Aeva-Otr, or: how to learn about unknown deities

A practical and experiential guide to learning more about a spiritual entity in Heathenry once the lore runs dry.

At Trothmoot 2019, I attended a Myth Embodiment workshop lead by Cara Freyasdaughter, who explains the concept here. Using improvisational acting (and occasionally some mild, casual hints of channeling), we retold the story of Thrymskvida, one of my favorites in the lore. It was tons of fun, hilarious, and thought-provoking. Participants were asked not to act as their patron deities, in order to branch out and experience different perspectives, as well as to avoid any accidental deeper channeling. This was meant to be an engaging psychological exercise to explore the lore, not a possessory rite.

Since that left my desired role (predictably, Loki) off the table, I volunteered for the role of Thrym’s unnamed sister. She will be the focus and example deity for this piece.

Possession: Loki

This is a personal narrative of my experience with Loki during a possessory rite at Trothmoot 2019. I hope to publish a collaborative writeup of the event as a whole soon, but this part demands to be written first. I also encountered Odin: that post is forthcoming.

One of Trothmoot’s major themes for me was accepting emotional vulnerability. Posting this publicly  without intellectualizing my irrational, emotional, romantic, mystical experience is one more step in that direction. So here we go.

Possible trigger warning for brief mentions of past trauma.

Three songs for Hel

Hel (sometimes called Hela) is Loki and Angrboda’s daughter. She is a Norse goddess of death, and, depending on one’s UPG, one aspect of the universal force of Death. She is the keeper of Helheim, where many of those who die in sickness or old age enter into her care.

Here are three songs off my devotional playlist that remind me of her, with a brief explanation for each.