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Book Review – Icelandic Plant Magic: Folk Herbalism of the North by Albert Björn
Book Review Icelandic Plant Magic: Folk Herbalism of the North by Albert Björn Publisher: Crossed Crow Books Pages: 306 Rerelease Date: June 27, 2023 There are, without a doubt, plenty of books out there on magical herbalism or green witchery. However, this is the first I have spotted specifically singling out the herbs of Iceland in a magical context. As the author notes, while the mysterious-seeming country of Iceland offers many folk tales and hidden beings, the plants of the island aren’t usually picked out as a point of interest. Albert Björn Shiell has neatly corrected that oversight with this animistic, practical, and beautiful book. This book is laid…
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Road to Runes
Road to Runes: Making a Rune Set Runes have been used for divination for many years, and are often incorporated into Norse-inspired magic and spiritual practices. While there are many digital tools for drawing runes, it’s normal to want to have a physical set of your own if you want to use them regularly. That way, you can draw a rune wherever you are, even if you’re in the middle of the woods or high up a mountain—although perhaps don’t go as far as to try and use them while hanging from a tree! One of the cheapest and most satisfying ways to get your own runes is…
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Road to Runes
Two Runes Together In the last issue of PaganPagesOrg, we looked at the power of a single rune reading. As I learn the runes myself, slowly it has to be said, I love to look at the different ways the runes can be read together. Just as a single rune can give a fast, intuitive answer to a simple question or circumstance, two runes together could provide either more detail or perhaps two polarized viewpoints on the same situation. Ways to Draw Two Runes There are plenty of different ways to either draw runes yourself or get them drawn and explained by an experienced reader. You can purchase physical…
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Book Review – Introduction to Norse Mythology for Kids: A Fun Collection of the Greatest Heroes, Monsters, and Gods in Norse Myth by Peter Aperlo
Book Review Introduction to Norse Mythology for Kids: A Fun Collection of the Greatest Heroes, Monsters, and Gods in Norse Myth by Peter Aperlo Publisher: Ulysses Press 256 Pages Release Date: May 11, 2021 Introduction to Norse Mythology for Kids is a great book to begin with an overview of Viking Culture, Norse Myths, Norse Gods, Heroes and Monsters. While this book was written for children, it gives a broad overview of Norse Mythology and culture that would be beneficial to anyone interested in this topic. There is also a chapter dedicated to resources to continue your self education with after this book. Our author begins…
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The Road to Runes
The Road to Runes News: Possible Oldest Runestone Found in Norway What could possibly be the oldest known rune stone has been found in Norway by archaeologists from the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. The stone is a chunk of sandstone, with clear examples of Elder Futhark runes inscribed upon it. The Historical Museum, connected to the University of Oslo, is calling this find “…a runic scholar’s dream.” The stone will be on display at the museum until February 26th. What are Runestones? The term runestone can be applied to any piece of rock that is found with runic inscriptions on it. There are thousands of runestones across Scandinavia that…
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GoodGod!
Meet the Gods: Loki With the renewed interest in Norse mythology, Loki has gained popularity. Today he is typically portrayed as mischievous and self-serving, yet charming and lovable. While he’s sometimes an antagonist, he’s rarely a bad guy. In Norse mythology, he is all that and more; he is know as the cunning trickster god, sometimes getting the Æsir (gods of the principal Norse pantheon including Odin, Frigg, Höðr, Thor, and Bald) in trouble, other times getting them out. The son of the giant Farbauti and brother to Thor, Loki is most often in male form, but does not follow gender norms and changes both his sex and…
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Road to Runes
Reconnecting to Spirituality I recently had to write a little bit about divination for the Pagan Federation, and I realised that my regular practice had become, well, not so regular. For many months, I was drawing a card or a rune daily, and even taking an in-depth course on Ogham with the Irish Pagan School. However, I’d allowed myself to become bogged down in “day job” work and other commitments, and wasn’t utilising the tools at my disposal. What better prompt to get back into my journey learning the runes than this! And, what better question than, “How do I reconnect to my spiritual practice and ensure I’m not…
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Road to Runes
Road to Runes: Ehwaz – A Journey in Trust I finally got a new set of runes. In fact, it’s one I’ve had for a long time that I was going to sell, years ago, but for some reason have clung onto. Now I know why! It’s a set of carnelian tumble stones (rocks shaken in a tumbling machine until they are smooth) each inscribed with one of the Elder Futhark. I don’t go in for a whole lot of crystal magic as mining crystals has a lot of negative impacts on the Earth and the people involved. However, I also don’t waste what I have, and these are…
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Road to Runes
Nauthiz – Need and Sacrifice As part of my ongoing journey to understand more about the runes, I’ve decided to go totally random and use a rune generator rather than my physical set of runes. I’ve fallen out with these runes for personal reasons, and I do have another set but I don’t feel like I’m attuned to them yet. As frustrating as this purgatory-like stage is for divination purposes, it’s the ideal opportunity for getting some straight up learning in without questioning my own abilities or biases. The rune generator I’m using is ifate.com which I also chose at random after a quick Google search. This month I’ve…
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Book Review – Pagan Portals-Thor: Meeting the Norse God of Thunder by Morgan Daimler
Book Review Pagan Portals: Thor Meeting the Norse God of Thunder by Morgan Daimler 104 Pages The Norse God, Thor is probably one of the most well known. You don’t have to be a pagan or mythology buff to have the general story of this God of Thunder who is part of the curriculum as first introductions in elementary school, and woven into much of secondary teaching. Apart from that introduction, movies and comics have made Thor a symbol of strength, courage and let’s not forget some very appealing eye-candy. But, in the reading of Pagan Portals-Thor: Meeting the Norse God of Thunder by Morgan Daimler, these images…
