mysillylittleseerblog - Tumblr blog

mysillylittleseerblog · 1 year

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Asked so I shall answer. How gay is Norse mythology?

Before I begin, it's important to keep in mind that most norse myths are lost to time, and of those that exist, the most complete source for the most famous myths was scribed by a Christian. Even still, a lot of downright John Waters-style filth still managed to survive.

The norsemen had some very complicated feelings about sexuality and gender. "Ergi" (unmanliness) seemed to be shamed (and possibly punished) in some communities and accepted under specific circumstances in others. AFAB queerness was not considered a big deal, though their are mild old norse insults that vaguely allude to the idea being strange or even funny. AMAB queer people, whether they be trans woman or gay man seemed to be more socially acceptable to most norsemen if they socially transitioned to a more womanly role, especially if they were Seidr or Galdr workers (Norse witches.) It's complicated though, and it probably varied from community to community.

For anyone not familiar with Norse mythology, it's a little unique in that it's 40% poetic, deep lore, 60% dirty dick jokes made up by sailors and farmers trying to get their buddies to laugh.

Loki:

Loki is probably the most famously queer Norse god since they confirmed him as genderqueer in the MCU then shipped him with himself, as you do. Loki has six named children, and he's confirmed to have given birth to at least one, possibly three, depending on the version of the myth. From a source I cannot confirm the legitimacy of so take this with a grain of salt, he's said to have given birth to a bunch of other monstrous shit. This is not in the prose Edda, but if you choose to believe it so, every horrible non-humanoid monster in Norse mythology has come from Loki's vagina. He's always disguising himself as a woman, just constantly. He's also guilty of the for mentioned Ergi, since he can do Seidr.

Thor:

Quite literally the most well-known story of Thor from norse mythology is him cross dressing. The TL;DR is that Loki (probably) gives mlojnir to a jotune who says he'll give it back if they give him Freya to marry, Freya says hell no (she's technically already married to a man who went missing but is secretly Odin who's already married to Frigga and that's actually part of what causes ragnorok, lol) and somehow the only other solution is Thor in drag pretending to be Freya, with loki disguised as a bridesmaid. The giant's super happy, marries bearded queen thor/freya, is then weirded out by thor eating an insane amount of food, drinking an insane amount of mead, and being so angry his eyes are glowing red. Loki bullshits their way through it until Thor gets mlojrnir and violently beats every jotune there to death. The end.

This gets funnier when you consider Thor doesn't look anything like Chris Hemsworth in the mythos--- he's got one of those strong man bodies where he's so muscular he looks fat, a very grizzled face, and a long red beard.

Side note: not that this is really queer persay, but mlojnir has a short handle, is typically depicted with the hammer part at the bottom and is considered a symbol of fertility because it's a small dick appreciation joke. Small but mighty. Thor loves his tiny member.

Odin:

Odin is a contradictory god in many ways. He's a sage loving father and a violent berserker. He created humanity but is also a god of death. To be able to see more, he cut out his own eye. He's wise and all-knowing and will play silly pranks and be goofy. It's his whole shtick. No surprise then even though he's pinnacle masculine partiarch, he's one of the most powerful users of Seidr magic second only to Freya. I have a post on my blog explaining Seidr, but the short version is it's time-based pussy magic. Which means Odin is also extremely guilty of committing ergi. Knowledge is far more important to Odin than those pesky gender roles though, a shockingly progressive hot take from the most powerful god in a pantheon. I'd call him a feminist icon if he didn't constantly cheat on his wife, though she may actually just be cool with it since, unlike Hera, we have not a single myth of Frigga showing the slightest bit of jealousy her husband's a whore. Dick move what he did to Freya though. Odin's bff is another poetry goddess he drinks with and has slam poetry nights with--- I imagine anyway.

Freya:

Her chariot is pulled by cats. She's a slut and is proud of it. If that's not high femme Sapphic I don't know what is.

Freyr:

Local twink falls in love with the first giant stone butch mega milk mommy he sees and contributes to the makings of the end of the world.

Heimdall:

He's the son of nine or eight-strong lesbian polycule of women who are also sentient waves.

Kvasir:

Okay, so, this God is already the product of every single Vanir and Aesir spitting into a bucket, m'kay? Already, John Waters shit is afoot. All the gods wanted to fuck him, he was just hella likable and hot. Skipping over some stuff, he gets killed and made into mead. Just go with it. He's stolen by either jotune or dwarves and I can't be bothered to look it up. Odin isn't having it. He disguises himself as an eagle and drinks his former-spit-bucket-former-hot-boy-crush-current-alcoholic-berverage so everyone can taste the hotness that was Kvasir. So he's flying around, sprinkling hot boy juice on all the nine realms, and everyone who gets hit with it gets ten times more creative/artistic/poetic depending on the translation. But the mead also gives Odin diarrhea. Anyone who gets hit with the literal shitty diarrhea creativity/poetic juice also gets super inspired, but only to make really really bad stuff only they think is good. Which is the most hardcore camp fairytale I have ever fucking read and sums up pretty well why I became a practicing heathan.

Valhalla is not heaven, and other reasons fascists are dumb dumbs.

The utterly, bewildering, so funny it's depressing thing about neo n@z1s and blanc enthusiasts being so fucking quick to appropriate Norse iconography as a symbol of their "proud heritage" is that they consistently demonstrate a grasp on Norse Mythology as deep as the Marvel Cinematic Universe does. Not a dig on the MCU, but, let's just say creative liberties is an understatement when it comes to representing Norse Mythology.

The primary point of interest boils down basically to the concept of the "exhalted warrior death." As fascism is the ideology of hero worship, on a surface level, this makes sense. Old Norse Culture was one largely defined by conflict and vikinging as a trade.

Many Norse beliefs are shaped by, designed to inspire and exhalt the warrior who fights without fear. Their society in part relied on "the hero warrior."

Couple things though:

1. Not all Norsemen were vikings, and you REALLY aren't one.

You think the Norse belief system was so heavily lazer focused on a single profession in what needed to be an entire functioning community everyone that wasn't a viking was poopooed to damnation and/or a dishonorable life? No bitch. "Hel" in Norse mythology is just where the dead ARE. It's a very morally neutral place to be. Hel be vibin'. Odin, Freya, and possibly Njord were collecting souls for a very specific reason. That being . . .

2. The souls of warriors were being brought to Valhalla (among other places) to train for a final battle THEY WERE DESTINED TO LOSE.

Y'all fucking forgot about Ragnorok didn't you? The souls in Valhalla are being conscripted to a suicide mission. It's a place of honor to be chosen, but it's not a reward.

The training is apparently honestly a bitch in a half in it of itself supposedly. I guess you get god mead, though. Sit next to Odin at the big boy table, maybe. An afterlife of pain and awaiting doom for beer and for daddy to notice you.

That's the thing, though. Valhalla isn't supposed to be Heaven. It aligns with many other Norse Myths in that it exhalts to bravery in the face of certain annihilation. Valhalla as a function of beleif designed to psychologically break past the human instinct to prioritize self-preservation. The quality in which it exhalts is not the hero's death, but embracing doom. THAT'S WHY Odin chose warriors who died WITH WEAPON IN HAND, as in, they already faced one destruction, they can face another.

The army of Valhalla weren't even the only deaths of honor Odin recognized one could achieve. The Volva were all very much in Hel once they died, and they are all distinguished as Odin's special little future-seeing squad in the mythos too. And that's JUST Odin, ignoring the other gods who chose souls for their armies.

Norse mythology, ironically to the point of head-exploading farce, spits in the face of the concept of the Hero's Death as defined by fascism. "Dying for the cause" is a Christian/Abrahamic value that they are retroactively interjecting into Norse belief because historical self-insert fanfiction that is the Arian Mythos. There's no fucking point in training and fighting in Ragnorok, everyone is destined to fail, everyone knows it, and that's the fucking point.

The concept of Ragnorok and Valhalla was not even universal among the Norsemen. The inevitability of death and rebirth is just kind of a given as a natural truth in most pagan beliefs. Everyone you know and love is going to die, and then something else will come from the ashes. Literally "chill bro it be like that sometimes."

And if that's not enough to convince you fascists don't actually know shit about Norse mythology, I can tell you all about how fucking gay it is.

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mysillylittleseerblog · 1 year

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Conceptualizing The Web of Wyrd to understand and Utilize the Principles of Seidr and Galdr

There are two elements to a weaving:

The warp and the weft. The warp are the threads fixed in place by the loom (the Norse had standing looms, where the warp was positioned vertically so it could be tied to the top and weighed in place by rocks at the bottom). The weft is the thread held by a shuttle that is woven in between the warp to create the matrix of the fabric.

The Web of Wyrd can be conceptualized similarly as a matrix between Seidr and Galdr.

SEIDR:

Is the "feminine" magic that deals with time continuum. Communing with the dead, communing with the gods, and seeing the future are aspects of Seidr. This type of magic can be conceptualized as the warp of the Web of Wyrd. It begins, it ends, it's fixed before time itself can unfolf, and mastery of it is accepting it as it exists, and seeing its direction accurately. Time is born, time is written, and time ends. Sometimes, this is characterized as the "good" type of magic because it's passive, but I don't personally see it as being that simple.

Galdr:

Is the "masculine" type of magic, and its name literally means to chant. This is the power of "manifestation" in a manner of speaking. Changing existence, interacting with space, and bending it to your will. This is the weft of The Web of Wyrd. This is sometimes perceived as the sketchier kind of magic because there are several myths that more or less convey the message that it's not a good idea or possible to change the warp of time by fucking with the weft--- and if you do, that's a bad idea. Frigga trying to avoid the death of her son Baldr and inadvertently causing it is the most famous example in the mythology. So, more or less, if you are capable of understanding the inevitability of time, you can work with Galdr to shape current existence in a manner that suits you best, but that all things surrender to fate. So, fate is inevitable, but what flavor or vibe of fate is what's changeable.

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mysillylittleseerblog · 1 year

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Valhalla is not heaven, and other reasons fascists are dumb dumbs.

Many Norse beliefs are shaped by, designed to inspire and exhalt the warrior who fights without fear. Their society in part relied on "the hero warrior."

Couple things though:

1. Not all Norsemen were vikings, and you REALLY aren't one.

2. The souls of warriors were being brought to Valhalla (among other places) to train for a final battle THEY WERE DESTINED TO LOSE.

Y'all fucking forgot about Ragnorok didn't you? The souls in Valhalla are being conscripted to a suicide mission. It's a place of honor to be chosen, but it's not a reward.

And if that's not enough to convince you fascists don't actually know shit about Norse mythology, I can tell you all about how fucking gay it is.

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mysillylittleseerblog · 1 year

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My alter is full of ghosts.

They were living, now they are not. Hold your applause, I know I'm brilliant for being so perceptive to notice that.

The point is that these objects are direct artifacts of time. They are imbued with a kind of "ghost" as they only exist because they were once a part of a living organism that ceased to be. For objects of contemplation and a guide through trance, I believe these are the most high value items you can have.

The most important things I have my alter however are the "ghosts" I have a personal connection with. One of them is a hand-written letter by my late uncle. It is an artifact that this man, now long dead, lived and breathed and thought and put physical labor into materializing those thoughts. From the actual content to the shape of his hand writing, a person who no longer exists lives forever on those pieces of paper in a single point in time. His death marks a devastating point in my life and the erosion of my family.

I keep every single item that has my loved ones handwriting on it. The universe is too big for anyone anywhere to ever matter, but I, as a fellow spec of stardust can witness them, and write about, and remember them until I join them ineffable nothingness.

Hel told the sons of Odin that Baldr could return from the dead if all of the world wept for him. Just one being refused, and so the embodiment of life and rebirth remained in the hall of the dead. Refusing to feel loss, refusing to live with your ghosts does nothing but hinder rebirth and resurrection.

So my alter is full of ghosts.

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mysillylittleseerblog · 1 year

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Blog chronicalling my religious practice? Sure why not what could go wrong.

What is Heathantry/Norse Paganism?

As it says on the tin, paganistic practice based in old Norse beliefs and mythology.

It's important to note that very few direct sources of religious practice and belief and huge portions of Norde mythos has been totally lost to time. Any modern Norse practice is inherently "neo-pagan" as it is reconstructionist, not historically authentic. Some individuals have been lucky enough to have some surviving traditions passed down by their families--- I am not one of them.

Furthermore, obviously, the circumstances in which the OG Norse were living in lended themselves to practices and rituals no longer relavent to the the modern individual. Also, water is wet and fire is hot.

I say all this to make it perfectly clear that I nor most other practicing Heathans believe we are faithfully recreating the beliefs and rituals of the old norse. That's literally fucking impossible and impractical even if it wasn't. I cannot afford nor desire to slaughter a goat every time I honor the Gods, please forgive me.

What is non-faith based practice?

In terms of faith, I'm what most people would call an atheist. In terms of the gods being literally real and in reality, I don't actually "believe" in them, but I also think that really doesn't matter. You and I don't live in reality either--- we live in our little meat prisons. I believe in the Norse gods in the sense that I feel they represent sacred concepts and that their narrative is what makes them profoundly powerful dieties with metaphysical weight. My practice is based in the power of narrative and the inner world, not in faith in their existence in literal physical reality. Not all neo-pagans, Wiccans, heathans/Norse pagans believe in this way, but some do. I am respectful of all degrees and forms of belief, but personally, I'm of the opinion that engaging with practice completely removed from the (in my opinion) pointless question as to whether or not your chosen dieties exist is a much richer and more meaningful way to engage with belief. I also personally feel this allows for a much more meaningful relationship with dieties as it opens the door to engage with them both in awe and rapture as well as critically. The concept of the "perfect being as God" is one very much popularized by Abrahamic faith, and respectfully, is not something I ever found spiritually engaging. All of this to say, this page is a place to engage with the concepts of the Norse Gods as both paragons and flawed, even malicious actors at times and if any other Heathans find that disagreeable this might not be the blog for them. As described in the original myths, the gods can be both regarded as wise and good, and idiotic and cruel simultaneously.

What is Seidr?

Sedir is the primary form of magic practiced by "Norse Witches" known as Seers or Sedir workers, master of which were known as Volva.

In the mythology, Sedir was taught to Odin by Freya and is inherently feminine in nature. Most Seidr workers were AFAB in Norse Culture, and AMAB Seidr workers were seen as taking on an inherently feminine aspect known as "ergi" (unmanliness) which depending on the community they resided in was considered circumdtacially acceptable to demonstrably shameful. Still, it's important to keep in mind that the All Father himself was a powerful practicer of Sedir and in all regards for modern practice, ergi is hot guy shit.

Seidr itself is time-based magic performed by comprehension and aptitude to perceiving "The Web of Wyrd" (the woven fabric of the universe). (Note: Wheel of Time fans are creaming themselves after reading that, I'm sure.)

Practically what this looks like for most Sedir workers is the ability to "see the future" and "channel entities" such as the dead or the gods through trance or contemplation.

For modern Sedir workers, seers, or Volva, their belief may or may not entail them believing they are doing this literally.

I personally do not consider my practice a literal seeing of the future or communing with the dead. I see myself as someone who explores the temporal relation of time, the dead, and the gods on a psychological, conceptual level. This is something anyone who has had some kind of formal education in art, especially conceptual or fine art, will be familiar with.

Fabrication, creation, and time-based art is something historically rooted in Sedir work as it is conceptualized primarily by the act of weaving, which metaphorically and literally is a representation of time. Shit takes time to do and craft to do correctly. You can visibly see time through a weaving, similar to how you can by examining the rings on a tree stump.

How is your work as an artist a form of Seidr? How can being a creative be religious?

"The medium is the message." (Marshall McLuahan) is one of my favorite quotes of all time in comprehending the "magic" of medium as a form of communication and, by an extent, a form of existence.

It is my humble opinion that existence is meaningless, which means you get to create the meaning of life itself and truly self-actuslize. I have been an artist my entire life. Drawing, creating, crafting narrative is something I impulsively and habitually have done since childhood. By trade and professional practice, I'm an animator and illustrator but in my personal practice I consider my primary medium to be time-based narrative. Both in evocation of past existence (the dead, memory, etc.) and future actualization. Creation through temporal relation in narrative is my lifestyle, and my reason for being.

Through my study of Seidr practice and Norse belief, I personally feel this is the essence of Heathan belief and world view. Norse belief is something I've connected to like no other belief system and is the structure of idolatry in which I have found most helpful and rejuvenating personally to live my life.

That all makes it sound very high-minded and serious, but I actually don't think it is. Norse mythology is as a canon of conceptual existence that makes room for both what to do when faced with the end of the world, and Loki getting his pubs tied to a goat's beard as penance for being a dick.

This blog is basically just going to be me sharing my lifestyle, perspective and interpretations of mythos as a modern Heathan and Seer. I'd love this also to become a place for people to share their own as well.

All Father bless ye bitches, hope you enjoy.

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