Month for Loki: Days Three and Four.

After nearly setting fire to the altar cloth (again!), I can say these last two days have been quite productive. On the Loki front, little devotional rituals came with some writing and art. Above you can see one of the drawings, a bust of Loki in ballpoint pen and coloring pencils. One of the many that came out today.

Aside from Loki himself, artwork also was done for Thor and Frigga, which is a rare bit of inspiration. I should start working on new altar images for Loki, Hela and Freyja, but with the devotional month adding up to a very rushed time for my studies, it’s quite difficult. Soon enough I’ll have weeks on vacation, giving me enough time to focus on those specific pieces.

Other than that, I started writing a new spellbook, and with it some all-new spells that I am urgently in need of. I also made a request of some supplies with my mother. Should I get them, they will be mentioned here.

I should have more to speak of in my next entry, when I hope to get some more time online and properly focus on writing. Meanwhile, I think it would be good to direct those who have not yet read it to Salena’s Month for Loki post – Just Do Something.

Month for Loki: Days One and Two.

Many, including myself, participated in the unofficial month for Loki through July of 2012. The idea came first from Galina Krasskova, whom I believe is doing the month of silence instead this year. But many others are keeping the work both on and offline to celebrate July as Loki’s month.

Seeing as I am without my own computer, and happen to not be well versed in writing publicly, a great part of my July may be kept private and offline, perhaps to be spoken about later. If possible, I would like to follow up on my offline devotions with a post on this blog, though.

For the first day, I changed my altar and renewed my devotion to Loki as I have done with Hela, a piece of jewelry presented as a claiming mark. If you pay attention to the picture, you can see the owl ring with bright red eyes. The incense burning is dragon’s blood, what I have found to be a favorite of Loki’s when it comes to this kind of offering.

Today we have food offerings and fire, and my attempt at writing devotional poetry. I am not yet confident with poetry in English, despite it being my mother tongue, so those will remain off the the internet for now.

May we have a good Loki’s Month.

Autumn and altars.

Autumn is coming, the heat of summer is already lessened and we can turn the fans off to enjoy the slightly chilly wind blowing around. Now we get the jackets out of the closet, prepare to start eating hot foods once more, and relax at the thought of a light bill without the added energy from three fans we had to keep on during most of summer.

This makes me particularly happy because autumn and winter are my favorite seasons. Summers are too hot, not very productive, and it’s much easier to warm oneself than to cool down. It’s also the time where I feel closest to my main deity, and a time where I am most productive both religiously and with everything else.

At such a special time, instead of just cleaning the altars, today we had a grand autumn cleaning and re-modeling of the main altar and Hel’s shrine. I am also changing things around to find space for a shrine to Freyja, something much needed at the moment.

The main altar now holds more of a simplicity element than before, where it was full of things and very elaborate. I toned it down for the start of autumn, as I do at each change of season, because I know that by the end of winter it will be once again full of new things – in a way it shows a cycle of growth through spring and summer, and then once more through autumn and winter. It has worked for years.

The following image shows my altar as it was by the end of February, with offerings and burning incense.

Here is today’s arrangement, with calmer colors and a very green theme to it. The large offering plate on the left was part of another altar that is currently being completely redone, I found it fitting to place it as a main piece.

And the new arrangement of Hela’s shrine, with slight differences from the last one including the necklace on the offering jar.

I still have quite a lot of work to do before autumn is actually here, and with Easter upon us I can guarantee this will be a very sweet celebration.

Aside from the fact it can be very confusing to have all the spring imagery around in autumn, the only other bad part of living here is not having anyone around to share in these celebrations. Maybe one day.

Artwork of Hel by Svartulf.

Religious Jewelry.

Religious jewelry is something that has been around for a long while, and in most religions throughout the world. Among pagans, particularly wiccans and neo-wiccans, symbols such as the pentagram are commonly seen on necklaces and rings.

A question I have heard a few times is “Why do people wear religious jewelry?”, and the answers I have heard are very interesting. Some do it so others will recognize them as part of the same religion, as a conversation starter and self-identification badge, some just because they like jewelry and it’s pretty, some to remind themselves of their own practices, some as amulets for protection or prosperity or other such reasons.

A less popular answer is one of the reasons I wear what could be considered religious jewelry. I wear mine as amulets, yes, particularly protection amulets when I feel threatened or bad things are going on, but I also wear deity-specific jewelry. Most of those aren’t easily identifiable as religious, they’re not the name or an image of the deity themselves, but rather something I associate with said deity.

The main example of that is my amber necklace, which I wear in honor of Freyja. I wear it as a devotion to Her, a daily reminder to wake up, clean it, put it on, and take it off to put it away safely every night, and start again the next day. It’s a daily ritual, you could say. It’s also a way for me to feel closer to Her, or if it’s another piece of jewelry, to the other deity in question. It reminds me of the lessons They teach and of the importance They hold in my life.

When I’m doing specific work for some deities, I tend to wear a piece of jewelry through it that reminds me to continue doing it until it’s done. It’s something that tells me “this project is still not complete” or “you have committed to this, this [necklace or ring] is a proof of that”.

As part of a dedication to one of my main deities, I had my ears pierced as a kind of claim from Her, too. So that is one more way in which I wear jewelry relating to my religion.

I didn’t start wearing jewelry for these purposes, though. I’ve always loved jewelry as an art form and expression, so I have always worn it even if it’s just for the beauty of the piece.

Twilight and Fire: Love Is An Action.

It took me years to learn the real nature of love as it applies in a monastic context. Understand here that I am not discussing “faking it till you make it,” or being untruthful about your feelings in order to fit into a role you are not suited to inhabit. I am instead speaking of how I have learned to deal with the inevitable end of the “honeymoon period” that happens to everyone who enters a life of contemplation.

I have found that love is not merely a feeling. Feelings are untrustworthy. They come and go, change and mutate, and cannot be relied on to any degree. They inspire us, but they also betray us. They make us happy and leave us hopeless. They are fickle. And while they can ennoble us and point to greater depths within our character, they are not the tireless indicators of worth that people, including romance novelists and the makers of romantic comedies, seem to want us to believe they are.

Read More ->

A great post from Elizabeth Vongvisith about love and devotion. It’s very good to read regardless of your religion or spiritual path, and it is very relevant both to our relationship with the gods and with other people.