ĂĂ°inn is wonderful. Lots of dedicated practitioners have already tried to describe working with him and Iâm unlikely to do any better, essentially because more than most gods he is incredibly complex and brazenly defies overly simplified attempts at description. Indeed, one of his divine masques might well be called âapparent paradoxâ. He is both the frenzy of the warrior and the craft of the strategist, the terrible shout of the hunting horn and the carefully-placed words of the skald - and so much more.
I would say one of the most relevant things here is ĂĂ°innâs peculiar blood connexion to the European (hell, Indo-European if weâre talking broad mythic archetypes) current of magick and spirituality, a very real and vital genetic and spiritual Inheritance.
What the original practices might have been like in heathenryâs elder heyday I cannot accurately say (and neither can historians, well-meaning reconstructionists, and certainly Asawiccans) - although I suspect that like many related systems, such as the Hellenic ones, there were both explicit outer forms and the implicit teachings of Mysteries - but I can speak with a clearer conscience about what ĂĂ°inn has intimated, to me anyway, of some of his priorities within our time, and I wonder how well (or poorly) this resonates with the others here who have worked with him extensively.
From my earliest intentionally-sought contact with ĂĂ°inn in his guise as Runemaster, he has always made it very clear that he was not seeking âworshipâ or âobedienceâ in the commonly religious sense of our contemporaries. Rather, he has done his utmost to encourage - in fact, insist upon as a condition of learning some of his later lessons - my taking charge of my own destiny, as my own God in the making. Nothing in ĂĂ°innâs teaching (in my experience) has involved seeking a constant source of offerings, or a sense of dependency (obsession as is commonly reported with some of the more âdĂŚmonicâ entities), and everything has involved learning to do for myself, to learn from his acquired knowledge but acquire the necessary wisdom myself. And a lot of that has involved sacrifice. Not out of moral necessity, but as a process of Growth.
And I could go on about ĂĂ°inn, as Iâm sure many here could, but Iâll leave off before this turns any more into a small novel. I basically agree with everyone else here who has already enthused about how awesome he is!
I havenât worked any with ĂĂłrr, Iâm friendly disposed to him on principle but I agree with Orismen insofar as my preference of working with TĂ˝r is likely to be largely a matter of the two godsâ difference in âstyleâ. As to TĂ˝r, though, I cannot praise him enough for his awesome capability and absolutely admirable honesty and honour. Truly a great role model, for anyone willing to seriously walk that path. TĂ˝r is the very quiet and very capable one that is all the more potent for his lack of bluster. I wonât diss ĂĂłrr at all (good heavens, wasnât the HĂĄrbarĂ°sljóð enough?), but there is certainly a bit more of âthe Taoâ in TĂ˝r.
I canât say Iâve worked extensively with Frigg or Freyja, only the most cursory âintroductionâ to both of them to bring about a certain âbalanceâ connected with the Ăr rune in an ongoing work for the mid-range future. Maybe Iâll have more to say on that much later, but I really donât just now other than that they seem like lovely ladies thus far.
Finally, I am actually in a long-term pact with Hel (also ĂĂ°inn and some other âold godsâ) and, unless sheâs more popular than Iâve had reason to suspect, may have as close an ongoing journey with her as many people still living. Some of my work with this goddess (and I do personally consider her as such, even if like Hekate she belongs to an âoutsiderâ race compared to the âreigning pantheonâ) will have to, as far as I can possibly imagine, remain secretive as far as the internet goes. But I should still have some quality stuff to share, and intend to here in the nearish future.
What Iâll say here is that, with respect to what I feel is Audsynnâs considerable knowledge, Hel may indeed be distant - but that does not uncaring make. In my (UPG, I have to add of course!) experience she is capable of being an incredibly caring and surprisingly âfeminineâ (of the Venusian archetype, I mean) entity, truly a beautiful soul and - this is very important for anyone invested like me in the Black Sun current - Baldrâs keeper and caretaker during this time in our mythic history. Still, obviously, I would not fuck with her.
I hope some of that was helpful!
Iâm new here. Iâm a non practicing pagan and with that I mean I donât really deal with rituals and alike. I became a pagan after going through a really rough time in my life so I comforted myself with the gods of the norse pantheon since they are very cool. I also come from scandinavia so I love that we have our own little mythology.
