The Tenth Rune Spell
Let’s fuck with someone, shall we? Time to hone your defence against the dark arts skills.
In a 13th century Icelandic text called the Poetic Edda, we find a long poem called Hávamál, and in that poem the god Odin recites a list of Rune-spells he has learned while hanging upon the World Tree (axis mundi). This part of the Hávamál has come to be called the Song of Spells. There are many translations of this verse; here are four of them.
For the tenth I know,
if I see troll-wives
sporting in air,
I can so operate
that they will forsake
their own forms,
and their own minds.
~ Benjamin Thorpe
A tenth I know: when at night the witches
ride and sport in the air,
such spells I weave that they wander home
out of skins and wits bewildered.
~ Olive Bray
If I see the hedge-riders magically flying high,
I can make it so they go astray
Of their own skins, and of their own souls.
~ Nigel Pennick
A tenth I know, what time I see
House-riders* flying on high;
So can I work, that wildly they go,
Showing… Continue reading
Arrived
Look what my Mom got me for Yule/Xmas! It arrived today.
Defence Against the Dark Arts (When You are Locked Out of the Circle)
A young woman contacted me a while back asking for knowledge. Not some Craft secret or anything. What she wanted to know was why. WHY?
You see, she had spent the year or two (or more) being harassed by what we shall call a (demon) nasty asshole spirit. She hadn’t done anything in particular to attract such a beastie. She’s not sure when it found her, but she thinks it started with nightmares that kept her up at night and by the end of it, she was a mess. Depression, lack of sleep, couldn’t really eat. The joy of life being sucked out of her, strange obsessions and compulsions. The constant feeling of being watched.
It wasn’t a mental illness, it wasn’t a physical illness and she wasn’t playing games or looking for attention.
She searched high and low for help and found none. She lives in a large-ish city in the USA, a city with a thriving Pagan community. Yet, there was no help for her there. She went to bookshops and asked for help. She went to Meet & Greet Coffee Cauldron type events and found no help. She went to the local teaching coven… Continue reading
To Answer Some Questions
What are you up to?
Getting ready for Yuletide; I found tree ornaments that look like fly amanita mushrooms! Writing, working, unpacking, playing Skyrim.
Is the podcast going to keep going?
Yes. Bren put up an episode recently and we hope to get back into the swing of things with the new year.
I am interested in casting objects and divination as spirit communication. Can you recommend some books?
I recommend that you look for books on the divination and spirit communication systems that appeal to you.
My main sources of inspiration were the FUTHARK and the Ogham. There are people who cast personal sets. I come across them from time to time, usually online. Not always though. I lead a workshop on it for Fest one year and a lady showed up with her casting cloth based on Hoodoo concepts.
I’m really rusty in some areas, tarot seems so long ago. I moved on from tarot (because it just wasn’t a good fit) in my early twenties, so about 7 or 8 years ago? I am amazed at what I have forgotten. It’s weird. Or not, since I never really clicked with it. It’s… Continue reading
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