August 2023
“I am a rock… I am an island…
– Simon and Garfunkle (1)
Protective talisman from from Papyri Greco Magicae VII
The Greek Magical Papyri In Translation, Ed. Hans Dieter Betz (2)
…
In a society…
All of us ride in- and sometimes even pilot– our own personal spheres of influence. We use these to interface with each other. The plans we make individually based on our hopes and goals, not to mention the paths our lives take due to chance and circumstance, have the potential to either help or hinder the plans and paths of our fellow human beings.
Angels Blowing Bubbles, 2023. AI generated permutation of digital collage fed back into itself several times
I propose that the more we each establish ourselves with an orientation toward aiding one another, the more likely it will be that we’ll find success and fulfillment in our own pursuits.
But what about when your bubble can’t interface smoothly with another’s bubble?
Angry Bubbles, 2023. Digital collage of found imagery and altered AI images.
It’s not an enjoyable feeling to find that one’s actions, emotions, or state of mind have been knocked off course by another person’s intrusiveness or lack of self control, or just by a vague sense of unease or irritation that you might get without knowing exactly why. This happens to us all, and just like with a physical pain or an itch or a sore throat, it’s telling you something important. You’re not BAD for preferring one person’s company over another. You’re not a SCOUNDREL for needing time to yourself once in a while or even every day. This is human. Sometimes we need to sneeze.
It’s what we do with this sensory or intuitive data that is important. To realize in these interactions that one has become a response agent – reactive rather than generative; for me this is not a useful orientation. Much better perhaps to digest the input. To process it, make it one’s own, before acting on it.
Three suggestions.
Or observations.
Or prompts:
- You don’t have to entertain awkward intrusions by disingenuous interlopers.
- Sometimes Silence is more powerful than the spoken word.
- Being nice isn’t always the same thing as establishing ourselves with an orientation toward aiding one another.
Popular technology insists that we always, in every way, need more CONNECTIVITY. Its vendors gaslight us into retroactive loneliness, insisting that we were not happy sitting alone with our coffee, reading the morning breeze; that a day or week or month, any moment really, without the earth- flattening white light of screen and data will set us back, make us
MISS SOMETHING IMPORTANT!
I have sometimes felt the disapproval of friends, family, and colleagues when they are “left on read”. Unrepentant punk-ass that I am, I have developed a policy of almost NEVER replying right away. It’s not personal- I am reclaiming my autonomy, my private world of introspection- my individual reckoning with the sensory realm. So can you, in whichever ways seem most pressing. The friends and family members who value and support you will understand. And the others, well; brush ’em off your shoulders like dandruff.
And when we come together again, we will be that much more present and capable of truly caring for one another.
Astral Collaboration, 2023. AI generated permutation of digital collage fed back into itself several times
~
In the meantime, my traveling partner and I are heading to Iceland! I will kiss the rough earth and know awe, as the landscape spews its frothy amalgam of earth-fire. Preparatory readings include informative works by Jon R. Hjalmarsson, Albert Bjorn, and Alda Sigmundsdottir.
In A Traveller’s Guide To Icelandic Folk Tales(3), Hjalmarsson maps an impressive number of stories and legends, pinpointing historical figures, motifs, and legends to the many corresponding sites and settings. This volume has been a great tool in planning our trip! One of my favorite tales that Hjalmarsson shares is that of Redhead, an “evil whale” that was vanquished by a sorcerer-priest and his daughter, who coaxed the whale inland from the sea by magical means, inadvertently shaping the valley and cliffs of West Iceland’s famous Glymur waterfall(4).
In Icelandic Plant Magic(5), Bjorn offers a broad survey of many of the herbs, flowers and other flora commonly employed by Icelandic practitioners both historical and contemporary. The book details both magical and mundane uses, planetary correspondences, and folkloric attributes within the Norse pantheon. In subsequent sections of the book, Bjorn shares practical advice and recipes for using the plants to various ends, and even gives examples and diagrams of magical staves and other charms that can be empowered through the use of the plant allies.
I was happy to learn that many of these plants are common outside of Iceland as well, and some key examples are fairly common here in the Pacific Northwest of America where I live: Thyme, Elder, Dandelion, Juniper, Angelica, Yarrow, Dead-nettle and more.
It is this book that I expect will aid me in making my exploration of Iceland’s mythic landscapes an immediate and visceral exchange.
Finally, in Icelandic Folk Legends and The Little Book of the Hidden People, Sigmundsdottir(6) has collected quite a few stories of ghosts, bandits, monsters, and elves from the island’s rich history. While the tales themselves are entertaining and complement Hjalmarsson’s book well, I have to say that this author is a bit of a killjoy; the preface of each book is largely dedicated to making clear that she herself does NOT believe in elves and ghosts and such, and neither do the vast majority of Icelandic people. OK sure, but it is a bit of a party-pooper at the very outset, particularly to a reader such as myself who does indeed have room in their worldview for such denizens of the Unknown! Nonetheless these books are fun, quick reads and may be of interest to both secularist and polytheist alike.
(Slight digression: I read somewhere that the Icelandic people are prolific self- publishers! I think perhaps 1 in 7 Icelanders have published some sort of written work? I don’t have that source in front of me and I’m clacking away here in sort of a lazy rush- so lets pretend that we’re standing outside a gallery opening and I passed that statistic to you casually, citation neither asked nor granted. The summer heat has given way to a refreshing chill… maybe you’re smoking a cigarette, and it makes me want one. But I don’t do that anymore so I kind of just slam my Tecate instead, then head inside for another. You say you might smoke another one, it’s nice out, and I say I’ll be back, I want to say Hi to Doug or Chris or Alison or Monty or Sonja or Marcelo or Cathy or Daniel or Brock….)
Now I’m nothing near an authority on Norse Paganism, but the more I explore various strands of occultism I conclude that I am somewhat more of an actual magical practitioner than a lot of people who claim to be authorities in their chosen esoteric systems. I love to read about these subjects, but more than that I love to be in a state of folly: digging roots or singing to the moon, collecting water from under bridges, lancing myself and bleeding onto stones, burning resins, demanding early foothold in the shady acres of the Blessed Dead. As such, this upcoming trip is no mere tourist cruise. I wish to announce myself as a respectful guest among the uncanny assembly thereof, and see what happens.
And how can we be respectful guests of the Ineffable, Chthonic, Supernal, and Pan-dimensional? A big part of the necessary groundwork is to familiarize ourselves with the landscapes, customs, and backstories of the beings we hope to meet. Allow me then to test-fire some epic figures from the pre- Christian lore of the great North, presented without footnote because I have gathered them from quickly- perused sources in the days leading to our journey:
Ymir, the first being; a giant of giants. And a great cow, Auðhumla, who nourished Ymir from four rivers of milk that she produced. And licking a great salty block of ice, Auðhumla revealed Buri, grandfather of Odin, Vili, and Ve – first of the gods. Eventually these brothers slew the vast and powerful Ymir, and from his corpse they fashioned the World. From Ymir’s bood came the seas and lakes of the world, and from his flesh the land. From Ymir’s hair the brothers created trees, and from his bones they fashioned the mountains. And when maggots appeared from the flesh of Ymir, Odin and his brothers used them to create the Dwarves. From Ymir’s skull they made the sky, and at the four cardinal points of the directions they placed dwarves, to hold that skull aloft until the end of time. These dwarves are called Austri, Vestri, Norðri and Suðri.
The tale continues- the roll call of creation spreading from that first murder. Life and Death, the eternal oscillation. But these fragments are more than enough for me to work with: a Before, an After, four directions. Sacrifice, ordeal, and primeval artistry. (The four rivers of milk seem like a bountiful and sensuous detail as well.) And in recounting this story to the hills, clouds, coastlines and eruptions of the Icelandic landscape, and in gathering small amounts of plant life, in pouring libation and offering song and sacred dance, I will make the acquaintance of the elements and the guardians of the Place.
Until next time,
Jason Triefenbach, HFHR
Jason is an artist, writer, and non-denominational minister with a garden and a lifelong interest in lurking around the Occult/ Paranormal shelves in bookstores worldwide. As Sun Duel they record and sometimes perform music with a variety of friends and loved ones. www.linktr.ee/JWT9000
…
NOTES:
(1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKlSVNxLB-A
(3) https://shop.grapevine.is/products/a-traveller-s-guide-to-icelandic-folk-tales-by-jon-r-hjalmarsson
(4) https://www.earthtrekkers.com/glymur-waterfall-hike-complete-guide/
(5) https://redwheelweiser.com/book/icelandic-plant-magic-9781959883111/
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