Latest / Random Heathen Ramblings / Random Heathen Ramblings: S5, EP44 - Monthly Heathen Live Stream [November2024]

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Random Heathen Ramblings: S5, EP44 - Monthly Heathen Live Stream [November2024] · Random Heathen Ramblings

0:37
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Random Heathen Ramblings
0:40
podcast where we discuss all sorts of things dramatic
0:43
Heathenry related. My name is Jesse and I'm your
0:46
host. Let's get into it.
1:13
Hello, right, everybody, hail and hello to everyone.
1:19
Hello to sheeny on YouTube, first comment of the night.
1:24
Hail and hello to you. Thanks for tuning in and
1:28
commenting wherever you're watching from in the vast wide
1:33
World Wide Web places. This is our monthly sort of town
1:39
hall slash heathen chat getting on here to just hear from the
1:46
people. I do monthly live streams as
1:52
part of the random heathen Ramblings podcast broadcast.
1:58
So welcome to Skaldak works. Hello there, Blake, who says
2:02
greetings over here on YouTube. So when this does come out later
2:06
in the week and we're going to hear from our listeners on
2:09
Spotify and other platforms hopefully.
2:11
But if you guys are listening to this guys and gals out there
2:14
listening to this on the Spotify or any of the audio platforms
2:20
when it comes out. Just be aware that I do these
2:24
monthly, usually the third or fourth Monday of each month
2:28
where you can come onto the Midgard Musings Facebook or
2:31
YouTube channel, Facebook page or YouTube channel and interact
2:36
with me live and in real time. Just like Adam Cage here over on
2:39
Facebook says hello brother, hello brother, back to you my
2:42
man. You are one of the few who I
2:45
will reciprocate the title of Brother 2 online.
2:49
It's few and far between those who I will do that comfortably
2:54
with. So, yeah.
2:57
Well, Halen, welcome to this week's live stream and this this
3:00
week's podcast. So this will eventually, this
3:03
will become this week's podcast. So if you're having to dip out,
3:06
you know, in or out of the live stream and you want to, you
3:11
know, go, go, go, go take care of things or, or do whatever you
3:14
need to do tonight, then then feel free to do so.
3:20
But it is a live stream. So anything that you guys have
3:23
on your minds, topics thing that you would like to talk about,
3:28
definitely feel free to to share them in the comments.
3:31
I'll get to them as I can on my socials.
3:37
You know, if you if you go to my pin posts or or bio page or
3:42
whatever it is nowadays, I don't know, it'll tell you, you know
3:45
where you can follow me at the link tree link that's usually
3:48
posted in the show notes of the podcast.
3:49
When it goes on the audio platforms, it, it tells you
3:52
where you can find me. So it's mostly Facebook,
3:54
Instagram, YouTube, and of course Patreon.
3:59
So for those of you that don't know if you're watching this
4:01
live now, this is your again. This is your once a month
4:04
opportunity to see me live on video.
4:07
The rest of the time, the video versions of the podcast are pre
4:10
recorded and shared only to my Patreon platform.
4:13
And for a $1.00 pledge at the Carl tier, you get access to
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that. You don't have to renew it if
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you don't want to every month. You can just pledge the dollar
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4:25
that I may have on my show at the time.
4:31
And then, you know, you don't have to renew it.
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So it's, it's, it's totally up to you how you want to to
4:35
continue your pledge of support at that tier.
4:38
But most of my video stuff is only on Patreon except for these
4:42
monthly live stream. So if you want to see my video
4:44
stuff, head over to patreon.com/medgarden Musings
4:47
and pledge your support for just a dollar if you want to, to, to
4:52
watch it. So we're going to just jump
4:55
right into it. I did have something that I
4:57
wanted to talk a little bit about and this actually came to
5:01
me in the form of an e-mail. So if you're wanting to get in
5:05
touch with me via e-mail to, to, to write in a request for the
5:10
show, topic of discussion, thought or idea or something,
5:15
you have two ways of doing so. You can e-mail me, it's Midgard
5:18
Musings, tn@gmail.com. Or you can call into the Midgard
5:26
Musings hotline or the random, even randomly hotline.
5:29
It's a Google Voice number. I don't answer it in real time,
5:31
so it's not like you can call in during the show and, and, and
5:34
talk to me on the phone, but you can call in to that and leave a
5:37
voicemail. It is 615-671-9832.
5:45
Call in with your ideas, with your thoughts.
5:47
Even after, if you, if you listen or watch a podcast and
5:51
you want to write in or call in and just leave your thoughts,
5:55
you can do so and I'll be happy to, to, to field them and take
6:00
them. I do get some voicemails from
6:02
time to time that are just are very detailed and very
6:06
intricate. And it's it's, it's more like an
6:07
awareness sort of thing. And, and I absorb it and I think
6:10
about it and I come back and I revisit it later.
6:12
So it's not always, you know, it's not always that something
6:15
that's going to necessarily get aired or, or put onto the show.
6:20
But yeah, think about it. That's what you want to do.
6:23
So comment down below. Let me know where you're
6:25
watching from tonight on this live stream, which platform
6:28
you're on. We got a few folks here from
6:30
Facebook and YouTube watching tonight, like Adam, who posted
6:38
something, but for some reason the, the, the, the thing that
6:42
I'm showing does not show what it is that you posted, Adam.
6:45
So I don't know, could be a could be a meme, could be a, you
6:51
know, could be anything really. Anyway, so here's what I wanted
6:56
to talk about. I had Blake over here from
6:59
Scalded Works who's watching on the YouTube side of things.
7:04
He emailed me was it last week and asked a question that I
7:13
thought would be great to kind of post here for the community
7:19
and get your get all of you guys and gals here to weigh in.
7:23
I'm going to probably be talking and reciting some things that
7:26
are loosely mentioned in the e-mail that that that skull that
7:31
works sent in. But the but the title of the
7:34
e-mail was can one person serve or live in between multiple
7:42
kindreds slash tribes. Oh yeah, Adam is watching in
7:50
from Clarksville, TN Thanks Adam.
7:51
Thanks for tuning in. Hope you and the family are
7:53
well. Give my best and my love.
7:56
So thank you for watching. But can one person serve or live
8:01
in between multiple kindred or tribes?
8:03
So the e-mail body is as such as Hey, Jesse, love your last video
8:07
on the kindred slash tribes. This was, I'm thinking,
8:11
reference to my last podcast about the, you know, why do
8:16
modern heathen kindreds slash tribes, whatever failed to
8:21
succeed. So he's referencing that saying.
8:23
Love your last video on that. On the heels of that topic, I
8:28
was curious as to what your opinion of someone who decides
8:32
to live in between or serve multiple existing kindred slash
8:38
tribes says. I know that in the time of our
8:42
pre Christian ancestors, there were people who had roles that
8:46
allowed them to live outside of and travel between and serve
8:52
multiple communities within their area such as the Voidva,
8:57
Orvidky, shaman, scald, etcetera that would go from village to
9:02
village and offer their services as part of their trade.
9:10
So the let me get caught up here on some comments.
9:17
Yeah, I can't decide. So I usually revert to YouTube.
9:19
That's cool. Blake on scald that works as
9:22
couldn't couldn't decide. Oh, you sent a gift, Adam.
9:25
Well, thank you for the gift. Thank you very much.
9:32
Unexpected and unnecessary for sure.
9:34
But but but but thank you and kind and you are doing well.
9:39
Great. So, yeah.
9:41
So this is an interesting thing. You know, when, when, when this
9:44
was sent in, you know, can one person serve or live in between
9:47
multiple kindreds or tribes? I'm always like, I'm always, I
9:52
wouldn't, I wouldn't say necessarily torn, but I'm always
9:55
inclined to find an answer to certain things that people send
9:59
me or ask me that is going to if there is a, a, a source
10:08
material, if there, if there's any existing source material
10:11
that can answer the question based off of historical
10:16
background or, or backing rather than just giving my, my two
10:20
cents. And now so much of what I do is,
10:25
is contained or, or, or embodied around historical backing, but
10:34
it's not so deeply rooted in it that I'm that I'm oblivious to
10:38
the modern applications and the modern existence of things that
10:41
we're in now. You know, so I kind of, I kind
10:44
of hover between the two spectrums, you know what I'm
10:48
saying? Like I'm, I'm, I'm not what I
10:53
would consider a reconstructionist.
10:54
I don't, I don't only think of of the historical sides of
10:59
things, but I do lean heavily into it.
11:02
So I wanted to explore and think a little bit about this
11:05
question, right. Can one person serve multiple
11:11
tribe slash kindreds? And my immediate response is,
11:15
well, if, if, if an individual, if a person is not oathed or
11:20
sworn fealty or truth to anyone specific group, then they are at
11:27
free will to be as accessible as they wish to be to any group or
11:35
kindred or tribe or whatever, You know what I mean?
11:38
So if they want to, you know, be accessible for the services that
11:44
they are specializing in, whether it be, you know,
11:47
divination or whatever, that, that, that that's one thing.
11:53
But one of the things that I keep going back to is like,
11:55
what, what is the purpose? What is what, where, where does
11:59
the why of it fit in? So I, I always like, I, I tend
12:03
to lean back into the purpose of things like why is, does this
12:07
question get asked? Why are we looking into this
12:10
reasoning of can a person do this or that?
12:12
It's, it's almost like there's the need or, or there's an
12:15
interest, at least to some degree to have a person, I don't
12:25
want to say restricted to, to one decision or the other, but
12:29
you can't understand maybe where I'm coming from, right?
12:31
Like, well, why would we need to think along these lines if there
12:35
wasn't a question in the minds of people or a person whether or
12:40
not they can exist or serve between multiple kindreds,
12:44
multiple tribes. We live in an interesting time
12:48
of history, you know, like we, we live in an interesting time
12:50
in the sense that Heathenry specifically was at one point in
12:56
time a very, you know, close, insular, you know, clan only
13:01
tribe, you know, very, you know, small insular groups of people.
13:06
And we live in a time now, we live in a, you know, we exist in
13:11
a time now where we're a bit more spread out, you know, so we
13:14
have access to, to things, we have access to people, we have
13:18
access to communities that our ancient ancestors would never
13:22
have been able to have access to without the presence of modern
13:27
technology as we have it now and today, you know, so, you know,
13:33
looking at the question of can one person serve or live in
13:37
between multiple kins or tribes? I think without, without
13:42
breaching any sort of contractual social obligation,
13:48
then yes, of course, you know, people can be free to, to, to,
13:53
to live within the extension of their capacities.
13:58
Like, you know, what they can and, and are willing to do for
14:01
people outside of their inner circle.
14:03
They're free to do with as, as, as they so choose.
14:09
But again, being the type of person that I am and, and, and
14:12
looking at, at things from a bit of a historical angle of things,
14:16
I, I wanted to look back and see what I could find that related
14:20
to Blake's comment that said, you know, there were, were
14:28
people in the times of our pre Christian ancestors who had
14:34
roles that allowed them to live outside of, you know, the, the
14:39
inner group that and, and travel between places.
14:43
So I wanted to look at, you know, where do we see historical
14:46
mentions of these types of people?
14:48
And what were those people, right?
14:50
What were they called? So at the end of this episode,
14:56
there's going to be some links that are shared either down in
14:59
the description of this video and for those of you that are
15:02
listening to this later on after this airs live in the show notes
15:06
of this podcast that are going to point you back into some very
15:11
specific areas of, of, of, of focus when it comes to context
15:16
and when it comes to source material.
15:19
So in Blake's e-mail, he mentions, you know, Volvos,
15:23
Vickis, shamans, skulls, etcetera, right?
15:26
He's he's using terms that are kind of very specific, but also
15:31
all over the place in the same time.
15:34
When I say all over the place, when I, I have to call attention
15:37
to the fact that, you know, the term shaman doesn't get used in
15:39
Germanic contexts at all. Siberian Slavic other cultures
15:51
and whatever have have coined the term or used the term shaman
15:55
doesn't exist and I think the dramatic or nor sources.
16:00
Volva yes Sather save Kona spa Kona save mother save spa mother
16:07
yes right and we're going to get into some of that in a bit Vidky
16:12
yeah sure. The skald I, I think, and I, I
16:19
unfortunately don't have a source that I can just revert to
16:23
right off the top of my head, but I think that the role of the
16:26
skald was not so much as that of a traveling one as it was the
16:32
the position under the King's retinue, under Royals retinue.
16:36
They had a very important role in societies that were directly
16:41
associated with the nobility. So if they traveled, they were
16:46
done. So it was done so under the
16:49
King's retinue. All right.
16:50
So they so they were representatives of nobility to
16:53
go out and, you know, be that or whatever.
17:00
So that particular thing scald I don't think necessarily had a
17:03
traveler's or you know, outside of society's role.
17:07
I think they were pretty much woven into the societal
17:09
structure of the nobility and they were, you know, under the
17:12
king or whatever's retinue. We got workout buddy 111 on
17:18
YouTube that says Eric word Weaver.
17:20
Shervin said once or twice that there is no AUSA Pope.
17:24
And I wonder that as a solitary practitioner, are there any
17:28
collectively admired figures in governance like positions other
17:35
than in our own hearth cult? Thanks for commenting there,
17:39
workout buddy 111. I am friends with Eric Ward
17:42
Weaver Shervin and have been an admirer of his work on YouTube.
17:47
And I'm familiar with your terminology where he says that
17:49
there, you know, he doesn't, he definitely does not put himself
17:53
up in any sort of position as the, you know, quote, UN quote
17:56
AUSA Pope, you know, this, this sort of ultimate authority in,
18:00
in modern heathenry. There are definitely people, I
18:05
think now and today in modern times that have a strong
18:09
grafrain. They have strong grafrain or
18:12
reputation abroad that people look to and lean on for good
18:19
resource, Good, good advice. But when it comes to Heathenry,
18:26
you know, like we, we gotta think of the, of the sense of,
18:28
of, of where Heathenry truly exists and shines at as as at
18:32
its strongest is at the hearth level, at the cult, at the, at
18:35
the grassroots level, I should say, right.
18:38
So at the hearth level, at the grassroots level, Heathenry is,
18:42
I believe to be a very tribal focused sort of folkway belief,
18:51
religion, whatever. There are religious aspects of
18:54
Heathenry. I don't want to get into the
18:56
minutiae of what I think of that as as being a meaning of, but
19:00
some people will go in and out on limbs and say, you know, you
19:03
know, it's not, it's not a religion.
19:04
Heathenry is not a religion. I would counter that and say
19:08
that there are religious aspects of Heathenry because whenever
19:11
you talk about divinity, the sacred gods, whatever that is,
19:14
religion, your spirituality is different.
19:18
It extends into things of a more hearth, cult, practice,
19:21
folklore, folk way of doing things.
19:25
That's why we don't see necessarily a continuous,
19:30
universal overarching way of doing things in the different
19:35
regions. Whether you're talking about
19:37
continental Europe or whether you're talking about later on
19:41
into the like northern Scandinavian countries, things
19:45
are done slightly differently in those regions.
19:49
The spirituality varies, the practices vary based on the
19:52
folkway of of the region that you're in.
19:57
The religiosity of things could could be potentially rooted into
20:00
some really old deep rooted things, but I maintain that
20:04
there is. Religion, there is a religiosity
20:07
aspect to, to, to Heathenry. So in terms of, you know,
20:12
they're, they're being, you know, as a solitary
20:15
practitioner, as you say, you know, are there any collectively
20:20
admired figures that's you're going to get different answers
20:23
from different people, unfortunately.
20:25
I mean, the people that I admire and the people that I would
20:28
suggest or recommend for you might, might be on the radar for
20:33
some other people. So I, I, I think that thus
20:39
therein, therein lies the paradox of the solitary
20:43
practitioner to find their own way to find their individual.
20:53
I don't want to say like influencers or anything like
20:57
that, but I mean there, there, there's so much out there.
21:01
I, I guess you know, you'll, you'll, you'll, you'll, if you,
21:04
if you followed Eric's stuff, you know, the stuff that Eric
21:07
does. I, I, I may have come across as,
21:11
as a suggested content creator. I don't know how you found me
21:16
here now, but I'll, I'll, I'll put some stuff at the end of
21:20
this live stream down in the, in the, the the comments or the
21:23
description area of this video for you to to, to maybe check
21:25
out when it comes to good solid source material.
21:34
Think that came up before in one of your live chats.
21:37
And religion stems from Latin, the root to tie, and it is when
21:42
you tie yourself willfully to a practice or philosophy that's
21:48
been said before it. What's also been said before is
21:50
what religion means is that it is the ceremonial superstitious,
21:56
was it superstitious ceremonial, the outward superstitious and
21:59
ceremonial observance of a thing.
22:02
There's definitely ceremony. There's definitely some things
22:05
that might, one might ascertain as being superstitious when it
22:09
comes to most religions, but it's definitely a thing.
22:13
It it, it's part of, if you're going to adopt A worldview of
22:17
something, it, it, it, it's part of it.
22:22
So skald it works. Just to get back to the topic
22:24
that we were discussing, I was referring to outside of oaths.
22:27
I thought I was watching something on skulls being
22:30
travelers, but I could be mistaken.
22:31
I used shaman as a general example for those who were
22:35
similar. Yeah.
22:36
So we're going to get into that. We're going to talk a bit about
22:38
that. Just so I acknowledge everybody.
22:41
Hello, David Klenn down there in Columbia, TN, I believe.
22:44
Good to see you again. Catching a few minutes before
22:46
work. Have a less Thanksgiving you 2
22:48
as well, my friend, and thank you.
22:51
So just getting back to a bit of the topic of, you know, I I
22:54
wanted to I wanted to try to find where I could on historical
22:58
sources where the the the the people that that Blake was kind
23:03
of alluding to skull that was kind of alluding to Volvo's save
23:10
corner the the the sooth Sayers. So I'm going to get into a bit
23:15
of some historical stuff. So if I lose you people that are
23:19
watching, I lose you, I'm going to that's OK.
23:24
You can you can re watch this, you can come back to it, but I'm
23:27
going to be referencing a site that I that I reference a lot.
23:30
So alsidou.com Alsidou is is a old Saxon word that means, you
23:36
know, old ways or old traditions.
23:40
And I will link this for, for those of you that are catching
23:43
this later, want to revisit it yourselves and, and kind of
23:46
glean from things. So there was a point in time
23:49
when the soothsayers, the, the, the sort of, you know, vision
23:54
tellers, right? These, these, these, these,
23:56
these people who could divinate in a way and, and could foretell
24:01
or predict or, or prophecy in the future that among the Saxon
24:06
tribe at least they were, they were so good at it.
24:08
They were so proficient in it that the, the, the Christian
24:13
Franks passed a law that stated that these people were to be
24:19
given into the service of the church.
24:21
So once Christianity began to spread and, and, and and Saxon
24:26
lands became Christian through either forced or coerced
24:30
conversion, these individuals of society were so good at what
24:35
they were doing that they were said that they were to be given
24:38
into the service of the church. And it's amazing to, to consider
24:41
this because again, the Franks were forced or the Franks
24:46
themselves forced Christianity on the Saxons who had been newly
24:51
conquered under Charlemagne and, and, and stuff.
24:53
And they if, if you didn't convert, you were put to death,
24:59
you were forced back. You, you were forced to be
25:01
baptized into the Christian Church.
25:02
And if you didn't accept, you were, you were executed.
25:06
But if you were a quote UN quote soothsayer, they were recognized
25:13
and seen by the church as being so prestigious that they they
25:18
would be spared and you would be brought into the church to serve
25:23
the church. There is a law documented under
25:28
the the Lex Sexorum, which was a, a law code that the the
25:35
Frankish people forced upon the Saxons during the Saxon wars in
25:40
the years between like 770-2804 AD and that that that that
25:50
portion of that law code said, quote, we have ordered that
25:55
diviners and sooth Sayers shall be given to the church and
26:01
priests. That's one section of the the
26:04
Lex Sexonum. Another section of the Lex
26:06
Sexonum says that if anyone out of contempt for Christianity
26:10
shall have despised the holy Linton fast and shall have eaten
26:14
meat, let him be punished by death.
26:16
Another section says if anyone is in accordance with Pagan
26:19
rights shall have caused the body of a dead man to be burned
26:22
and shall have reduced his bones to ashes, let him be punished by
26:25
capitally. Again, there's so much that
26:28
happened at this point in history with the Franks imposing
26:32
these, these, these, these laws that they didn't want Heathenry,
26:36
They didn't want the, the, the Saxons to, to, to, to continue
26:40
their Pagan ways. So much to the point that any of
26:45
things that the pagans did at that time were punishable by
26:48
death, say from the, the soothsayers and the diviners.
26:57
So it's interesting to take that into consideration.
27:08
One of the way, one of the things that we we see of
27:11
examples of like what to to, to, to scalded works or Blake's
27:16
thing of, of, of Vorva as being sort of outside of society,
27:19
right? He mentions that they, they were
27:21
outside and they would travel and they would, you know, go to
27:24
village to village or whatever. We see an example of this
27:28
documented in the saga of Eric the Red, which was an Icelandic,
27:35
you know, it's a, it's a Scandinavian source.
27:39
So chapter 4 of the saga of Eric the Red has an example of a
27:42
Vorva and she was a woman named Thorbjork.
27:47
So she was in a settlement and she was a sooth Sayer.
27:55
According to the saga of Eric the Red, she was a soothsayer
27:58
called Little Vulva. She had nine sisters, all of
28:02
whom were soothsayers, and she was the only one still living.
28:09
By the way, this is in chapter 4 of the saga of of of Eric the
28:12
Red. And it goes on to say that it
28:14
was Theor Bjork's custom to go to feasts in the winter and
28:21
people invited her to their home, most who wanted
28:24
foreknowledge of their fate. So in this context and in this
28:29
particular thing, it it seems it was a voluntary decision, you
28:34
know, of of the person to be kind of outside of the normal
28:42
societal structure. And then to visit during certain
28:44
periods of time or or at certain times of the year to visit
28:49
people's homes and to be given a sort of reading or or or telling
28:53
of their fate or their future in the Nornas gets us Nornas gets
29:02
the daughter. 11 Another saga. Gester tells King Olaf that when
29:08
he was born quote UN quote, the Volvo were travelling around the
29:13
country and they prophesized men's fates.
29:18
So this is another saga in which the vulva or the vulva plural
29:23
are depicted as being travelers, right?
29:26
They they, they, they don't stay in one spot particularly they
29:29
are outside of the societal structure at the time and they
29:32
go place to place. Again in the Inglinga saga line
29:37
7, we see that wooden or Odin if you will, practices a sather,
29:46
which again is a craft that allows wooden to learn men's
29:51
fates in the future. Now it is worth noting that at
29:55
least in the Norse Scandinavian societies, sather was a practice
30:01
that was predominantly seen as women's work.
30:08
So if any man was practicing, say, there he was a societal
30:14
scourge, He he was looked as a getter a a a term that kind of
30:19
meant like effeminate, you know, he he wasn't looked upon with a
30:22
lot of honor, with a lot of good.
30:27
So, yeah, that's one thing to note.
30:29
Let me just catch up real quick on some comments.
30:32
Maccabay designs Halen. Well, Halen.
30:35
Hello, welcome back. Seen your name pop up on a few
30:37
live streams before on YouTube. So it's weird that my maternal
30:40
grandmother's name, Frank, little Frank, but the OR
30:46
Frankie, Sorry, little Frank, but the family was observed
30:50
observant of Jewish cultures. Yeah, the Franks were some of
30:54
the earliest of the Germanic tribes to convert, with or
30:58
without contention. So anyway, going back to it all,
31:06
there's some terms to, to to, to remember or or maybe perhaps to,
31:10
to, to key in on. So in the old Norse during the
31:15
Viking age, right in in the Scandinavian, you have some
31:18
words we we were talking about savor.
31:20
You know this, what this word means or you have save Kona,
31:25
save mother. Save Kona is a old Norse word
31:29
for say their woman. So save is, is the thing to, to,
31:33
to, to see into the future or whatever to, to have that
31:37
vision. Kona is the feminine part of
31:42
that. So save Kona say their woman,
31:45
save mother, save man mother is the the, the man part.
31:52
And then you have spa mother spa corner spa meaning diviner.
31:59
So diviner male, diviner man, diviner woman.
32:03
So spa is an old Norse word to kind of see the future.
32:07
In our modern English word, we, we use the word when we we want
32:12
to like see things that other people can't see.
32:15
We say we want to spy on them. So our modern English word spy
32:21
comes from this word. We also see this reflected in
32:25
the Etic poem the Velous spa. OK, so it is a word in its
32:31
title, which means the Volvo's spa, the Volvo's vision.
32:37
So Volus spa, Volvo's vision of the future, right?
32:42
What, what the, what the, what the Volvo sees.
32:50
And these are all Germanic languages.
32:52
So our modern English language is, is is largely rooted in in
32:56
these Germanic languages. So another one that could, could
33:01
could be seen as as soothe or soothe it, which is an old Saxon
33:06
word that means thread. It's pronounced like we would
33:11
say the word soothe, but it's just SO and the, the the D with
33:14
the looks like AD, but it's EV. It's it's it's its own specific
33:20
word or letter or character. I should say in in in old
33:24
Germanic languages like Old English and Old Norse.
33:29
I can't remember the proper term for it, but it basically means
33:32
thread and it's pronounced soothe.
33:36
So our modern word for soothe, Sayer comes from this word.
33:41
Some linguists, and I'm not one would believe that the old Saxon
33:46
word soothe is not necessarily linguistically related to the
33:50
Old Norse word save SEI with the D with the thing on it.
33:55
The for thread but but they but but largely linguists will agree
34:01
that it has the same meaning. So even though they may not have
34:05
linguistic roots, save and soothe Old English, soothe Old
34:11
Norse, save are somehow related in their meaning.
34:20
Sounds very close. So we go to to some old, old
34:27
Saxon words, right? So SU sago.
34:30
So SU sago meaning soothsayer or thread Sayer.
34:36
Soothsayo would probably be the better pronunciation of it.
34:39
Soothsayo, I think the the emphasis on these old they're
34:46
Germanic words. The emphasis lands on the front
34:49
syllable. So soothsayo and the G, if
34:54
you're going to write it out, it's the SOFAGO.
34:59
The G that we see in some of these words says yeah, so it
35:05
would, it wouldn't be a soothe sago, it would be soothe sale.
35:09
So soothe Sayer water sale is another word that is Old Saxon
35:16
meaning truth Sayer or diviner wolva from the Old Norse meaning
35:21
the carrier of the weaving staff.
35:23
So there was definitely this, this awareness or this
35:28
understanding that these these figures would have a staff or a
35:31
wand that they would carry for their divinatory work.
35:38
Another Saxon word or Old Saxon word that appears in
35:42
specifically the Old Saxon halion orleas.
35:48
This is a word that's used in the old Saxon helioned orlias
35:52
weird. So the laying or layas the the
35:57
layer or the laying or layas weird.
36:03
For those folks that may be familiar with the term orlog or
36:07
orlay, orlayas is the old Saxon word.
36:14
Some might argue with the fact that this has to do with how
36:19
runes are used for divination with casting and and such.
36:27
But when we when we, when we, when we hear this term, when we
36:31
when we see this appear orleas weird.
36:34
This is a plural. So the layings of the the the
36:39
layering of because the singular form of orleas is pronounced
36:44
orle, because the G again is is pronounced like AY and as as as
36:50
Norse heathens in the Scandinavian practices as things
36:54
advanced and became more closer to the Viking age, etcetera,
36:59
Norse heathens would would would would use the Orla or orloi
37:04
pronunciation. But orle again orlog what you
37:08
would see published or or or or put out there with the ORLOG
37:16
kind of spelling originates as orle.
37:22
But regardless, both sather and soothe are meaning threads are
37:26
words tied to weird and the shapers the nor near.
37:32
So when you look at these, some of these sources, you know, old
37:35
in old Saxon sources, shapers are cut.
37:37
They're the same thing as what old Norse or Norse heathens
37:41
would, would, would, would, would, would portray as the the
37:44
Nordoneer. You know, the, the shapers, the
37:48
ones that would do the, the, the measuring out of, of fate, if
37:53
you will, right how they, how the threads were tied in it and
37:56
etcetera. So I'm getting a little bit into
38:00
the weeds with it, and I apologize for all that, But
38:03
there were a couple of sources that I mentioned there earlier
38:06
that that do suggest and that dudes support the fact that
38:13
these figures of society at the time were definitely not tied to
38:20
one place. They would, they would be, they
38:21
would, they would go out, they would, they would visit.
38:25
They were not necessarily a part of society and and day-to-day
38:28
lives or existence, but they would, they would come and they
38:31
would go and they would be brought in to, you know, serve
38:38
people or, or to provide their services to people when and as
38:44
they needed them. So let me get to some comments
38:48
here. Skull that works says on
38:51
YouTube. Do you think that the reason it
38:53
was women's work was because women are more intuitive than
38:58
men? I think that definitely there is
39:01
something to be said for that just in the sense of how of of
39:05
of what women do. They are bearers of life.
39:10
They are the the the givers of life.
39:14
Like, sure, men have to plant the seed in the woman, but the
39:17
woman is the one that carries that seed, nurtures that, that
39:21
growth and then births the, the, the life that comes from the
39:26
seed that the man has planted. And so I think there is a
39:29
definite connection to divinity with women to, in being able to,
39:36
to, to just be more connected to the divine in that sort of way.
39:41
And, and, and even if when we look at the portrayal of our
39:47
sacred earth, we hear many cultures, you know, the earth
39:53
referred to as a she or her, you know, in the feminine, you know,
39:57
Yort Yard Yort in, in the, the Norse, in Scandinavian sources,
40:04
like she is feminine, the mother of Thor, mother earth, mother of
40:09
Gaia. Yeah, there's there's so many
40:11
different cultures that that represent the earth as the
40:14
feminine and as the mother, so. Yes, I think that there is
40:20
definitely a connection to the the feminine divine being more
40:26
in tune with that than than the masculine divine.
40:31
So yeah, being more intuitive as, as you put it there.
40:37
I, I, I would, I would tend to agree.
40:40
Same reason why there are more women's psychics than there are
40:43
men. Yeah.
40:44
You know, like, you know, and again, we live in, we live in
40:47
such a, a, a, a place in such a world where, you know, the, the,
40:52
these types of, of folks are, are a dime a dozen.
40:56
You know, there's, there's charlatans there, there's people
41:00
that, that, you know, read a book or, or download a video or,
41:03
or go through an online course for 8 hours or whatever.
41:06
And then all of a sudden they're an expert, you know, they, they
41:08
got the, they got the cards, they got the discs, they got
41:11
the, they got the runes, they got the, you know, I, I had a
41:14
dream and I saw this thing and that the other and now the next
41:17
thing all but, you know, they, they, they, they ate in a, you
41:19
know, an abundant amount of psychedelics.
41:22
And next thing you know, they're, they're the next guru,
41:24
the next expert. I'm not saying that every woman
41:29
out here is, is, you know, more in tuned with the divine than
41:36
than the next man. But I think there's, there's
41:39
more of a propensity to connect with that side of things with
41:44
women folk because of that, because of the fact that they
41:48
are, again, they are the, they are the bearers of life.
41:51
They are the, you know, life givers, life bearers.
42:02
So, yeah, there's a, there's some other interesting things
42:05
that if we look back to the depiction of these, these
42:08
figures, you know, weavers in, in so many different scenarios
42:15
of ritual, right? The woman's role in Germanic
42:19
spirituality in in Germanic heathen spirituality
42:23
specifically, right? The role of the woman as being
42:26
this again, this, this Frith Weaver, this Frith former, this
42:30
Weaver that the whole Weaver mentality or the whole Weaver
42:34
theme to spin right save and sold these words and Old Norse.
42:39
Save Old English sold or Old Norse or sorry, Old English, Old
42:45
Saxon soothe to spin to weave. You know, there's a theme here.
42:58
I don't think that it's a coincidence that weaving tools
43:01
are often found in grave mounds alongside weapons.
43:10
Weaving tools suggest at least that it was a, you know, a save
43:16
Kona or a Volvo's burial mound. We we, we see those types of
43:25
relics in with those types of people.
43:31
One of the things that's interestingly depicted in the
43:33
Saga of Erik the Red Chapter 4, the Voidva who we mentioned
43:39
earlier briefly in the episode here, Theor Bjork.
43:43
In chapter 4 of the Saga of Erik the Red, it is said that on her
43:47
neck she had glass beads. On her head she had a dark hood
43:53
of lambskin lined with ermine, and a staff or wand she had in
43:59
her hand with a knob there on. It was ornamented with brass and
44:06
inlaid with gems round about the knob around her she wore a
44:12
girdle of soft hair, and therein was a large skin bag in which
44:20
she kept the talismans needed to her.
44:25
In her wisdom she wore hairy calfskin shoes on her feet, with
44:31
long and strong looking thongs to them, and great knobs of
44:38
Latin on the ends. On her hands she had gloves of
44:43
ermine's skin, and they were white and hairy within.
44:47
So we have a very vivid description in one of the old
44:54
Old Norse sagas of what a vulva would be dressed in and what she
44:58
would have with her on her person.
45:00
A staff or a wand is definitely there.
45:06
It's definitely mentioned a skin bag which she would keep full of
45:13
talismans. Does that mean runes?
45:17
We largely deduce that divination in Germanic societies
45:21
was some people want to contend, contend that it wasn't runes.
45:28
Others will say that it was runes.
45:30
I like to lean into the fact that they were runic charms or
45:35
runic symbols or runic staves. So, you know, one of the things
45:45
that we, we, we can kind of take away from the fact of that, at
45:47
least in the Norse society later on, that the vulva was
45:53
definitely a woman, an elderly woman who had voluntarily
46:01
released herself from her family bonds to travel.
46:07
She wasn't tied to any specific service of a, of a tribe or, or
46:12
a kindred or, or a group or whatever society.
46:15
She was kind of a freelance artist, if you will, but also
46:21
summoned in times of crisis. You know, she her reputation was
46:25
strong. And because of that reputation,
46:31
the people that would summon her knew that what was asked for
46:36
came with a price. So she was compensated greatly.
46:41
The description of the Vulva's figure and what she was wearing.
46:45
Yeah. You, you have to think like this
46:46
didn't come by happenstance, like the gems, the the furs, the
46:51
this and that, like all that came from work through, through
46:56
through compensation. And we can we can easily deduce
47:04
and, and and reason that to be seen or to go and be in the
47:10
presence of a soothsayer or vulva was something that was
47:16
done often, you know, in both in both continental Saxon, you
47:20
know, dramatic societies and later on in in the Norse
47:24
Scandinavian countries. It definitely was a thing.
47:34
Scalded works has come and said it could be multiple forms of
47:36
divination such as bone reading. Like yeah, I mean, you know,
47:40
again, we're we're we're looking at we're looking at specific
47:43
source materials that did that that that point to very specific
47:49
forms of divination. We know for sure that the
47:54
Germanic tribes had a very high regard to divination.
47:59
OK, I'm going to point a little bit now towards that because
48:05
skull that works. She mentioned bone readings.
48:07
So there are some, there are some sources that are definitely
48:16
not Christian influence. They are, they are, they are
48:18
pagans at the time, Tacitus being one of them.
48:27
So we're going to look at some, some Roman writers because the
48:30
Romans at the time had, you know, in, in, in continental
48:35
lands of, of Germania, right? They the the Romans were still
48:38
Pagan, just like the Germanic tribes were.
48:42
So their observations of things being done by the Germanic
48:46
tribes were not being conveyed in any sort of Christian bias.
48:53
So there are Roman writers who wrote about the Germanic tribes.
48:58
Specifically, we're going to look at Strabo mentioned in the
49:02
Geographica 723 that the Germanic prophetesses were among
49:09
the the Kimbri, the Kimbri tribe whose priestesses were old women
49:16
dressed in white who sacrificed prisoners of war and sprinkled
49:22
their blood to prophecy coming events.
49:25
This is all documented in the in forgive my Latin or like there
49:29
of the the, the common Tarali, the the Belio Galico.
49:34
OK, very archaic, very outdated stuff, like we're talking about
49:40
killing people and prisoners of war and this and that.
49:43
But anyway, they were old women later on, at least not very
49:50
later on. But Julius Caesar himself writes
49:52
in his courses, in the courses of his clashes with dramatic
49:56
tribes under the audio Vastius, which is around the year 58
50:03
before the Common Era. Julius Caesar writes that among
50:07
the Germans it was the custom for their matrons, so again
50:10
feminine, to pronounce from lots and divination, whether it was
50:16
expedient that the battle should be engaged in or not.
50:19
That they had said that quote that it was not the will of
50:23
heaven that the Germans should conquer if they engage in battle
50:27
before the new moon. Again, another example of the
50:31
elder womenfolk being involved in divinatory practices amongst
50:39
the dramatic peoples. Tacitus writes about
50:44
prophetesses among the dramatic peoples in his his stories for
50:50
and 61 by ancient usage, the Germans attributed to many of
50:55
their women prophetic powers. And as the superstition grew in
51:01
strength, even actual divinity. So there's there's there's some,
51:12
you know, wonder or or or question if, if, if in the eyes
51:16
of the Roman and perhaps Greek pagans at the time, like Tacitus
51:20
and these others, right when they are documenting things
51:23
about divinity, the gods, etcetera, right, that's all that
51:31
they knew because that was their practices.
51:33
They're they're documenting things from their Pagan points
51:36
of view. Could it have been that what the
51:40
dramatic peoples were doing were were were offering prayers to
51:43
weird and her shapers were the nor near and the this and the
51:48
that right? This see, considering the fact
51:50
that perhaps maybe Tacitus and these others were didn't have a
51:56
name for that. They just saw these things like
52:01
weird and the shapers, the nor near etcetera as deities, as
52:06
divinity. It could be the deuce and and
52:10
and perhaps accepted as such. Tacitus specifically records in
52:20
Germania which was around 95 after you know 95 AD when when
52:29
he wrote his Germania. When it comes to divination, he
52:32
says for divination in the casting of lots, they meaning
52:35
the Germanic tribes that he was observing have the highest
52:38
regard. Their procedure in casting lots
52:43
is always the same. This is key.
52:46
They cut off a branch of a nut bearing tree and slice it into
52:50
strips. These they carve with different
52:53
signs and throw them completely at random onto a white cloth.
52:58
Then the priest of the state, if the consultation is a public
53:02
one, or the father of the family, if it is private, offers
53:07
a prayer to the gods and looking up to the sky, picks up three
53:12
strips, one at a time, and reads their meaning from the signs
53:19
previously carved on them. If the lots forbid an
53:24
enterprise, there is no deliberation that day on the the
53:29
matter in question. If they allow it, confirmation
53:32
by the taking of auspices is required.
53:38
So were those signs runes? You know, that's the big
53:44
question. Hey, hey, hey.
53:46
Patrick Walsh, Welcome, welcome, welcome Walls voice Jesse,
53:54
what's up, man? Patrick Walsh, my brother
53:57
watching on YouTube wanted to drop by and give you some love,
53:59
brother. Hope you have a great time and
54:02
all you watching. You're among great men and
54:04
teacher. Well, thank you, Patrick.
54:05
Glad you could chime in. Yeah, we're just rocking and
54:08
rolling here, man. Thank you for for being here and
54:10
commenting. But yeah, when it comes to, you
54:13
know, divination in, in the, the, the Germanic traditions and
54:18
stuff, it's it's is it largely deduced that they were runes?
54:23
Yes, a lot of people think that it was runes.
54:28
There is an ongoing debate whether or not the the, the,
54:36
the, the, the signs or the carved signs that Tacitus is
54:40
mentioning in his Romania are runes.
54:44
But again, there is there is reasonable deducing that the
54:48
carved signs have to be runes because runes were for the
54:55
Saxons, for the dramatic people, for many of the dramatic tribes,
54:58
alphabetic symbols, the letters. But yes, they were used as a
55:05
writing system, just like we use our modern alphabet to to write
55:10
out our letters. So yes, primarily they were
55:14
probably used first and foremost for that.
55:17
But we have evidence in other sources, whether it's lore, you
55:23
know, the Eddas, the sagas and poems, that these runic symbols
55:28
were used for magical purposes, whether it was writing a spell
55:35
or an incantation or, or something.
55:38
We, we just don't know for sure how if or when.
55:43
Like how casting runes the the the the runic staves the the the
55:48
symbols, how that casting of of lots worked.
55:54
We don't know. We just know that it was done.
55:56
We, we, we largely accept and deduce that it was runic symbols
56:02
that were used. We just don't know how it was
56:05
done. So much of what modern rune
56:08
ologists or or runers or Vicky's void wasn't right.
56:10
The people that read runes, myself included, even, you know,
56:14
do today is is through a reconstruction effort.
56:18
We're we're taking information that we know of from written
56:22
source material and reconstructing what we think to
56:24
be or believed to be the best. And as a runer, as somebody who
56:32
has read runes for dozens if not hundreds of people at this
56:36
point, I haven't kept track of how many rune readings I've done
56:38
for people, but it's got to be in the dozens, if not hundreds
56:42
at this point over the years that I've done.
56:45
You know, back to Blake from Skald, it works.
56:47
You know, back to his question, can can one person you know,
56:51
serve or live in multiple in between multiple kindreds and
56:55
tribes? I myself am oath to my own
56:58
tribe. However, I live and exist
57:03
independently to be a provider of a service for rune readings
57:11
to my community outside of my immediate tribe.
57:14
So yes, I think that it is possible.
57:18
Adam Cage's HBO Patrick, it's an inside joke.
57:22
If you guys don't know, then you don't know.
57:24
But it's it's it's an echo echoing comment back to Fire on
57:29
the Mountain. So Patrick HBO buddy or HOB,
57:34
whatever. But yeah, HBO.
57:36
So, yeah, I mean, you know, can one serve?
57:39
Yeah, I think that there's a place for that.
57:45
Again, as long, as, you know, we're we're talking about not
57:48
infringing or not breaking any oaths that have been given or
57:53
taken. You know, if somebody were to be
57:58
bound by Troath, Underoath to to one specific group, and that
58:03
oath of Troath involved not performing any sort of
58:09
divinatory work outside of our immediate people, and they were
58:13
to do so. And, you know, despite of that,
58:16
then yeah, that would be, that would be wrong because they were
58:18
breaking truth. They they, they are breaking
58:19
their oath and that's not good. So again, without knowing the
58:24
specifics of things, as long as one is not oath bound to not do
58:29
such things, then sure, they can.
58:30
They they can act in that capacity.
58:32
They can, they can live within those, you know, within that
58:38
social construct, I feel to be able to serve as I have done.
58:45
So, yeah, I think, I think it's all relative.
58:49
That's OK Maccabay Designs, who says, sorry, got to run
58:53
accounting office has five or six days worth worth of work to
58:57
get done in three because of the holiday.
59:00
Yeah, I know we got this US holiday coming up.
59:03
Great to hear your lecture and musings.
59:05
Enjoy your meal of thanks. Be well everyone, and be well to
59:09
you. Maccabay Designs, thank you
59:10
again so much for tuning in. But yeah, folks, I think that's
59:16
going to wrap up this week's musings or this week's, you
59:19
know, random heathen ramblings episode.
59:22
We, we, we've gone on for just about an hour now.
59:28
And I hope that Blake from, from Skald, it works.
59:31
I hope that what I was able to do in the hour was was was
59:36
satisfying enough to to answer your question or at least
59:40
inspire some conversation around it.
59:44
He says that I no longer worry about joining or forming a
59:47
tribe, but I allow it to happen naturally.
59:49
So basically, I don't need one to be happy.
59:53
Blake, you know, I think you know, that that that again,
59:55
echoing off of the coattails or riding off the coattails of last
59:58
week's episode about, you know, tribes and kindres is that, you
1:00:02
know, don't force it. Don't don't don't feel the need
1:00:05
to force it to happen. Don't.
1:00:11
Yeah, don't, don't, don't push it.
1:00:13
It it'll happen organically. And, and if and if people are
1:00:16
putting in the work to contribute and to feed that
1:00:21
tree, to feed that, that, that life that is seeking to be grown
1:00:25
and, and, and all that, you know it.
1:00:27
It's not something to be forced. You know, I'm always satisfying.
1:00:32
Why? Hey, don't stroke my ego Too bad
1:00:35
there, big guy. I'm just playing.
1:00:39
That's what she said. But anyway, no, I I got to go.
1:00:44
I think that was a good, I think that was a good wrap up comment
1:00:49
there. I don't expect to always be
1:00:52
satisfied. You can't, you can't, you can't
1:00:53
be operating at 100% all the time.
1:00:56
You know what I mean? You get, you got to leave some,
1:00:58
some segments of, of wonder and mystery, you know, to the, to
1:01:02
the, to the whatever. But yeah, that is that is this
1:01:07
week's episode. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and
1:01:10
girls, for all use tuning in. There's a little bit of my, you
1:01:13
know, and, and by the way, I'm I'm echoing a lot of stuff
1:01:16
that's already been said. Much of what I shared source
1:01:20
material wise has been eloquently documented and put on
1:01:23
a website at thealtsido.com blog.
1:01:27
I will be posting those links down below after this episode
1:01:31
is, is done streaming. But if you just go to
1:01:34
altidoo.com and, and go to their search function and search, you
1:01:37
know, soothsayers, runes, holidays, whatever, you're going
1:01:40
to find so many blog articles that, that they've put out that
1:01:44
point to source material. So thank you to altidoo.com for
1:01:47
being a, an easily accessible place to find good source
1:01:51
material. And for folks like myself who
1:01:55
want to, you know, look towards a more academic or or historical
1:01:59
approach to, to be able to know where to look, you know, I
1:02:03
mentioned last week, you know, we live in an era and in an age
1:02:05
where information is easily accessible, we don't have to
1:02:10
struggle much to find good information.
1:02:13
So when this episode is done streaming and you go down into
1:02:17
the, you know, description area or comments section, if you're
1:02:19
watching this later on on Patreon or listening to it later
1:02:22
on the audio platforms, just check the show notes, check the
1:02:25
description area for the links of of where you can find some of
1:02:29
this episode episode information.
1:02:31
And then do do your own diligent work, right?
1:02:36
Search for yourselves, find the things that that you're looking
1:02:41
for. Don't don't stop here with what
1:02:43
I'm saying, please. You know, if you heard something
1:02:46
that you haven't heard before and you want to do more
1:02:48
research, use this maybe as a launching off point.
1:02:55
I'm not the end all be all. There's stuff that I'm talking
1:02:58
about that that gives you a place to go and look for more
1:03:01
things if you want to please do so.
1:03:04
That's the heathen way, right. Thank you.
1:03:07
Adam Cage says goodnight. And as always works works of
1:03:12
wisdom. Yeah, man, thank you, man.
1:03:15
We, we appreciate you too, Adam, with what you do for your work
1:03:19
in the the Middle Tennessee area.
1:03:21
The, the, the work that you do with Nashville, Pagan pride and
1:03:25
puff and, and just other, you know, heathen or and, and Pagan
1:03:29
factions of the area that are inclusive.
1:03:32
You're doing good work too, brother.
1:03:33
So thank you for what you do. All right, everybody.
1:03:36
So that's been this week's episode.
1:03:39
I appreciate all of your support.
1:03:41
If you like this episode, please when it does air on the
1:03:45
platforms that you do catch it on.
1:03:46
If you're if you're not watching this live upvote like it react
1:03:50
to it. If you are watching this right
1:03:52
now and you're still here on the live stream, please give it a
1:03:55
react. Give it an upvote, give it a
1:03:56
thumbs up, give it a heart. You know share it around high 5
1:04:00
me slap me on the ass, whatever the heck you want to do show
1:04:03
your love and appreciation any way that you can.
1:04:05
It's much appreciated and until we talk to each other again,
1:04:10
thank you to all my patrons on Patreon that helped make this
1:04:12
content possible. Thank you to all my listeners
1:04:14
and viewers that that TuneIn and contribute in the ways that you
1:04:18
do. I greatly appreciate you.
1:04:21
Until we see and hear from each other again, may the gods
1:04:25
continue to notice you and may your ancestors smile upon you.
1:04:29
We'll see you in the next one.