Njördr and Re-Membering Myself

I asked Njördr for a message; something to help change my perspective on this *thing*.... Soon I will meet a colleague to share our artwork with each other. It was a suggestion on his part to help encourage me as I get back into drawing and painting, and I am grateful for that intention. And yet I keep finding myself anxious or unprepared, worrying that my pieces aren't good enough. It's really annoying, and I don't want to feel this way, but it is nevertheless how I feel.

Pagan Otherworlds Tarot

I don't think I could imagine more appropriate cards for this matter. The Page is my creative self - the one that doesn't judge or compare - only expresses. The 8 of Swords represents my mental cage, my self-imposed limitations. Strength shows me that I am so much bigger than those needling thoughts and fears, tells me to show myself compassion, and embrace the fullness of my own being. I love how the Page and Strength look in at the 8 of Swords, perfectly equal to the task of releasing these blockages.

Mannaz reinforces the fact that this is all tied up in how I see myself, and myself in relation to others - and it's time for a narrative shift.

I spoke to Njördr at the ocean the other day, and asked him to help me remember who I am. I have indeed felt myself re-membering over the past week, calling back parts of myself. This is one of them.

Biakendai/Biikebrennen: Let It Burn

For the blog hop earlier this month I discussed the February 21st Biikebrennen celebration in North Frisia and South Jutland (Denmark) (click here to read more about it). This is a bonfire ritual specific to this region, and since my paternal great-grandparents were from Amrum (a North Frisian island) and South Jutland respectively, I wanted to celebrate it with my family for the first time this year.

Mind you it's not possible for us to have a bonfire at all, let alone one as vast as those on the islands, so we crafted our own version to honor the day...

Njörd statue

To preface it I want to mention a cool synchronicity that occurred in conjunction with yesterday's event. Over a month ago I had ordered a Njörd statue from a British Etsy shop (SJChilton). I knew it would likely take about two weeks to arrive to me after it shipped, but three weeks later I was starting to worry that it was lost. I messaged the shop owner yesterday morning to ask if she had any specific shipping information, and she kindly suggested I give it another couple of weeks to arrive. A few hours later I went out to the mailbox and there was one item inside: a small box from England. Interestingly, it had in fact been delivered to the wrong house, and the person had opened it up. Upon realizing that it was not intended for them, they put it back in the box, wrote an apologetic note, and hand-delivered it to our box. Needless to say, I was both happy and relieved. And the statue is pretty wonderful!

I have always connected Njörd with my dad's side of the family, primarily island and sea people from Northern Germany and coastal Denmark. So I found it particularly lovely that he showed up on February 21st, just in time for Biikebrennen!

My Njörd altar space

In Europe, islanders craft cloth-and-grass effigies called "Peter" which are thrown into the large fires, symbolic of the banishing of bad spirits and outdated energies. After dinner we all made paper "Peter" dolls out of a brown bag. The kids decorated their dolls however they liked, and then we wrote down any behaviors, thoughts, or feelings that we wanted to be rid of in our lives. Lourdes helped Gabriel with his. She said, "Gabe, what do you not want any more of?" He paused thoughtfully for a moment and said, "Your pickiness!" We all laughed. I told her that we could translate that to "sibling arguments."

Isabella decided to make her doll a girl - Petra - and added quite a bit of detail!

Lourdes wanted her Peter to wear a tuxedo:

Mine was a faceless vessel of intention:

When we were all ready, we went out to the back porch with a candle to burn our Peters.

It was a beautiful experience that everyone enjoyed, and we look forward to repeating it again next year!

Tarot Blog Hop: Winter Finding

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Welcome to the Autumn Equinox Tarot Blog Hop, hosted by Jay Cassels and Arwen Lynch Poe. The topic this season is "Foodie's Guide to the Tarot" (though for all intents and purposes posts may feature any oracle or divination tool!). 

The Equinox is celebrated around the world, and goes by an array of names according to tradition, culture, or region. Among the practitioners of the Northern Tradition, some refer to this equinox as Winter Finding, a harvest time where special attention is paid to the Vanir gods and goddesses of abundance and fertility, such as Freyja, Freyr, Njörd, and Nerthus. 

Das Germanische Götterorakel - Voenix

Njörd is a god associated with wealth. He is also principally tied to the sea, and humankind's relationship with it: the winds, waves, the catch. Thus Njörd is connected to mariners, fishermen - any and all those whose living depends in some way upon the ocean.

The card featured here is from the Das Germanische Götterorakel (The Germanic Gods Oracle) by Voenix and Thomas Vömel. It is an 81-card oracle deck which represents the major deities, heroes, giants/jötunn, and overarching concepts in the Norse Eddas and Sagas. Here we see Njörd sitting on a coastline draped in seaweed, surrounded by gulls. An open chest of gold lies to his side, and a longship can be seen in the background. A keyword, "Reichtum," is listed on the card, which means "wealth."

I've often imagined some of my ancient North Frisian and Danish forebears - sea people, island folk - holding a special regard for this Norse deity. My great-grandfather left the island of Amrum as a young boy, and came to New York City with his family. Here they are, in the traditional dress of Amrum and Sylt (my great-grandfather is the boy at the lower left). 

In the United States he met and married my great-grandmother, Emilie Hansen, from Ribe, Denmark. Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark, and one of the oldest towns in all of Scandinavia. It is located in southwest Jutland and borders the North Sea, not more than 100 kilometers from Amrum. 

Gerret and Emilie's son, also named Gerret, was my grandfather, and of his three children, one of them - my aunt Lillian - dedicated her life to the U.S. Coast Guard, and for many years (until it sunk in harbor not too long ago) owned a boat she named "Norddorf," after Norddorf, Amrum.  I have fond memories of family celebrations aboard that vessel. The "sea gene" continued to breathe life into the following generations. 

My Grandfather, Gerret

One of my earliest memories of my grandfather (who died of a heart attack while mowing the grass when I was barely two years old) is of sitting next to him at a cafe counter and ordering New England clam chowder. I was so young when he died that I can't be absolutely certain that this occurred, but I've had the memory since I can recall, and the recollection of my grandfather's clothing - a white t-shirt, blue jeans, a red baseball cap - has always been vivid. 

Clam chowder is a fitting maritime meal, it's perfect for the cooling months of coming autumn, and it connects well with honoring Njörd at the Winter Finding, so I'll offer it here. 

I am decidedly not the recipe sort so I'll do what I can to give accurate quantities...

New England Clam Chowder

• 4 large potatoes
• 1 onion or leek
• A 15 oz. can of corn (you can use fresh corn, or frozen, as well)
• Water (enough for boiling the potatoes)
• 1-2 cups of milk (whole milk is great, but you can also use a smaller amount of heavy cream)
• 1 small can of clams (go for fresh if you like!)
• A slice or two of bacon (optional, but worth it)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Butter and/or olive oil

Peel and chop the potatoes and place them in a large stove pot. Pour in just enough water to cover the potatoes completely, add a bit of salt, and let them boil. In the meantime, sautee the chopped onion or leek in butter or olive oil. If you like bacon, you can throw some in to add to the depth of flavor, just chop or crumble after it is cooked. Add the onion and oil/butter (and bacon, if you like) to the potato water. (Do not drain the potatoes - you'll use that water as the base for the broth.) Add the corn when the potatoes are close to done, and let simmer. Then add the clams and their juices. Finally, when the potatoes are soft, turn the heat down so that the liquid is no longer simmering (very low setting), and then add the milk or cream. Cream is finicky about being boiled, so keep that in mind. Milk is a bit sturdier. Mix it in and let it heat through. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper as desired. Eat it up!

Now, as I said before, this is my attempt at quantifying a recipe that I usually just "eyeball." If you choose to go for it, don't be afraid to add more or less of any of these ingredients! And if you need precision, there are a lot of nice-looking recipes online that will do the trick (here is one). 

Njörd altar space

Enjoy the Equinox! Happy Mabon, and a Blessed Winter Finding to you all! 

Please use the links at the top or bottom of this post to navigate to the other wonderful blogs in this circle.

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The Prettiest Feet: Skadi's Lesson in Discernment

Day 28 of the spirit guide challenge asked: "How can I strengthen this view, or improve my relationship with self?" I drew Justice/Skadi from the Giants Tarot.

I pulled a version of this card back on day 10 for "how my guide is helping me primarily now," so it was nice to see it again here. Some puzzle pieces start to fall into place. The other day I drew "Air" (from the Earthbound Oracle) in response to what my guide sees in me that I can't or don't, and air is the element associated with Justice. 🌬 It seems to me that my guide is helping me recognize and honor this part of myself and in turn requests that I continue to spend some time exploring those aspects of myself and how they pertain to my personal development.

There are a lot of attributes of Skadi that connect to concepts of justice, fairness, adjustment, and even retribution. But one of them strikes me as particularly relevant: Skadi had to choose a husband solely by the looks of his feet.

Skadi's father, the Giant Thjassi, wanted the Aesir goddess Iduna for his own, and when caught in a tight spot, Loki agreed to arrange that for him. But of course the Aesir were upset and demanded that Loki find a way to bring her back....which he did, however it resulted in the death of Thjassi. So Skadi came to Asgard demanding compensation or war, and the Gods made her an offer. Ultimately she agreed to two things: they would have to make her laugh, and she would get to marry any Aesir/Vanir of her choosing. Odin agreed to the first (which Loki successfully accomplished) but for the second, Odin consented on the condition that she would have to choose her husband based on the looks of his feet alone.

Odin severely limited her perception and then obliged her to choose a life partner - an impossible task. But then Skadi executed her power of choice through rather superficial means. She assumed that Baldur, the God of beauty, peace, and light (who she was planning to select), would surely have the loveliest feet. She was quite surprised to find that they in fact belonged to the weathered sea God Njörd, whose extended time in sand and surf had kept his feet looking quite youthful and elegant.

So what does this all mean?

Well two sayings come to mind immediately: "Don't judge a book by its cover," and "Assuming makes an ass out of u and me."

When Odin restricted Skadi's perception, the wise thing to do might have been to expand her thinking rather than only considering what was before her. She chose based solely on what she could see, and was quite confident in the accuracy of her decision, despite knowing that she was only getting a small fragment of the whole package. In the end she found her logical approach to be faulty. (This isn't a criticism, because without the story, there is no lesson.)

So, when confronting a situation in which we must make important decisions, we have to use careful discernment. We must consider not only what we can see, but what we can't. We must open ourselves to the bigger picture, to a variety of the angles and possibilities inherent in a matter - we must be willing to accept that there may be more than what meets the eye, and then make a choice to explore that nebulous territory. And then, part of discernment is knowing when we simply don't have enough information to make a truly balanced decision at all, and being willing to embrace that challenging space.

The fact is that we don't live in a concrete, black-and-white world. This story shows us that there is beauty in the haggard, and there are imperfections in the seemingly perfect.

Njörd and Skadi tried to make it work (she gets a lot of points for sticking with her pick, and he does too, for agreeing to marry a woman he knew didn't prefer him) but neither were particularly happy. He missed the sea and she missed the mountains. In the end they parted ways as friends, which is just another powerful lesson in the benefits inherent in making decisions and agreements from a fair and whole place.

This seems like a small and humorous part of the whole story of Skadi's search for justice, but I think that it is a deeply meaningful one, and that the lessons it teaches are critical to walking our paths with mindfulness and balance.