Wyrd Designs: Q and A – Ritual Quarters?

OUR CREATION MYTH

To find our origin story and learn of the nine worlds we have to read, compare and contrast the information from multiple references: Völuspá, Grímnismál, Vafþrúðnismál, Alvissmal, etc. By doing so we learn that the primordial world of fire Muspelheim existed in the South, as did the primordial world of ice and cold Niflheim in the North. Between them stretched the void, Ginnungagap. Into this void poured forth the elements of fire and ice, and in the intermix and contact, and friction between them the first living being, a giant Ymir appeared in the melting ice. From his living body comes humans, and giants, dwarves, and gods. Eventually, Odin and his brothers will kill Ymir.

Ymir’s body will form the world as we know it. Ymir’s blood become the waters, his flesh the earth, and his teeth and bones become the mountains. His skull becomes the sky, and the Gods set four dwarves (named for each of the cardinal directions) whose sole task it is to hold the skull aloft over the earth.  Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri (whose names literally mean in Old Norse North, South, East and West). Little else is ever mentioned in surviving sources about these four dwarves.

HALLOWING TODAY

While the Northern Tradition is at its heart reconstructionist in nature, many of those who have come to this path including some of the original leaders and early influencers came from various branches of general paganism or Wicca. So yes, there is undoubtedly some influence happening from people’s previous exposure to other forms of paganism including Wicca.

Today, while not all those of the Northern Tradition do so, many will use some variation of what is known as a Hammer Hallowing to consecrate sacred space or to begin their ritual. The Hammer Hallowing is a modern invention, combining the historical proof we have of Thor being called on to consecrate combined with aspects of ceremonial magic, which impacted the form of rituals in the general pagan community. In a hammer Hallowing, Thor is invoked to consecrate the area, and the sign of his hammer may also be made. Sometimes this is done as a simple prayer devoid of any connection with the directions. In other cases this is done where Thor is asked to consecrate each of the directions. These Thor-asked blessings of the directions are not to be confused with the quarters used in other aspects of the general pagan community that connect with other concepts like the elements (earth/wind/fire/water) or a connection with the Goddess (for those who adhere to the Maiden/Warrior/Mother/Crone four-fold ideology).

Now that is not to say that the elements do not belong as an aspect of our religion, for if we think of it in terms of our creation story… the elements are indeed represented, and even represented in the various numinous races found throughout the nine worlds. The gods, the giants, the elves and dwarves all are connected to and sometimes represent aspects of natural forces. In the Northern Tradition afterall, fire and ice are in a sense the original ancestral forces that gave life to the original ancestor of all of us – Ymir.

In addition to the more prevalent hammer hallowing, there are other types of hallowing. Some individuals/groups may call on the Gods and Goddesses, a specific one for each unique direction. Or others may simply hallow the place with an all-inclusive prayer that never mentions the directions at all.

DWARVES IN RITUAL

Upon following up with Star for some clarification, the rituals she  had seen, were specifically videos she had found online. And the only ritual watched that mentioned the dwarves holding up Ymir’s sky-skull was this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od7GlKcGzXg&

The ritual in question doesn’t really portray the quarters being done so much to hallow the space for a ritual to come, but rather it is a part of an entire ritual intended to be a retelling of the creation myth. This isn’t a ritual I’d ever seen done before. I think it is a good idea to remind ourselves, and honor our own creation story. But this unique ritual, is performed by very few, rather than by many in the Northern Tradition. Most rituals in the Northern Tradition tend to follow the basic blot or symble format, with a bit of seasonally appropriate variation.

As to the use of the dwarves in ritual today, at this time I know of less than a handful of instances where modern practitioners have used them. I have one friend who is working on building an altar, where the altar is supported by the four dwarves in alignment with their directional name, which I think is absolutely brilliant and can’t wait to see pictures of the finished product. The group Hrafnr is also known for using the dwarves in one of the seidhr rituals. Fellow patheos writer Galina Krasskova is one of the few people I know of actively working with the dwarves. She and her mother published together the devotional to the dwarf Andvari called “Root, Stone and Bone.” Perhaps we can prevail upon her to write a post about working with the dwarves (not just Andvari) for the curious out there.

This is not to say that the dwarvesdo not belong in modern practice, but rather that they have not comprised a major portion of that practice up till now (at least here in North America). I think this is in part because very little is known of the dwarves (especially when you compare them to what we know of the Gods), and that in this particular case very little is known of these cardinal dwarves as well besides their task in holding up the sky. And yes, I do also think this is also the case because there is a tendency to shy away from anything that smacks too much of influence with ceremonial magic.

There are some complainers who do indeed find some things just too colored by what they deem to be outside practices ‘polluting’ the rituals of the Northern Tradition, but the truth is all of our modern rituals are not 100% accurate to the ancient past. Some we know more about and thus can recreate them relatively closely, and others we know hardly a thing about at all. Any ritual that respectfully helps people to connect to our tradition, regardless of the exact format is still meaningful and beneficial. My personal ritual tastes tend to embrace simplicity in form, other people may need more pomp and circumstance to help them enter into mindful sacredness to commune with the Gods & Goddesses, the ancestors, and the vaettir around us.

Those who have studied religion, know that there is a certain theatricality and codified symbolism found in ritual acts that are there to help those observing and participating enter into mindful, sacred headspace. Similarly, the tune-up period before an orchestral performance helps a musician focus on what is to come so they can enter into the mindful headspace they need for the concert. At the end of the day, I personally believe that any ritual incorporated with things that are reasonable and still have the spirit of the Northern Tradition for the sake of helping an individual or group enter into that respectful and mindful headspace is ultimately what is the most important thing. The details I think can, and should vary by individual somewhat. That being said, it is nice when heathens of different practices can all get together, and come worship together in a fairly similar way in blot or symble. But not every ritual needs to be oriented as a blot or symble.

P.S. Before I get people posting hysterically with visions of cute kitty cats being brutally butchered, the animal sacrifice precedes a communal feast (known as a husel), so while the livestock animal is slaughtered in honor of the Gods the community will eat portions of it later after the meat has been cooked. The small minority of believers who do observe such practices today pick livestock that is generally raised in far better conditions than the vast animal mills that turn out poultry, cattle and pork sold for consumption at your local grocery store or fast food restaurant. Since holy-rites coincided with major events in the agricultural cycle, it was common as the ancient cultures prepared for the winter to slaughter the livestock for their winter food stores in sync with some major holytide.