Here is the Heathen Egg printable for you to make if you wish. The process is a little fiddly, so I don’t recommend it for small children or people with fine motor issues, although if this is an issue – you could decorate it and get someone with more dexterity to put it together.
You can leave them as they are, or decorate them in bright colours, you could add strings and hang these up as indoor decorations, or even hang somewhere outside. As they are only paper and if you feel comfortable to do so you could leave them as offerings, as they will soften and rot down after a few days rain. I haven’t tried putting small offerings of either food or written words inside of them, but I’m sure this is something you could do if you made them using a light card instead of paper. Have fun making them and please do tag me on social media if you make any, I would love to see how you get on.
I’ll be making an instruction video to add to this blog and YouTube very soon, so if you struggle with written instructions it won’t be long before there are visual ones to follow.
I had hoped to have my Spring Zine back from the printers by now, which is what this paper craft activity is part of. So if you do purchase a zine (when they’re ready!) you can always print off this downloadable file rather than photocopy or cut out the inside of it’s cover.
Edible and inedible eggs on my coffee table this morning.
Enjoy this Spring Holiday and enjoy the egg shaped chocolate, I know I will!
Firstly an apology and then an explanation – I am sure you all have an understanding of how ‘life’ often gets in the way of our good intentions and that has most certainly been the issue for me over the last few weeks (months!).
I have been dealing with ‘life’ and it’s effects in full force over recents months. My shop has been closed since The Althyng – initially just because I wanted to have a holiday and spend time with my family, but then because I had Pulmonary Embolism and had no energy and wellness to be able to carry on as normal… I am still recovering and my energy levels are not where I would wish them to be, but things are improving slowly and steadily. I have made great progress on a series of illustrations for a book series – The Children’s Edda, written by Dan Coultas (Volume 1 available now!) and I have reopened my shop and begun making new work ready for the pick up in sales for Yule. So, once again, my apologies for leaving this so long and now, onto the story…
A Bit of Background…
One of the things front and centre in the minds of myself and my family in the last year or so has been that of my brother and his mysterious decline in health. Always the ‘fit one’ out of us three siblings, he admits he never really thought that he would be struck down with a serious illness in his mid-forties, the idea seemed preposterous – A career sailor, serving in the Royal Navy for 26 years he was required to take fitness tests and had never had any problems getting into shape to pass them, until this last one… to cut a long story short, after a catalogue of mysterious symptoms that never quite seemed to add up to the diagnosis they were searching for, he was told he had something called Light Chain Amyloidosis. A rare and incurable disease who’s only effective treatment for controlling it is to undergo chemotherapy. Unfortunately we are all too aware of how hard chemotherapy affects the body and by the time I was packing up to go the The Althyng my brother was well into his cycles of chemo and it was really taking a toll on his body.
Throughout the process of preparing for and then getting to The Althyng, always my brother is on my mind. It’s a horrible feeling knowing someone you love is going through something and practically speaking there is very little you can do – we live on opposite sides of the country to each other, so I couldn’t even make myself feel better by being helpful! Life continues on at its own relentless pace, with no care for the fact that your mind is occupied with other, more important issues, it leaves you feeling disjointed and just… ‘off’. We have all felt that disconnect at some point in our lives I am sure…
Oh! And the last little piece of information required is that Peter had broken two of his fingers – they were swollen, sore and giving him trouble, and for the purposes of this story, mainly because being unable to push his hand into his trouser pockets… all will become clearer later!
Upon Arriving at The Althyng…
The view from the stone circle
Sentry Circle is a site of variously steeper and then more gently sloping fields, glamping pods and campsites situated below the rise on the more level ground and the stone circle up the steeper hill behind. As Peter and I erected our tent and took in the setting sun behind the crest of the hill, casting the stone circle into shadow, it was clear to us that we are in an extraordinary place and are keen to get up the hill and take a closer look for ourselves. By the time we walk ourselves and our venerable dog, Gunther up there; it is most of the way dark and we can just about see how the Vé will take shape and which gods will be honoured by which standing stones. It does our hearts good to stand there and take in the atmosphere, hearing the singing and story-telling happening below us around the campfire.
The next morning is a flurry of activity, my stall is prepared and I have my first customers of the weekend.Whilst the Asatru UK committee are making preparations for the consecration of the Vé and the opening ceremony that will be preformed there to call the Gods to the space. When the time comes, all are invited to participate and everyone makes their way up the hill to the stone circle.
Upon arriving my eye is immediately drawn to the last three altar spaces. One of which has the standing stone behind it with a large rope looped and knotted across the top of it. Ran and Aegir immediately come to mind as again I make that association with my brother and his recent commission for me to make a box for his wife for their wedding anniversary, with Ran and Aegir on the lid.
My Brothers commissioned piece
The opening ceremony takes place – the gods are called to the space and each god represented at the the stone circle is called one by one. As Ran and Aegir are called I can feel myself becoming overwhelmed by my emotions – I’m not surprised by this, I love my brother and I’m worried about him, it’s natural to think of him and his good lady wife when working with these gods. I experience my emotions openly and embrace the fact that I’m able to express them somewhere where I feel no embarrassment about their obviousness.
Then Njord is called and I am almost floored by the sensations I am experiencing, I remember holding out my hand to grasp at my partner as I am beginning to feel weak at the knees. I feel almost ‘filled’ with an energy that I know is not my own.
My interpretation of Njord
The last god to be called is Mani and specifically they were called the ‘Guider of Seafarers’ and once those words were spoken I was almost knocked off my feet with a rush of energy. I had tears streaming down my face and I was openly sobbing. As I settled down after a good cry and a hug from Peter, we discussed the fact that for me it was no coincidence those last gods were called and the strong feelings I had. I needed to acknowledge and act upon the message I had been given.
As the day moves on, Peter and I are caught up with customers and enjoying the activities and festivities going on around us.
My stall at The Althyng
Our constant companion throughout the day is Gunther and as every dog owner knows, where there is a dog, there is a seemingly never ending supply of poo bags! Now I appreciate they are not the most aesthetic of things but they are in abundance and on Peter’s person, because he always wears things with pockets, where I often do not.
You remember me saying he had broken fingers? Here that information becomes relevant. He realises his stash of poo bags are in the pocket of his jeans that he cannot put his hand into because of how painful and swollen his fingers are – so he does that slightly crossways thing using his good hand to get into the pocket at that angle that means you are trying to pull things out of the front of the pocket instead of the side due to the direction of your wrist and arm…it’s awkward! Eventually he succeeds and asks me if I’ve been tying knots in the bags. ‘Why would I want to do a thing like that?’ is my fairly reasonable response. ‘Well it can’t have been me’ he says – and we both know that’s true because at that particular moment in time I was having to tie his bootlaces for him! Tying a tight overhand knot in a small bag would have been impossible with broken fingers.
So we chalk it up as a curious thing, the knotted bag goes back into his pocket and we carry on with our morning.
On no less than two other occasions Peter pulls the bags out of his pocket to discover there is yet more knots and finally that there is another bag that has been knotted into the other one. Now given that he couldn’t even tie his own laces with any kind of dexterity, we have no way of explaining how this happened. It has never happened before or since, but he has had one or more of the same brand of bags in his pocket at many points over time and they have never knotted themselves up the way they did that day.
Eventually Peter, a man of seemingly unflappable constitution concedes that he’s a bit spooked by it and doesn’t really want to keep them in his pocket any more. So we put the bags to one side and there they stay, untouched… It’s not the prettiest of things to look at I grant you, but we now have the little ‘rat’s nest’ on our bedroom altar.
The knotted bags!
You can see from the photo that they are twisted and tied in very tight knots, something a man with broken fingers could not have managed without assistance! I sometimes lament that he didn’t have a nice piece of jute string or raffia in his pocket to get knotted up, but my feeling now is if someone was trying to get our attention, they were wise to pick something they knew we would need and be looking for on a regular basis!
After a little while we settled down and to keep myself occupied during the lulls in activity I had brought along the materials I needed to make more necklaces and bracelets, so I lay everything out and began to thread the beads, which are all burned with runes from the Elder Futhark on them, onto the long string of waxed cotton I use. Peter and I are chatting between us and I realise I have unexpectedly dropped my needle, I was convinced I still had it in between my finger and thumb, but it has gone… In the time that it takes me to look down, find my needle and bring it back up to my workspace, my necklace has a knot in it.
The Knotted Necklace
As you can see from the photo, it is knotted between the runes Mannaz and Laguz. ‘Mankind’ and ‘Water’ – after this I loudly declared to the air around me that I was paying attention and I believed I knew what to do.
So I diligently spent my spare moments creating a set of bead bracelets, four in total, to leave as offerings to Aegir, Ran, Njord and Mani. Interspersed with blue glass beads.
In the box of mixed beads I was working with I picked up Laguz five times in a row… When I showed a customer the example set of Runecards I pulled, you guessed it… Laguz… it honestly felt like I was being given no quarter at this point until my task was completed.
Before the sun set, I made my way up the hill to the stone circle where I was alone save a handful of people sitting quietly together outside of the sacred space. I spoke words and poured offerings of homemade sloe gin and left the four beaded bracelets I had made on the altars to Aegir, Ran, Njord and Mani.
The bracelets in place
And felt much more settled… and able to enjoy the rest of the evening.
The next day I received a text message from my brother saying he was finally responding to his chemo and his numbers were starting to go down (which is a good thing!). Coincidence? Perhaps, but wonderful news nonetheless and for me confirmation I had been right to act.
On the last night, a Helasblót was held and during ritual I had an amazing visceral response as the participants were drawing up energy and releasing what we needed to let go of. I was hit with a startling vision and a sense of warmth and wonder. What I saw has called me to get it down on paper (or canvas) and I have the initial sketches and ideas drawn out. So fairly soon I will share the completed piece with you. I have no idea if I will do the vision in my head justice, but I really want to share that sense of connection that had been built between us, Hel and our ancestors.
The Ancestors in the fire at Helasblót? (Photo by Cain Anthony)
Once the closing ceremony had taken place I retrieved the bracelets and popped them onto my wrist for safe keeping.
They were positively humming! When I took them off I could still ‘feel’ them there. I didn’t feel right wearing them as I felt the positivity and the energy they absorbed needed to go to the right person.
They lived on my home altar for a short while, until I boxed them up, along with photos of the stone circle altars and a Laguz Rune card to give to my brother at a family wedding a couple of weeks after The Althyng.
My brother doesn’t share my beliefs, but as a sailor he appreciates and respects feelings and superstitions, indeed, sailors are renowned for it. So on our first evening we popped over to his family’s accommodation and I shared the story I have just shared here, with him. He popped a bracelet on his wrist and tucked the others away. He now carries that amazing energy with him…
And is now in remission 🙂
…well, if you made it this far, I applaud you. Thanks for sticking with me until the end! I wanted to just say that this is not the first time that I have had experiences that remind me we are surrounded by energies we cannot tangibly explain, but it is the first time that they have actually altered the tangible stuff around me to make me sit up and take notice. The weekend certainly had Peter and I coming home feeling different to the way we were when we arrived, a sense of belonging and a deeper understanding and connection to our beliefs that we hadn’t had before. It will forever remain a transformative moment in my personal history and I’m so glad I got to experience it and the gods let me know things were going to come good eventually, I just had to trust the process 🙂
Asatru UK hosted their first ever Althyng at the beginning of July, set in the beautiful hills of the North Yorkshire countryside at Sentry Circle Camping ground, a beautiful place with panoramic views and as can be seen from the photo, it has it’s very own stone circle.
From Freyasblot
The stone circle is contemporary and was constructed by the site owners and many like minded volunteers between 2005 and 2008. Whilst there is no documented evidence of the location being a site of historical importance, local belief is that it sits on a significant location. Irregardless of tangible evidence or not, I can attest that the circle is a space of great energy and positivity – perhaps created by the intentions and the usage of those who have performed ritual and ceremony there before us, who knows? It made a perfect Vé and personally speaking, I had more than one transformative moment during ritual, participating in ceremony. From discussion with others, it is evident that I am not alone in my experiences.
The intention of the weekend was duo fold. It was an opportunity to consecrate another Godpole – this time for Freya. As for Odin last year, the process taken to prepare the Godpole for ritual use was long and intense, the energies rolling off of the participants was palpable when they returned to ready themselves for the community freyasblot and it continued as we joyfully called and sang to Freya, embraced by the Gods and Goddesses who’s presence was felt at this sacred space.
Secondly to have the first documented ‘Thing’ on UK soil for at least 1000 years. It was a fantastic opportunity for UK kindreds to meet, for solo practitioners to make links with others, even join kindreds and to give AUK a platform to discuss and get feedback about the future of the organisation and where it will go and how it will grow in the coming years.
The ‘Thing’ in process.
As I was attending as a trader, I had reasonably limited opportunities to experience all that was on offer, but managed to see a couple of the talks, be part of the Thing and to experience all the blots that happened over the weekend. A variety of Children’s activities, talks and discussions, music, drumming circles, blots, sumbel as well as storytelling and singing around the fire in the evenings could be found.
My stall for the weekend, my first time selling face to face was a little nerve wracking, but so very wonderful to meet people both known and unknown to me.
I have taken several videos and am currently in the process of editing them and will share the video here when it is completed. This will only be things I attended; for a more thorough version of events I would recommend keeping an eye out on Asatru UK’s social media as I know they will be uploading lots of footage taken from all over the weekend’s events.
Something strikes me each time I attend an Asatru UK event and that is the holding and maintaining of Frith. These events are always so uplifting and friendly. Everyone in attendance seems to find a balance and equilibrium that oftentimes escapes us in ‘the real world’ … it reinforces the value of community and what it can do for us to be held by those who share common beliefs and values.
This write-up is rather earth bound, but I am in the process of writing about the spiritual experiences I had over the weekend, if you would be interested to hear them? I am currently working through the final stages of some of the ‘nudges’ for want of a better word, I was given and once I have done them I will endeavour to get it all down.
A beautiful sky above a beautiful place.
In Frith
Lørna
(Below are most of the Altars present at the Vé, I have noticed that a couple are missing, I hope to add them soon. We also venerated our ancestors and the landvaettir)
ManiNjordRan and AegirFreySkadiFreyaThorI DunnLokiSunnaHelOdinTyrHeimdallBaldrFriggHeonir
Hopefully as calming to watch as it was satisfying to make!
Dedicated to Odin. Pyrography, Watercolour and Acrylic on Birchwood. Heathen Art by a Heathen Artist.
I completed this Altar triptych some time ago last year, but have only just gotten around to putting the full video together. I hope you enjoy this gentle process and there is some very satisfying burn sounds when it gets to the dot making, I left them in as I really love that sound myself – I’m sorry about the accompanying car noise, I do live near a busy road and can’t shut myself in when burning because of the smoke and smell.
Odin is depicted here as The Wanderer, a figure who travels the nine realms seeking knowledge and calling on the hospitality of those who cross his path. A key element of Heathen hearth practice is to be a good host and treat guests well, especially those who are unknown to you, as you never know when you may welcome Odin himself into your home! The altar shows Wandering Odin holding a staff topped with the Sunwheel; a solar symbol from the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods which is featured in artefacts from those periods and later. The sun sets behind him as he marches on to his unknown destination.
Flanking him are the animals associated with the Allfather – Huninn and Muninn; his two Ravens, representative of Thought and Memory. They fly through the realms gathering information and bringing back what they have learned and whispering it into Odin’s ear, his thirst for knowledge appears to know no bounds. Geri and Freki, his two wolves, Greedy One and Ravenous One. Often thought to represent both negative and positive elements – Chaos and Destruction in balance with Loyalty and Protection.
Odin’s Spear Gungnir, repeated here, is marked with the bind-rune representative of it, though Gungnir was said to have been marked with runes to ensure it’s aim was true, it certainly wasn’t with this bind-rune, but I decided to use it as it was so easily identifiable. The runes Othala and Ansuz complete the patterns, purely as they are the runes for Odin’s initial and the rune most commonly associated with him.
Thanks so much for taking the time to watch and read this post, I hope that you enjoyed seeing the processes that go into making a piece come to life.
I am born and bred in the county of Norfolk, the ‘bump’ in the east of Great Britain. There is a wealth of Anglo Saxon and Scandinavian history in this area which is no surprise given its proximity to the European land mass.
Quite often I look at the local archeological record for inspiration and on this particular occasion I started looking at the 9th Century brooches most commonly found in the Eastern Counties and its nearby neighbours.
There are two designs that have been found in significant numbers in the area, one is a relatively simple Borre style knot work design and the other of a charming looking animal most often described as the ‘Backwards Facing Beast’. It is unclear exactly what type of animal it is; with its spiky mane and cheerful looking face, but one thing is for sure, both these designs of brooch have been found in the hundreds throughout the East Anglian area. Some have been found as far afield as Yorkshire, but due to the sheer numbers, it is easy to speculate that they were produced or originated in East Anglia.
My version of the ‘Backwards Facing Beast’ BroochThe ‘Borre’ style brooch. The graphic style I used in this drawing shows the beauty in the simple design beautifully.
No one knows why these two designs were particularly favoured over others in this area, some have even suggested that it may identify two distinct ‘factions’ within the population of the 10th Century – the Borre design wearing ‘Anglo-Scandinavians’ and the Beast design wearing ‘Anglo-Saxons’ who wore them to identify their allegiance to the kings of the old Danelaw as the new kings of England were absorbing East Anglia into their unified kingdom. Whatever the reasons behind the decision to wear one or the other, both are stunning in their simplicity and were fabulous studies to draw from.
A ‘Heat Map’ showing the distribution of ‘Beast brooches’ – it makes for compelling evidence that East Anglia is it’s point of origin. The Backwards Facing Beast Brooch. Such a characterful beastie!
The Borre Style Brooch.
Thanks for reading this far. If you are interested in finding out more about the two brooches you can find some information here and even how to make your own brooches here as you find out about the different disc brooch styles, but the book ‘Viking East Anglia’ by Tim Pestell – published by the Norfolk Museums Trust, has more information particularly on the finds and artefacts that have been uncovered in the area.
In my little corner of the world – In Norfolk many people celebrate something called ‘Jack Valentine’ on Valentine’s Eve. Jack is the figure named responsible for leaving gifts on the doorsteps of beloved family and friends. https://www.visitnorwich.co.uk/article/introducing-mr-jack-valentine/ We have always loved to knock and leave a present on the mat for those we love on the 13th February.
As a Heathen and as someone who doesn’t hold much with the commercialisation of any special date, our celebrations of the following day amount to virtually nothing. A token gifting of something sweet to eat and look at and that is about it. Homemade or handmade are all the better too.
Some Heathen’s mark the day with the Feast of Valí – and I say why not! There are very few historically supported Heathen festivals, so any opportunity to spend time with those that are important to us has to be a good thing in my opinion. The Feast of Valí is a day for celebrating family, celebrating the return of the light after the long winter darkness, you can join in with the exchanging of cards and gifts if you feel so inclined, and vows can be renewed and marriages performed.
In the spirit of celebrating others and sharing the love, I have included a link to the image that I have drawn this year to go on the card for my beloved, for you to print out or send to those you love. Remember to click the link and not the image to insure that you have the best quality version.
All that remains to say is the rather dull part about all rights being reserved and the image is my property and any commercial reproduction or sale of the image is prohibited. Please do share it with friends and family, but it is NOT to be used commercially or to make anyone money!
The countdown to Yule, Sunwait or Vantljusstaken is a modern tradition that has become popular amongst Heathens. Sunwait candles are a modern re-visioning of the Advent candles used in Christianity. It is a great way to build anticipation and interest in Yule for Heathens and for children it can provide an inclusive way to share Advent with those around them.
The lighting of the candles begins 6 weeks before the Winter Solstice, each being lit on a Thursday. Thursdays were selected because of a Swedish tradition called Thorshelg. Thursdays are a day linked with Trolldom (folk Magic) and a good day to communicate with the nature spirits. It is worth noting that whilst Thursday is the suggested day, as Heathenry universally doesn’t have a day specifically noted as being sacred, it is up to you to decide what works best for you. I often find it useful to do it so it coincides with the same day that Winter Solstice falls on.
As each candle is lit in the six weeks run up, there is a poem to recite. Each candle is representative of the first six runes of the Futhark. Each Rune has its own energy and you could use this as an opportunity to focus on the energy and meaning of each individual rune. There is ample opportunity for you to expand and build on this simple moment and create your own meaning and ritual around it.
Sunwait Candles Artwork
The dates for Sunwait this year are: 1) 11th November, 2) 18th November, 3) 25th November, 4) 2nd December, 5) 9th December, 6) 16th December.
Sunwait Poem
Lastly, for those of you who perhaps don’t have the time or space for candles, or perhaps you just like to colour, click the link below for a printable PDF version of my ‘Sunwait Candles’ drawing and enjoy. (Make sure to click the download button for a higher resolution image to print out.)
Inspired by a friend who said that they were looking for an ‘alternative’ to the usual type of things that have gone up in houses during this strange time of Lockdown, I thought that I would do a depiction of the most well known rainbow in Heathenry – The Bifrost and it’s ever vigilant watcher Heimdall, blowing the Gjallarhorn. This is a digital version of the pencil / pen drawing that I shared on Instagram earlier, so it may appear to be slightly different, but not by much.
I hope you enjoy colouring the sheet in and sharing it with others when you put it in your windows. I would love it if you could share your endeavours with me by tagging me on Social Media, either on my Facebook or Instagram, or if you don’t have either but are still happy to share, send me a photo via email and I’ll pop it up here for others to enjoy.
Make sure you click on the link below, not the image as the quality won’t be good enough.
Anglesdottir Arts 