they can be dried for later use. The herb is highly esteemed in the treatment of blood disorders, where it is usually given in combination with other herbs. It is also taken internally in the treatment of bleeding in the stomach and intestines, the coughing up of blood, nosebleeds, chest and lung complaints, dysentery, diarrhoea etc. It can also be used as a mouth gargle for sore throats. Externally, it is applied to rashes, chilblains, inflammations etc... and an ointment made from the plant is applied to haemorrhoids. From this herblore site

Alternate views of the kenning

I think we could view the three pieces of Flora this way - we have a bag that belches fumes poisoning the walkers, a spear that pierces the walkers who need to be healed by a lilting song. Which reiterates the opening of the story where Néde hears a lilting song on the ocean that tells him of his father's death. Néde's grief at the death of his father is not mentioned in the tale and yet his three attempts to return home are stopped by nature, forcing him to spend three months mourning and completing his studies with his father in knowledge. Another view is to look at the Ogham for B, Ng and S which my notes have as:

  • B - You must rid yourself of negativity, unhelpful influences and bad thoughts for a new, fresh start
  • Ng - Your journey has begun, surprise encounters and upsets are only to be expected. The skills you overcome these troubles with are as valuable as the trip itself
  • S - To gain understanding of a particular concept, a steady accumulation of facts is the foundation that brings understanding. All cannot be learned in one lesson. Repetition is the key.
Which also seems to fit with the story. Like Néde I ventured into this story and did not know the meanings of these three plants and by returning to the Horses Mouth of this story I venture forth better armed with knowledge.

Much of the Old Irish info' is from here or other of Dennis' postings from the Old Irish forum

Friday 16 October 2015

Druidcast 102 and St. Nechtan Notes

These notes seem to dovetail in with the Knucker and the Knucker holes mentioned in the previous post...

Pools are the wells of the sacred mother, her amniotic fluid allowing for re-birth from the womb of the well. Rebirth is the unlocking of a great door with a chance for great potential. Baptism or anointment allows this using the waters from the womb of the sacred mother – see the Chalice Well in Glastonbury. It's a surrendering to a higher power or force, an acknowledgement of your frailty and humility.

Scrying in a pool allows visions to be seen, essential to know thyself, as does using an obsidian mirror. Re-birth is un-locking of the sacred door allowing enormous potential in the results (particularly if you believe in transmigration of souls aka reincarnation). To those who see water as a tool in the rituals that form the process of enlightenment pools have a spiritual importance as the womb of the sacred mother.

The discovery of the self without any further ritual work is pointless (see Abrasax in my previous post), it is the starting point for the journey and the ritual work is the journey. Recognise the potential of ritual self-awareness that is essential to cleansing before starting any sacred journey or spiritual quest. It is not a coincidence that Percival/Galahad in the Grail quest legends loses everything and recognises his own frailty and misgivings. Recognises his self-destructive patterns and conquers them to achieve the grail or the Abraxas state of mind.

Any spiritual exercise must be interactive, with the watery pool you must not just be a passive observer. The individual must allow themselves to be cleansed or work with the power of the waters. Water is a medium both known and an alien world where we can go but not survive. Ritual offerings to pools and their genius locii to ensure a continuation of their beneficial flow is ancient and continues to this day. An offering should not just be a token but something with meaning and value. Excalibur shows this, it's both given and taken back as an offering by the priestess, the lady, of the lake. This re-purifies, re-births the sword ready for re-use.

St. Nechtan paved the way between the pagan past and the Christian future. The Druidcast notes are here

The dragon is seen as part of the Goddess, her pools allowing it entry and exit to the world. The coolness of her waters balances the fiery energy of the God. Nechtans key is an area of tranquility and of self-realisation, a place of interaction between ourselves and the great forces that power the world. An area where the divine can be felt.

Friday 2 October 2015

Knuckers, Abraxas and Alchemical transformation

It's funny how a single post on the OBOD forum can start off an interesting & recursive investigation with a sprinkling of Awen and a dash of Alchemical salt. The start was with a post on Water Dragons, which referred to the Lambton Worm and Knuckers. Sussex being a famous place for Knuckers, and from an alchemical point of view, the more important Knucker Hole. The recursive element comes from a story about my childhood - I grew up in a semi-detached house where our neighbour was a single man in his 30's. Throughout the 70's he would have parties, quite loud parties but us kids could only really hear the bass beat coming through the walls. There was one bass beat in particular we loved but we never knew what the song was, or the album. Before the 80's he'd moved house so we never had a chance to ask what that music was. In the 80's we hit our teens and our own musical exploration began, then my sister's boyfriend brought an album round - Santana Abraxas - we heard it and instantly knew that we'd discovered that musical grail from our childhood.

Knucker

The Water Dragon card from the Druid Animal Oracle mentions a myth where there is a little ditty about the Lambton Worm which I noticed has some similarities to the story where Thor goes fishing with the Jotun, Hymir for Jormungand who is one of Loki's children by Angrbodra and is the World Serpent or Ouroboros; the snake eating it's own tail which, some, philosophically relate to Self-reference.
Self-reference or recursion is an essential mathematical understanding for computing and being able to code a successfully recursive routine was part of my early computer coding training. So I am well versed in the mathematics of recursion if not the philosophy of recursion. Although I think my journey through the Ovate work has been pretty recursive.

Jung related Ouroboros, self-reference, to having archetypal significance as part of the universal unconscious - this fits into the story cycle of the Knucker hole which is a really deep watery hole; one where you can't find the bottom and thus travels into the underworld or the deep unconscious mind. Sussex ponds, like the Lyminster Knucker Hole, were/are muddy ponds famous for their muddy deeps and ability to swallow a horse & carriage whole, thus they were feared as a place to get lost in. BTW the mud really stinks I remember my mother being less than pleased after I fell into our local one as a lad.

"In alchemical symbolism dragons are associated with fire and the primal chaotic material. " The Massa Confusa "Mythologically, the night sea journey motif usually involves being swallowed by a dragon or sea monster. It is also represented by imprisonment or crucifixion, dismemberment or abduction, experiences traditionally weathered by sun-gods and heroes ". The night sea journey, described in Jungian thought, is where the hero traverses a difficult and dangerous journey in order to overcome an obstacle and be transformed and strengthened for any trials ahead. This can also be related to a water underworld journey through the Knucker Hole, similar to Beowulf's journey to fight Grendel's mother.

The night sea journey is essential to the Western Mystical tradition and Individuation, in my personal gnosis. Individuation is what made the western mystical path feel like the correct path for me, it's not something that seems to be part of the Eastern Mystical tradition. Individuation is:

  1. The act or process of individuating, especially the process by which social individuals become differentiated one from the other
  2. The condition of being individuated; individuality
  3. Philosophy a. The development of the individual from the general or universal. b. The distinction or determination of the individual within the general or universal
  4. In Jungian psychology, the gradual integration and unification of the self through the resolution of successive layers of psychological conflict

Alchemical Transformation

Something else in the investigation of the Knucker also resonated - that in Alchemical thought it can be related to the primal chaos or Massa Confusa. So I wanted to investigate what other creatures are associated with Alchemy and found this list, which relates back to my older post on Alchemy here...

  • Blackening - Black Crow, Raven, Salamander, Massa Confusa (or Ouroboros)
  • Whitening - White Swan, White Eagle, skeleton
  • Greening - Green Lion, Green Dragon
  • Rapid cycling through iridescent colours - Peacock's Tail
  • White Stone - White stag, Unicorn
  • Reddening - Pelican feeding young with its own blood, cockerel
  • Final transmutation - Phoenix reborn from the fire
And hidden amongst this search was this virtual bookshop which had a little book about the Search for Abraxas. Hello! Abraxas now that's intriguing! What does Abraxas have to do with Alchemy? Apparently quite a lot...

Abraxas

The seven letters spelling its name may represent each of the seven classic planets or the 7 Alchemical stages. In the system described by Irenaeus (2nd Cent Bishop of Lugdunus in Gaul who was criticizing Gnosticism and it's Alchemical/Magical foundations),..

"the Unbegotten Father" is the progenitor of Nous, (intellect) and from Nous Logos (reason), from Logos Phronesis (practical thought), from Phronesis Sophia (sophistication) and Dynamis (potential), from Sophia and Dynamis principalities, powers, and angels, the last of whom create "the first heaven." They in turn originate a second series, who create a second heaven. The process continues in like manner until 365 heavens are in existence, the angels of the last or visible heaven being the authors of our world. "The ruler" [principem, i.e., probably ton archonta] of the 365 heavens "is Abraxas, and for this reason he contains within himself 365 numbers."  Which takes us back to the Self-referential or recursive nature of the Ouroboros.

Allegedly Abraxas is a mis-translation in Latin of the Greek Abrasax but this led my mind-flow to think of the stages as an equation like this
Abrasax -> Nous -> Logos -> Phronesis -> Sophia -> Dynamis -> Abraxas
which is a self-referential alchemy of logical steps moving from the initial "unbegotten father" of Abrasax to the "first heaven" or paradise of Abraxas. The sum of the numbers is Abrasax is 365 Α = 1, Β = 2, Ρ = 100, Α = 1, Σ = 200, Α = 1, Ξ = 60 and is "the power above all, and First Principle,"

So there we have a flow from the Water Dragon to the Knucker to the deep dark unconscious self, via the Knucker Hole, and this led me to the Alchemical transformation which led me back to my childhood and Abraxas and the musical paradise that is Santana Abraxas. As a youth I must have read Ursule K LeGuin's 'A Wizard of Earthsea' a hundred times and every time I listened to Santana's Abraxas on repeat, the music and story would mean that hours could pass without me recognising the passing of time and barely remembering turning the LP record over. A story about a magical transformation, listening to music about an alchemical transformation whilst I myself was going through a transformation... now how recursive or self-referential is that! It also explains the mystery that my youthful mind had around the cover to Santana Abraxas, the teenager in me viscerally appreciated it, but it's meaning is now revealed; a vision of paradise.

With my earlier post on the Alchemy for personal growth there are now many symbols that can be related to the 7 alchemical steps;

  • the Classical planets - Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Sun
  • the emotional states - Thinking, Feeling, Rationalising, Rectifying, Dreaming, Condensing, Realising
  • the metals - lead, tin, iron, copper, quicksilver, silver, gold
  • the animals - Knucker, White swan, Green lion, Peacock, Unicorn, Pelican, Phoenix
  • the algebra - original thought, intellect, reason, practical thought, sophistication, potential, enlightenment
These lists of alchemical transformations and logical steps reminds me of the Ogham associations. More importantly what I take from this is that it is an iterative process. Once you have cycled through the stages from one Abrasax to Abraxas state then that becomes the starting point for the next cycle. In computing mathematics the essential part of a recursive routine is the exit clause. What then, philosophically, would be the exit clause within the western mystical tradition from the recursive alchemical cycle of personal transformation? I would posit that the exit clause is complete enlightenment; the western mystical equivalent to the Buddhist nirvana.

Thursday 1 October 2015

Alban Elfed / Guldize Seed Thought

Mortality is a funny thing, just as our media and the British Medical Council like to promote stories that a healthy life will stop you dying young the veneer is stripped away. In the same way that the gold days of Autumn make the land look full of summer vigour before the first storms strip the leaves from the trees. Two things have hammered this message home over the past couple of weeks.

'About Jenn' appeared on my MTB forum a couple of weeks ago. She's an MTB'er and writer for the MTB magazine I subscribe to, I don't know her but I know of her via mutual acquaintance and, when she lived in Sussex, we used to pass each other and give each other a nod on an occasional basis. Mostly when one of us was taking the long way home on our cycle commutes to/from work. She is a local legend, the woman who climbed the Clayton bridleway uphill to the Jack & Jill on a singlespeed MTB without stopping. The woman who would have broken The Great Divide record but for spending 2 days in hospital with a serious illness caught from some dodgy water.

"Well, Jenn Hopkins hit the Mexican border early this morning, making her the seventh and last finisher of this year's Great Divide Race. Given that this English singlespeeder who I had never heard of before last month is my new hero, I was really happy to hear she finished " From here. She was my local hero too and lived the MTB'ers dream.

'About Jenn' told how she's spent the last year diagnosed but living life normally and has now given up work to enter a hospice. She's younger & fitter than me, has had a better healthy vegetarian lifestyle than me, without smoking, and she is dying from lung cancer. It shows how random life can be and that this veneer of control that ourselves and our institutions like to promote is, to quite a large extent, an illusion. You never know when your winter storm will come.

The second thing that happened is I got ill, just a cold, but a couple of days of barely being able to breathe shows that my body is aging, autumnal as I move to being a 50 year old sage next year. Jenn's stoic strength over the past year enabled her to enjoy happy gold days before her strength was sapped by illness. It is a lesson to us all that the autumnal gold days should be seized and enjoyed with passion. Without recrimination or regret about what could or should have been,
Carpe Diem.

Friday 21 August 2015

Santoku - The Three Virtues

Santoku means the three virtues in Japanese, we're not too sure which three virtues they are but it has named the Japanese knife which has three abilities; slicing, dicing and mincing.

Western mysticism

If we relate it to the sword of the East, the claidheamh soluis or sword of light of which the original would be Nuada's sword crafted in the mythical city of Findias. It has 3 powers; the sword glowed with the light of the sun, thus blinding opponents, was irresistible in battle like a raging sea and had the power to cut his enemies in half. Here we see the triumvirate of light or air, water as the irresistible force and earth in the cleaving. We see similar epithets for Excalibur in the Arthurian cycle.
As an aside, for me, this places Findias as a city in the East, whilst Gorias (source of Lugh's lance) is in the south, the Dagda's cauldron from Murias in the West and finally the stone of destiny from Falias in the North.

In cycling the three virtues are Mind, Body and Machine and is what inspired this post. For me, Gewessi has these 3 virtues, that are possessing an earth based philosophy (Òran Mór), a spirituality (Irmunsûl) that enhances your life and applying logic to your world view (Logos).

Three Druidic Triads

Three blessed virtues of the noble: being good in serving others, having a good temperament, and keeping secrets.
The three virtues of a Bard are to tell the truth, seek justice for the oppressed, and exercise reason in difficult situations.
The Awen symbolizes in man the three virtues: courage, brotherhood, and selfless service.
From here

Eastern mysticism

The three virtues of - Li: Propriety, Chih - Wisdom, Jen - human heartedness
The first character, li, occupies an august, noble position in East Asian thought. Something can be discovered about the fundamental meaning of the character by examining its component parts. If one passes a vertical line through the middle of the character, two distinct segments, shih1 and li, appear. The left-hand side (here shih, `spirit' or`ghost') imparts meaning and is called the `signific' or `radical.' So here we have a word pronounced li having something to do with spirits - in this case, sacrifices to spirits or the ceremonies and proper rules associated with those sacrifices.

The second character of the three virtues, chih (wisdom), is as difficult of interpretation as it is of practice. In contemporary usage it means `wisdom,' `intelligence.' The compound chih-hui, means I.Q. and chih-li means `intellectual power.' The phonetic portion of chih is chih. In ancient times the two characters were used interchangeably to mean `wisdom' or `knowledge.' There is, however, once again an inherent ethical force in the classical usage.

The third virtue, jen, has nearly as rich a philosophical interpretation as li. Ideographically, the left hand signific represents a man; the right is the character erh meaning `two.' It is not a phonetic. It represents man and his moral relation to others. The great nineteenth century Scottish sinologue James Legge always rendered jen as `benevolence.' In contemporary Chinese the compound ren-ai is very common and is most usually rendered as `love' (Greek agape). Many contemporary scholars use the word `human-heartedness' as an equivalent. Compassion, goodwill, humanity, kindness, mercy are all close.
From this website about the game Go

Monday 3 August 2015

Lughnasadh seed thoughts

As if to emphasise the changing of the season, the drift from summer to autumn the late setting sun lit this preview of the gold days to come. Highlighting the leaves of the marvellous variegated Sycamore that grows on the green outside. This year the blue moon falls on the night of the 31st and with it the rise of Loki's star... the dog star or Sirius. The Dog Days of summer are upon us. Here's an old seed thought riddle meditation of mine that suits this time of year:

Who are you Loki? Key, Chi, K(enaz)
Why choose me for you? You, Yew, Eh(waz)...
How am I to know and to hear? Ear, eyre, Je(ra)...
What is Loki's will to be done? One, ohn, Wun(jo)...
Where on earth should I be going? Ing, Ng, Ing(uz)...
When does the journey start, tomorrow? Row, Rho, Rai(dho)...

This web site on the Chi Rho maybe of interest. I found this to be very interesting "the early signs of the labarum cross at an angle that is more vividly respresentative of the chi formed by the solar ecliptic path and the celestial equator. This image is most familiar in Plato's Timaeus, where it is explained that the two bands which form the world soul (anima mundi) cross each other like the letter chi. Not only did the two legs of the chi remind early Christians of the Cross, "it reminded them of the mystery of the pre-existent Christ, the Logos Theou, the Word of God, who extended himself through all things in order to establish peace and harmony in the universe," in Robert Grigg's words.... The chi rho was used in hermetic alchemical texts to denote time."

Friday 3 July 2015

Owning your path...

If there's one thing I have learned during the Ovate work of the OBOD Gwersi it is best summed up by this quote about ritual
"you enter Druidry for yourself, not to be part of a club. Clubs have rules and procedures. Druidry does not. The Gwers are there to help you express Your Druidry. Not mine or anyone else's. If your idea of ritual is sitting at home or under a tree mulling over the words and intent of a ritual, then so be it. That's fine. Just make the ritual your own. And yes (horror of horrors!), if you don't like ritual, don't do it! There is nothing in Druidry that says you have to. Just accept that some people find it deeply meaningful and helpful."

But above all, at all times, be your own Druid.

Which links into this quote from Monty Python's Life of Brian "You've got to work it out for yourselves..." because this is not a path where some representative of a doctrine is authorised by the powers of that doctrine to tell you how to act, interact and think. You have to take responsibility for your doctrine, your own thoughts and represent that doctrine with how you choose to live your life in your actions and interactions. You can't abdicate that responsibility, and your freedom, to another being. This is both empowering and harder at the same time. Much like life generally empowerment only comes through effort. From a Gewessi perspective I don't think that the gods want passive sheep, we honour and respect the gods. By being empowered individuals we earn their respect and honour.

Effort is uncomfortable and the greatest rewards are in hindsight, whilst at the time every atom of your being was not enjoying the moment. That your will power overcame the negative wilfulness to achieve the rewards is the key. This ties into the Willa, from my post on the Northern Soul, in the bright Willa brings power in the murk it brings weakness.

Sunday 21 June 2015

Litha seed thoughts

May the smoke bless us and the fire light joy in our hearts

take time to enjoy the moment, smell the roses and be rewarded for your efforts. The days are warming and lots of sunlight means the whole of nature is busy outside maximising the moment and so should you.

When the Long Man of Wilmington leaps into vision of a morning,
when the rising Sunna soaks the Downs in gold,
then you ken the gates are open
and thats a vision for the mind to hold.

I was at a concert, an amateur choir and orchestra with professional leads, performed a Ralph Vaughan Williams programme. Serendipitously it covered the Druidic elements of earth, Towards the Unknown Region, air, The Lark Ascending, and finally the sea with a Sea Symphony. Instead of railing that it meant I would be too tired for an early Solstice dawn I realised that Druidry is about being in the here and now. I was in an architecturally and acoustically fascinating late Victorian Arts and Crafts church listening to a Surrey composer with a Sussex choir and an orchestra from Kent. Gewessi is about the spirit of place and nothing can be more related to the spirit of south east England than that mix.

Prefaced to Vaughan Williams' score of The Lark Ascending is this poem from George Meredith...
He rises and begins to round,
He drops the silver chain of sound.
Of many links without a break,
In chirrup, whistle, slur and shake,
For singing till his heaven fills,
'Tis love of earth that he instils,
And ever winging up and up,
Our valley in his golden cup,
And he with win which overflows
To lift us with him as he goes.

'Till lost on his aerial rings
in light, and then the fancy sings.
Hear the Skylark here which is the sound of summer across the South Downs and from my garden. If Yule is about hearth and family then I think Litha is about getting out and enjoying arts and culture be it a festival, concert or any event that means you appreciate the long days.

Friday 12 June 2015

Northern Soul - an essay on my view

Introduction

Extending existing heathen research

This essay aims to explore the concepts of the Soul in Heathen terms. Diana L.Paxton, Swain Wodening and the Troth (Ragnar and Rurik) have done much work on this. The term Northern Soul comes from my perception of the commonality between the tribes of Northern Europe whom I group under the term the 'Northern Tribes'. Within this group are the Norse, Germanic, Slavic and Celtic tribes who met in the cultural melting pot of the early medieval period (400CE – 900CE). Evidence to prove this convergence of tribes can be seen most clearly in modern day Scotland where Pictish, Irish, Saxon and Norse people traded, raided and intermingled. In modern times Scotland is regarded as a Celtic nation however during this period it was a mix of the nations of Dalriada (Irish Gaels), Pictland (Proto-Celts?), Strathclyde (Romano-British Celts), and Lothian (Angles/Saxons) but then later on the Vikings (Danes, Norwegians and Swedish) overlaid this by taking control of the Northern and Western isles. I believe that this intermingling of cultures occurred across Europe through trade, marriage and war. This work builds and extends, in my opinion, the work of those mentioned above. It aims to provide a structure for improvement and rune work that will prove useful to other OBOD members following a heathen path. I have also chosen a title that has another meaning, or kenning, here in the UK: "The simplest definition of 'Northern Soul' is Black American Soul music which became popular in a sub-culture in the North of England." A cross-cultural fertilisation in modern times.

Overall Concept

How the Gods created Man

Fundamental to this is the Voluspa of the Poetic Edda where it is described how the Gods created Man. Within this context Man is it's true Anglo-Saxon meaning of person, the word Man is probably derived from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) word for Mind/Soul/Spirit. Below are two translations of the Poetic Edda text:

Standard translation

Voluspá" (17-18, Hollander's translation)

 17. Until there came three mighty and benevolent

 Æsir to the world from their assembly.

 They found on earth, nearly powerless,

 Ask and Embla, void of destiny.

 

 To the coast then came, kind and mighty

 from the gathered gods three great Æsir;

 on the land they found, of little strength,

 Ask and Embla, unfated yet.

 

 18. Spirit they possessed not,  sense they had not, blood nor motive powers, nor goodly colour.

 Spirit gave Odin, sense gave Hoenir,  blood gave Lodur and goodly colour.

 Sense they possessed not,  soul they had not,

 being nor bearing, nor blooming hue;

 soul [ond] gave Öthinn,

 sense [oðr] gave Hoenir,

 being gave Lódhur and blooming hue [lá, læti, litr].

To modern people Odin is the one-eyed All Father and leader of the Norse Pantheon in the Icelandic tradition, Tolkien certainly took many characteristics for Gandalf from Odin.  Hoenir is a little known God who was renowned for his silence.  Lodur is only mentioned in this passage but many, myself included, think that Lodur is another name for Loki.  This triad of Gods (Odin, Hoenir and Loki) appears several times in the Norse myths so it would fit the pattern if Lodur was Loki.

From this we gain a triple view of Man - which we all know of as Mind, Body and Soul.  I have translated this into the concepts of Intellectual Capacity, Physical Capacity and Spiritual Capacity. .  However this is still too simplistic to describe the complexities of the Soul and the Heathen view of the Soul.   A first clue is given in Beowulf:
"ðæs mannes sáwl hæfþ on hire þreö þing, öæt is gemynd and andgit and willa. ðurh öæt gemynd se man geþencþ öa þing öe he gehýrde oòòe geseah oòòe geleornode
man's soul has in it three things, that is memory and understanding and will. By the memory a man recollects the things that he has heard or seen or learned, Homl. Th. i. 288, 18-21: 28."  This triplicate relates to Man's intellectual capacity.  There are other Anglo-Saxon words, besides sáwl/soul that also relate to their view of the soul in it's spiritual capacity:

Fylgja a spirit, often of the opposite sex to the person to which it was attached, which is similar to Jung's Anime/Animus and
Hamingja which is like a guardian angel associated with the luck of an individual or clan.

The various essays on the soul mentioned above combine to produce an emerging picture of the Northern Soul as a 3 x 3 pattern where each of the Capacities is sub-divided into 3 :

Intellect

Memory

Will power

Breath

Spirit

Luck

Body

Skin / Hide

Health

What is foremost here is that the whole is made up of 9. Within Heathen terms 9 is the most powerful of numbers - there are 9 worlds on the World Tree, Odin's ring Draupnir drops 8 rings (which plus itself makes 9) every 9 nights and Thor takes 9 steps at Ragnarok before dying. In these circumstances it is a logical extension that the soul should contain 9 interactive components.

The 3 Parts of Intellectual Capacity

Hyge - Intellect

hyge m: thought, mind, heart, disposition

In Modern English Hyge can best be translated as 'reason'. The definition of reason is a philosophical and psychological question of the highest order and one that I shall not define here. This essay is not about the methods of reason but the view of reason with regards to this heathen's viewpoint on the Soul. How do we view reason? We talk of a person's intellect in terms of bright, dim, strong, weak, quick, slow, shallow or deep. This provides a clue on the person and how we view them. Some people are 'too clever by half' which shows a level of distrust that is mirrored in the Havamal verse (“It is best for a man to be middle wise”).

The Northern view of the intellect should be like Odin's Raven Hugin - our thoughts travel the ether. A Raven flies directly to and from its destination and with its piercing eyes can see all. In this respect the Hyge is our external or conscious representation of intellect. Within working with your own Hyge it is necessary to know yourself. Using a bird analogy is a useful tool to reach this understanding. Consider what sort of bird are you?
An Eagle, lofty, with a keen eye for the bigger picture but not getting involved unless it is to snatch your prey;

A Magpie that is quick and detailed but prone to distraction from bright ideas that pique your interest;

Or maybe you're a Wren busily working on the detail but with little overview for the bigger picture.

To summarize the Hyge is the external representation of one's intellectual capacity. Another theorist, Raymond Cattell, described intelligence as having two distinct factors. The first he called Crystallized Intelligence, representing acquired knowledge, and second, Fluid Intelligence, or our ability to use this knowledge. This reflect the Odin's ravens; If Fluid Intelligence is our Hugin then Acquired Intelligence is the Munin….

Mynd - Memory

gemynd f: memory, consciousness, mind
gemyndig adj: (with gen.) mindful of, remembering, thinking of
The other of Odin's Ravens is called Munin, or Memory, and so between Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory) Odin sees all that occurs in the world. If the memory is a carcass Munin picks over the pieces and retrieves the best morsels for Odin. For most people it is the disorganized state of their connections that means things are forgotten. The process of mind mapping (see links), which is also utilised in the OBOD Gwers, is one to improve the structure of the connections so that they can be searched more efficiently thus improving memory.

The memory is separated into two main parts - the short-term memory and the long-term memory. The short term is said to have a capacity of 7 +/- 2 things. This gives a maximum of 9 and minimum of 5 - things, some people will be able to cope with more, some with less and this will vary depending upon many other factors such as stress, tiredness etc…. These things to remember can be activities, tasks and all the other multitude of things that man has to remember. Once the short-term memory reaches it's maximum it starts to drop things from the list, or in other words, you start to forget things. The long-term memory is where you store all that knowledge that you've learnt. Association is the tree by which the branches and nodes connect to retrieve stored long-term memories.

Your memory is where all you have learnt is stored, parts of the OBOD Gwers are related to improving your memory, it is thought that the Ogham were the basis of a mind mapping system for the Druids. This would explain why there are so many lists of relationships for each of the Ogham. Each of these relationships can extended to create a searchable tree starting at each Ogham letter and then branching onwards. Similarly the Runes can be viewed in the same way - the Ogham tracts include Runes amongst the Ogham. For a non-literate society the memory is important in a way that a literate society finds hard to understand. The third and final aspect of our intellectual capacity is the power that controls the Hyge and Mynd….

Willa - Will

Willa Will is defined as:

  1. The mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action: championed freedom of will against a doctrine of predetermination
  2. The act of exercising the will
  3. Diligent purposefulness; determination: an athlete with the will to win
  4. Self-control; self-discipline: lacked the will to overcome the addiction

It has been said that our forebears in the Northern Tribes believed in predetermination because of the existence of the Norns, the 3 weaving women, who knew the future and fate of all things. However throughout the Norse literature there is the thread that individual will and action could affect the outcome of the future and even of fate itself. The Norns maybe weaving the strands of the future but they, and only they, could know all the outcomes. Not even Odin seems to know all there is of the future.

However the will is an essential part of the soul. If one's intellectual capacity is a sword then the Mynd is the material of the sword: stone, bronze, iron or steel, the Hyge is the blade: dull or sharp whilst the handle is the Willa. Some handles are perfect and will work all day whilst others are fragile and collapse under the first strain. The emotions have a direct link to the will - how you feel about something is directly involved with the amount of effort put into it and pleasure received from it. If you enjoy doing something then the will is in harmony with the task.

This is also where it ties into Hoenir's gift. Rydberg best explains this concept: " they received from Hoenir the gift which is called óður. In signification this word corresponds most closely to the Latin mens that material which forms the kernel of a human personality, its ego, and whose manifestations are understanding, memory, fancy, and will.

Vigfusson has called attention to the fact that the epithet langifótur and aurkonungr, "Long-leg" and "Mire-king" applied to Hoenir, is applicable to the stork, and that this cannot be an accident, as the very name Hænir suggests a bird, and is related to the Greek kuknos and the Sanscrit sakunas (Corpus Poet. Bor., i. p. cii.).

There is a story of the creation of man by three wandering gods, who become in mediaeval stories Jesus and SS. Peter and Paul walking among men, as in Champfleury's pretty apologue of the bonhomme misere, so beautifully illustrated by Legros. In the eddic legend one of these gods is called Hæne; he is the speech-giver of Wolospa, and is described in praises taken from lost poems as "the long-legged one" [langifótr], "the lord of the ooze" [aurkonungr]. Strange epithets, but easily explainable when one gets at the etymology of Hæne = hohni = Sansc. sakunas = Gr. kuknos = the white bird, swan, or stork, that stalks along in the mud, lord of the marsh; and it is now easy to see that this bird is the Creator walking in chaos, brooding over the primitive mish-mash or tohu-bohu, and finally hatching the egg of the world. Hohni is also, one would fancy, to be identified with Heimdall, the walker, who is also a creator-god, who sleeps more lightly than a bird, who is also the "fair Anse," and the "whitest of the Anses," the "waker of the gods," a celestial chanticleer as it were (Vigfusson, Corpus Poeticum Boreale, vol. i., Introduction, p. cii., quoted by the translator).

It should be borne in mind in this connection that the stork even to this day is regarded as a sacred and protected bird, and that among Scandinavians and Germans there still exists a nursery tale telling how the stork takes from some saga-pond the little fruits of man and brings them to their mothers. The tale which now belongs to the nursery has its root in the myth, where Hoenir gives our first parents that very gift which in a spiritual sense makes them human beings and contains the personal ego." Quoted from Viktor Rydberg, pg 95.

The 3 Parts of Spiritual Capacity

Ond - Breath

Ond can be translated as 'breath' but really means 'inspiration' as in 'to breathe into' or 'give life to', and in the sense of being poetically, religiously (etc.) 'inspired'. Ond is the gift of life and all that means in terms of desire, vitality and existence.

Rydberg states that it was an old German custom for a father to breathe into his newborn child's mouth. He was thus, symbolically, re-enacting Odin's gift of life to man. In English the term 'to breathe life into', meaning regeneration, is still used. In this respect the heathen and yogic worlds refer to the same Proto-Indo-European heritage.

" Breathing is so simple and so obvious we often take it for granted, ignoring the power it has to affect body, mind and spirit. With each inhale we bring oxygen into the body and spark the transformation of nutrients into fuel. Each exhale purges the body of carbon dioxide, a toxic waste. Breathing also affects our state of mind. It can make us excited or calm, tense or relaxed. It can make our thinking confused or clear. What's more, in the yogic tradition, air is the primary source of prana or life force, a psycho-physio-spiritual force that permeates the universe." Taken from www.yogasite.com

Odin is the giver of Ond and thus life. This is why he is the all-father. His name means furious-inspiration or ecstatic-consciousness, which is similar to the Welsh Awen or Irish Imbas Forosnai. This is all done through the breath - within yogic tradition various breathing exercises can be used to control or balance our state of mind. It is in this respect the relationship between how (and what) we breathe and our state of mind that Ond is important within the soul. This spiritual aspect can thus be seen as the connective point between the Lich, or body, and the Hyge, or mind. The breath is also linked to the voice - singers and in older days speakers (including the Celtic Druids and Heathen Skalds) were taught how to breath and speak; oratory. It is within the breath that the power of the voice can come through.

Like the Hyge the Ond thus becomes the external representation of our spiritual capacity which is why they appear on the same axis.

Fylgja - Spirit

Fylgja(literally: she, who follows) is a supernatural being which accompanies a person.

It could be conceived of as a person's ethereal spirit that was separated from the body. However it could also be conceived of as a guardian angel (often a female ancestor) who protects one during their life. The fylgja could appear in a form that was most appropriate to the need. A warlike man consequently could have a wolf, boar or a bear for a fylgja. The fylgja appeared during sleep either in dreams or physically, but the sagas relate that they could appear when a person was awake as well. Seeing one's fylgja was an omen of one's death c.f. doppelganger. Many modern heathens, inspired by Jung, see the fylgja as ones anima / animus. In these terms it is the complementary inner workings of the external person. This is why it is the opposite gender to the physical person.

"The persona, the ideal picture of a man as he should be, is inwardly compensated by feminine weakness, and as the individual outwardly plays the strong man, so he becomes inwardly a woman, i.e., the anima, for it is the anima that reacts to the persona. But because the inner world is dark and invisible . . . and because a man is all the less capable of conceiving his weaknesses the more he is identified with the persona, the persona's counterpart, the anima, remains completely in the dark and is at once projected, so that our hero comes under the heel of his wife's slipper.[Jung, "Anima and Animus," CW 7, par. 309.]"

within the terminology here it can be seen as the core self of the individual. It is the basic guts of the spirit or soul, in other words the 'astral body' of the person. This would be the ancestral, spiritual element that is brought to an individual as well as the non-physical energy of the individual. The astral body travels with the mynd and hamr during sleep.

"No man is an island." We are the product of millennia of people, generation upon generation, that have come to fruition in a single person. Whether the fylgja is some sort of internal, instinctive link to ourselves and our ancestors or an actual presence within the world is not the focus of this essay. That it does exist and is an element to be understood and related to is the focus of this essay. The more this element is repressed by the conscious persona the more it retreats into the dark, unconscious world where it's workings cannot be understood.

In this respect the Fylgja is also the physical ancestral memory of the individual - which is why Fylgja is on the same axis as the Mynd.

Hamingja - Luck

Hamingja is a kind of female guardian angel in Scandinavian mythology. It was believed to accompany a person and to decide his luck and happiness.

Consequently, the name was also used to signify happiness, and this is what it means in modern day Icelandic. When a person died, the hamingja passed to a dear relative and so the hamingja accompanied a family during several generations and decided its luck and happiness.

The luck of a person was central to their Orlog and Wyrd, or karma and fate in more modern parlance however the Hamingja could be inherited from the clan or tribe. However what is 'luck' - some people are born lucky whilst others make their own luck. However luck has been described as the place where 'opportunity meets ability' - this seems to sum it up. A family with a strong Hamingja will probably be a family that encourages opportunity but it will require an individual with strong ability to be exceptionally lucky. Equally an individual can increase their ability to such a level that they seem exceptionally lucky whilst nominally coming from an unlucky family.

The main effect of the Hamingja is upon one's attention and focus. True happiness has been described as that moment when you are fully and totally engaged in the moment within time and space. In many respects the Hamingja is similar to what sports psychologists call 'the zone'. The zone has been described as 'the place where the mind and body are united in purpose' also as the 'ultimate in human experience'. The Hamingja is the representation of this ineffable quality. Within the modern world it can be seen that instead of the clan or tribe having a group Hamingja it can be applied to teams or other groupings of people. Within sports it can be seen how the Hamingja can affect a team and how team's have their own Hamingja, usually grouped around certain emotional leaders within the team. These emotional leaders have strong Hamingja.

When a person has lost contact with their Hamingja then they remain unfocussed on the essence of the here and now and, in Hindu terms, are subject to the illusions of their existence. This is why the Hamingja is thought of as a 'female guardian angel' or Disir. I have taken Disir to mean a female ancestral spirit who acts as a guardian over the individual. Obviously this will often be a grandmother or great-grandmother but can also be a mother or an even older ancestral spirit. A mother makes a powerful Disir. If one's actions upset or anger the Disir then bad luck is sure to follow and, in extreme cases, death. In Fornaldar Sögur: Hálf's Saga (XV) it says:
Dead must be

All your dísir

Luck is gone, I say,

From Hálfr's warriors,

I dreamed this morning

That our powers

Vanquished yours

When they met together.
It is these aspects where the Hamingja is the ineffable spiritual quality within an individual it is aligned with the Willa as the ineffable intellectual quality.

The 3 Parts of Physical Capacity

Lich - Body

lík, n. (1) the living body (við þat l. at lifa); (2) the dead body, corpse (jarða l. e-s).

Whilst not used in the Eddas I've used this to mean the outward physical appearance of a person. Although the literal translation is blood and blooming hue within the Eddas the translation appears to mean those physical aspects of a person. The physical aspects of a person are those things that you are born with. This outward appearance has archetypes associated with it that affects all people as they grow - the cute blonde, the concorde nose, the hare lip or other physical difference affect the individual and the external worlds reaction to them.

The physical aspects can be changed such as hair-style and colour, clothing and all the other things that our consumer body conscious culture provides - contact lenses to change eye colour, fake tans and designer clothing. These can change the outward appearance but none of them are long lasting or, as with cosmetic surgery, completely integrated into the whole person.

It is dangerous though to underestimate the power of the lich. Whilst people who are obsessive about their outward appearance are thought of as vain and shallow, the effect of changing the lich can be tremendous. The archetype of the ugly duckling that wears drab, dowdy clothing being turned into the swan is a powerful one with good reason. Sometimes changing the physical aspect of the lich can have profound affects on the whole spirit. Just like dressing up in your 'glad rags' to go out will improve one's mood and dressing in a uniform can affect a person's whole bearing. Similarly growing or cutting the hair can have a dramatic affect upon how one is perceived - a long hair and beard gives a 'wild man' appearance whilst a smooth face and short hair cut is regarded as professional.

It is this external representation of one's physical appearance that aligns the Lich with the Ond and Hyge.

Hamr - Hide

hamr (-s, -ir)m. (1) skin, slough; hleypa hömum, to cast the slough (of snakes); (2) shape, form; skipta hömum, to change one’s shape.

In this essay Hamr will mean the underlying physique & chemistry of a person. However there is also a non-physical aspect to the hamr. The can be viewed not only as their physiology but also their charisma. The physiology contains such things as the pheromones and your body type - whether you are an ectomorph, endomorph or mesomorph - which not only affect your inner world but also affect how the external world views you.

Everyone, despite what some dictionaries may say, has charisma. However a great leader will have innate positive charisma whilst a great actor is able to manipulate and project charisma. A good way to understand the Hamr is via acting. The greatest actors, like Kevin Spacey for example, can manipulate their hamr to really 'become' the part they are playing so that the audience believes in their portrayal. Celebrity actors, such as Sylvester Stallone, can only affect their Lich whilst all along the audience can see through to their hamr and see the celebrity playing a part.

Some people have negative charisma - those who come across as smelly, slimy or untrustworthy reflect this - but the Hamr can be changed. Physical training can change your physique and physiology from a 'lard-arse' to a 'racing snake'. This has affects on your body chemistry and charisma.

There is one final part that relates to the Hamr and that is muscle memory. It is where repetition of physical exercise becomes ingrained into the body so that it can be performed sub- consciously. Within the martial art of Karate Kata aims to achieve this. This is also why the Hamr is on the same line as the Mynd and Fylgja.

Feorh - Health

feorh(1) life, soul, spirit (2)a living being, person (3)life-blood feonda feorum, 'with the life-blood of foes'

Here the term feorh is taken to mean life-blood in respects to the physical well being and health of the person. The blood affects the health in many ways - an endurance athlete's body will produce and contain more blood than an average person. This is a physiological affect from their training. However the health can also be called a person's physical constitution - they can be as 'strong as an ox' or as 'frail as a bird'.

Once again one's basic health is not something that can be changed. However outside factors such as training, diet and lifestyle have been proven to have large effects upon health. Within Yogic and ancient Greek Epicurean thought 'you are what you eat' was one of their driving principles. It is as true today as then with the 'fast food' culture being pointed to as the source of our modern obesity problems. As we learn more about allergies and illness it can be viewed that we are organisms within the world we live. Every teaspoon of earth-soil has more living bacteria than there are people on the earth-planet. In this respect the 50's anti-bacterial, over- cleanliness culture created an unnatural environment where a child's body is not trained to be healthy in the world. We now seem to be learning that a sanitised, centrally-heated / air- conditioned environment is both unnatural and unhealthy.

Those with ox like constitutions are often brought up in a natural warts-and-all household that prepares them for the temperature changes, bugs and challenges that Mother Earth provides. However one's health is the ineffable individual physical quality - which aligns it with the Hamingja and Willa.

Working with the elements of Northern Soul

Relationships between them

The next thing is to evaluate these 9 parts and the relationships between them. A good way to start is to use a SWAT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Advantages, Threats) analysis of each of these parts. The next aim is to achieve a balance of the whole. The aim has to be to develop the weakest parts up to the same level and then the whole can be worked upon. The other concept to understand is that each part is in a constant state of flux. Our natural biorhythms will affect it, the growing up and aging process will affect it and one's life events will alter it. In this respect the OBOD Gwers provide lessons on developing many aspects of the Northern Soul, but not all. In concept this all seems easy, in reality the stresses and strains of everyday life make this balancing act akin to plate spinning (a circus act where the performer balances spinning plates on top of poles).

Unlike plate spinning each of these parts has an impact, like the ripples from a stone dropped in a pond, on the others around it. I shall describe some examples to explain the point:

  • A strong Mynd will directly influence the Willa and Hyge and Fylgja - the strength of memory means that lessons learnt are remembered better - this strong memory means that outwardly it is perceived that your are smart or clever. This is its affect on the Hyge. The strong memory feeds the Willa; meaning that the memory of the pain of past lapses of will encourages the growth of willpower in the future. Having strong memories of childhood, grandparents and ones wider ancestry provides a greater connection and interaction with the fylgja. This is aids in the knowledge of who you are and how you got here.
  • A weak Feorh will mean that energy levels are low, this shows in the Hamr as lethargy. Due to bad health it feels like the Hamingja is lacking, when you are ill you become clumsy and unlucky. Similarly the Fylgja becomes depressed, introverted and weak.
  • A strong Fylgja can almost override any weakness in the other parts - it is the sign of what Xtians would call a saint, such as Mother Theresa, who have an internal aura that shows through the other parts.
  • A beautiful Lich will encourage the individual to develop their Hamr to keep themselves good looking. As they are attractive their Ond will be often be attractive to others and will give them confidence to speak, also this beauty will affect how people behave towards them and this will affect the development of their Fylgja.

The theory is that each section affects most heavily those surrounding it - this is why the Fylgja affects all the other parts. On the second level of separation it depends upon the effect upon the first level section and the strength of that section.

It is necessary for each individual to examine their self and understand, in an analytical way, their strengths and weaknesses. Obviously this is a hard thing to do and often it is only by using each part that one can understand it. I firmly believe that each part can be developed though and that in developing each part the whole is strengthened. Like a plant though it is the weakest parts that need the hardest work. There is a difficulty and risk within this though - to fully understand an aspect of yourself it is often necessary to push that aspect to its limits. Pushing yourself to your limits, in whatever respect, contains risk but as Nietzsche said "there's no gain without pain".

Developing them

Once the Self-SWAT analysis has been investigated then it is time to see which areas need to be balanced. I have listed this with a view to Advice and Guidance for individuals to find their own path. It is impossible to guess what is best for an individual; only that individual or their close circle of friends and family will be able to understand them well enough to make the choice. These choices will also change over time either through desire, growth or other necessity. Below are some paths that I have either tried or had close contact and communication with people who have followed these paths.

Meditation

Meditation can be done in many ways - obviously OBOD has it's own ways of meditating whilst Zen Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism and Yoga all have their own influences. The Heathen type of meditation can best be summed up in the old proverb "Sometimes I sits and thinks, sometimes I just sits." Within the Epicureans of ancient Greece they also understood that time to contemplate the past, present and future is necessary to a human's well being. If someone is uncomfortable with prescribed meditation they could try finding somewhere with a beautiful view, sitting down and watching the world go by for sometime.

This will develop the Willa to control the constant chatter of the mind that comes from the Hyge and Mynd. Meditation can also develop the Ond via it's concentration on breath control during some sorts of meditation. I see the deeper purpose of meditation is greater connection with the Fylgja through the Willa. Obviously as you practice more meditation becomes ingrained into the Mynd and the calmness it produces affects the Hamingja.

Puzzles, Games and Learning

Rather than sitting in front of the television why not do something else - the benefits are proven that reading, learning new things, playing puzzles and other games are proven to stem the onsets of aging. All of these things help keep the Hyge sharp and the Mynd in use. This is why they are important in child development but it is dangerous to think that "I'm an adult and don't need to do them" as that is the way of stagnation and dis-ease. As with all things it seems that "use it or lose it" is the order of the day and so it is necessary to build them into your lifestyle in order to keep growing.

Physical Training

Exercise, in it's many forms, obviously develops the Hamr and can develop the Ond. It will also affect the Feorh and Lich - the body (Lich, Hamr and Feorh) can be seen as an engine. If any engine is left unused or un-maintained then it doesn't function effectively. Over time it becomes clogged up and eventually performance is irrevocably damaged.

Humans are efficient by being like water - they find the path of least resistance - which is a great survival trait in a harsh, unforgiving world but in the modern western world it leads to dis-ease. In many respects this is what the pain of exercise is - the lazy body complaining. Once past that pain pleasure comes from the release of endorphins and adrenaline. This advice comes with the cautionary message about being able to recognise between the types of physical pain. Sharp-stabbing pain is bad and it is usually best to stop doing the exercise if you receive a sharp, stabbing pain. If it's a fatigue like pain (within the first half-hour of exercising) this is often just the body being lazy. As with all exercise no program should be started without consulting your doctor or proper training from a professional. With all physical training it's important to find something:
a) You enjoy

b) Fits in with your lifestyle - ideally something that you can do daily.

Stretching

I've deliberately separated this from physical training as in many respects they are quite separate. Usually a physical exercise program includes some stretching but only stretching relating to that sport. Most low-impact exercise systems such as Tai Chi, Yoga or Pilates include an all over holistic stretching programme. This holistic approach to the body is important in keeping balance overall.

During youth this does not seem important as the body remains supple and recovers quickly, however, it is also important in avoiding injury & muscle imbalance at all ages. With the onset of maturity and older age gradual imbalances in the holistic body can become the source of chronic pain symptoms. Regular use of an exercise system can help control this and encourage the body to recover.

There is an added advantage to a holistic stretching programme - they usually strengthen the inner core body. This inner core contains the deep, underlying muscles that support us each and every day - our head, pelvis and back. These are the muscles that could be related, in yogic terms, to your Kundalini power. Physical training is usually about training the outer muscles, in doing this they incidentally train the inner core, but the holistic strengthening of the inner core is essential to every day well being in a way that physical training is not.

Chi / Qi / Nwyvre

The Chi of Taoist thought would correspond directly, in my opinion, to the following sections: Ond, Mynd, Hamingja, Hamr and of course Fylgja. That is Breath, Memory, Luck, Physique and Spirit. However the martial artists develop Ond, Mynd, Hamingja, Hamr in order to perform their feats of agility, strength and power. By developing these four aspects they enhance / tap into the Fylgja. This doesn't mean that you must immediately take up Kung-fu or Karate! There are many other ways of developing it. Any physical activity can develop the Qi, such things as singing will develop the Breath & Memory whilst not necessarily influencing one's luck and physique.

Obviously Tai Chi is directly aimed at the development of this. Yoga is another form of development through the Asanas (Yoga posture), Pranayama (breathing exercises) and Meditation. Any programme to develop Chi relates not only to physical training but is a holistic approach to physical and spiritual well-being and development.

Ritual & Runework

Ritual

The power of ritual is used within all cultures – even non-religious organisations (such as communist ones) use ritual. Within the Heathen view the Blot (a religious ceremony) can be used to connect with and strengthen the Fylgja & Hamingja, exercises like the Light-Body exercise also do this. Ritual is dealt with extensively elsewhere and is specific to one’s path or organisation (such as the OBOD Gwers) I am noting here it’s aspect which it primarily influences.

Runework

Within runework I have found that picking 9 runes and placing them in a deosil spiral, corresponding to the 9 parts and starting at the Hyge, then the Mynd, Willa, Hamingja, Feorh, Hamr, Lich, Ond and finally the Fylgja provides a good reading. There is an assumption here that the reader will already know and understand the Runes and my intention is only to give some advice and guidance on things to look for in the patterns.

First analyse each rune and it's position, then analyse the patterns and the relationships in the patterns. Think about how the Rune relates to that position and what it could be saying. Once this has been done it's best to look at the patterns and relationships of the Runes to one another. There are 9 patterns to view:

The Horizontal Patterns

  • The Intellect - Hyge, Mynd, Willa
  • The Spiritual - Ond, Fylgja, Hamingja
  • The Physical - Lich, Hamr, Feorh

The Vertical Patterns

  • The External - Hyge, Ond and Lich
  • The Ethereal - Mynd, Fylgja and Hamr
  • The Internal - Willa, Hamingja and Feorh

The Complex Patterns

  • The Chi - Ond, Mynd, Hamingja and Hamr
  • The Pentagon - Hyge, Willa, Feorh, Lich and Fylgja
  • The Soul - all 9 runes laid out

Via the Blog I would be interested in hearing other Runeworkers experiences in this.
Has it been helpful, worthwhile or not?

Does this just work for me or more generally?

What insights has it given (if any)?

And finally...

Conclusion

Whilst this does not intend to be the all and end all on the subject I hope it's provided food for thought. I have found it beneficial in use for myself and as a model it has been useful within self-analysis. I find it's cheaper than a psychotherapist ;-) Within Runework I have found it to fit naturally into my method of usage which is why I am curious as to whether this is a purely personal approach or would have a wider benefit. I believe that each person's interaction with the Runes is unique and subjective and so any feedback both positive and negative would be useful.

In the advice and guidance above I have not mentioned the Stav Academy which is a holistic training programme within the Runes that includes Yoga like stances and healing knowledge. The reason I've not mentioned it is that I've not met anyone who uses it. However for further information please go to Stav International.

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