Ansuz Meditation
Fourth of Sunwait, 2024

Ansuz, Ansuz, Ansuz...
Listen well, and dream deeply in the company of the wise. Gather words, and grow in wisdom -- see the truth that is hidden beneath the world, and the truth that is wrapped up inside the one we see every day!

Ansuz, Ansuz, Ansuz...
Not all voices that we hear are heeded, the ones that shout in our hearts and heads, for spirit happens in both! Have you listened? Easy answers are not often wise or true...hearken to the words of the Allfather in the Havamal! Let his rune be where you begin and end in clarity and truth, only to begin again, for just like the domain of the Nornir, no great wisdom is an end itself, but the plateau that leads ot another!

Ansuz, Ansuz, Ansuz...

LAUGARDAGR – THE OLD NORSE NAME FOR SATURDAY MEANING BATHING AND WASHING DAY
In Old Norse Saturday was known as Laugardagr (bathing day). Many of the thermal baths mentioned in the Icelandic Sagas still exist today in Iceland and are open for visitors. Indeed, if you visit Iceland you should always travel with a swimsuit and towel in your vehicle. Do not leave them at your hotel. Also, note that many spas require taking a shower beforehand and Icelanders, like their Viking ancestors, have a reputation for cleanliness.
“Water, too, that he may wash before eating,
Handcloth's and a hearty welcome,
Courteous words, then courteous silence
That he may tell his tale.”

“Washed and fed,
one may fare to the Thing:
Though one's clothes be the worse for Wear,
None need be ashamed of his shoes or hose,
Nor of the horse he owns,
Although no thoroughbred.”
- The Havamal

“Combed and washed every thoughtful man should be
and fed in the morning;
for one cannot foresee where one will be by evening;
it is bad to rush headlong before one's fate.”
- Reginsmál

John of Wallingford, an English Abbot, writing in the 12th century recorded that Danish Viking invaders were attractive to the English women because they took weekly baths, washed their clothes, and combed their hair daily. At the time, Christian Anglo Saxons were known to only bathe a few times a year.
The photos are by Hrolfr from Iceland. One shows the Laugar Spa in Reykjadalur. Laugar plays a role in the Laxdæla Saga. In the Saga, Kjartan was courting Guðrún, and he made sure to go to the thermal bath at times when he knew she would be there. There is also the famous Grettislaug – where Grettir the Outlaw warmed himself after he swam from Drangey across Skagafjörður as described in Grettis Saga. Another photo shows an Icelandic guide to showering before going into a Thermal pool. These signs have led to many Icelandic comedy skits about shower police. Finally, there are photos of Snorri’s hot springs, and thermal pools at various hotels.
[Image from Snorralaug, Thermal bath in Reykholt, Iceland]

Good morning brothers & sisters…
I hope that you all have a great day.

Frjádagr – Freyja’s Day
Today we honour Freyja, goddess of love, beauty, seiðr, war, and fierce independence. She rides wild through the Nine Realms, choosing warriors for her hall just as she chooses her desires, freely and without shame.
Freyja teaches us to embrace our strength and softness alike, to walk in both battle smoke and blossoming fields. She reminds us that power and passion are not opposites, but intertwined forces of the soul.

“A man should be loyal through life to friends, and return gift for gift.
Laugh when they laugh, but with lies repay
a false foe who lies.”
(Hávamál, Stanza 42)

Let us walk today with that spirit of discernment and devotion, with love where it is earned, and steel where it is needed.
Hail Freyja.
Hail the wild, the wise, and the beautiful within us.

#redvikingcrafts
#Frjádagr #FreyjasDay #Havamal #stanza #norsegods #vikingshistory
#norsemythology #freya #norse
#fridayvibes

I have what I like to call my Nordic bug out bag it’s a deer hide leather bag with leather straps and a draw string it has a small portable altar inside a book of my families practices a portable thor altar a pocket edition of the elder Edda and the havamal a seax and about a months worth of beef jerky and 2 bottles of water I take it with me when I go on trips and other things I recommend everyone make one especially pagans in the USA

Question. Do you find the poetic & prose Eddas invaluable as a means to knowing and reaching out to the gods? Or just a historical treasure, knowing the spiritual preferences of the author?
Do you prefer to bypass them altogether and go directly to the calling on and experiential fathoming of the gods?
Probably none of us here would bypass the Havamal, but if you even prefer to experience the Odinic in ways unbound to that text as a rule, by all means...

Another post to start conversation

Encouraged or enabled alcoholism in Heathenry / asatru there seems to be little care for recovering alcoholics or people who have a visable issue with alcohol the people before us who practiced asatru or Nordic polytheism yes used alcohol in ritual and in celebration and drank ale dailyfor hydration but they did not live in a modern excess like we do ale was for hydration because water was not safe and people at ritual or in kindreds that almost encourage drinking at holidays or ritual are apart of the problem so my question to you is how do we fix this tell me in the comments what you think the havamal says to not drink to much but why does nobody seem to follow this

A friend of mine has been putting together these comparisons of the different translations of the Havamal.

STANZA 23 OF THE HAVAMAL

Auden & Taylor:

Foolish is he who frets at night,
And lies awake to worry'
A weary man when morning comes,
He finds all as bad as before,

Bellows:

The witless man | is awake all night,
Thinking of many things;
Care-worn he is | when the morning comes,
And his woe is just as it was.

Bray:

The unwise man is awake all night,
and ponders everything over;
when morning comes he is weary in mind,
and all is a burden as ever.

Chisholm:

The stupid man lies awake all night
and thinks about everything
and is tired in the morning
though all is as it was.

Hollander:

The unwise man waketh all night,
thinking of this and that-
tosses, sleepless, and is tired at morn:
nor lighter for that is load.

Terry:

A stupid man stays awake all night
pondering his problems;
he's worn out when morning comes
and whatever was, still is.

Thorpe:

A foolish man
is all night awake,
pondering over everything;
he than grows tired;
and when morning comes,
all is lament as before.

Havamal Humor

FREE RESOURCE>> Havamal translated by CAROLYNE LARRINGTON



https://users.pfw.edu/flemingd/OE2020/HavamalLarrington.pdf