Paganism
Opinion: The World Tree and the State of Affairs
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We, the people, are down here under the massive roots of the World Tree. In this vision, we are not at the center of creation. We are not even at the center of attention.
Paganism
Opinion: Thor, Odin, and the High Cost of Fundamentalism
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Karl E.H. Seigfried delves into the ways we interpret and misinterpret the texts that shape our lives – whether those texts are Old Icelandic poems or the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
blindness
Column: Old One-Eye
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The folks I know who work with Odin, after a certain age, have remarkably similar medical histories. Eye trauma features heavily: cataracts, glaucoma, the sorts of illness that require long periods with eye patches or new, glass eyes to fill out empty sockets. The day my partner looked at me and held up their hand, covering one eye and nodding as if something made more sense, sits with me still on some nights.
Asatru
Column: The World Tree, Heimdall, and All of Us
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“The earth rotates around an axis drawn from the south pole, through the planet, out the north pole, and up to the pole star. With a bit of imagination, diagrams of this world axis show a trunk with roots in the earth and the pole star at the top of the leader. Old Icelandic poetry tells us of the mighty measuring tree. The growth and life of this tree parallel the growth and life of this world, and none know where to find the beginning point of its roots.”
Paganism
Column: To Odin at Midwinter
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In a special Yuletide offering, Karl Seigfried addresses the god Odin, giving thanks for his gifts at Midwinter.