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Tag: journey work

Freyja’s Falcon Flight: Make Something

Yesterday was both the full moon and the summer solstice, so this one's just a touch late. I recommend lighting a devotional candle and/or making a small offering to Freyja (perhaps a libation) before you begin, and then prepare yourself however you normally would, to do work at an altar. For my part, that usually means wearing one of my devotional hair ribbons and perhaps donning magical jewelry, and acquiring something to go over my head while I journey.  As usual, feel free to try this one or skip it if it doesn't appeal to you. I've been called to share these with my community, but it is ultimately up to each of you to choose to join in or not. I'm not so self-centered as to think my own personal practice, even if She asked me to share it, is relevant to every devotee!

Falcon Flight: Make Something

Begin in stillness, and quiet, and darkness. Find your center, and align yourself with earth and sky. As you stare at the darkness behind your eyes, feel and see as mist swirls up from the ground, obscuring everything around you. After a moment, it begins to part, leaving you standing on wide plain, and on the horizon in front of you, out of the plain rises the great world tree. If you have any guides or guardians you wish to accompany you, call to them now, before you step through the gate and make your way towards the tree.

As you approach the World Tree, circle around it clockwise, until you see an opening beneath one of the great roots. Duck under this root and enter the tunnel beneath. There is hard dirt packed beneath your feet, and the entire tunnel seems to have been hewn from that same clay-rich dirt and sandstone. Not as many feet come this way — the floor is still rough in places, so watch your step as you continue forward. There are torches set into sconces in the rough hewn walls, and their light looks like fire but you feel no heat as we continue past, and you smell no smoke or pitch.

The tunnel curves gently and then begins to rise in a gradual incline, ending in a doorway, two huge stones on either side and capped with a third. Touch one gently as you step out into the fresh air — these are worn by the elements and smooth to the touch. If you look back to the entrance, you will notice that on this side, the tunnel leads into what looks like a large burial mound, standing alone in a large clearing, though the forest is slowly encroaching from all sides.

Smell the air — the pine sap scent is strong, and your nose can tell there is moving water somewhere nearby, even if your ears cannot yet hear it. Now you should continue, following a clear trail deeper into the forest. Your footfalls are muffled by pine needles, and the air seems still. Then, ahead of you you see a bridge over a nearly-empty gorge, just a trickle of a stream at the bottom, the same as last full moon.

Cross the bridge and continue up the usual trail. After a short time, you arrive at a fork, with three paths to choose from. One path curves to the left, and you can just make out a bridge over a creek in the distance. The one to the right seems to vanish into the trees. Continue down the middle path, which leads straight ahead. After a while, the trees seem to thin a bit, and the underbrush grows less tangled.

As the path reaches the edge of the forest, and the pine needles give way to a large open field, your eyes are drawn to the great hall. It is large, and you know at once to whom it belongs. This is Freyja’s Hall, Sessrumnir, and you are in Folkvangr. Approach the door, and the doorkeeper will hand you something. Take it and go inside.

Enter the hall and stop for a moment to let your eyes adjust. Once they have, look down at the object or objects you have been given.  Is this something you have in your home? An abandoned project perhaps, or one you never started?  Or is it symbolic, of some other work you meant to do, but never finished?

Whatever it is, consider it for a moment. It is the time of year that things are growing, getting leafy and lush, but most of them not yet burdened by fruit. Could you finish this work in time for the harvest season? Would you dedicate the work to Freyja, and imbue it with magic as you work? If you would do so, find a space somewhere in the hall - between others spinning, weaving, whittling - to do a little work on your project, until you think the magic has taken root.

[interlude]

When you are finished, put it into your pocket or bag and go out the door of the hall on the side opposite to where you came in, down the usual the forest path, through the forest, across the bridge again, to the mound, through the mound-tunnel and out from under the root, and begin to cross the plain. Then the mist will swirl up again, and take you back to your body.

Freyja’s Falcon Flight: Keep the Gems

It's almost the full moon again! So here's the next Falcon Flight. I recommend lighting a devotional candle and/or making a small offering to Freyja (perhaps a libation) and to Freyr (if you have a relationship with him) before you begin, and then prepare yourself however you normally would, to do work at an altar. For my part, that usually means wearing one of my devotional hair ribbons and perhaps donning magical jewelry, and acquiring something to go over my head while I journey.  As usual, feel free to try this one or skip it if it doesn't appeal to you. I've been called to share these with my community, but it is ultimately up to each of you to choose to join in or not. I'm not so self-centered as to think my own personal practice, even if She asked me to share it, is relevant to every devotee!

Falcon Flight: Keep the Gems

Begin in stillness, and quiet, and darkness. Find your center, and align yourself with earth and sky. As you stare at the darkness behind your eyes, feel and see as mist swirls up from the ground, obscuring everything around you. After a moment, it begins to part, leaving you standing on wide plain, and on the horizon in front of you, out of the plain rises the great world tree. If you have any guides or guardians you wish to accompany you, call to them now, before you step through the gate and make your way towards the tree.

As you approach the World Tree, circle around it clockwise, until you see an opening beneath one of the great roots. Duck under this root and enter the tunnel beneath. There is hard dirt packed beneath your feet, and the entire tunnel seems to have been hewn from that same clay-rich dirt and sandstone. Not as many feet come this way — the floor is still rough in places, so watch your step as you continue forward. There are torches set into sconces in the rough hewn walls, and their light looks like fire but you feel no heat as we continue past, and you smell no smoke or pitch.

The tunnel curves gently and then begins to rise in a gradual incline, ending in a doorway, two huge stones on either side and capped with a third. Touch one gently as you step out into the fresh air — these are worn by the elements and smooth to the touch. If you look back to the entrance, you will notice that on this side, the tunnel leads into what looks like a large burial mound, standing alone in a large clearing, though the forest is slowly encroaching from all sides.

Smell the air — the pine sap scent is strong, and your nose can tell there is moving water somewhere nearby, even if your ears cannot yet hear it. Now you should continue, following a clear trail deeper into the forest. Your footfalls are muffled by pine needles, and the air seems still. Then, ahead of you you see a bridge over a nearly-empty gorge, just a trickle of a stream at the bottom, the same as last full moon.

Cross the bridge and continue up the usual trail. After a short time, you arrive at a fork, with three paths to choose from. One path curves to the left, and you can just make out a bridge over a creek in the distance. The one to the right seems to vanish into the trees. Continue down the middle path, which leads straight ahead. After a while, the trees seem to thin a bit, and the underbrush grows less tangled.

As the path reaches the edge of the forest, and the pine needles give way to a large open field, your eyes are drawn to the great hall. It is large, and you know at once to whom it belongs. This is Freyja’s Hall, Sessrumnir, and you are in Folkvangr. Approach the door, and go inside.

Enter the hall and stop for a moment to let your eyes adjust. Once they have, you will be able to see both Freyja and Freyr seated on the dais. You may approach either of them to speak to them about what weighs on your heart.

[interlude]

When you have finished speaking, one of them will hand you a small wooden carving. It may be labeled, but in your heart you know what this is: a representation of a relationship that once was meaningful in your life, but is no longer.  Place the carving into the central fire, and watch as it swiftly burns down. As the wood reduces to ash, a central gem is revealed. When it has been freed, reach your hand out to pick it up. It will not burn you.

This is what you should keep from that relationship that is no more: the parts of yourself that were wrapped up inside it.  You need not cut off or abandon any part of your true self to remove the influence of a toxic relationship; these can be cleansed by fire and returned to you for safekeeping and later integration.  For now, put the gem in your pocket or somewhere similar, and then return to thank the one who gave you the carving.

When you are finished, go out the door of the hall on the side opposite to where you came in, down the usual the forest path, through the forest, across the bridge again, to the mound, through the mound-tunnel and out from under the root, and begin to cross the plain. Then the mist will swirl up again, and take you back to your body.

 

Nota bene: Astute readers will have noticed that this time the mist deposits you on the plain instead of the meadow and continuing through the tunnel of trees.  When I did the journey this week, that is what happened to me. Whether that is a permanent change or not I am not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if the removal of a section heavily associated with Hrafnar practice isn't my own subconscious reaction to the discussion of Diana Paxson, pedestals, and problematic elders our community has been having over the past few weeks.  I am not yet as well informed on the topic as I would like to be, because personal life and health have kept me from deeply engaging, but what I have seen is enough to make me pause and consider parts of my personal practice that are based on her writings.

Freyja’s Falcon Flight: New Shapes

Well, I meant to do twice a month but at least I'm back with this on time again.  Spring weather changes and some mundane life stuff have left me still a little overloaded, but I'm working on getting back into the swing of things, and the abundance of sunlight is definitely helping!

I recommend lighting a devotional candle and/or making a small offering to Freyja (perhaps a libation) before you begin, and then prepare yourself however you normally would, to do work at an altar. For my part, that usually means wearing one of my devotional hair ribbons and perhaps donning magical jewelry, and acquiring something to go over my head while I journey.  As usual, feel free to try this one or skip it if it doesn't appeal to you. I've been called to share these with my community, but it is ultimately up to each of you to choose to join in or not. I'm not so self-centered as to think my own personal practice, even if She asked me to share it, is relevant to every devotee!

Falcon Flight: New Shapes

Begin in stillness, and quiet, and darkness. Find your center, and align yourself with earth and sky. As you stare at the darkness behind your eyes, feel and see as mist swirls up from the ground, obscuring everything around you. After a moment, it begins to part, leaving you standing in a flowery meadow.

When you arrive in the meadow, take a moment to observe around you, turning until you see a path. At the entrance to the path are two shrubs, and as you move on that direction, you see trees as well. Shrubs give way to trees and undergrowth on either side of the path, getting taller and denser as you move onward, until they join overhead into an arch, forming a tunnel of trees that slopes downward, getting denser and darker.

Eventually, you notice that the path has become flat, and then it begins to rise. Now the trees are thinning again, branches giving way to brightness, and as the trees again give way to shrubs, you see a gate in front of a wide plain and beyond it, the great world tree. If you have any guides or guardians you wish to accompany you, ones who can join you in flight, call to them now, before you step through the gate and make your way towards the tree.

As you approach the World Tree, circle around it clockwise, until you see an opening beneath one of the great roots. Duck under this root and enter the tunnel beneath. There is hard dirt packed beneath your feet, and the entire tunnel seems to have been hewn from that same clay-rich dirt and sandstone. Not as many feet come this way — the floor is still rough in places, so watch your step as you continue forward. There are torches set into sconces in the rough hewn walls, and their light looks like fire but you feel no heat as we continue past, and you smell no smoke or pitch.

The tunnel curves gently and then begins to rise in a gradual incline, ending in a doorway, two huge stones on either side and capped with a third. Touch one gently as you step out into the fresh air — these are worn by the elements and smooth to the touch. If you look back to the entrance, you will notice that on this side, the tunnel leads into what looks like a large burial mound, standing alone in a large clearing, though the forest is slowly encroaching from all sides.

Smell the air — the pine sap scent is strong, and your nose can tell there is moving water somewhere nearby, even if your ears cannot yet hear it. Now you should continue, following a clear trail deeper into the forest. Your footfalls are muffled by pine needles, and the air seems still. Then, ahead of you you see a bridge over a nearly-empty gorge, just a trickle of a stream at the bottom, the same as last full moon.

This time, cross the bridge and continue up the usual trail, towards the field and the great hall, and fter a short time, you arrive at a fork, with three paths to choose from. One path curves to the left, and you can just make out a bridge over a creek in the distance. The one to the right seems to vanish into the trees. Continue down the middle path, which leads straight ahead. After a while, the trees seem to thin a bit, and the underbrush grows less tangled.

As the path reaches the edge of the forest, and the pine needles give way to a large open field, your eyes are drawn to the great hall. It is large, and you know at once to whom it belongs. This is Freyja’s Hall, Sessrumnir, and you are in Folkvangr. Approach the door, and go inside.

When you enter the hall and stop for a moment to let your eyes adjust, you notice revelers gathered and dancing, all wearing dark cloaks and animal masks. You have worn your own dark cloak for this gathering, but the animal masks confuse you for a moment, and you stand still and stare.

Then, suddenly, Freyja is before you, and she reaches out to touch you, and the entire scene disappears...

You open your eyes in another body, outside, at dusk.  Do you have paws now? Wings? Fins? Some sort of tail?  Move experimentally and try to get a feel for this new shape, and a good look at yourself.  When you recognize what you have become, take a moment to test the limits of this new form, and to move for the sheer joy of movement!

[interlude #1]

At long last, you begin to tire, and begin the search for a place to rest. You relax, and your eyes close...

Only to open again, inside the hall once more, with Freyja smiling at you and holding out a mask. Was it a dream? Did you share a few hours of the life of another being, or was your spirit transformed? You may have questions, but they fade as you put on the mask, and join the other revelers in their wild dance, expressing what this transformative experience has taught you about yourselves.

[interlude #2]

When you feel settled and ready to leave, go out the door of the hall on the side opposite to where you came in, down the usual the forest path, through the forest, across the bridge again, to the mound, through the mound-tunnel and out from under the root, across the plain, and back to the gate, through the tunnel of trees, and back to the meadow. Then the mist will swirl up again, and take you back to your body.

Freyja’s Falcon Flight: Purifying Waters

Spring is back, and so are these Falcon Flights - on the full moon now, to help me keep my plan to blog every other week. As before, this journey is based on my experience, and I’m offering it to the community in case it’s helpful or resonates with some of you. If you’re used to doing journeys from a script, great! Otherwise feel free to have some one read it to you, or record yourself reading it. Edit the intro and expand the outro if you need to, but please leave the middle intact, and don’t share the recording without telling them where to find my original post!

I recommend lighting a devotional candle and/or making a small offering to Freyja (perhaps a libation) before you begin.  Please note: if you have a phobia of caves or drowning, this may not be a good meditation for you.  Otherwise, prepare yourself however you normally would, to do work at an altar. For my part, that usually means wearing one of my devotional hair ribbons and perhaps donning magical jewelry, and acquiring something to go over my head while I journey.

Falcon Flight: Purifying Waters

Begin in stillness, and quiet, and darkness. Find your center, and align yourself with earth and sky. As you stare at the darkness behind your eyes, feel and see as mist swirls up from the ground, obscuring everything around you. After a moment, it begins to part, leaving you standing in a flowery meadow.

When you arrive in the meadow, take a moment to observe around you, turning until you see a path. At the entrance to the path are two shrubs, and as you move on that direction, you see trees as well. Shrubs give way to trees and undergrowth on either side of the path, getting taller and denser as you move onward, until they join overhead into an arch, forming a tunnel of trees that slopes downward, getting denser and darker.

Eventually, you notice that the path has become flat, and then it begins to rise. Now the trees are thinning again, branches giving way to brightness, and as the trees again give way to shrubs, you see a gate in front of a wide plain and beyond it, the great world tree. If you have any guides or guardians you wish to accompany you, ones who can join you in flight, call to them now, before you step through the gate and make your way towards the tree.

As you approach the World Tree, circle around it clockwise, until you see an opening beneath one of the great roots. Duck under this root and enter the tunnel beneath. There is hard dirt packed beneath your feet, and the entire tunnel seems to have been hewn from that same clay-rich dirt and sandstone. Not as many feet come this way — the floor is still rough in places, so watch your step as you continue forward. There are torches set into sconces in the rough hewn walls, and their light looks like fire but you feel no heat as we continue past, and you smell no smoke or pitch.

The tunnel curves gently and then begins to rise in a gradual incline, ending in a doorway, two huge stones on either side and capped with a third. Touch one gently as you step out into the fresh air — these are worn by the elements and smooth to the touch. If you look back to the entrance, you will notice that on this side, the tunnel leads into what looks like a large burial mound, standing alone in a large clearing, though the forest is slowly encroaching from all sides.

Smell the air — the pine sap scent is strong, and your nose can tell there is moving water somewhere nearby, even if your ears cannot yet hear it. Now you should continue, following a clear trail deeper into the forest. Your footfalls are muffled by pine needles, and the air seems still. Then, suddenly, ahead of you there is a bridge over a nearly-empty gorge, just a trickle of a stream at the bottom, and one you have never seen before, though you have traveled this way many times before.

As you cross the bridge, look to your right, and there in the cliff wall on the other side, you will see crudely cut stairs. Cross the bridge and walk to them, and carefully descend.  They seem more inviting from this side, though, and your feet are sure in their steps.  As you come to the bottom, follow the trickle of water downstream. It gets a bit wider as you continue, until ahead of you there is a wide, deep, pool.

Wade in to the pool, and when it is chest-deep, take a deep breath and plunge in, submerging yourself fully... and letting the water drag you under.  Let it pull you through the underground passageway, and then when you think you can't hold your breath any longer, you'll feel yourself bob to the surface, inside another deep pool - this one in a cave.  The ceiling is full of shimmering stalactites, and there is a dry portion, where a small fire is lit.  There is a hole in the roof above the fire, letting the smoke out, but you see no other way out of this chamber.

Climb up the bank and move closer to the fire.  Here is some more wood piled up, though it is unclear how it got here, and hanging over it is a large ragged towel or blanket. Next to it, folded, is some kind of garment.  Remove your wet clothes and dry off on the towel, and then unfold the garment - it is a feathered cloak.

Toss the cloak around your shoulders, and feel yourself transform into a falcon.  You know this form, and you can easily launch yourself into the air, and fly out through the hole in the roof.

You'll emerge on the far side of Folkvangr. Land and transform back, and you'll see a veiled priestess at the door. Take new clothing from her, and hand her the cloak - once you are dressed, your purification is complete, and you may enter.

Once inside, you will find Freyja seated on the dais.  Ask her the question that weighs heaviest on your heart.

[interlude]

When you are finished speaking with Freyja, go out the door of the hall on the side opposite to where you came in, down the usual the forest path, through the forest, across the bridge again, to the mound, through the mound-tunnel and out from under the root, across the plain, and back to the gate, through the tunnel of trees, and back to the meadow. Then the mist will swirl up again, and take you back to your body.

Crow Folks: Dreaming of Stars

So. I did this journey originally last Friday, on the dark moon, and I expected I'd have something written up for y'all later that day or Saturday at the latest. But what I ended up with was just so different from everything I've gotten from Na Morrigna before that I took a few days to digest it and then asked for clarification and it took me another few days (of other magical work and mundane busyness) to understand the clarification, and then yesterday I started to draft this in my head but didn't have the time and spoons to type it out... So here I am, almost a week late, with an unusual offering for this moon's Crow Call: a journey script. I finally understood that I'm not supposed to answer all the questions or do all the homework, what I'm supposed to share is the quest itself. When you have time and space to do so, please try the journey below, and then let me know what your experience is like either in the comments here, or on FB, or send an email! I think we're all meant to do this work together.

Journey To The Forest Beneath The Stars

Begin in stillness, and quiet, and darkness. Find your center, and align yourself with earth and sky. As you stare at the darkness behind your eyes, feel and see as mist swirls up from the ground, obscuring everything around you. After a moment, it begins to part, and you can see a path beneath your feet, and grass on either side.  Continue forward as the mist evaporates, until you find yourself on a dirt path through a grassy field, in front of a large doorway made of two large standing stones covered by a lintel stone.  The path continues through the doorway, but on the other side you see not a grassy field in the daylight, but a forest at night.  As you look at it, feeling a cool breeze coming out through the doorway, a crow flies over your head and then ducks under the lintel and disappears through the door, cawing at your to follow.  Circle the doorway to look at it from the side or the rear if you like, but when you are ready, come back to the side where you can see the forest, and go through. 

Once you are through, give your eyes a moment to adjust, and use your other senses to observe your surroundings. You might notice that it's colder here, and that your steps crunch through dry leaves.  What other sounds can you hear, as you continue down the path?  What can you smell?  And now that your eyes have adjusted to the dim light, what can you see?

The path ends at a wide circular clearing with a clear pool of water, rimmed in ice, in the center of a circle of oak trees.  Some of the trees are a size you might once have thought of as "large" and others are so enormous you find yourself wondering if it might take five or even six tall adults holding hands to encircle them.  As your eyes move up the trunk of the one across the clearing from you, you can see that they are taller than most of the trees you've seen, as well, but their great canopies part, leaving a circle of stars in the sky.  And such stars!  You can see the Milky Way to your left, at the edge, but the rest of these stars are more dense, more numerous, than you are used to seeing.  

Quietly, from somewhere nearby, Na Morrigna emerge.  "The star stories are no longer remembered, but they must be learned again." one sister says.  You look towards her, but she directs your gaze back up.  "There, these stars make the great silver tree, with the three golden apples." And there in the sky, you see lines connect the stars, to draw a great tree, and three bright stars become apples nestled in its branches.

"There are others." says another sister, as the lines fade.  "The scald crow, look -" and again, lines form.  Two Vs, one large for the wings, one smaller for the tail. A crow further to the right of the tree, and flying towards the Milky Way.

"And the cauldron," says the third sister, as the lines fade again.  "It rises in the east, upright and full, and then pours out all its blessings upon the land, and sets in the west, inverted and empty, ready to be filled again beneath the earth."  You look up, but not lines form; it seems this constellation is not currently in this patch of sky.

"Give what you brought into the water, to remember this place" they say together, and you find that you are holding an apple.  Not a golden one, but a normal apple, like you might buy for a snack.  You step forward towards the pool of water, and you notice the ice again, and how very clear and very deep it looks, with a small rippling current in the middle, like the water is constantly both bubbling up and draining down.  You toss in the apple, and watch as it gets caught in what had been an invisible current, sucking it down and then through a hole somewhere on the left side, vanishing from your sight.  It is the pool of an underground river, perhaps, bubbling up here as it makes its way through the stone below.

Na Morrigna leave as silently as they came, and when you next turn to look, what you see behind you instead is the doorway again. This time, a warm breeze blows through it, reminding you how very cold it is where you are.  When you are?  For you know somehow that this is Ireland, and yet it seems too cold for the time of year; there is frost and ice everywhere around you.  And how long has it been since human eyes saw this many trees of such size in the same forest?  This journey has given you more questions than answers.

With one back glance up to the stars, you turn to go back to where you came from, down the path filled with crunchy leaves and back to the door. Once again, a crow flies over your head as you approach the doorway, and calls to you as it flies through, and back into the daylight.  You follow, stepping back onto the dirt path, and as you continue on, the mist returns, swirling up around you until it obscures everything but the way back to your body.

The above is, basically, a transcript of my own journey.  The weather seemed too cold and the trees too big and the stars not quite right, so I don't know where in the sky these constellations might be, beyond what I've already told you.  I'm no astronomer, but I am a historian, and my experience made me wonder if this wasn't just a journey to Ireland but also a journey back in time, perhaps to the early iron age, when there was a cold period in Western Europe c. 500 BCE.  That would, of course, mean the stars would not be following quite the same paths through the sky as they do now. I think most pagans are at least passingly familiar with the precession of the equinoxes, and we'd have to do similar calculations to find our constellations of the tree, the crow, and the cauldron.  I did look up the corona borealis, the northern crown constellation, and it rises in the opposite way as we were told the cauldron did, rising pouring out and setting full, instead.

Tempting as it is to dive into that, though, I think the stories themselves might be more important.  They were very clear on the tree having three golden apples, which surprised me, because the only tree like that I can think of is Greek, not Irish or even Celtic.  But they did say the stories were missing.  So it's on us, I think, to find them again, or to find the constellations and channel their stories.  It will all be UPG (unverified personal gnosis) of course, or it may become shared gnosis in time, but sometimes such things can be useful for filling in the gaps.  We are missing so many pieces of Irish mythology: from a creation myth. to small tales only hinted at in other tales, to the stories of those Tuatha Dé whose names are all we know about them.  If this is to continue being a religion with living traditions and not a fossil to be merely displayed, we'll need more stories.

Freyja’s Falcon Flight: Beneath the Tree

Late Late Late, but better late than never, Freyja assures me.  This should have been posted more than a week ago, apologies, but, hey, the website is up again!

As before, this is based on my experience, and I’m offering it to the community in case it’s helpful or resonates with some of you. If you’re used to doing journeys from a script, great! Otherwise feel free to have some one read it to you, or record yourself reading it. Edit the intro and expand the outro if you need to, but please leave the middle intact, and don’t share the recording without telling them where to find my original post!

I recommend lighting a devotional candle and/or making a small offering to Freyja (perhaps a libation) and to the Norns before you begin. Prepare yourself however you normally would, to do work at an altar. For my part, that usually means wearing one of my devotional hair ribbons and perhaps donning magical jewelry, and acquiring something to go over my head while I journey.

Falcon Flight: Beneath the Tree

Begin in stillness, and quiet, and darkness. Find your center, and align yourself with earth and sky. As you stare at the darkness behind your eyes, feel and see as mist swirls up from the ground, obscuring everything around you. After a moment, it begins to part, leaving you standing in a flowery meadow.

When you arrive in the meadow, take a moment to observe around you, turning until you see a path. At the entrance to the path are two shrubs, and as you move on that direction, you see trees as well. Shrubs give way to trees and undergrowth on either side of the path, getting taller and denser as you move onward, until they join overhead into an arch, forming a tunnel of trees that slopes downward, getting denser and darker.

Eventually, you notice that the path has become flat, and then it begins to rise. Now the trees are thinning again, branches giving way to brightness, and as the trees again give way to shrubs, you see a gate in front of a wide plain and beyond it, the great world tree. If you have any guides or guardians you wish to accompany you, ones who can join you in flight, call to them now, before you step through the gate and make your way towards the tree.

As you approach the World Tree, prepared to circle around it clockwise as before, you instead see Freyja standing in front of you.  She beckons you in the other direction, and before the entrance under another great root, she casts a cloak over you, turning you into a falcon, and as you fall to the ground, she changes herself and leaps into the air, giving you no choice but to follow her through the opening under the root, and into the gloom.  

Within, she glows brightly enough that you can follow her easily: down and around the path spirals, over rivers and past mountains and forests - other worlds branch out from here.  And then, in front of a large well, around which sit three ancient beings, Frejya throws back her cloak to regain her usual form, and reaches out an arm for you to land on.  When you do, she changes you back as well, and holds you by the arm lest you stumble into the Well.

These are the Norns - Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld, who know the fate of all beings and can read all of time in the runes in the rime.

"Put your offering into the water," Freyja instructs you, "and then speak the question that weighs heavy on your heart."

Do so, and wait patiently for the answer.

[interlude]

When you are satisfied with the answer, or when they have no more to tell you this time, thank them for the wisdom you have received, and turn back to Frejya.  She will turn you back into a falcon and then lead you on the return journey: up and around, up and around, back out the entrance you came through beneath the root.

Out in the open air again, she removes her cloak and yours, and at this time if you have anything you wish to tell her or ask her, you should do so, before departing.

When you are finished, return the way you came, across the plain, and back to the gate, through the tunnel of trees, and back to the meadow. Then the mist will swirl up again, and take you back to your body.

Freyja’s Falcon Flight: The Grain Harvest

I was late this month in my journey to see Freyja, and so I am late getting this to all of ya’ll, but hopefully it’s helpful or resonates with some of you. If you’re used to doing journeys from a script, great! Otherwise feel free to have some one read it to you, or record yourself reading it. Edit the intro and expand the outro if you need to, but please leave the middle intact, and don’t share the recording without telling them where to find my original post!

I recommend lighting a devotional candle and/or making a small offering to Freyja (perhaps a libation) before you begin. Prepare yourself however you normally would, to do work at an altar. For my part, that usually means wearing one of my devotional hair ribbons and perhaps donning magical jewelry, and acquiring something to go over my head while I journey.

Falcon Flight: Whose Wisdom Will You Seek?

Begin in stillness, and quiet, and darkness. Find your center, and align yourself with earth and sky. As you stare at the darkness behind your eyes, feel and see as mist swirls up from the ground, obscuring everything around you. After a moment, it begins to part, leaving you standing in a flowery meadow.

When you arrive in the meadow, take a moment to observe around you, turning until you see a path. At the entrance to the path are two shrubs, and as you move on that direction, you see trees as well. Shrubs give way to trees and undergrowth on either side of the path, getting taller and denser as you move onward, until they join overhead into an arch, forming a tunnel of trees that slopes downward, getting denser and darker.

Eventually, you notice that the path has become flat, and then it begins to rise. Now the trees are thinning again, branches giving way to brightness, and as the trees again give way to shrubs, you see a gate in front of a wide plain and beyond it, the great world tree. If you have any guides or guardians you wish to accompany you, ones who can join you in flight, call to them now, before you step through the gate and make your way towards the tree.

As you approach the World Tree, circle around it clockwise, until you see an opening beneath one of the great roots. Duck under this root and enter the tunnel beneath. There is hard dirt packed beneath your feet, and the entire tunnel seems to have been hewn from that same clay-rich dirt and sandstone. Not as many feet come this way — the floor is still rough in places, so watch your step as you continue forward. There are torches set into sconces in the rough hewn walls, and their light looks like fire but you feel no heat as we continue past, and you smell no smoke or pitch.

The tunnel curves gently and then begins to rise in a gradual incline, ending in a doorway, two huge stones on either side and capped with a third. Touch one gently as you step out into the fresh air — these are worn by the elements and smooth to the touch. If you look back to the entrance, you will notice that on this side, the tunnel leads into what looks like a large burial mound, standing alone in a large clearing, though the forest is slowly encroaching from all sides.

Smell the air — the pine sap scent is strong, and your nose can tell there is moving water somewhere nearby, even if your ears cannot yet hear it. Now you should continue, following a clear trail deeper into the forest. Your footfalls are muffled by pine needles, and the air seems still. The scent and after a while the sound of water is to your left as you walk, and after a short time, you arrive at a fork, with three paths to choose from.

You have been here before – normally we take the middle road. But today, coming walking towards you down that middle road is our Lady herself. She nods at you, and indicates for you to follow, leading you down the path to your left. A bit further on, she crosses a bridge over a small creek that is running high, and then the path turns again, and you can see that ahead of you it dead ends into a large field of some kind of golden grain, ripe and ready for the harvest.

As you come to the edge of a field, you see many people dressed in clothes of the early medieval period, singing and doing the hard work of harvest: those with strong shoulders swinging scythes, those with nimble fingers tying bundles, and others reaching down to collect the pieces that fall to the ground.

Two figures are larger than life and seem almost to shine with divine light, much like Freyja does. The man in stripped to the waist and wielding a scythe. With every swing of his scythe he cuts more than ten times any other person here. And when he turns to look at you and Freyja, you notice the family resemblance, how he is like a mirror of his sister: this is Freyr. The other figure is a woman with long golden hair that flows unbound around her. She is using her own hair in place of twine to tie the heaps of grain that Freyr cuts into bundles. As she looks up to smile at you, you realize this must be Sif*.

You may speak to either Sif or Freyr if you choose; or else join in the work and speak to the ancestors gathered here, to see what wisdom they might share about the work of the harvest.

[interlude]

When you are finished speaking with whomever you chose, say your farewells and return to Freyja’s side. You may speak to her as well, if you wish, on the walk back to the fork in the path. When you return to that crossroads, bid Freyja farewell, and then continue back the way you came: through the forest, to the mound, through the mound-tunnel and out from under the root, across the plain, and back to the gate, through the tunnel of trees, and back to the meadow. Then the mist will swirl up again, and take you back to your body.

* Okay, yeah, I know, Sif being a grain goddess is just supposition with no real evidence to back it up, but a lot of people do cast Sif in this role, and also when I tried to ask Freyja if I could equivocate without naming her as Sif, Freyja point blank insisted. Which still doesn’t prove anything, but my role here is to share what I’m told to share and I’m sure Freyja has her reasons.

Also, announcement: I’m currently migrating the website, so things might be a little wonky for a bit; bear with me, and as always, you can reach me via email and I’ll sort you out!

Open post

Crow Folks: Three Things for Lughnasadh

I was planning to write up my experiences of Mystic South for this week’s blog, but while I was there I attended a ritual to the Morrigan and the Dagda (run by the same lovely people who put on the Morrigan’s Call Retreat), and I was reminded that my service usually starts on the dark moon closest to Lughnasadh, but that the timing was at Their discretion… and yep, that started this past weekend, and I’m already running a little behind on posting, as I try to catch up on sleep and get unpacked and the bunnies resettled from their vacation, and my house even remotely organized, while my child is doing his best impression of velcro.

So.

I did the journey to my usual place, and was given a set of three tasks to share with you all, for Lughnasadh, or perhaps more appropriately for Brón Trogain, the Earth’s Sorrowing:

  1. Fearn: Renew your protections
    Both shields and wards: on yourself, your children, your animals; on your house, your car, your place of work

  2. Idad: Honor the Might Dead and your own personal allies
    It’s a good time for renewing oaths but also for just coming together with those who are your kith and kin

  3. Gort: Blessing the first fruits of the harvest
    Whatever is coming into ripeness right now, collect some and hallow it and offer it to those same allies

Fairly simple, fairly straightforward, and honestly it seems very doable, even for a very busy practitioner. Reminder, however, that this is of course all UPG – I seek what wisdom they would have me share, and they tell me in a mixture of ogham, imagery, and words, and then I write it up and ask for their approval… and edit and tweak until they give it.

Open post

Freyja’s Falcon Flight: Whose Wisdom?

It’s a little past the waxing half moon, so I’ve once again gone to see Freyja and have been shown something to share with you all. And as before, this is based on my experience, and I’m offering it to the community in case it’s helpful or resonates with some of you. If you’re used to doing journeys from a script, great! Otherwise feel free to have some one read it to you, or record yourself reading it. Edit the intro and expand the outro if you need to, but please leave the middle intact, and don’t share the recording without telling them where to find my original post!

I recommend lighting a devotional candle and/or making a small offering to Freyja (perhaps a libation) before you begin. Prepare yourself however you normally would, to do work at an altar. For my part, that usually means wearing one of my devotional hair ribbons and perhaps donning magical jewelry, and acquiring something to go over my head while I journey.

Falcon Flight: Whose Wisdom Will You Seek?

Begin in stillness, and quiet, and darkness. Find your center, and align yourself with earth and sky. As you stare at the darkness behind your eyes, feel and see as mist swirls up from the ground, obscuring everything around you. After a moment, it begins to part, leaving you standing in a flowery meadow.

When you arrive in the meadow, take a moment to observe around you, turning until you see a path. At the entrance to the path are two shrubs, and as you move on that direction, you see trees as well. Shrubs give way to trees and undergrowth on either side of the path, getting taller and denser as you move onward, until they join overhead into an arch, forming a tunnel of trees that slopes downward, getting denser and darker.

Eventually, you notice that the path has become flat, and then it begins to rise. Now the trees are thinning again, branches giving way to brightness, and as the trees again give way to shrubs, you see a gate in front of a wide plain and beyond it, the great world tree. If you have any guides or guardians you wish to accompany you, ones who can join you in flight, call to them now, before you step through the gate and make your way towards the tree.

As you approach the World Tree, circle around it clockwise, until you see an opening beneath one of the great roots. Duck under this root and enter the tunnel beneath. There is hard dirt packed beneath your feet, and the entire tunnel seems to have been hewn from that same clay-rich dirt and sandstone. Not as many feet come this way — the floor is still rough in places, so watch your step as you continue forward. There are torches set into sconces in the rough hewn walls, and their light looks like fire but you feel no heat as we continue past, and you smell no smoke or pitch.

The tunnel curves gently and then begins to rise in a gradual incline, ending in a doorway, two huge stones on either side and capped with a third. Touch one gently as you step out into the fresh air — these are worn by the elements and smooth to the touch. If you look back to the entrance, you will notice that on this side, the tunnel leads into what looks like a large burial mound, standing alone in a large clearing, though the forest is slowly encroaching from all sides.

Smell the air — the pine sap scent is strong, and your nose can tell there is moving water somewhere nearby, even if your ears cannot yet hear it. Now you should continue, following a clear trail deeper into the forest. Your footfalls are muffled by pine needles, and the air seems still. The scent and after a while the sound of water is to your left as you walk, and after a short time, you arrive at a fork, with three paths to choose from.

One path curves to the left, and you can just make out a bridge over a creek in the distance. The one to the right seems to vanish into the trees. Continue down the middle path, which leads straight ahead. After a while, the trees seem to thin a bit, and the underbrush grows less tangled.

As the path reaches the edge of the forest, and the pine needles give way to a large open field, your eyes are drawn to the great hall. It is large, and you know at once to whom it belongs. This is Freyja’s Hall, Sessrumnir, and you are in Folkvangr. Approach the door, and when the guard calls out his challenge, announce yourself and your purpose. He will stand aside and let you in.

When you enter the hall, stop for a moment to let your eyes adjust, and then turn to your left towards the dais, where Freyja is waiting.

Give her your gift, when you approach, and listen to see if she has a personal message for you. When she is finished, she will gesture to the doors on either side of her, and explain this moon’s choice.

There is wisdom to be found in disaster and adversity – would you hear the words of Odin, or Njordr?

To the left, Odin awaits, sitting on his great high seat, in the judgement hall of the Aesir. He is ready to share the wisdom he’s gleaned from his many wanderings and his quest to avoid Ragnarok… for a price.

To the right, the door leads to a fisherman’s hut beside a dock, and docked there you will find a great sailing ship. Help Njordr ready the ship for his journey, and he will impart advice on how to weather storms without losing your bearings.

Choose a door, and walk through.

[interlude]

When you are finished speaking with the one you chose, look for the door you entered by, and go back through, back into Freyja’s hall.

Then say farewell and leave the hall, and go back the way you came: across the field, to the forest path, through the forest, to the mound, through the mound-tunnel and out from under the root, across the plain, and back to the gate, through the tunnel of trees, and back to the meadow. Then the mist will swirl up again, and take you back to your body.

Open post

Freyja’s Falcon Flight: Let it Burn Away

It’s the waxing half moon, so I’ve once again gone to see Freyja and have been shown something to share with you all. And as before, this is based on my experience, and I’m offering it to the community in case it’s helpful or resonates with some of you. If you’re used to doing journeys from a script, great! Otherwise feel free to have some one read it to you, or record yourself reading it. Edit the intro and expand the outro if you need to, but please leave the middle intact, and don’t share the recording without telling them where to find my original post!

I recommend lighting a devotional candle and/or making small offering to Freyja (perhaps a libation) before you begin. Prepare yourself however you normally would, to do work at an altar. For my part, that usually means wearing one of my devotional hair ribbons and perhaps donning magical jewelry, and acquiring something to go over my head while I journey.

Falcon Flight: Let It Burn Away

Begin in stillness, and quiet, and darkness. Find your center, and align yourself with earth and sky. As you stare at the darkness behind your eyes, feel and see as mist swirls up from the ground, obscuring everything around you. After a moment, it begins to part, leaving you standing in a flowery meadow.

When you arrive in the meadow, take a moment to observe around you, turning until you see a path. At the entrance to the path are two shrubs, and as you move on that direction, you see trees as well. Shrubs give way to trees and undergrowth on either side of the path, getting taller and denser as you move onward, until they join overhead into an arch, forming a tunnel of trees that slopes downward, getting denser and darker.

Eventually, you notice that the path has become flat, and then it begins to rise. Now the trees are thinning again, branches giving way to brightness, and as the trees again give way to shrubs, you see a gate in front of a wide plain and beyond it, the great world tree. If you have any guides or guardians you wish to accompany you, ones who can join you in flight, call to them now, before you step through the gate and make your way towards the tree.

As you approach the World Tree, circle around it clockwise, until you see an opening beneath one of the great roots. Duck under this root and enter the tunnel beneath. There is hard dirt packed beneath your feet, and the entire tunnel seems to have been hewn from that same clay-rich dirt and sandstone. Not as many feet come this way — the floor is still rough in places, so watch your step as you continue forward. There are torches set into sconces in the rough hewn walls, and their light looks like fire but you feel no heat as we continue past, and you smell no smoke or pitch.

The tunnel curves gently and then begins to rise in a gradual incline, ending in a doorway, two huge stones on either side and capped with a third. Touch one gently as you step out into the fresh air — these are worn by the elements and smooth to the touch. If you look back to the entrance, you will notice that on this side, the tunnel leads into what looks like a large burial mound, standing alone in a large clearing, though the forest is slowly encroaching from all sides.

Smell the air — the pine sap scent is strong, and your nose can tell there is moving water somewhere nearby, even if your ears cannot yet hear it. Now you should continue, following a clear trail deeper into the forest. Your footfalls are muffled by pine needles, and the air seems still. The scent and after a while the sound of water is to your left as you walk, and after a short time, you arrive at a fork, with three paths to choose from.

One path curves to the left, and you can just make out a bridge over a creek in the distance. The one to the right seems to vanish into the trees. Continue down the middle path, which leads straight ahead. After a while, the trees seem to thin a bit, and the underbrush grows less tangled.

As the path reaches the edge of the forest, and the pine needles give way to a large open field, your eyes are drawn to the great hall. It is large, and you know at once to whom it belongs. This is Freyja’s Hall, Sessrumnir, and you are in Folkvangr. Approach the door, and when the guard calls out his challenge, announce yourself and your purpose. He will stand aside and let you in.

When you enter, you see many other magical practitioners, both Humans and Others, dressed in dark clothing and gathered around a central fire that is long and narrow, taking up the middle of the hall and stretched out between the dais on your left and the rear wall on your right.

As you continue to look, you notice that the fire is strange — unnaturally white, and though it burns its fuel fiercely, there is little heat and no smoke, only the faint scent of birch and flax. It is witch-fire, elf-fire, no normal hearth fire is this. And as you step forward to take your place around it, shoulder to shoulder with your fellow practitioners, you notice many of them are reaching towards the flames, to drop things in, which flare and then seem to disappear, with only a small amount of ash remaining.

You know then, what this fire is for: it cleanses the unhael, it takes those things you long to be rid of and purifies them, leaving only inert material remnants, ready to be returned to the earth. Reach into your cloak – is there something in an inner pocket that you are ready and willing to be rid of? Is there anything you have bound or trapped that you do not have the power to transmute, that you would like to offer to Freyja’s witch-fire? If you would choose to, reach out your hand now, and place it into the flames. They will not harm you, or burn any hael thing.

As you finish, you notice others have begun to leap across the flames, and as they do sometimes the edge of their cloak or a wisp of their hair catches and just as quickly burns out. Not everything that is unhael within us can be put as an object into the flames.

As you contemplate this, one person steps up to the edge of the fire at the end nearest the rear wall. All eyes are now on them, as their eyes are fixed firmly on Freyja, who stands from her seat on the dais, as they take the first step into the flames. Nine steps through the coals they take, before they emerge from the other side, and kneel before her. She bends down to bless them with her hands on their shoulders, and then tips their chin to have them stand. As she embraces this brave person, it seems to you that she whispers something in their ear, though you cannot make out either the sounds or the shapes her lips make.

Others go back to leaping across the narrow part of the flames, until another steps up to make the journey of nine steps. And another. And another. What will you do, in this place and in this time? Will you leap across, will you walk through the coals, will you approach Freyja to speak with her? Do what you feel called to do.

[interlude]

When you are finished here and have spoken with Freyja if you wish it, go back the way you came: out the door of the hall, to the forest path, through the forest, to the mound, through the mound-tunnel and out from under the root, across the plain, and back to the gate, through the tunnel of trees, and back to the meadow. Then the mist will swirl up again, and take you back to your body.

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