Dedicated to the holy in nature. The life in the seed. The beauty that feeds the world.
According to Fjölsvinnsmál, Víðópnir or Víðófnir (Old Norse, possibly “wide-open” or “wind-weaver”) is a rooster that sits at the top of Mímameiðr, a tree often taken to be identical with the World Tree Yggdrasil. They appear in Norse Mythology, although the name does not otherwise …
In Norse mythology, Gullinkambi (Old Norse “golden comb”) is a rooster who lives in Valhalla. In the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, Gullinkambi is one of the three roosters whose crowing is foretold to signify the beginning of the events of Ragnarök. The other two roosters …
A pysanka is a Ukrainian Easter egg, decorated using a wax-resist (batik) method. The word comes from the verb pysaty, “to write”, as the designs are not painted on, but written with beeswax. Pysanky are typically made to be given to family members and respected outsiders. To give a pysanka is to give a symbolic gift of life, which is why the egg must remain whole. Furthermore, each of the designs and colors on the pysanka is likely to have a deep, symbolic meaning. Traditionally, the designs are chosen to match the character of the person to whom the pysanka is to be given.
At one time, in a large family by Maundy Thursday 60 or more eggs would have been completed by the women of the house. (The more daughters a family had, the more pysanky would be produced.) The eggs would then be taken to the church on Easter Sunday to be blessed, after which they were given away. Here is a partial list of how the pysanky would be used:
One or two would be given to the priest.
Three or four were taken to the cemetery and placed on graves of the family.
Ten or fifteen were given to children or godchildren.
Ten or twelve were exchanged by the unmarried girls with the eligible men in the community.
Several were saved to place in the coffin of loved ones who might die during the year.
Several were saved to keep in the home for protection from fire, lightning and storms.
Two or three were placed in the mangers of cows and horses to ensure safe calving and colting and a good milk supply for the young.
At least one egg was placed beneath the bee hive to insure a good harvest of honey.
One was saved for each grazing animal to be taken out to the fields with the shepherds in the spring.
Several pysanky were placed in the nests of hens to encourage the laying of eggs.
Everyone from the youngest to the oldest received a pysanka for Easter. Young people were given pysanky with bright designs; dark pysanky were given to older people.
A bowl full of pysanky was invariably kept in every home. It served not only as a colorful display, but also as protection from all dangers. Some of the eggs were emptied, and a bird’s head made of wax or dough and wings and tail-feathers of folded paper were attached. These “doves” were suspended before icons in commemoration of the birth of Christ, when a dove came down from heaven and soared over the child Jesus.
Bulgarian bride – she “endeavors to make her headdress as gorgeously ponderous as her head will allow.”
Odin, the king of the Norse gods, often sat upon Hildskialf, the throne of the Aesir gods [see Norse Gods], with his companions, the two ravens, Hugin (thought) and Munin (Memory), whispering in his ears. From this position he could look out on all of the nine worlds. Sometimes his wife Frigg would sit there, too, but she was the only other god who was so privileged. Frigg was the second and favorite wife of Odin, whose daughter she may also have been. She was the only Aesir as clever and knowledgeable about the future as Odin, although her foreknowledge did not depress her as it did her husband.
Frigg had her own palace, which was known as Fensalir, where she sat spinning clouds to float above Midgard. Fensalir also served as the afterlife home for married couples who wished to be together. It was a counterpart to the famous home of valiant warriors, Valhalla, where Odin spent much of his time — drinking (he is said to have stopped eating when he heard about the inevitable doom of Ragnarok) with his feasting and fighting companions and the Valkyries.
The most handsome of the gods was born to Frigg and Odin. He was named Balder (also known as Baldur or Baldr). He was a god of truth and light. Balder was also knowledgeable in healing herbs and runes, which made him a favorite among the people of Midgard. Balder lived in a palace named Breidablik with his wife Nanna (n.b. there is also a Mesopotamian goddess of this name), a vegetation goddess. It was believed that no lie could pass through the walls of Breidablik, home of the god of truth, so when Balder started having frightening nightmares about his own demise, the other Aesir gods took them seriously. Unlike gods in other pantheons, the Norse gods were not immortal. They catalogued everything that might possibly cause Balder harm, from weapons to diseases to creatures. With the list in hand, Balder’s mother, Frigg, set out to exact assurances from everything in the nine worlds not to harm Balder. This wasn’t hard because he was so universally loved.
When she had completed her mission, Frigg returned to Gladsheim, the gods’ meeting hall, for a celebration. After a few rounds of drinks and toasts, the gods decided to test Balder’s invulnerability. A pebble thrown at Balder bounced off without hurting Balder, in honor of its oath. Larger weapons were used, including Thor’s axes and all refused to hurt the god.
Loki is known as a trickster god. Sometimes he was mischievous, but he hadn’t really been malicious. The giants were evil, but Loki, who was the son of a giant, hadn’t been known as such. It seems his self-appointed job was to stir things up when things were going well. It’s a Loki-type action that one wishes to avert when telling an actor to break a leg before a performance.
Loki was disturbed by all the gaiety and decided to do something about it, so in disguise as a disgusting old hag, he went to Frigg while she was at Fensalir taking a break from the festivities. What was going on at Gladsheim, he asked her. She said it was a celebration for the god Balder. Loki-in-disguise asked why, then, were people throwing weapons at him? Frigg explained about the promises she’d exacted. Loki kept at her asking questions until she finally revealed that there was one thing she hadn’t asked because she thought it too small and inconsequential. That one thing was mistletoe.
With all the information he needed, Loki set off to the forest to get himself a branch of mistletoe. He then returned to the festivities at Gladsheim and sought out Balder’s blind brother, Hod, god of darkness, who was in a corner because he couldn’t aim and therefore couldn’t participate in the test of Balder’s invulnerability. Loki told Hod he would help him take aim and handed Hod a piece of apparently innocuous mistletoe to throw.
Hodur was grateful and accepted the offer, so Loki steered Hod’s arm. Hod launched the branch, which caught Balder in the chest. Balder died instantly. The gods looked towards Hod and saw Loki beside him. Before they could do anything, Loki fled away.
Celebration turned to lamentation since the most beloved of the gods had died. Odin alone was aware of how disastrous this event really was for them all, for he knew that with the loss of light and truth, the end of the world, Ragnarok, was due soon.
A funeral pyre was made that was so enormous the gods had to ask the help of the giants. They then placed their most valuable worldly possessions as gifts upon the pyre. Odin placed his golden armband Draupnir. Balder’s wife fell down dead of grief at the pyre, so her body was placed beside her husband’s.
Photo: Yule Sunwheel by hengest
