Eliwagarslied - The Pagan Traditions Of The North

(by Runahild Bjarkanweiss Tyrsdottir)

Those writtings are to be completed. So, many changes will happen day after day and many more articles are to be written, then they will be published...

Summary:

- Preface -

- Chapter I: The Wheel Of The Feasts Through The Year -

- Chapter II: Pagan Feasts -

1. Yule

2. Vali's Fest

3. Ostara

4. Balder's Night/Walpurgisnacht

5. Midsummer

6. Harvest Feast

7. Autumn Equinox

8. Einherjar Feast

- Chapter III: Pagan Rituals And Traditions -

1. Funeral Of The Braves

2. Ritual At Dawn





- PREFACE -

In spite of all the efforts done by christians during thousand of years to eradicate paganism in Europe, in spite of their horrible cruelty and intolerance toward those who kept the ancient traditions and beliefs alive - by killing thousand of people living in harmony with the ancestral laws or torturing others - we can realize today that they never truly suceeded what they called their "mission" to christianize our lands... and the best proof of it is the strong resurgence of pagansim in today's world.......

Many of the old traditions are still alive and celebrated, especially in the campaign, and survived through the centuries to be transmitted from a mother and a father to their children and so on... Many of the nowadays feasts known by everyone are actually no less than the old pagan feast taken by the christians to make our conversion easier in front of the impossibilty to erase our feast for their too deep meaning for us, they simply had to keep our feast, but they changed a part of the meaning.. for instance, when at Yule (Winter Solstice) we feasted the return of the mighty sunwheel, they interpreted it as the birth of the christ, but most of the things that surround this feast stood pagan in the way to practise and celebrate. Many other examples are to be quoted and this one have to be told about deeper later, and so here is my aim with those writtings. I wish to help restoring the true meaning of the ancient feast, and to keep those traditions alive and reborning stronger and stronger in the hearts of our folk, but I also wish to simply talk about some popular practises of the everyday's life that was also important or common for our ancestors.......

Other writers before me already contributed a lot to the rewakening of the old faith, and I hope many more after me will, and the more people talk, write, sing, compose music, draw, paint.. etc about the old pagan way, the more it is honoured and the stronger it gets.....

Before starting with the pagan feast, traditions and ancient rituals, I will first of all present myself to you through some important elements of my life that lead me here today and also I judge it necessary to share some of my ideas which all explain my motivation to write and to start what maybe will become a book someday.......

I simply see paganism as the only belief in harmony with nature, with justice and with the true values one must have and respect in order to be a noble mind.....

Personally, I have always lived in campaign, sourrounded by forest and nature which was a vast place where to create thousand of games or where to build cabin in the woods or again where to go in the higher branches of the trees to then just stay there to talk and laugh with other friends... I often say I was born a pagan and will die as a pagan... indeed, I realize that since my very childhood, I was aware of the power and magic of nature. Already, my grand mother teached me certain things about nature and about the plants, and she always told me that she spoke herself to the plants, because she knew they could listen to her and had a soul or spirit as well as human does (doesn't Frigg speak to all creatures too, animal and vegetal, when she ask for the protection of Balder?)... so I have always been speaking with trees and nature, as well as with all the plants I used to have in my room or in my garden when I waited for them to grow, mainly to hail them... I was aware that nature had a true spirit, and at that time I often went through the woods even alone to make great walk.......

When I grew up, my passion for nature took a more "magical" path... for instance the ravens signs sent to us by their screams was then my inspiration to create with a friend of mine some legends about certain places... the ravens were seen for us as protectors, like warning us of danger... when we were in the woods and heard them from far away, we said that a savage creature would be arriving soon.. and on this, great story got told about those creatures wandering in the forest and we spread them to all other children in the village... to protect then the place and ourself, we wanted to use the 4 elements might of air, fire, water and earth... this leading us to use very ancient pagan symbols even though at that time we were not yet aware of their pagan history.......

It's some years later, that I heard for the first time about the viking and also about the celts... and even if today the elements of the celtic culture are far more spread than the ones of the germanic pagan tribes or the viking, I never truly had an interest about them until later.. I guess the reason is simple, my roots are germanic and so naturaly, this is this culture that called me the most. I am born in Lothringen, and true rooted people from here comes from the germanic tribe called the Franks. The Franks used to have the same beliefs, the same Gods and Goddesses than the Viking, which explain why the viking mythology talked so much to my heart, and they are themself descendant of some germanic tribe from middle Europe.....

Since then, I followed my path, honoring my ancient pagan heritage of the north... and created my musical project called Eliwagar in the aim to use music as my way to honour and as my way to help in the revival of paganism!....

I strongly believe it's important to keep the beliefs and cutlure of our own ancestors, because this is eternally part of the subconscience which lies in everyone of us where is carved in the depth of our spirit the history of all the individuals who preceeded us, and who transmitted their blood until our generation... so our heritage is not only in our spirit, but is also kept in our blood and heart and this is the reason why it's so important to stay and found family with people of our own folk.. so the heritage is kept alive, and every culture stay alive from the parents to children and the chain never shall break...

Today, we want to make us believe that mixing every races together is good, but they are simply killing every primitive culture from the earth.. and this for absolutely every folk who decide to mix their blood... We want to make everyone think that the ones who keep defending their heritage are simply haters, are people who fear foreigners and are people highly stupid... but I cannot understand how do anyone come to such conclusion which to me makes no sense... when we tell people some tribes in amazonian forest must be protected and stay between themself following the ancient way of their ancestors to keep surviving, most people of course agree and say indeed it's needed so they don't disappear.. but when it comes to our own folk, when it comes to mostly european folk to be precise (just reality and facts), who have been forced to leave their true ancestral path when christiansity invaded our lands centuries ago, and now, when our folk is disappearing because too few reproduce or they instead mix with other blood, and let their territory be full of any other people and all other culture that is not ours, then this should not at all be considered as a crime against our folk, this should be normal.. let me ask you why? why we do not have this right? and why if we want to take this right because we know we need to act to not see the death of our people then we are called evil racist?? where is racism there where it's called natural for any other folk except us??....

I simply ask you this.. and I guess anyone should reflect on those words before judging with stupid senseless argument to attack us.....

There is no shame, there is no hate, there is no stupidity in the fact of wishing our own folk and heritage to survive... it survived through 2000 years under christians tyranny, and we cannot just give up now and forget what our ancestors gave to us as the most sacred thing to be carried on...

So, that's simply why my voice now resound like the ones of many others, that's why I refuse to stay silent, and that's why at my turn I wish to speak!....

Now that you know a little more about me and my ideology, it's time to start talking about the subject this book deals with which are namely the pagan feast, traditions and rituals of once.......






- CHAPTER I: THE WHEEL OF THE FEASTS THROUGH THE YEAR -

One year is divided through 8 main pagan feasts.

Please note that the dates of all the feasts given here are rough dates, the best is always to follow the sign in nature to know when really is the time to celebrate.. this is how our ancestors used to do. For instance the Balder’s Night is often said to occur in April the 31th and May the 1st, but actually it is more accurate to feast it when the hawthorn first is blooming, the sign that indeed Balder has reborn and the sign of the glorious time...

I decided to use the Aegishjalmur(*) to draw the wheel of the feasts. This symbol for me represents everything, the middle lands with Midgard in the center and the 8 other worlds surrounding it (Muspellheim, Nilfheim, Helheim, Asgard, Jotunheim, Vanaheim, Svartalfaheim, Alfaheim). The nine worlds here are represented, and the 24 runes of the old futhark also, as well as the symbol of the world tree Yggdrasil with the Algiz runes that bound all worlds from the roots to the high branches… Urd, Verdandi and Skuld, bound eternally to our roots, to our present and to our fate that lead us to the glorious light of the sunwheel, to the high place of Asgard where shines the Walhalla’s golden hall… We ourself follow this path draw by the Aegishjalmur … we all find our source and our roots far in the past realm, where our subconscient lies in Nilfheim, from where the Eliwagar flows to create Midgard, to create the present where we are, and that tend to go until the bright realm of light and glory, the realm of the sacred fire where all the braves gather, where the folk once again meet… Our quest is always such as the Algiz rune, to take our strength from our roots, from the darkness where all mysteries, where all knowledge and all wisdom lies in order to grow until the light… and our life is ruled above all by the nature cycles of the year that allow us to grow through the darkness and to rise with the light… eternal cycle of life and death…

The Wheel Of The Pagan Feast

* Aegishjalmur: The Aegishjalmur is mostly known as a powerful symbol inspiring fear to the enemy. But not anyone who wear it can inspire the greatest of all fear… only someone who possess a great strenght, and a great knowledge of the nine worlds (or could we say, who made his journey through the Aegishjalmur), who know both the darkness and light and who travelled enough to experience the truth and who sacrificed themselves to themselves in order to obtain the wisdom can truly use this symbol at its highest level. Whoever knows enough to fear nothing is the most dangerous and unbeatable warrior that no one and nothing can stop, and his rage and endless courage seen in his eyes through the Aegishjalmur carved on his blood, in his heart and in his soul inspire fear to anyone who would have the « bad luck » to be his enemy… there is no more dangerous man than the one who saw the darkness at their origin, for he knows the only path he is taking then is the one to the light… might he die, might he live, only victory is reserved for him... and knowing this, he has then no limit...

- CHAPTER II: PAGAN FEASTS -

1. Yule

Yule is the feast of the winter solstice and happens on decembre the 21st according to our modern calendar. However, some relations of mine and I suppose that our ancestors of the north might have follow the moon calendar instead, and in such case, the longest night of the year would be the one of the new moon of end decembre, so the night where no moonlight at all would be seen, where the sun would be impatiently awaited before the new beginning. This is just a personal theory that could be more reflected about, but I thought to share this with you. For the year 2008 for instance, Yule would have been then on decembre the 27th according to the moon calendar.....

Yule lasts 12 days and 12 nights, during this time Frey and Freyja (Nerthus) will ride with their chariots on Midgard and they will make the soil fertile for the new year to come. This is why during all the Yule time, all chariots and all the wheels are stopped, it’s to honour Frey and Freyja and let them be the only one to ride to bless the earth. An other meaning of this tradition is to honour Sol, who cross the sky in her chariot with her 2 horses Arvak and Alsvid, the wheel of the sun grows from the winter solstice and to hail this victory of the wheel of the sun, we stop the wheels on Midgard.....

This is also during Yule that Odin (Wotan) ride with the wild hunt, joined by the dead and the spirits of ancestors, they come with the mighty wind and are present with the folk feasting. This is why we share our food, our beer and our mead with our ancestors on this time, we gather with their spirits, always at our sides, always with us through our blood and memory. Christians tried to seperate us from our ancestors by saying the wild hunt was scary and evil and killed any of those who could see it… but how false and stupid ! Such foolish words might have been influenced also because of some who practise shamanism, who entered in trance and then looked like dead, while actually they were just communicating with the spirit of the dead (such magic practise was called evil and devilish by the christians). Anyway, the wild hunt isn’t to be feared, we cannot fear our ancestors, the ones who gave us the blood that is in us ! We better should feast, dance and sing with them and for them, so they stay eternal… for the wisdom knows, everything on earth dies, but the only one thing to be immortal is the honour of a man while he was alive… songs about heroes, songs for Walhalla, songs about Valkyries and about all the legends of the ones who lived before us are what keep them alive on Midgard !....

The wildboar (or the pig) is the traditional animal eaten at Yule. It symbolizes Frey, the god of fertility. So, it was common to hunt a wild boar, and then share the meat with Frey, a part of the animal would be given as offering, and the other would be eaten by the folk. For the ones who were unable to get a wildboar, or to kill a pig, they cooked bread with the form of a pig, that symbolized it.....

The other great and undying tradition at Yule is to decorate a tree. Once, it was an oak which used to be decorated, because this was the tree of life for the german tribes and it was also the tree of Thor (Donnar), with time and after the christianisation of Europe, it became a pine tree, symbol of eternity.....

Yule being the time of the reawakening, decorating the tree of life then make all sense, it was a celebration of the life coming back, and it also was to hail Thor and ask for his protection for the folk and for the land for the new year.....

A log of oak was also burnt, and a whole trunk was used in order to make it last 12 hours. A coal from this log once entirely consumed then would be kept and would be used to light the next summer solstice fire. As well, a coal from the last summer solstice was kept and used to light the Yule fire. Burning the oaken log at Yule was also done to protect the home of lightnings.....

Yule is a time of peace and rest, a time of feast and conviviality. No weapons are to be raised, the iron stays down. It is a time to gather with the family, with the beloved ones and friends to celebrate the growing sunwheel. No one works, and women also stop any of their sewing work, because Frigg and the goddesses come on Midgard and look if women worked well during the past year.....

The folk gather and share between themself all their goods, their food and drinks and they give each other some presents. They survived all together united during the falling darkness, they stood side by side and stood strong, and this exchange of gift is a way to thank and honour their bound… this sacred bound that kept alive their community.....




2. Vali's Fest

The Vali's Fest occur on February the 14th. This is originally a family feast, today known by everyone because of its new and modern name : the "saint valentine", a.k.a the "lover fest", one of the most commercial one through the year sadly... again one of our sacred ancient feast perverted by the ones who swear only by money and by the death of our true traditions.

The name given to this feast is due to the fact that it's on this day that Vali avenge his brother Balder by killing Hodr, the blind god that pierced Balder with the branche of mistletoe and who was led by Loki to realize this aweful act.

On february, it's the coldest time of the year, which is a paradox to the growing sun that get warmer and stronger... this is the hardest fight bewteen the light and darkness... the early morning frost in the open plains try to resist the rays of the golden sunwheel coming to caress the awakening lands... the ice that embrace the trees and every creature over Midgard refuses to cry for the rebirth of the light... and the strong windy and snowy storm comes to face the summoned spring...

The folk feast and hail the sunwheel, they gather with their family and beloved ones and women cook some pancakes, round like the sun, in order to encourage the future victory of the light over the darkness...

We hail the sun that fight so hard, we hail her strenght that is the symbol of life! her warmth that will awake the fields, the forests and the mountains... good fruits and food she will bring when the golden age comes!

In darkness, family always keep the strenght that we need in order to face the hardest time. The bound we have with our kindred is where lay our chance to survive. This is not surprising that the worste punishment that could be given during the old time where the banishement of someone from the society.. they knew they would find death, alone and isolated from their clan.. As well, this is not surprising to see that a feast celebrated in the coldest time of the year was a family feast, together they fight, together they survive! It is so the best way to celebrate the light and the life, to gather with our beloved ones and hail to glory!

May children sit by the fire and listen to the ancient telling of the greatest legends while the wind blows so strong outside and while all is covered by ice and snow... let's smell the good pancakes prepared by the beloved women, keepers of the ancient traditions... let the men and warriors tell of their glory on the battlefield... and let them hail their brothers in the golden Halls... let the fire burn and only happiness filling our heart, as we can see the most precious thing we can ever get is simply to have a family and/or dear ones with who to be...

Hail and glory to Vali!!!

3. Ostara