Latest Posts by themoonishappy - Page 12

honey, are you okay? you’ve barely touched your twilight water

Grimes for Vogue China (2022)

the wicked king by holly black ⋆ ࣪. ‧₊˚✧

Warm moon in the night sky 💕

the story of psyche

Denis Maurice, The Story of Psyche, 1908, The Hermitage, St. Petersburg: 1) Eros is Struck by Psyche’s Beauty; 2) Zephyr Transporting Psyche to the Isle of Delight; 3) Psyche Discovers that Her Mysterious Lover is Eros; 4) The Vengeance of Venus; 5) Jupiter Bestows Immortality on Psyche; 6)  Psyche’s Kin Bid Her Farewell on a Mountain Top; 7)  Cupid Carrying Psyche Up to Heaven. 

Paul van Riel - Sayoko Yamaguchi at Kenzo A/W RTW 1978-79

Dangerous Beauty

dir. Marshall Herskovitz

(1998)

Loving your brown dark eyes is realising that no one can do better the blue eye shadow than you.

ı always prefer pink guns 💋🤭

Norse Small Devotional Acts Masterpost

Æsir Baldr Bragi Eir Frigg Heimdallr  Lofn Máni Nanna Njörun Oðin Rán Sigyn Sól Thor Tyr Üllr Víðarr 

Vanir Freyja Freyr Njörðr

Jötnar Ægir Jörð Skaði Rökkr Hati and Sköll Hel Fenrir Loki

*This list is a work in progress and I will be creating more in my future free time!* Feel free to message me requests, just know I won’t necessarily get to them immediately. Updated: 03/29/2020

So I had written this post, promising something similar on Nordic types of magic. I’ll say this to begin with: even though it is my branch, it’s not something I’ve approached academically very often, so purists might catch me saying something not entirely correct, but whatevs.

The standard disclaimer still applies–this is my impression of these terms based on what I’ve read and seen, and aren’t meant to be concrete definitions.

SEIÐR (Proto-Indo-European *h₂seut-, “to move about, roil, seethe” +  Proto-Germanic *seuþaną, “to seethe, boil”) is considered a Vanir magic, having been taught to the Æsir by the goddess Freyja. It is worked the majority of the time after utiseta, and involves communication with wights or other spirits. Seiðr is usually worked in an altered state of consciousness (ASC) and primarily utilized for divination, illusory magic, astral travel, or channelling. Practitioners may be called seið-worker, seiðkona (seiðwoman) or seiðmaðr (seiðman).

UTISETA (Old Norse, “sitting out”) is a preparatory practice for seið-workers. Traditionally, the practitioner goes out into a place of the dead and seats themselves upon a burial mound, with the object of task being to come into communion with the spirit that will be worked with during the practice of seiðr.

SPÁ (unknown origin, possibly Proto-Indo-European *spey-, “stick, staff”) is the power of prophesy or foresight, by ‘the determination of ørlög’. Ørlög is ‘the law of fate’ as determined by the Norns. Practitioners may be called spá-worker, spákona, or spámaðr. The term ‘spáwife’ is also commonly used. One who is highly skilled with spá or born with the innate ability may be called a völva, which is a traditionally feminine title, since such magics were seen as being in female domain.

VARÐLÖKKUR (Old Norse “warding songs”) are songs to be sung in preparation for seiðr or spá which are intended to help bring one into ASC. Unlike galdr, varðlökkur can be very melodic, and are today widely inspired by joik and kulning, two traditional singing styles amongst certain Nordic peoples.

GALDR (Proto-Indo-European *ghAl-, “to shout, to sing” + Proto-Germanic *galdrą, “incantation”) is viewed as a more Æsir brand of magic due to its seeming rigidity, but is similar to varðlökkur in the intent to induce ASC. Galdr is often called “runic chanting” and refers to the repetition of the sounds of the runes, i.e., if one meditates upon the rune fehu, then one may continuously gald the sound fe. Practitioners may be called galdra-worker, galdrakona, or galdramaðr.

Prayer to the Disir

Hail to my maternal Ancestors. I honor my Disir. The women before me. I honor the path they have walked, and the deed they’ve done. I honor their accomplishments, large and small. I honor the women the women who came before me. I honor the good Disir and ask for guidance. I ask for wisdom and strength, for all of life’s dealings. I say this prayer to honor the good Disir. In hopes that the blessings they give will be fortuitous. Hail the Disir!  

Prayer to The Nornir - Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld

Hail the three wise Maids of Fate. Who care for the World Tree. Your wisdoms endless, Your powers immense.

Wise women of Fate, Who weave the threads of life for all. From the humans of Midgard, to the Jötnar of Jötunheim, and even the Gods of Asgard. I come to You and ask for Your blessings. Help guide me in navigating my Wyrd.

Hail Urd, One who is Fate itself. Help me in harnessing my Wyrd, my past in order to strive forward. Let me not be shackled by fear and worry.

Hail Verdandi, One who is ever present. You who has seen all that transpired, all that has happened. Help me in living for today and accept my life for what it is, with all the good and ill.

Hail Skuld, One who sees all and will see all. You who ultimately decide the end of our Wyrd. Help me accept whatever may come, for the good or ill.  Help me live without fear of the future, and without worry of that future.

Hail the three Wise Women of the Well, Hail the Nornir!  

i am not joking we need to force teach cooking in schools. like. it is an essential thing for survival. do you know how easy it is to make things if you know even the bare bones shit about how cooking works. we need to teach teenagers how far you can take an onion and some other veggies it’’s sad that people grow up not knowing how to prepare literally anything. and i’m not talking about oh this home ed class taught me how to make chicken nuggets at home i’m talking about learning the balancing of sweetness and acidity and saltiness and bitterness and shit like that and techniques and oil temperatures and how meats cook. it needs to be taught because it’s literally not even that difficult and it matters so much

In honor of me absolutely fucking hating the elitism I'm seeing in the heathen paganism community here is a list of all rounder offerings that work for every spirit, deity and anything else you can think of in the realm of the Norse mythology.

- Apples, literally any kind works but from my own experiences yellow apples are preferred.

- Honey, just honey. Or diluted with water as a drink.

- WATER!! A GLASS OF WATER!!

- Mead, doesn't matter if it's cheap. They love mead

- oats, seeds, nuts. Anything of that domain

- Potatoes, Sweden has a long history of survival through potatoes.

- Tea. Throw one of those teabags into a glass of water and leave it out overnight. Boom baam done offering given.

- oatmeal!!! You just need oats and water!!!

- pinecones, leaves, branches. Literally anything you can find in a forest can go on an altar and work.

- seashells, trust me it just works™ for the ocean aligned ones.

AND THE CHEAPEST OF THEM ALL

- literally just their name in runes scribbled down on a paper, make it into a bindrune and decorate the paper with other doodles.

Point is. For a long time Sweden was poor, we didn't have fancy stuff to offer. So we used what we had and we still do.

And guess what!!! IT WORKS!! IT WORKS AMAZING!! AND IT'S AUTHENTIC BECAUSE YOU'RE THE ONE PREPARING THE OFFERINGS AND GIVING THEM!!! THAT'S WHAT COUNTS!!

so in conclusion fuck the classist assholes who teach that offerings have to be expensive and down to detail perfect. That shit is false and doesn't matter.

In every wood in every spring there is a different green.

Scottish deities series

Part Two: Brighde

‘Là Fhèill Brìghde boidheach, Cunntar spreidh air mointeach. Cuirear fitheach chon na nide, ’S cuirear rithis rocais.’

‘On the Feast Day of beautiful Bride, The flocks are counted on the moor. The raven goes to prepare the nest, And again goes the rook.’ Carmina Gadelica p.173

Hello everyone! I have recently been doing a lot of research on Brighde, or Brigid, as I hope to start working with her in the near future. So I thought I would share some of the things that I’ve learned. This isn’t really in any particular theme or order, apologies, it’s fairly random! (I also haven’t talked about even most of the things that I could talk about so perhaps I will make a part 2 sometime)

Brigid or Brighde is a Celtic goddess, of Irish origin. She is spoken of in many early historic texts within Ireland as a member of the Tuatha dé Danann. She was known as a goddess of fire, the forge, poetry, healing, farming and livestock. In Scotland, Brighde is the mirror deity to an Cailleach, controlling the summer months and the arrival of spring. She is closely associated with Imbolc, it’s Gaelic name being La Fheill Brighde. With the advent of Christianity, Brighde got her name sake in St Brigid of Kildare, who is associated with healing and water.

There are many variations on the name, Brigid being the most common, Brighde is the name most commonly used in Scotland. And there are ither variations including Brigit, Bride, Bhride and Brede, Brig and Bric.

Brighde in Scotland

In Scotland, Brighde is most commonly seen as a weather deity, controlling the arrival of spring and having domain over the summer months. In this way, she is a mirror to An Cailleach, who controls the winter months. There are various stories as to how the two interacted, and what caused the change in seasons. One story tells that An Cailleach had a son called Angus, who fell in love with Brighde. The Caileach kidnapped Brighde, locking her away underground and causing the freezing winter. When Angus rescues Brighde on Imbolc, spring and life return to the land. Another story tells that when An Cailleach grows very old, she drinks from a loch which provides youth and she transforms into Brighde. Others see Brighde simply as the mirror Goddess to an Caileach, being youthful, warm and gentle, where an Caileach is hag-like, freezing and wild. 

Brigids mantle, or a brat Brighde

A piece of folklore associated with Brighde, is that a small piece of cloth would be left out on the eve of Imbolc in order to be blessed by Brighde. This would imbue the cloth with healing and protective properties throughout the year, and it is said that if the same cloth is used, it will grow stronger with each year that it is left out. Traditionally, this cloth would be of white cotton of silk - and was used to protect women in childbirth and new born babies from the Fair Folk.

Brighde’s crosses, or Brigid’s crosses

The Christian story for the origins of Brighde’s crosses is that St Brigid was trying to show a follower a cross and had only reeds to make one with. Although the origins of the crosses could be much older than this, as the shape has parallels with pre Christian symbolism. A new Brigid’s cross would be made at each Imbolc and kept, so that people amass a collection of crosses. They are said to be protective talismans, in addition to bringing fertility and luck.

Brigid of the flame:

In the medieval era at Kildare, in Ireland, nuns tended a perpetual flame for St Brigid until the 16th century. This practise was recently restarted. This is widely believed to be a continuation of a pre-Christian practice of women tending a flame in honour of the Celtic deity.

The following are taken from research as well as my own personal gnoses

Symbols associated with Brighde:

Cows Pigs Sheep and lambs Milk and dairy products The oystercatcher (being called Gillebride in Scots Gaelic) Dandelion (in Scots Gaelic beàrnan Brighde) Snowdrops Crocuses White, violet, pastel yellow and green Water Snakes (in Scotland) Eggs Reeds Wheat and bread Beer

Brighde’s domains:

Spring and summer Healing wells Fire Smithing and craft Poetry Farming and livestock Whistling Grief The home and hearth Childbirth Medicine Brewing

Sources: Daimler, M. 2016. Brigid: meeting the Celtic goddess of poetry, forge and healing well. Brigid: goddess and saint. Carmina Gadelica. image: A la Recherche du Temps Perdu by Charles-Amable Lenoir. 

See also: my post on Imbolc, my post on An Cailleach

Portrait of A Lady On Fire (2019) dir. Celine Sciamma

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