Your Daily God

[deoridhe]

"sin" of the day: envy

Goe, and catche a falling starre,
Get with child a mandrake roote,
Tell me, where all past yeares are,
Or who cleft the Divels foot,
Teach me to heare Mermaides singing,
Or to keep off envies stinging,
And find
What winde
Serves to advance an honest minde.

If thou beest borne to strange sights,
Things invisible to see,
Ride ten thousand daies and nights,
Till age snow white haires on thee,
Thou, when thou retorn'st, wilt tell me
All strange wonders that befell thee,
And sweare
No where
Loves a woman true, and faire.

If thou findst one, let mee know,
Such a Pilgrimage were sweet;
Yet doe not, I would not goe,
Though at next doore wee might meet,
Though shee were true, when you met her,
And last, till you write your letter,
Yet shee
Will bee
False, ere I come, to two, or three.

--Song, by John Donne

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This is more interesting than your average livejournal quiz. Lets map us all! All it asks for is general area. I suppose, eventually, we could slide across huge webs of interests and friends until we find the most obscure people.

I'm trying to get all my Livejournal friends' locations plotted on a map - please add your location starting with this form. Username:

Now I need to go make some more friends on other continents.

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Now that random nonsense is out of the way, I'll recap the weekend. Saturday was definitely an Odin's Day; I spent the morning sleeping, the early afternoon at a Blot to the Einharjar (the battle-slain), and the evening at a Samhain circle dedicated to Hel and Baldr, for which I wrote the invocations and devocations. I now have Baldr on the brain; he's such an elusive god. I always felt vaguely uncomfortable around him since he was so similar to Jesus, and he rarely seems to be thought of in the Asatru and Pagan circles I move in. He seems the embodiment of frith, although he is not the embodiment of sensibleness. I placed him in Hel, though given that none of us are sure where we are on the Ragnorak timetable that might have been out of place. Hel herself was reportedly worshiped very rarely in the past, a fact which I find interesting but not unexpected. According to Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson (HRED), Hel was thought of first as a place and only later as a person. She is pale as ivory above, her skin flawless and pure, and blue-black on her lower half. HRED pointed out that her appearance may very well be in response to the lividity of blood in a corpse; in the six to twelve hours after a death, all of the blood sinks to the lowest part of the body and turns it into a vivid blue-red-black. The color is... incredibly disturbing; I've seen it in photographs. The rest of the skin goes a waxy-pale due to the lack of blood. This revelation was like a lightening bolt in my brain; it made such sense! The evening was capped by my doing rune readings for many people, crafting a bindrune for A., one of thewronghands's roommates, and lots of conversation (with a little moral indignation thrown in for good measure). I was able to meet a few people who had simply been names up until then as well, and the group was nicely small, a fact I appreciated.

Sunday was given over to Odin's wife, the wide eyed, long eared goddess Frigga. I cleaned, and then I cleaned some more. I was only awake for thirteen hours, and yet an incredible amount was packed into a very short span of time. Amazingly, my usual cleaning resentment didn't rear it's ugly head this time; indeed, I remained quite pleasant and happy for most of it. The quiet was just what I needed, I think, and I found the process of seeing things that were once dirty become clean very soothing. I also cooked quite a lot of food (including rice balls of three different flavors), so hopefully my diet can go back on track this week. Sometime soon, my plants need to be repotted for wintering-over; I should also pick up some chips or peatmoss for insulation through the cold as well. The annuals have done their difficult work and lived their short life; it is time for death and rest. The perennials are ready for sleep as well; I cut back my Goblin Flowers almost to the root and brought in most of the lavender I want to keep; I'm waiting for the longer stalks on the porch to grow flowers so I can make them into wreathes for people. Once the long pots are emptied, I need to dispose of the dirt somehow (I wonder if my mom needs any) and clean everything up for the winter. Perhaps next time I get into the cleaning zone, I will remember to begin with a quick Blot to Frigga; I'd like to render more tasks in my life meaningful through the incorporation of the deities who most regard what I am doing.

And today... well... today has had it's ups and downs. I think I'll give this one to Loki; he always does like to make me live in interesting times.

Comments

[rialian.livejournal.com]

I was able to meet a few people who had simply been names up until then as well, and the group was nicely small, a fact I appreciated.

===It was a pleasure to get to meet you, as well.

[deoridhe.livejournal.com]

It was definitely a pleasure. Hopefully we'll have more of such groupings.