A night with the Guides and the joys of having a sister who doesn’t mind witchcraft

In layman’s terms, last night was wild. I share a room with my sister and the vibes have just been super off recently, and I decided I finally wanted to try smoke cleansing (I usually use sound cleansing for the energy in my room.) So I stole bay leaves from my kitchen (we don’t have sage) and my sister and I tried to burn them without nearly burning the house down.

Note:nearly. It’s April fool’s, I work with three trickster gods and quite literally the best friends trio of the Olympian gods. So you know shit was wild.

To start off, my sister and I were trying to light the bay leaves on fire inside this small candle since we didn’t have anywhere to burn it (I’m broom closeted and my sister is the only one who knows and is accepting of it.)

However we just couldn’t get it to stay on fire. And during one of our attempts, my sister dropped a lit match on our wooden floor and she and I lost it.

We blew it out and we were both shaking, not in fear, but at the fact we quite literally were the dumbest bitches alive and nearly burned our house down trying to light bay leaves.

Apollo and Dionysus were there watching us the entire time and were just laughing at our dumbassery. Hermes joined in soon after and the trio were watching us like we were some sitcom. Loki was there too, as he usually is when things nearly go horribly wrong.

Apparently it was part of their April Fool’s joke. Like, there was no burn mark on the floor at all and was no evidence of it happening. No soot, black spot, no nothing. A lit match was dropped on directly exposed wood and there wasn’t even an ember forming. Mind you, the fire on the match was like, big enough to reach halfway down the matchstick.

It was a disaster I swear.

Soon enough, we finally got the bay fire going and it was relaxing. The overall vibe was just really nice and warm, the lights were off and the room was lit up by two candles: one where the bay leaves were burning and another I have for Apollo.

And I decided that since he and the rest of the trio were here, I wanted to play some music. I played Yellow by Coldplay (I consider it to be a song that binds me to Apollo, since the first time I fully felt his presence as a whole was when I invited him to listen to this song with me) as well as some Big Time Rush (I read somewhere he liked BTR so I asked him if he wanted me to play it and his little candle was just going wild so I did.)

Cute anecdote: The fire of Apollo’s candle would flicker in beat to the songs and I thought that was the cutest thing (especially to Boyfriend.)

I sang along to some of the songs and it would flicker as if singing with me. It also happened when I played the Phantom Of The Opera theme for Dionysus, who used the candle we were burning the bay leaves in as his temporary candle. It was really cute.

It was also the first time my sister fully acknowledged the presence of my gods. Both of us are some form of clairvoyant (both of us are very sensitive to energy and in turn, we can see visuals in our head brought about by the energy as if pinpointing certain things like where my deities were sitting in the room; if that makes sense? It’s a bit difficult to explain and put into words and I’m not sure if anyone experiences the same thing, but I initially thought I was crazy until my sister pointed them out too. Then we sorta like, tested each other on it and it worked so far.)

She experienced sitting next to Hermes, feeling his energy directly, she saw Freyja, Lucifer, Apollo, and even felt Aphrodite hold her hand. She told me she’s never experienced something like this before, and I told her that stuff like this just happens at times.

A lot of other wild shenanigans happened last night. Like my sister meeting my deities and guides, feeling their presence, and even witnessing me getting pranked for April Fool’s.

Womenly things; it’s my red week and apparently it was the perfect opportunity for a prank, so some of my gods thought it would be funny to not tell me that I started bleeding through. Loki and Hermes fucking lost it and I was just dying last night. Freyja and Aphrodite were trying to get me to change, etc. Wild night.

I was even visited by an unexpected newcomer in the form of Zeus, who I hadn’t made contact with properly at all. I was doing shadow work earlier on that day with Apollo and apparently Zeus was listening in, I asked Apollo to make sure after witnessing the tree outside my window going batshit crazy because of the wind.

And apparently he wants to work with me too, as I clarified with him earlier today.

Overall, last night was just so positive and warm. I experienced so many surreal encounters with my gods and guides, who were all present with me. Heck, even Asmodeus made an appearance, and I barely interact with him.

I witnessed a lot of stuff too, like Eros and Psyche being lovey dovey, Lucifer being standoffish when I mentioned possibly working with Hades, and even Loki just being outright weird. Ares even went dad mode when he went downstairs with me so I could change since he knew I’m like, a major coward and that I’d be too scared to go alone.

Heck, my sister and I finally got around to locking our numerous mirrors. I showed her how to do it, and I wanted to cry in being a proud sister while watching her figure out how to draw the sigil right.

Also, Apollo hugs and cuddles. Very nice.

I can’t forget what happened later that night though. Everything was going really well until I spotted Apollo’s candle flickering. It usually wasn’t an odd occurrence, but it was like it was trying to get my attention. Apollo’s presence and energy changed a bit, going from warm and amused to something a bit more protective. I then felt something coming from outside the door, like an odd energy. We just cleansed the room, so a lot of lingering entities/energies were kicked out and apparently it was one of them (according to Apollo anyway) and he told us not to go near the door or leave the room anymore.

I could feel a bit of tension coming from some of my gods and guides, such as Ares, Lucifer, and Freyja who were the closest to the door. Even Zeus’s energy seemed a bit tense. My intuition was telling me they were watching it in case something happens, so it began to worry me.

Apollo told me to sleep then, and I in turn asked him if I could put out the candles. However, after my inquiries, he told me that I really couldn’t. I was worried, seeing as it was a literal fire hazard, but I trusted him and the rest of my gods to keep me safe. I am not sure what it meant to keep the candles on or what would happen if I put it out then, but I let them stay on. I couldn’t sleep easily at first, seeing as I didn’t want my house to burn down, but after Apollo’s and Hermes’s coercion, I ended up falling asleep.

Another cute anecdote: holding hands with Apollo is my new favorite thing. Like, he’s such a dad, like I even call him Pater or Papa. He’s just really warm, both in personality and his energy. Hermes too. The two were just looking after me and calming me down so I could sleep already.

I felt safe, with all of my guides being there looking after me.

I woke up pretty abruptly a few hours after, the sun was rising and the energy of the room had changed. I put the candles out, seeing as the odd energy I felt outside the door a few hours prior was gone. I was still sleepy then, and I ended up falling asleep again directly after. I still felt Hermes’s and Apollo’s energy then, and it was just really surreal.

I really love my gods and guides. I really do. I’ve always known it, I know they know it, and now even my sister understands why I confide in them.

In conclusion; burning bay leaves with my guides on April Fool’s night is a totally fantastic and safe bonding experience. Well, if you don’t count dropping a lit match or dealing with a possible energy vampire. Would totally recommend, but be sure to have a fire extinguisher on hand just in case.

Loki Silver-tongue

thefriendlywitch:

AEGIR- God of the sea, brewing, prosperity, sailors, and weather.

AUDHUMLA- Goddess of motherhood, child-rearing, and home crafts.

Associated with the cow.

BALDUR/BALDER- God of the sun, reconciliation, gentleness, reincarnation, and harmony.

FREYJA/FREYA- Mistress of cats and a shapeshifter. Goddess of love, sex, childbirth, enchantments, wealth, trance, wisdom, good luck, fertility, writing, and protection.

Associated with the horse, cat, and amber.

FREYR/FREY - The god of Yule. God of fertility, love, abundance, horses, sailors, happiness, and weather.

Associated with the boar.

HEIMDALL- God of the rainbow, beginnings and endings, and defense against evil.

Associated with the bridge.

HEL- Queen of the Underworld. Revenge, fate, and karma.

IDUNN/IDUN- Goddess of immortality, youth, and long life. 

Associated with the apple.

LOKI- A trickster and shapechanger. God of earthquakes, fire, cunning, deceit, daring, and revenge.

Associated with the wolf and snake.

NJORD- God of the sea, fishing, sailors, prosperity, and journeys.

ODIN/ODHINN- King of the Gods. God of runes, poetry, magick, divination, storms, rebirth, knowledge, weather, justice, and inspiration.

Associated with the wolf and raven.

THOR/THORR - Protector of the common person. God of thunder, storms, law and order, strength, weather, and trading voyages.

Associated with the goat, oak, and lightning.

TYR- The bravest of the gods. God of victory, justice, the law, honor, and athletes.

Conwayon the Norse pantheon - a selection from The Little Big Book of Magic.

ergiinmiddleearth:

I wish more people focused less on the “Loki as a sower of discord” thing and more on being someone worth holding a bowl for.

queenofswords:

Subtitle: Your UPG is probably totally legit, and here’s why.

I am no expert here, this is all from my gut and from listening to a lot of folks discussing UPG. My personal bias is this: I believe in coming from the lore we have and extrapolating out UPG from there based on reading, personal practice, and journalistic writing analyzing those base texts when accessible. That bias stated, let’s continue.

PART ONE: Polytheism in Norse revival practices.

I feel like I constantly hear people saying things like, Loki came to me, but that opened the door, and now I’ve got Odin (or Sigyn or Angrboda or whomever). Or,Freyja came to me, but now I also have felt needlings from Freyr and/or Njordr. This concept that when we access this pantheon with intention, the relatives of our access point come a-knocking. I feel that most people have experienced this, from what I have read, so I am not going to dwell too much on this point, as it’s mostly a base concept for where I’m going with it. 

What all this boils down to, for me, is 
“Relationships are important in Norse practices.”

PART TWO: Relationship schematics within personal practice.

I am using myself as an example here, but because of the aforementioned, I feel these things are hopefully understandable and/or relatable. Hel came to me first and I have always been hers. But the more I spent time with her, the more it was important for me to understand her in relation to her father; her in relation to her mother; her in relation to her siblings. So, again as an example, Hel brought me to Wolf and Tyr. Hel also brought me to Loki, who brought me to Sigyn and Angrboda. These are not my only ‘connections,’ but again, examples.

But it’s interesting: personally speaking, my relationship with Hel is incredibly intimate—at times feeling like an actual part of her; at times feeling like she’s my mother; at times feeling like a best friend. She is my mother literally in some aspects, so I put this up to a very intimate familial relationship. How I see her is how I would have the knowledge of the kind of person if you had a really solid, supportive, mother relationship. I see her very up close and personal, for lack of better terms. However.

My relationships with Loki is more like a grandfather. He drops in for visits “on holiday” (not literally, I’m speaking about frequency in a perceived ‘standard family dynamic™’) and so does Angrboda. My knowings of Loki are simply not as intimate as someone who has a personal relationship with Loki that is as intimate as mine with Hel. I may know Loki likes coffee, but I don’t know the things he would only tell his closest confidantes—because I’m not one. That doesn’t make me less valuable: it just makes our relationships different.

What this boils down to, for me, is
“Just as different people in our lives see different pieces of us—
just as who we are to our friends may not be the same as who we are
to our distant cousins, or to our grandfathers, or whatever 
‘normal’ or ‘fucked up’ dynamic exists—just as that is true for us,”
so too is it true for the gods with whom we work.”

PART THREE: How this applies to the multiplicity of UPG.

I want to point this out not to have a ‘who’s the best devotee’-off—That completely misses my point. My point is that if we can acknowledge that our best friend may know that “you only drink coffee when you’re missing your girlfriend,” your grandfather probably doesn’t know that. That doesn’t make your best friend ‘more valuable’ than your grandfather. Each relationship is important. 

Not saying you can’t bring those relationships closer or more emotionally intimate, but the degrees of intimacy vary, and with that, information dissemination. So it would follow that while I personally have the ‘grandfather’ level of intimacy with Loki, I probably have different UPG than someone who has a father or best friend level intimacy with him. He is showing us two different faces. This does not make him inauthentic: the moon is still the whole moon, no matter which phase of it in the night sky we are perceiving. The moon is still the moon. 

So while there is a base person—for example, if you were to say, Loki is actually someone who would never lie, never think outside the box, and you experience him as the upstanding moral citizen who loves rainbows and the status quo, I’m going to say that’s poor UPG inasmuch as it directly contradicts the only known information we have about him. However, if you tell me that Loki speaks to you of fire while he speaks to me of electricity, I see how these things can co-exist without either one being wrong at all. 

The one does not invalidate the other;
just different phases of the same moon.

PART FOUR: Complications and lessons.

Then, to add just one more piece to this mix, there is also the question of the faces of our gods. Are you seeing Odin the Wanderer? Odin the Frenzy? Odin the Poet? Odin the most intimidating gunslinger this side of Texas person on Asgard? That also, I think, would change your UPG. I think this is how, for example, Raven Kaldera can say he has an incredibly intimate relationship with Hel as well, but a lot of my UPG does not match his. Reading what he has written, however, it seems he has seen a lot of what I call the Hel Hailstorm aspect, or the face of her that deals in ordeals.

As an alternate example, for me, (using myself specifically again), when I’m giving offerings to Hel As Herself Wholly, I have a set of go-tos (roses, hematite, bones, etc). However, if I want to talk to her in her aspect as someone who deals with ancestor veneration and memoriams, I’m thinking juniper and magpies. When I am thinking of honouring not just her death side but also her living flesh, there’s hummingbirds and rose quartz. I have the intimacy to see all of these sides of her; perhaps some people will only see some, and not all, of the sides.

All of these are simultaneously true.

PART FIVE: Overlap and ‘validation.’

But at the end of the day, someone having different UPG than you means very little. Your relationship with your deities is yours and you are your own spiritual authority. You can pry my association of amethyst and Sigyn from my cold dead hands (and citrine with Loki and so ametrine with Logyn), though I know not many people share that, and I’ve made peace with that. 

It’s exciting to find overlap—to me, that just shows me that the relationship I have with Hel is similar to the relationship the other person has with Hel. I was pleasantly surprised with lavenderwrath and I shared so much (though not all) UPG, and bedaelia too. This does not make us more correct, it means that we have seen the same ‘moon phase’ and have the same or a similar intimacy level with her.

It is exhausting to keep that level of intimacy with so many deities—which is precisely why I also keep hearing that people tend to practice around one and branch out honouring in varying degrees other deities that relate to their main deity. I don’t think there is anything wrong withnot having an intense level of intimacy with everyone you honour. There is no way I could dedicate the same intimacy I give to Hel also to Freyr and to Loki and to Skadi. I just can’t.

For me, this is not a shortcoming. For me, it lets me know that someone who who has a closer intimacy to Skadi may have more or different insight. I might be inclined to listen to them ‘first’ and see what resonates for me out of respect and acknowledgement of their experience, but if it doesn’t resonate, I just hold with the fact that that was not the face of the god meant for me to see or the relationship that god desired of me. And frankly, I think that’s beautiful. It makes us all a family tree here on earth, both part of their family and to each other. 

And in a strange way, I’m wondering
if that is exactly what the gods are asking us to create
as we revive this dead religion.

thewoodbinewitch:

hazelwitchcraft:

Possibly a googleable question, so forgive me, but hey, opinions may very on the matter:

Of the Norse pantheon, who is best to work with for matters of animal health and well-being (specifically monkeys for the most part, but I know I am certainly not going to find any reference to them)?

[I am still very new to paganism, and it’s been a heck of a week]

Honestly the Norse pantheon is very… Fluid. When it comes to “designations” it’s not like the Roman or Greek pantheons, where each God has their own thing. The Norse share it all, and sure, they have areas they’re symbolic of, but any of them can help!

That being said, try Freyr. The Vanir have an affinity for healing and doing natural stuff, and Freyr is a prosperity god. Or Thor, I have the feeling he likes monkeys. They also are, respectively, the gods of fair weather and of storms, which are good gods to talk to when the going gets rough.

Thank you. This is very informative!

Possibly a googleable question, so forgive me, but hey, opinions may very on the matter:

Of the Norse pantheon, who is best to work with for matters of animal health and well-being (specifically monkeys for the most part, but I know I am certainly not going to find any reference to them)?

[I am still very new to paganism, and it’s been a heck of a week]

Any of my followers worship Norse deities? I have questions if anyone is willing to discuss.