Hyge-Cræft:Working with the Soul in the Northern Tradition

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Hyge-Cræft:Working with the Soul in the Northern Tradition

Postby The Madame X » Sun Mar 19, 2006 9:13 am

Hyge-Cræft:
Working with the Soul in the Northern Tradition
by Diana L. Paxson

In the Old Norse Rune Poem, we learn that man is an "augmentation of
the dust". Of dust, certainly, the body is made, and yet the
literature of the North is full of references to that which augments
it-- the spiritual part or parts of a man. Not only is a belief in
the supra-physical clearly demonstrated in Northern tradition, but
the evidence, though fragmentary and often full of contradictions,
suggests, if not the existence of a lost model of the hug, or
psyche, which is of considerable sophistication, at least a
traditional lore which can form the basis for such an analysis, as
rich and intriguing as the doctrine of the soul in any theology.

I must emphasize that the discussion which follows should be
considered speculative and exploratory. Despite the example of two
thousand years worth of dogmatic Christian theology, it seems to me
that when dealing with a subject as nebulous as the breath itself,
to claim certainty would be a contradiction in terms. These
questions will not be truly answered until we, like Gangleri, come
to the High One's hall. As heathens, we can afford to live with
uncertainty. However uncertain, Hyge-cræft, or the study of the
soul, is an exciting area of speculation.

According to Kvideland and Sehmsdorf, in folk tradition,
the "deliberate manipulation of the hug is the basis of all
magic."(p. 41). In Scandinavian Folk Belief and Magic, magic
involving or affecting the soul occupies the entire first section, a
testament to its importance. The generic Norse term for the psyche
is hug, Danish hu, Swedish håg, Anglo Saxon hyge. Usually "hyge-
cræft" is translated as "knowledge, wisdom," but it could serve as
well as a term for the "craft" of working with the soul.

Hug refers to elements of the psyche such as personality, thoughts,
feelings, and desires. It can therefore be used as a term for the
entire non-physical component of a human being. A more sophisticated
(or perhaps simply more complicated) approach is to anatomize the
soul into a number of subdivisions, as did the Egyptians and certain
other occult traditions.

Most people are more concerned with getting their heads together
than dissecting them-- an integrated personality is one which is
does not have to spend time worrying about its components. A theory
of soul anatomy can be useful, however, when dealing with
psychological problems such as multiple personality disorder or soul
loss, or in preparing for spiritual practices involving changes in
consciousness or voluntary, controlled dissociation. It also
provides a useful framework for preparing for the experience of
death and speculating on the afterlife.

In Futhark, Edred Thorsson begins his discussion of the soul with
the external qualities of the physical body (appearance, movement
and health) mentioned in the creation myth discussed below; and four
spiritual entities: the hugr, hamr, hamingja, and fylgja.
Gundarssson makes the same basic division between the lich (body),
and the soul, which includes the hamingja, hide, fetch, valkyrja,
and mind. I would like to propose a schema in which the component
parts of a living person are identified as follows: the physical
body (lich); etheric or astral body (ham); personal consciousness or
mind; the breath of life or spirit (önd); the higher self (goði);
and divine consciousness (öðr).

To each of these aspects one of the rich complement of spirit guides
and guardians from the literature can be assigned. Unlike the
physical body, whose parts appear and function in the same way
regardless of race or religion, the parts of the soul can be divided
up in a number of ways, depending on cultural or (as in this case)
personal preference. I think that the approach to analyzing the soul
presented in this essay can be helpful, but obviously the value of
any particular way of dividing things up depends on its meaning for
the person using it.

However the divisions are made, our analysis of the soul from a
Norse perspective must begin with the myth of the creation of
humankind.

In "Voluspá" (17-18, Hollander's translation) we read--

To the coast then came, kind and mighty
from the gathered gods three great Æsir;
on the land they found, of little strength,
Ask and Embla, unfated yet.

Sense they possessed not, soul they had not,
being nor bearing, nor blooming hue;
soul [ond] gave Óthinn, sense [oðr] gave Hoenir,
being, Lódhur, and blooming hue [lá, læti, litr].

In his summary of this story in the Younger Edda, Snorri interprets
these gifts as: breath and life; consciousness and movement; and
speech, hearing and sight. These primary components of the
individual might be summarized as the breath/spirit, consciousness,
and the physical body with its senses. This three-fold division of
body, mind, and spirit, is a common one, but an expanded analysis is
needed in order to understand how the psyche functions, especially
in spiritual work or magic. According to this expanded view, the
components of a human being can be described as follows.

1. The physical body (lich/lyke)

The soul, however defined or dissected, is generally associated with
a body. We must therefore begin our discussion where the Elder Edda
begins it, with the animation of the physical body by the gods. In
the creation story, the gifts of Lódhur are, in Old Norse, lá, læti,
and litr. Their meaning is problematic, but a reasonable explanation
seems to be that "lá" is "appearance," "læti" is movement,
and "litr" is "health"-- the "being, bearing, and blooming hue" of
Hollander's translation. Lódhur gave, therefore, those things that
identify the physical body and enable it to function efficiently. He
is the protector of the "lich," or "lyke" ("likeness!"), the
physical shape in which we walk the world. This is the equivalent
concept to the annamaya kosa, the physical body, in Hindu theology.

The body, with its senses, is formed by cell division and
multiplication. From the first joining of zygotes it develops and
grows, its nature determined by the instructions carried in the
genes, and environmental influences such as health and nutrition.
Its senses are those which enable an individual to interact with the
physical world, and provide metaphors for all spiritual experience.

"Death," as usually defined, occurs when this physical body ceases
to function. Not only do its physical components return to the
elements from which they were formed, but its spiritual parts (if
any) are dispersed also. It survives as part of the earth, in which
it may be transformed into flowers or trees (or the bodies of other
humans, viz. Hamlet's analysis). It also survives by passing its
genetic material along to the next generation through reproduction.

As Gundarsson points out, the physical body is the vehicle which
carries the others, the means through which magic is manifested in
the world. It is therefore essential to take proper care of it.
Unlike eastern traditions in which enlightenment is achieved through
the mortification of the body or the practice of austerities, earth
religions, including those of Northern Europe, value and celebrate
the body. Good physical condition is a prerequisite for serious
magical work. Illness, exhaustion and lack of food may contribute to
visionary experience, but make it difficult and sometimes dangerous
to work magic. Whether one is using one's physical resources for
physical or psychic work, it is important to replenish them.

2. The energy/astral body (ham / hide)

For the second component I choose to use the term ham, the "shape,"
or "hide".. The ham occupies a place somewhere between the physical
and "spiritual". The existence of an astral body is a tenet of a
number of systems of occultism, especially those influenced by
Hinduism. This "body" appears to be composed of some kind of energy
interpenetrating the physical body (or, according to the
spiritualists, ectoplasm). Its radiance may be what is sensed by
those who see auras. It is usually perceived as a radiant double or
envelope, encasing the human form. In Hinduism, this would
correspond to the pranamaya kosa, the pranic sheath of vitality.

Theories of astral projection hold that this energy body can be
detached from its physical twin and sent out on journeys on
the "astral plane" or even in the physical world. Stories of
bilocation, Out of the Body Experiences (OOBE's), apparitions at the
moment of death, etc., probably refer to this kind of separation.
During the journey, the astral body remains connected to the
physical vehicle by a silver cord attached at the solar plexus.

The glowing shapes recorded by Kirlian photography may be pictures
of this "body". If so, the fact that plants whose leaves have been
cut off still show "spirit leaves" in such photos suggests that it
may survive the destruction of the physical form, at least for a
time. In many traditions, a ghost of the deceased may hang around
its old home for a considerable time after death, and must be
persuaded to go on to its own place by ritual. I suspect that this
energy trace, being dependent on the physical form, eventually
disperses as well. Thorsson defines the hamR as the personal aspect
of the plastic image-forming esence in the cosmos-- another way of
saying it is that part of an individual which exists in and can
journey through the astral plane.

In ancient tradition, the term which seems to correspond to
this "body" is ham, which can be interpreted as "shape," or "hide".
In the literature, the ham is the animal form taken by a
practitioner of seidh for astral journeying. Old Norse literature is
rich in stories of shapeshifting and vocabulary derived from the ham
root. Some of the shapes cited in the literature include bear, wolf,
swan, seal, mare and hare, but it can take almost any animal form.
Perhaps the best-known story of such astral travel is that of Boðvar
Bjarki, who fought in the form of a bear while his lich lay in
trance (HrolfKrakisaga)

In Scandinavian folklore, each person has an animal shape which
follows him like a shadow and can be seen by the second-sighted
(although what is seen may be the hamingja, see below). Shamans can
shape-change astrally into a variety of animals to go journeying. In
the Ynglingasaga, Snorri tells us that among the seidh skills
possessed by Odin was the ability to go forth in animal form while
his body lay as if sleeping. His ravens may also be projections of
his consciousness. Freyja can take the form of a falcon and possibly
a sow or a mare (the latter are two of her epithets).

Someone who changes form easily is hamrammR-- "shapestrong"; a
journey taken in another shape is hamfarir; hamask means to fall
into a state of animal fury; hamslauss to be out of one's shape; and
hambleytha is the act of leaping out of one's skin. One is reminded
of the Navajo term, "skinwalker" for a witch who takes wolf form.
For simplicity's sake, I favor referring to a spirit guide who
appears in animal form as the hamingja, and the shape which an
experienced practitioner of seidh uses for astral travel as the hamR.

The term hamingja, translated variously as "luck, fortune," or "a
guardian spirit," is often used interchangeably with fylgja.
In "Vafthruthnismál":49, the hamingjur are Jotun-maidens, possibly
to be identified with the Norns. The root -- hamR -- supports an
interpretation which identifies it more closely as an aspect of the
individual to whom it belongs. In the sagas, a person's luck is
sometimes transferrable-- permanently from a man to his heir, or
temporarily from a king to his follower.

Gundarsson, following Thorsson, defines the hamingja as a personal
reserve of energy, the source of the fylgja's power. In folklore,
however, the hamingja may take the form of the individual
him/herself, or it may appear in the shape of an animal. If the
hamingja is defined as an entity as opposed to an energy pool, it
would seem logical to identify the it as the guardian of an
individual's hamR. If so, the power animal or ally who assists the
practitioner of contemporary shamanism would be an example of this
kind of guardian.

3. Personal consciousness or personality - Mind

Personal consciousness is the mind, the aspect of the psyche of
which we are most constantly aware, the part which we identify
as "I". It is generally divided into two components, which are
however defined in a variety of ways by different cultures and
schools of psychotherapy. The Norse seem to have personified them in
the two ravens of Odhinn. In Hinduism, they are manomaya kosa,
the "instinctive-intellectual sheath," and vijnanamaya kosa,
the "Mental, or cognitive, sheath". Other versions might be "right"
versus "left" brain function, the id and the ego of Freudian
psychology, or even the conscious and unconscious (linked to the
collective unconscious as described by Jung). Whatever terms one
chooses, there seems to be a general agreement that consciousness
consists of the hug a part which does the thinking, and knows itself
with on-going, active awareness (note that Thorsson makes this a
separate part, defining it as the conscious will and intellect), and
a second part, (minni) which is less accessible and which includes
memories.

When people discuss the possibility of individual spiritual
survival, it is generally the survival of the personality to which
they are referring. In a "normal" individual, personal consciousness
is perceived as an integrated whole. We know, however, that
personality can be fragmented. When this happens involuntarily and
has a negative impact, it is considered a personality disorder.

However dissociation may be induced voluntarily in certain kinds of
artistic or magical work. The actor who "becomes" a character on
stage is allowing his body to become the vehicle for another
personality. Writers "become" their characters while they are
creating them. In some spiritual traditions, the initiate
deliberately creates a "magical personality," or allows his or her
body to become the vehicle through which a spirit guide may
communicate, or to be possessed by a god. The distinction between
spirituality and pathology seems to depend on context, control, and
results.

In multiple personality disorders, a traumatized psyche splits off
personalities to deal with specific situations. The process of
splitting may continue until dozens of "people" are sharing a body,
each with his or her own sets of memories, speech and movement
patterns, likes and dislikes, knowledge and skills. Some of them
know about each other, but there is usually one which is ignorant of
all the others, and who in really unpleasant situations gets left to
take the rap. Therapy strives to get all these personalities to
reintegrate, or to abdicate in favor of a new core personality which
includes most of their abilities, or to become subject to the
control of one of them.

The shamanic practice of soul retrieval appears to be directed
towards a related kind of personality disorder, in which the
fragmented parts of the personality, rather than taking over,
are "lost" in the spirit world. In traditional cultures soul loss is
diagnosed as the cause of certain kinds of illness, depression and
the like. Coma is the ultimate soul loss, in which the entire
conscious personality has withdrawn.

Observation of individuals with short or long-term memory loss shows
that a recognizable personality may continue to function without the
memories and knowledge that formed it. Spiritualism and other
traditions which feature communication with the dead believe that
personal consciousness survives the death of the body. Messages from
the dead are validated by the display of recognizable personality
traits and knowledge that only that individual would know.

One way to account for this is the possibility is that the
personality (or personalities) remains as an imprint on the astral
plane, which we may imagine to be something like an energy matrix
which encompasses physical reality. This pattern can be accessed,
and if energy is directed towards it can, like other thought-forms,
become an active entity. This hypothesis would explain how ancestral
spirits can become demi-gods.

Identifying and integrating all the various parts of the human
psyche is the work of contemporary psychotherapy. But since we are
approaching the problem from the perspective of Norse tradition, let
us explore the traditional bi-polar division represented by Huginn
and Muninn.

Muninn, usually translated as Memory, is presumably derived from the
Old Norse munR, meaning "mind," like the German minni, which carries
with it connotations of feeling or preference as well as of
mentation. Phrases such as "to bear in mind," or "remind me" clarify
the meaning. As such, it can be used to refer to right-brain and
unconscious mental functions, including memory.

It seems most appropriate to assign the ancestral spirits as
guardians for the Memory aspect of the psyche. In the sagas, which
mostly focus on masculine protagonists, ancestral spirits appear in
the form of the female guardians of the family line, the disir.
Descriptions of cult-worship offered to ancestors in Sweden and
Denmark suggest that the male ancestors should be referred to as the
alfar. Since they are not described interacting with females in the
sagas, it is not clear whether ancestors guard descendents of
opposite genders to their own, or whether, as seems more likely,
their functions are related to gender-specific social roles. My
guess is that the disir played a role consistent with the powers
ascribed to women by the culture, being concerned with birth, death,
and prophecy, while the alfar might have had more influence over
prosperity and problem solving.

Another option, suggested by Gundarsson, would be to identify the
guardian of minni with the kinfylgja, repository of a family's
ancestral luck and wisdom. However defined, these figures would be
the logical guardians of the collective unconscious-- those cultural
memories which are the spiritual equivalent of genetic material.
They are the obvious spirits to call upon for help in retrieving any
memories which are buried, whether personal or inherited.

If we continue to consider the mind as a bipolar entity, the second
component would be represented by Huginn, usually translated
as "thought," but derived, in Old Norse, from hugR, which also
means "mind". Like munR, this word has connotations of feeling, and
as we have seen above, in later Scandinavian folklore it became the
catch-all term for everything relating to the soul. To assign it to
the intellect and "left brain" thinking, is therefore somewhat
arbitrary, but possibly useful.

The guardian whom I would assign to the thinking part of the psyche
is the fylgja, whose English cognate is "fetch," an Old Norse term
for a personal guardian spirit. A "fetch" in the shape of human, an
animal or a crescent goes before its owner, but if he is fey, it
comes after him. "Fylgja" is cognate to a verb, meaning "to follow"
(Old English folgjan), which is used in the sense of backing up or
siding with someone, hanging around, belonging. According to
Thorsson, the fylgja is ". . .a numinous being attached to every
individual, which is the repository of all past actions and which
accordingly affects the person's life; the personal divinity.
Visualized as a contrasexual entity, an animal, or an abstract
shape." (Well of Wyrd, p. 119). Gundarsson defines it as an animal
form which shows the soul's inner nature and the person's condition,
visible to those with second sight.

One's fylgja is always around, although it can ordinarily be seen
only by those with the astral vision or in emergencies. All of the
references in the sagas are to female fylgjur attached to men. It is
not clear whether the spirit always appears as a member of the
opposite sex to its owner (like the Jungian animus or anima), or
whether the fylgja is simply a personal form of the matrilineal
spirit guardian.

In some of the Eddic poems, the protecting role of the fylgja is
taken by a valkyrie, who is a human or supernatural woman skilled in
battle magic who becomes the protector and lover of the hero. Some
of these stories share the motif of the "spirit-wife," who can
assume beast shape by putting on an animal skin. For valkyries, the
most common shape is that of a swan. Such spirit-spouses are also
common in the lore of Siberian shamanism, in which they can be of
either sex.

The terms norn, dis, and fylgja are used interchangeably in some of
the sagas. Probably their meaning varied from district to district,
or from individual to individual. Definitions vary among modern
writers as well. In practice it may be wise to develop relationships
with different disir or fylgjur for specific kinds of work, or to
simply establish contact with a "spirit guide" who will guard the
integrated personality. When working in a Norse context, I prefer to
refer to the spirit guide as a fylgja if it appears in human form.
If you want to be gender-specific, you could use fylgju-kona for a
female spirit, and fylgju-madhR for a male.

4. Breath/spirit (önd)

In the Eddas, the gift of Odhin is önd, literally "breath," whose
metaphoric meaning, as in so many languages, is "spirit" or "soul".
The concept expressed by önd seems to be equivalent to the Hebrew
ruach, the Greek pneuma, and other terms of this kind. It is one of
the most pervasive in religion. The winds are the breath of earth,
and planetary life depends upon our atmosphere. Inspiration is the
drawing of the first breath which signals the beginning of a life;
expiration is the rattle of breath at its end. Re-spiration enables
the body to metabolize food and oxygen in order to survive.
Breathing is thus the act that animates the body, the dynamic,
invisible, transforming power that signifies the transition between
two states of being, the link between the physical and spiritual
worlds. It is perhaps to be expected that this should be the gift of
the god who walks between the worlds, and that he should be invoked
as its guardian.

However if the loss of önd signals the end of physical existence,
where does it go? It is no longer necessary to either the physical
or the astral body, nor is it needed by the mind, in whatever form
that may survive. It would seem to be relatively impersonal, not so
much a part of the psyche as a process which links together all of
the parts of the individual discussed so far. The önd animates body
and spirit; it is the force which enables them to act in concert,
but it does not appear to be personal, any more than the atoms which
make up the physical body are personal. Like them, the breath
(oxygen) is taken in, used, transformed, and expelled. Perhaps önd
is not a thing so much as this process of transformation, the
combustion which is the body's equivalent of fire. In that case,
when it is released, it, like the body, would return to its elements.

5. Higher Self (goði/gyðja)

The components of the psyche discussed so far can all be more or
less illustrated by the ancient literature. The concept of the
higher self is more problematic, and yet I believe that the
existence of such a thing can be argued. If the conscious
personality with which we identify is susceptible to change or
fragmentation, then what is it that lies beneath (or above) it? Even
well-integrated personalities change over time. We are not the same
people we were as children, although we retain their memories. But
if all those people whom we have been have already lived and
disappeared, how can we identify as "real" the people we are now?
There is more continuity (and certainly a more demonstrable
connection) between our child-selves and our mature selves and the
people we become in age than there is between successive lifetimes,
and yet the difference may be more one of degree than kind.

It is possible to rise above pain by saying "I am not this body,"
and above the emotions that shake the soul, or the changing thoughts
and opinions of the mind, in the same way. But if we are not the
body, or the mind, then what are we? What is it that moves from one
incarnation to another, that exists between them, that throughout
all our lives we are striving to become?

Perhaps what Freud called the super-ego can be identified with this
higher self, which is the part to which we send energy to use for
healing, and which we are addressing when we say "thou art god".
According to the Hindus, the inmost soul body is "the blissful, ever-
giving-wisdom," anadamaya kosa. I would suggest that there is indeed
a higher component of consciousness, still identifiable in personal
terms, which we experience when we "surpass ourselves," when we are
functioning at our highest potential.

When the ancient Germans said their seeresses were reverenced "like
goddesses," perhaps it was because when they worked they were able
to let this divine personality shine through. Individuals of
extraordinary impact and charisma, those who become demi-gods or
saints or gurus-- or alfar-- are probably those whose spiritual
development has progressed to the point where the divine personality
becomes the "core" personality of daily existence in that
incarnation. This is the aspect of the psyche whose "vibrational
level," in channeling terms, is high enough to permit fusion with a
god-form.

I suggest that this higher self must be the "immortal soul," the
connecting link between fragmented personalities or the souls of
various incarnations. It has the capability to become one of the
attendant spirits associated with various deities, at least until
the next incarnation, to which it brings the spiritual essence of
the individual, but not (usually) the personal memories of previous
lifetimes.

I would follow Gundarsson in suggesting that the spiritual beings
which can serve as links between this part of the soul and various
deities could be called valkyries (for Odhinn), a fylgjadis, for the
Vanir, a thrudhmaer when approaching Thor, meotodu in relation to
Tyr, and simply a mær, or may (maiden), for working with Frigg and
others for whom the title of their attendants are not known.

6. Divine Consciousness (öðr)

In the literature of mysticism, a state of being is described which
lies beyond even the perfected personality discussed above. It is
this which Hinduism calls atman, the immortal soul. In sophisticated
spiritual traditions, including those which are polytheistic, one
finds the concept of a godhead which is not personified, an ultimate
divinity which cannot be described but only experienced. In the
ultimate form of spiritual union the mystic contacts this aspect of
divinity, and in the process loses awareness of selfhood. In Eastern
traditions, it is this Divinity, which is not so much a Being as a
state of being, with which the soul that has gone beyond the need
for incarnation unites. Can we find any traces of such a concept in
Germanic tradition?

In the Norse creation myth, Hoenir's gift is ödhr, translated as
consciousness, sense, and the like. However the word is the root
from which we get the name Odhinn, usually translated as "ecstasy."
This concept, like the nature of the god, is more complex than it
might appear. Dr. Martin Schwartz of the University of California
has traced the etymology of öðr and its older cognate, wodh, back to
their Indo-European root, and demonstrated their relationship to
concepts having to do with the activity of the mind .

His analysis makes it clear that for the ancient Germanic peoples,
consciousness was not an intellectual process, but rather an
ecstatic experience of connection and creativity. This aspect of
existence is beyond all temporal relationships, and is neither born
nor can it die. To me, this ultimate experience of consciousness
sounds a great deal like the mystic rapture. I choose, therefore, to
designate öðr as that capacity of the human pysche which is capable
of identifying with and losing itself in the Divine.

Hoenir, the god who gave öðr to humankind, is the spiritual force
with which it must be associated, not so much as its guardian as
perhaps an expression of its nature. Hoenir is a mysterious figure
in the surviving mythology. He appears a number of times in company
with Odhinn and Loki, and in the Eddic account of the awakening of
humankind takes the role ascribed in Snorri's version to the second
of Odhinn's brothers (presumably Vili-- Will). In the Heimskringla,
he plays a less noble role, being one of the hostages given to the
Vanir, unable to function (to exercise his will) except in the
company of Mimir.

Rather than following Snorri's characterization of Hoenir as stupid,
I find it more useful to characterize him as a force (or as the
aspect of Odhinn) which is so far abstracted from ordinary human
experience that only when linked to the power of memory can it
manifest in the human world. The silence of Hoenir would therefore
result not from any lack of intelligence, but from the difficulty
involved in translating the experience he represents into human
words. He is the aspect of Odhinn which is pure consciousness,
awareness experiencing itself. It is not surprising that the Vanir,
the deities most concerned with the divine as it is made manifest in
the physical world, would find him hard to understand.

Öðr, like ond, may be seen not so much as a thing as a dynamic
process. The act of breathing animates the body and links its
physical and spiritual elements into a single being. Its appearance
and disappearence bound a human lifetime. Öðr, on the other hand, is
recognized by most people rarely and by some hardly at all. And yet
it is an innate human capacity, a gift to us from the gods, the
process by which we experience our connection with the divine.

This is all very interesting-- even perhaps-- inspiring, but what is
it good for? As I indicated earlier, a model of the anatomy of the
hugR may have certain implications for spiritual work, especially
that involving trance or voluntary dissociation. In work of this
kind, one must be able to relax the body and focus the mind so that
the spirit can fly free. A systematic approach to this process of
relaxation and release allows this to be done with more precision
and control over what is happening. When working with any specific
religious system, it is of course essential to become thoroughly
familiar with its deities and their characteristics, major symbols,
cosomological map, and so forth. In the present context, this would
mean steeping oneself in the Eddas, reading discussions of the
mythology by writers such as Ellis-Davidson and Turville-Petre, etc.
A procedure which has worked for me follows.

The first step is to become familiar with the anatomy of the soul as
described above, and with the names and functions of the guardians.
One should then spend some time learning to sense each "body" and
develop a trigger associated with it, such as an image or a rune.
Spend 3-7 days on each one, with exercises like those given below:

1. Relaxation

a. Accept and learn to love each aspect of the lyke in turn,
including the appearance and personal style of your body and its
style of movement. Evaluate your health, let your body tell you what
it needs. It may help to formally put your body under the protection
of Lódhurr as you do this.

b. Learn the boundaries of your aura, practice moving internal
energy, practice moving hamr outside of the lyke (astral
projection), visualize looking at the lyke from another part of the
room. Invoke the help of your hamingja, even if you have not yet
identified a specific being to fill this role.

c. Observe your own emotional states and learn what triggers them;
identify memories (minni) that move you; identify elements of family
and cultural inheritance that provoke an emotional response. Spend
some time considering how inherited factors have shaped you into the
person you are now. Call upon your ancestral spirits to help you.

d. Observe your own mental monologue, identify habits of thought
that are characteristic (hugr). How do you plan things, solve
problems? What aspects of your personality owe the least to outside
influences-- what is the essence of your individuality? When you are
comfortable with your own thought-processes, try to turn them off
and exist for a short time in a state of "No-mind" in which you
simply exist without thinking about it. Invoke the protection of
your fylgja.

e. Practice breathing. Focus on ond with each breath. Note the
effects of breathing at different speeds and rhythms. Learn to hold
the breath for increasing lengths of time. As you do so, invoke the
power of Odhinn for protection.

When you are comfortable with these aspects of the self and able to
focus on each of them at will, condition yourself to relax and
release each one in response to whatever "triggers" you have been
working with. When you have achieved this state of relaxation, you
will be in a condition of light trance in which you can do other
work, such as trance journeying.

Some may find it helpful to memorize the following induction. First,
assume a comfortable position. Then, aloud or to yourself, say:

My* (*"Your," etc. if guiding another person) body's likeness now I
leave,

The lovely lyke that Lódhurr gave

Lá and læti and litr also

I give to be guarded by the holy gods.

Draw a bindrune of Elhaz and Othalaz on your forehead and take
whatever time you need to relax each part of the body.Then say:

My holy hide I will not hold,
hail, hamingja, help me journey
as hamr spirit shape I shed,
guard it all ye holy gods.

Draw a bindrune of Elhaz and Uruz, and let all awareness of your
physical body fall away. If your purpose is astral journeying, wait
until you have completed the next two steps, then visualize your
body of light, either in your own shape or in that of the animal
whose form you will be taking.

Focus your mind as follows:

Huginn and Muninn now I summon
to master mind and memory;
emotion's energy is ended,
thoughts, I thank and thrust away.
Dis and fylgja shall preserve them,
guard me all ye holy gods.

Guard the minni with the runes Elhaz and Berkano, and the hugR with
Elhaz and Tyr. Clear your consciousness of all thoughts and
emotions, and float in calm clarity. Finally, regularize your
breathing by invoking as follows:

The ond that Odhinn gave flows out,
breath I bid bear spirit skyward
While lyke and hide & hugr & minne
are guarded by the holy gods.

Protect yourself with Elhaz and Ansuz, and set your breathing to
remain deep and regular by counting and holding breaths. Feel the
power of the god moving through you with each breath. From this
state you can do many kinds of spiritual work. Practice moving into
it and then bringing yourself out again by reversing the steps until
it comes easily.

2. Mind Control:

Practice contemplating a physical object, repeatedly clearing your
mind of all extraneous thoughts and feelings. Memorize the item--
its appearance, its weight, texture, etc. Close your eyes and see
how clearly you can bring it into awareness, then open them and
check your accuracy. You might begin with a stone, and the next day
work with a plant, a piece of jewelry, etc.

When you have some control over the contemplation of physical
objects, try thinking about a concept, exploring its ramifications
and meanings and rejecting all thoughts that are not relevant. Chant
its name. Possibilities to work with might include an adjective -
viz. "Green"; an abstract noun - viz. "Truth"; a rune.

Finally, contemplate a mandala or the image of a deity, focusing on
its physical details, considering the meaning of the symbols that
surround it. When you can hold the picture in your mind with ease,
animate it-- view it from different angles, visualize it moving, etc.

3. Journeying

Decide on a place and purpose, in a safe place, enter the relaxed
trance state, and put yourself under the protection of your
hamingja. Visualize a point of entry, such as a location you know
well and find a path leading out of it, then travel to the place you
have identified and perform the task (e.g. explore Vanaheim). Write
up your results when you return. Another way to practice is to read
pathworkings like those in Gundarsson's Teutonic Magic onto a tape,
and listen to them while in trance. You can also visualize runes,
expand them into doorways, and go into their worlds in order to
learn more about their meanings.

When such journeying can be performed easily, learn to narrate what
is going on while remaining in trance. Make the journey as usual,
but this time, report on what you see and are doing aloud to a
partner or a tape recorder

Once you have the technique of journeying, you should acquire one or
more allies to help you with further work. A journey to the
Underworld or to the internal plain of Midgard should put you in a
place where you can find a hamingja -- an ally in animal form. For
further information on just how to do this, try Michael Harner's
bok, The Way of the Shaman, which gives full directions. You may
also travel to a generic upper world, or to whichever of the Nine
Worlds is most appropriate for your purposes, to find a guide or
ally in human form. You might, for instance, seek an alf or dis in
the ancestor mound on the plain of Midgard, and look for a fylgja in
Ljossalfheim.

When you meet your helper, find out its name and whether it will
assist you, in achieving your purposes, ask what it needs from you,
and what it will give you. Like any other friendship, maintaining
this relationship requires regular communication. Visit your ally
regularly for communication and teaching, and together, explore the
Otherworld. Call upon your ally even when you are not in trance,
learn to sense its presence

The skills described above are required for success in any kind of
trance work. Most people can successfully complete a journey (or
pathworking) led by someone who is competent in manipulating
symbolism and sensing energy. Others may have a natural talent for
this and need no more than this rather summary description. There
are also many in our community who have learned these skills
already. However if you have never worked in this way, or doubt your
ability to do so, the practices and exercises described above will
enable you to learn if done regularly over a period of time. Even if
you find such work comes easily, doing the exercises in a systematic
way will improve your precision and control. The ability to relax
the body and focus and control what the mind is doing are essential
for successful shamanic journeying, exploring the nine worlds, soul
retreival, and spæ work.

In the above discussion I have suggested ways in which one can work
with the more accessible and accepted "parts" of the
body/mind/spirit. To become comfortable and competent in these
skills may take years, but each step of the way is rewarding. Work
with more esoteric states of consciousness which involve the god-
soul and ecstatic union should not be attempted until one is
securely in control of the other techniques. Possessory work,
especially, should wait until one is fully trained in contemplation
and journeying, and should be attempted only with the help of
supportive partners.

Human beings are concerned not only with physical survival but with
spiritual fulfillment. Just as we should care for our bodies and
through diet and exercise enable them to fulfill their potential for
activity and enjoyment, we need to exercise and develop our
spiritual components in order to appreciate the full range of gifts
given us by the gods. We are made of matter, be it wood or "dust".
But each physical form has been augmented by an energy body, a mind
that by thinking and remembering expresses the personality, and the
breath of life that animates them. In addition we may deduce the
existence of an eternal soul, and still another element which has
the capacity for union with the Divine.

Such an anatomy, while purely theoretical, may serve as a useful
model for hyge-cræft -- working with aspects of the soul.

http://www.hrafnar.org/norse/hyge-craeft.html
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Re: Hyge-Cræft:Working with the Soul in the Northern Traditi

Postby The Madame X » Thu Aug 18, 2011 11:25 am

bump
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