Community Altar for October 2018: Hel and The Ancestors

October 30, 2018 | Filed Under Altars, Community Altar | Comments Off on Community Altar for October 2018: Hel and The Ancestors

This month’s community altar is dedicated to the Goddess Hel, and to the Ancestors.

An altar with a an image of the Goddess Hel, a vase of flowers, two candles, a glass of water, and a small plate with a slice of bread on which is sprinkled salt and sugar.

Community Altar October 2018 – Hel and The Ancestors

This month’s altar is simple, and yet rich with symbols. The flower bouquet is half carnations (flowers of springtime) and half mums (flowers of autumn, traditionally associated with death), reflecting the two halves of Hel’s body, and the realities of our human lives: we are dying every moment we live, and death becomes the beginning a new life.

The alabaster candle holder on the left is the Ancestor Candle that is on each Community Altar; the holder on the right is the Community Candle that is on each Community Altar.

The glass of water and the plate holding the offering are from my grandmother’s Blue Willow china, which recently came to me, 18 years after her death. Some of the pieces are over 100 years old, and all have deep connections to family; these were the breakfast dishes used daily to feed the family around the large table in the dining room every day.

The plate holds a piece of bread, on which are an offering of salt and an offering of sugar. Salt is essential for life, and sugar makes life sweet.

The image of Hel is by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince; it’s the Two of Earth card from her amazing Dark Goddess Tarot. As the Wheel of the Year turns, we in the Northern Hemisphere see the last of the harvest and the fields going dormant for winter; those in the Southern Hemisphere see the first signs of spring and the new life beginning after the temporary barrenness and death of winter. Hel’s body, half living and half dead, exemplifies this both/and nature of our being and of life.

Prayer to Hel and to the Ancestors

Hail, Hel!
Quiet Queen of Helheim,
Tranquil Lady of the Dead.
I thank You for Your gentle care
of my Beloved Dead.
May they be at peace in Your realm,
Free of the cares of mortal life,
Resting, healing, being made whole
In Your loving care.

Hail the Ancestors, Beloved Dead!
Kin of body,
Kin of mind,
Kin of heart,
Kin of soul.
I know your names, and speak them with love;
Or, if unnamed, honor you as “Teacher” and “Guide”.

I know you by your words,
The truths and tales
Which survive the years.

I know you by your deeds,
Your daily work of living,
Your life’s work of giving.

Inspired by you,
I create my life
Day by day,
Word by word,
Deed by deed.

I move through my day in strength and grace
And make the world a better place
For now, and for those who will come after.

Book List Updates, October 30, 2018

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Here are this week’s “oooh” items for the Book List, thanks to The Medieval Magazine:

Medieval Sensibilities: A History of Emotions in the Middle Ages, By Damien Boquet and Piroska Nagy, translated by Robert Shaw
Polity Press, ISBN: 978-1-5095-1465-6

Excerpt: What were the emotional consequences of the Christianization of Europe? In Medieval Sensibilities, Damien Boquet and Piroska Nagy bring to the English-speaking audience the fruits of their long reflection on this question. They show how, far from being a stagnant ‘Middle Age’ standing between the learned ancient world and the discontented modernity, the period was in constant affective ferment. Social and economic changes in themselves brought new sensibilities and needs. These new milieus, drawing on and filtering, but also adding to, the many intellectual traditions increasingly available to an expanding clerical elite, transformed their thoughts about Christ’s Passion. In turn, these new understandings, taught in the schools, proclaimed in the churches, preached on the streets, and acted out by rulers, transformed the feelings and behaviours of Europeans in general.

Also:

Portraits of Medieval Eastern Europe, 900-1400, Edited by Donald Ostroski and Christian Raffensperger
Routledge, ISBN: 978-1-138-70120-5

Publisher’s Overview: Portraits of Medieval Eastern Europe provides imagined biographies of twenty different figures from all walks of life living in Eastern Europe from 900 to 1400. Moving beyond the usual boundaries of speculative history, the book presents innovative and creative interpretations of the people, places, and events of medieval Eastern Europe and provides an insight into medieval life from Scandinavia to Byzantium.

Each chapter explores a different figure and together they present snapshots of life across a wide range of different social backgrounds. Among the figures are both imagined and historical characters, including the Byzantine Princess Anna Porphyrogenita, a Jewish traveller, a slave, the Mongol general Sübodei, a woman from Novgorod, and a Rus’ pilgrim. A range of different narrative styles are also used throughout the book, from omniscient third-person narrators to diary entries, letters, and travel accounts.

And, lastly (oh, who am I kidding—there is no “last” on the book list):

The Cambridge History of Ireland, Volume 1: 600-1550, Edited by Brendan Smith
Cambridge University Press, ISBN:978-107-11067-0

The thousand years explored in this book witnessed developments in the history of Ireland that resonate to this day. Interspersing narrative with detailed analysis of key themes, the first volume in The Cambridge History of Ireland presents the latest thinking on key aspects of the medieval Irish experience. The contributors are leading experts in their fields, and present their original interpretations in a fresh and accessible manner. New perspectives are offered on the politics, artistic culture, religious beliefs and practices, social organisation and economic activity that prevailed on the island in these centuries. At each turn the question is asked: to what extent were these developments unique to Ireland? The openness of Ireland to outside influences, and its capacity to influence the world beyond its shores, are recurring themes. Underpinning the book is a comparative, outward-looking approach that sees Ireland as an integral but exceptional component of medieval Christian Europe.

*Places the Irish experience in the broader context of medieval European developments, allowing for comparisons and contrasts with other countries to emerge
*Contains new and original perspectives from the leading scholars in the field
*Written in an accessible style and supported by full scholarly apparatus and carefully selected maps, tables and illustrations

Daily Poem: A Gift ~ Amy Lowell

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A Gift
~ Amy Lowell

See! I give myself to you, Beloved!
My words are little jars
For you to take and put upon a shelf.
Their shapes are quaint and beautiful,
And they have many pleasant colours and lusters
To recommend them.
Also the scent from them fills the room
With sweetness of flowers and crushed grasses.

When I shall have given you the last one,
You will have the whole of me,
But I shall be dead.

Daily Poem: Beginning ~ James Wright

October 29, 2018 | Filed Under Poem for Hela | Comments Off on Daily Poem: Beginning ~ James Wright

Beginning
~ James Wright

The moon drops one or two feathers into the field.
The dark wheat listens.
Be still.
Now.
There they are, the moon’s young, trying
Their wings.
Between trees, a slender woman lifts up the lovely shadow
Of her face, and now she steps into the air, now she is gone
Wholly, into the air.
I stand alone by an elder tree, I do not dare breathe
Or move.
I listen.
The wheat leans back toward its own darkness,
And I lean toward mine.

Historic Photos of Icelandic Women from the Daniel Bruun Collection, Danish National Museum

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Iceland Magazine has a wonderful spread of historic photos of Icelandic women in traditional clothing. The photos are from the Daniel Bruun Collection at the Danish National Museum. (Warning: the museum site has a significant number of photos in its online collection—you may be there a while.)

The hats are fabulous!

This one looks a lot like a raven. Also, it’s quite effective for staying warm on windy days.

Photo from the Daniel Bruun Collection at the Danish National Museum

 

An indoor version, without the hood.

Photo from the Daniel Bruun Collection at the Danish National Museum

A highly decorated version—the embroidery must have taken weeks!

Photo from the Daniel Bruun Collection at the Danish National Museum

Speaking of embroidery, the work on this skirt is amazing:

Photo from the Daniel Bruun Collection at the Danish National Museum

Check out the entire collection!

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