Praise the Gods

  • Psalm 23 adapted

    The Great Danu is my guide; I shall not want.

    In lush meadows, she leads me,

    By gentle streams, she restores me.

    She guides me along the ancient paths,

    For the sake of her name.

    Though I walk through shadowed glens,

    I will fear no darkness,

    For you are with me;

    Your staff and your Cauldron,

    They comfort me.

    You prepare a feast for me

    In the presence of my foes;

    You anoint my head with sacred oil,

    My cup overflows with blessings.

    Surely goodness and compassion shall follow me

    All the days of my life.

    And I shall dwell in the embrace of the Earth Mother

    Forevermore.

    -Raysdottir

  • Cailleach: The Ancient Teacher of Death and Stillness

    Cailleach of frost, Cailleach of stone,

    Ancient One upon your throne.

    Wind and silence, cloud and snow,

    Teach us what the wise ones know.

    Death is not the enemy — it is a teacher.

    Stillness is not emptiness — it is becoming.

    Staff of ice, and crown of storms,

    You shape the land in sleeping forms.

    Your breath is cold, your heart is deep,

    You guard the world in sacred sleep.

    Death is not the enemy — it is a teacher.

    Stillness is not emptiness — it is becoming.

    You strike the hills, the rivers cease,

    Yet all beneath is held in peace.

    The seed still dreams, the roots still cling,

    Awaiting light, awaiting spring.

    Death is not the enemy — it is a teacher.

    Stillness is not emptiness — it is becoming.

    Cailleach of stone, Cailleach of years,

    Teach us the strength to face our fears.

    Grant us patience, steady and true,

    That we may be remade anew.

    Death is not the enemy — it is a teacher.

    Stillness is not emptiness — it is becoming.

    In your silence, we are remade.

    In your darkness, life begins again.

    -Raysdottir

  • Thor in Norse Mythology: More Than Just Thunder

    Look up information on Thor and you will see “the god of thunder” written somewhere.  Who said he is the god of thunder?  Not the Poetic Edda, the main source of Norse mythology.  In fact, apart from his name, which means “thunder”, I could find no evidence that he is a thunder god.

    That is a risky business anyway…saying that a Norse god is “god of X”.  It is misleading and a gross oversimplification of the nature of the gods.  I suppose a person could say, he is not the god OF thunder, he IS thunder.  But this too is misleading.

    How would the people of Iceland have seen Thor, since thunder is rare in Iceland?  How would they have seen him as a  “god of fertility” of the crops when crops were extremely difficult to grow in Iceland back then?  Perhaps, his nature changed depending on the location.

    So what does the Poetic Edda say about him?  A good bit actually.  He swells with anger when oaths are broken (Voluspa 26); resides in Thrudheimr, which means “power-home” (Grimnir 4); carries food on his back (Harbard 3); sometimes dressed as a beggar and doesn’t have breeches (Harbard 6); called lord of goats (Hymir 20); friend of mankind (Hymir 11); griever of giants (Hymir 14); one who saves man and snake’s lone slayer (Hymir 22); and one of great strength (Hymir 105) These are just a few descriptions of him in the Poetic Edda.

    There is no mention of him riding on storm clouds, carrying a lightning bolt, or having darkness (of the clouds) surrounding him.  Even if I say that the sound of thunder is from the wheels of his chariot as he crosses the sky, that still does not make him “the god of thunder”.

    Adam of Bremen might have associated him with thunder but he is not really a reliable source.  Just as “Raysdottir” doesn’t really tell much about me other than I am the daughter of someone named “Ray”, “thunder” doesn’t really say that much about Thor, other than he is associated with thunder somehow.  

    For me, the best way to get to know a god is to read the lore and then to work with that god.  Over and over and over.  For me, he is a protector, who encourages me to carry my own Mjollnir inside.  He reminds me that I have the power within to overcome the forces of chaos and to find my own inner stillness.  And what could be better than to find stillness within my own darkness?

    -Raysdottir

  • Autumn Fields

    The land turns gold beneath the fading sun,
    Where summer’s voice grows soft and done.
    Maples blaze with scarlet flame,
    And oaks wear bronze in autumn’s name.

    Amber leaves drift through the sky,
    Like embers falling as winds sigh.
    Cooler mornings hush the land,
    And daylight slips through time’s slow hand.

    Across the meadows, wide and fair,
    Rolls of hay rest everywhere—
    Round as moons upon the ground,
    Where quiet echoes are the only sound.

    The hills wear cloaks of russet hue,
    While distant woods fade into blue.
    The geese cry out, their wings unfurled,
    As autumn paints the sleeping world.

    -Raysdottir

  • The Callieach, Keeper of Stone, Storm and Winter

    Hail the Callieach, blue-skinned Queen,

    whose hammer shaped the mountains.

    Her one eye sees all ages,

    Her copper teeth bite into stone.

    She carves the bones of the earth,

    Her breath freezes the lakes.

    Snow follows where she walks,

    Silence reigns in her shadow.

    Yet her labor is love unspoken,

    For through her toil, the land endures.

    The frost is her wisdom made visible,

    Her stillness the cradle of renewal.

    When Brigid’s flame returns to melt her work,

    She rests beneath her peaks of ice.

    Praise to the Mother of Stone, Storm, and Winter,

    Who teaches the strength of stillness.

    -Raysdottir

  • Understanding My Journey in Folkish Heathenry

    Today I want to talk about my experience in and out of folkish heathenry.  I don’t get to see much talk about folkish heathenry by those who have experienced it first hand and then left it.  This is my story and experience.

    After the death of my parents in 2017/2018, ancestry became very important to me.  Not in the sense of race/color but in the sense of: where did my ancestors come from?  Perhaps I was looking for a sense of belonging.  After all, we are our ancestors, their blood literally runs through us, I thought.

    So I was looking for a way to reconnect, to feel that sense of belonging.  That is when I discovered the Asatru Folk Assembly and answered its request to “come home”.  I felt I belonged somewhere.  But at some point I began to have conflicts within myself and questioned many things.  What about women like me that don’t want to be a housewife with children?  For me personally, I could not think of a worse fate.  What about people who are biracial?  What if they have “half European ancestry”?  Are they excluded?  What if my views are not traditional?  What if I am not far-right, but somewhere down the middle?  How do we know the Norse gods are just for white people?  

    Voluspa states “A hearing I ask from all kindreds, greater and lesser, the sons of Heimdallr!”  In the Lay of Rig, Heimdallr under the disguise of Rig becomes the father of ALL classes of “men”.  So this tells me, in the very first stanza of Voluspa, it is for ALL people.  Or is Heimdallr just the father of white people?  Which white people?  Where did the other people come from?  Does this mean that Heimdallr is white?  A white god…what an interesting and limited way to see the gods, I thought.

    The concept of “race” as it is understood today was invented in the 17th and 18th centuries (colonial America).  So I doubt those who followed “norse paganism” in the 800s CE Scandinavia would have understood this concept of “race”.  In the ancient world, people were identified by geographic origin, religion, or culture rather than “race”.

    When I began to understand these things, that is when I began to distance myself from folkish groups.  What limits did Odin place upon himself in his quest of knowledge?  That is the limit we should place on what “race” can explore heathenry.  We are our deeds and what better way to honor my ancestors?

    -Raysdottir

  • The Nature of Thor: Protector or Thunder God?

    Thor. What comes to mind when I say that name? For some, it might be the golden haired, red caped guy from Marvel. Others might say “the god of thunder”. However, in the Poetic Edda, he is rarely associated with thunder apart from his name which means “thunder”. I think calling Norse Gods “the god of…” anything limits that god’s true nature.

    What do we know from the Poetic Edda? He is associated with protecting boundaries…Midgard and Asgard from disorder and chaos. (This is a constant battle…jotnar represents chaos and disorder while the gods represent order. An oversimplification, I know.)

    In Voluspa 26, Thor becomes angry when he hears about oaths being broken. In the Prose Edda, he can resurrect his goats with his hammer. In Grimnir 4, his home is called Thrudheim (Power or Strength home). In the Lay of Hymir he is called Hlorridi (Bellowing Thunder or Loud Rider).

    In Harbard 6, he is mocked by the ferryman (Odin) for looking like a beggar. He is married to Sif, the fertility of the land and bountiful harvest. In this way, Sif further strengthens Thor’s position to protect Midgard and the survival of the tribe through a bountiful harvest. (Very important for an agrarian society.)

    He has a hammer named Mjolnir which means “the crusher” and represents the unyielding power and ability to overcome obstacles and defend against chaos. His hammer was so important that in Thrymskvida, Thor even dressed as a woman in order to get it back after it had been stolen.

    I fail to see how Thor is “the god of thunder”. In the stories, he is constantly traveling…protecting gods and the everyday person, his hammer has both healing powers as well as crushing power (but seemingly only for chaos), keeping oaths seems to be important to him and he is known for being able to drink and eat a lot…which would suggest to me that he offers abundance. (See also Harbardsljoth where he offers food to the ferryman.)

    So then my question is: where in the world did this idea come from that Thor is “the god of thunder”? What am I missing here?

    -Raysdottir

  • Odin’s Journey: Lessons on Control and Fate

    Odin is known to be a traveler in disguise. Grimnismal 46-50, 54 gives a lengthy list of his various names in disguise. Although in Harbardsljoth 10 he tells Thor he seldom hides his name, but that is besides the point here. I must ask the same question as Thor in Harbardsljoth 11: “Why should you hide your name, unless you have disputes?”

    Odin travels in disguise for many reasons: to gather intelligence or to observe events directly like in Grmnismal, to avoid his fate, to taunt and test Thor in Harbardsljoth (sometimes you need to use your wits rather than brute force), to seek knowledge, or to manipulate events. Even with all of his efforts, his fate remained fixed. The threads of the Norns have been woven and they cannot be undone.

    We want to believe that we have control of things in our lives. The fact is, the only thing we can control is how we respond to what is going on around us. “Against our will we are born, against our will we live, and against our will, we shall die.” We didn’t have control when we dropped our coffee cup on the way out the door. No control when we didn’t hear the alarm clock and was late for work. No control when we were almost hit by a car that didn’t see us on the highway…or any number of scenarios that we face on a daily basis.

    We all want to feel like we have a sense of control. Sometimes, like Odin, we go to great lengths trying to acquire it. But like fate, it remains fixed. So then, the question is: how do we respond to this lack of control? We can suffer by not accepting it, like Odin when he wandered all around the place in disguise to escape the inevitable. Or we can accept things as they are. That is our choice: accept it or don’t. Whatever we choose…well, that will be within our control, and so will the consequences of our actions.

    -Raysdottir

  • Understanding Fate in Voluspa: A Norse Mythology Analysis

    I do not wish to give just a summary of Voluspa here. This information can be found all over the internet and in various translations of the Poetic Edda. Here, I wish to do something different and by the end of this post, I hope to draw personal meaning from the text.

    It is worth noting that in the beginning of Voluspa that Sol (sun), Mani (moon) and the stars are all young. (stanza 5) Then, the gods shape time in stanza 6. By stanza 7 and 8 the gods are meeting in Idavollr (Activity Plain, Eternal Plain, Eddy Plain, Renewal Plain…the meaning is unclear) and “played games”, perhaps tafl, which is a strategic game. This game is similar to chess in that one person is protecting the king while the other is trying to capture the king. The moves by each player will ultimately determine whether the king is captured (fate). Precise movements become crucial at the end game in order to avoid mistakes.

    Edward Pettit in his dual language Poetic Edda makes an excellent observation here: If they did so [played games] not just for simple entertainment, their play might have enacted the struggle between gods and [jotnar] (often translated as giants, although I think “forces of chaos” or “devourers” might be a better translation but I am not a scholar in Old Norse language.)

    In stanza 17, fate is introduced to the world when it is given (among other things) to the humans Askr and Embla. Yggdrasil is green and standing tall at this point. Then comes Urd (past), Verdandi (present), and Skuld (a debt owed to the past).

    Beginning in stanza 21, there is the first war. From here, things begin to unravel. There is mention of the death of Baldr, venom drops falling from a roof-vent, Nidhoggr sucking on corpses, Fenrir breaks free from his bonds, brothers fight each other…and so begins Ragnarok led by Loki. The sun turns black, earth sinks into the sea, and the stars vanish from the sky.

    Starting in stanza 57, the earth comes back out of the sea, and the Aesir are back on Idavollr, with the same game pieces mentioned in the beginning. Nidhoggr returns with corpses. And so the cycle begins again.

    It is interesting to note that the fate, war, and struggle between order and chaos introduced in the beginning of the poem is the same thing that will destroy everything. Then the cycle begins again. Like the game tafl, our lives are a series of strategic moves…those from the past (urd) and present (verdandi), will determine how things will end for us (debt owed to the past-skuld). Long before we give this debt we owe to the past, our lives unfold in a tapestry of struggle, chaos, and order. For me, the lesson here is to think about the moves I make now. Because those moves will ultimately determine what my life will like by the end.

    -Raysdottir

  • The Cycle of War and Rebirth

    In twilight’s grasp, the world awakes,
    From chaos deep, a dance it makes,
    Stars are born in a tempest’s flight,
    As shadows blend with the coming light.

    The first war echoes through ancient halls,
    In the clash of fate, a destiny calls,
    With swords raised high and hearts aflame,
    Each life entwined in the breath of names.

    Cycles spin like a serpent’s glide,
    Devouring time on the cosmic tide,
    Each ending sows a seed anew,
    In whispers soft, the old turns blue.

    The last war looms, a final fight,
    Where dreams will clash in the fading night,
    Yet from the ashes, hope shall rise,
    In the sorrow’s depth, the spirit flies.

    Like a snake that bites its tail in woe,
    Life circles round in an endless flow,
    From chaos born to chaos sent,
    In fate’s embrace, we are all content.

    So let the cycle begin once more,
    In a world reborn where we explore,
    In the heart of chaos, love will stand,
    A dance eternal, hand in hand.

    Raysdottir 09.20.2025 Inspired after studying Voluspa.