Steven

Posted Saturday, September 14, 2024

28d

INFP

Libra

2

1

THE ÓÐINNIC SACRIFICE

The Path of Óðinn is one of sacrifice, a life lived, to seek knowledge, acquire wisdom, teach, lead, gift...this does not require worship, but rather choice, if chosen. "Aldaföðr works, the Alfar discern, the Vanir know, the Nornir indicate. The Ividia brings forth, humans endure, the Thursar await, The Valkyries long." - The Heiðinn Chronicles We will now go further along the Path... "As I close the clasp of my valknot chain I offer my neck to the noose again And bind myself with the trifold triangle To Hár, and wyrd´s tight-woven tangle. With points and sides of three times three As Ygg´s nine nights upon the Tree It marks me willing sacrifice, Rewarded as I pay the price; As I pass ecstasy and pain I lose myself, myself to gain; This sign of fire, way and aim, Leads me through darkness and through flame. I pledge the fullness of my life, My fealty to the Lord of Strife, I choose to wear the knot of death And give myself with every breath." Óðinn's Discovery of the Runes The Codex Runicus, a law code written in runes (c. 1300 CE). The Norse god Óðinn is a relentless seeker after knowledge and wisdom, and is willing to sacrifice almost anything for this pursuit. The most outstanding feature of his appearance, his one eye, attests to this; he sacrificed his other eye for more wisdom. The tale of how he discovered the runes is another example of his unquenchable thirst for understanding the mysteries of life, not to mention his unstoppable will. The runes are the written letters that were used by the Norse and other Germanic peoples before the adoption of the Latin alphabet in the later Middle Ages. Unlike the Latin alphabet, which is an essentially utilitarian script, the runes are symbols of some of the most powerful forces in the cosmos. In fact, the word “rune” and its cognates across past and present Germanic languages mean both “letter” and “secret/mystery.” The letters called “runes” allow one to access, interact with, and influence the world-shaping forces they symbolize. Thus, when Óðinn sought the runes, he wasn’t merely attempting to acquire a set of arbitrary representations of human vocal sounds. Rather, he was uncovering an extraordinarily potent system of magic. Óðinn’s Discovery of the Runes At the center of the Norse cosmos stands the great tree Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil’s upper branches cradle Asgard, the home and fortress of the Aesir gods and goddesses, of whom Óðinn is the chief. Yggdrasil grows out of the Well of Urd, a pool whose fathomless depths hold many of the most powerful forces and beings in the cosmos. Among these beings are the Norns, three sagacious maidens who create the fates of all beings. One of the foremost techniques they use to shape fate is carving runes into Yggdrasil’s trunk. The symbols then carry these intentions throughout the tree, affecting everything in the Nine Worlds. Óðinn watched the Norns from his seat in Asgard and envied their powers and their wisdom. And he bent his will toward the task of coming to know the runes. Since the runes’ native home is in the Well of Urd with the Norns, and since the runes do not reveal themselves to any but those who prove themselves worthy of such fearful insights and abilities, Óðinn hung himself from a branch of Yggdrasil, pierced himself with his spear, and peered downward into the shadowy waters below. He forbade any of the other gods to grant him the slightest aid, not even a sip of water. And he stared downward, and stared downward, and called to the runes. Hávamál 137. "I trow I hung on that windswept Tree nine whole days and nights, stabbed with a spear, offered to Óðinn, myself to mine own self given, high on that Tree of which none hath heard from what roots it rises to heaven." Hávamál 138. "None refreshed me ever with food or drink, I peered right down in the deep; crying aloud I lifted the Runes then back I fell from thence." He survived in this state, teetering on the precipice that separates the living from the dead, for no less than nine days and nights. At the end of the ninth night, he at last perceived shapes in the depths: the runes! They had accepted his sacrifice and shown themselves to him, revealing to him not only their forms, but also the secrets that lie within them. Having fixed this knowledge in his formidable memory, Odin ended his ordeal with a scream of exultation. Having been initiated into the mysteries of the runes, Óðinn recounted: "Then I was fertilized and became wise; I truly grew and thrived. From a word to a word I was led to a word, From a work to a work I was led to a work." Equipped with the knowledge of how to wield the runes, he became one of the mightiest and most accomplished beings in the cosmos. He learned chants that enabled him to heal emotional and bodily wounds, to bind his enemies and render their weapons worthless, to free himself from constraints, to put out fires, to expose and banish practitioners of malevolent magic, to protect his friends in battle, to wake the dead, to win and keep a lover, and to perform many other feats like these. “Sacrificing Myself to Myself” Our source for the above tale is the Hávamál, an Old Norse poem that comprises part of the Poetic Edda. In the first of the two verses that describe Óðinn’s shamanic initiatory ordeal itself (written from Óðinn’s perspective), the god says that he was “given to Óðinn, myself to myself.” The Old Norse phrase that translates to English as “given to Óðinn” is gefinn Óðni, a phrase that occurs many times throughout the Eddas and sagas in the context of human sacrifices to Óðinn. And, in fact, the form these sacrifices take mirrors Óðinn’s ordeal in the Hávamál; the victim, invariably of noble birth, was stabbed, hung, or, more commonly, both at the same time. Óðinn’s ordeal is therefore a sacrifice of himself to himself, and is the ultimate Óðinnic sacrifice – for who could be a nobler offering to the god than the god himself? So, it seems that a statement above is in need of qualification. Part of Óðinn survived the sacrifice in order to be the recipient of the sacrifice – in addition to the runes themselves – and another part of him did indeed die. This is suggested, not just by the imagery of death in these verses, but also by the imagery of rebirth and fecundity in the following verses that speak of his being “fertilized,” and, like a seedling, “growing,” and “thriving.” "Do you know how to carve - rísta Do you know how to advise - ráða Do you know how to colour - fáa Do you know how to ask - freista Do you know how to bid - biðja Do you know how to offer - blóta Do you know how to send - senda Do you know how to slaughter - sóa Do you know how to sing - Þúlr" Óðinn Even a casual browsing of the Eddas and sagas alerts the reader to how accomplished, self-possessed, and inwardly strong many of their central figures are, especially the most Óðinnic of them (such as Egill Skallagrimsson, Starkad, Sigurd, and Grettir Asmundarson). Perhaps their strength of character was largely due to the example set by their divine patron, with the songs sung in his honor telling of how he wasn’t afraid to sacrifice what we might call his “lower self” to his “higher self,” to live according to his highest will unconditionally, accepting whatever hardships arise from that pursuit, and allowing nothing, not even death, to stand between him and the attainment of his goals.