Going to the woods, grilling food, beating drums, staying away from people…
It was still a part of Midwinter celebrations for me.
Let’s hope the start of 2016 will be better than the start of 2015.
I almost died on the 3rd of January last year, (being hit by a car as a pedestrian).
“For most people, this moment of the year is merely the start of Winter. But we choose, within the height of darkness, to look upon this day in a more positive light. This is midwinter! This day marks the slow but inevitable return of the sun. May its steadily strengthening light brighten our lives.”
Midvinterblót 2015
I am in need of musical suggestions!
I’m looking for bands that are in a very specific branch and I’m afraid I’ve reached the end of what is left to discover…
I’m currently into bands like Wardruna (NO), Valravn (DK/FO), Garmarna (SWE) and I’d like to find more of that kind… Wardruna and Valravn being my two favourites because of their distinct uniqueness. I’ve got into Syven (FIN) as well even if it is not Scandinavian, its the type of music that I’m looking for. I know about Hagalaz’ Runedance (DE) but I don’t like it much when it’s sung in English. As for Gjallarhorn (SWE), their use of a didgeridoo is most unfortunate as my ears can’t bear that instrument, at least not in that style of music. I gave Forndom (SWE) a try. Even though it is nice ambient, it felt like, upon listening to it, that it fell a bit too much into the ambient tropes to my taste. It’s not what I’m looking for though it is a project that I will be interested to see mature with the years.
I’d much rather find Icelandic bands that sing in Icelandic, even if the music style diverges a little from the examples I gave. For instance, if Árstíðir sung in Icelandic all the time, they would have been great… But as many Icelandic bands, they just go straight to English to ensure international commercial success. (Or make that an easier thing to reach).
Anyone who speaks about Sigur Rós gets a hatchet thrown at their face.
Thank you in advance! :D
I transformed one of them into a gif.
If I have time I’ll do the rest of them as well.
The complete Icelandic staves / Ásatrú symbol series.
Each artwork is representing an element. They are presented here in the following order : fire, earth, metal, water, wood and air. The symbols are accompanied by stanzas of the Hávamál or Völuspá, written in runes.
You can find the stanzas in English and the names of the symbols on each individual post here.
Varnarstafur Valdemars
Artwork 2015
An ash I know, Yggdrasil its name,
With water white is the great tree wet;
Thence come the dews that fall in the dales,
Green by Urth’s well does it ever grow.
Valknut
Artwork 2015
Thought and Memory each morning fly
Over the vast earth:
Thought, I fear, may fail to return,
But I fear more for Memory.
Hólastafur
Artwork 2015
Hard is it in the world,
great whoredom,
an axe age, a sword age,
shields shall be cloven,
a wind age, a wolf age,
ere the world sinks.
Veiðistafur
Artwork 2015
He welcomes the night who has enough provisions
Short are the sails of a ship,
Dangerous the dark in autumn,
The wind may veer within five days,
And many times in a month.
Vegvísir
Artwork 2015
Happy is he who hath in himself
praise and wisdom in life;
for oft doth a man ill counsel get
when ‘tis born in another’s breast.
Helm of Terror
Artwork 2015
Cattle die and kinsmen die,thyself too soon must die,
but one thing never, I ween, will die
fair fame of one who has earned.
Slightly delayed Ostara.
Lundi de Pâques (Easter’s monday).
Gesves, Province de Namur, Belgium
It’s a family tradition to meet on Easter’s monday for a cold buffet in the afternoon. Most of my family is either atheistic or agnostic, only one or two are actually religious. As for me, as I might have been hinting to in several posts on this blog : I’m an atheist with a desire to make the journey of life as magical as possible. Which means that I tend to favour nature rituals of my own, following the rhythm of seasons. I will often decode traditions and trace them back to their origins and if I choose to embrace them, it will be for that primal meaning they once had.
So, this year was a bit special because my father came up with the idea of reviving a tradition of a bonfire around Easter, mostly for practical reasons (he had to burn branches from trees he cut down earlier this year), my sisters thought it would be a nice idea because they used to do so a long time ago, my brother and my nephew simply went along with it, my aunt and her husband had the most fun from throwing branches in the fire and my nieces enjoyed their champagne while watching people at work… and so did my better half, who also welcomed the warmth of the flames.
I won’t show more pictures because some family members wouldn’t be too happy about it, but everyone had a good time, no matter the philosophical angle they chose to experience it from.
21 desember 2014 : vår første Julefeiring
Creating new traditions, based on the old.
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