Happy Winter Solstice! Have a rerun episode! This episode was originally released on Dec 30 2020.

Did you know there's no future tense in Old Norse? It's a huge part of why I (Siri) don't use the runes for predictive reading - instead, I use them for assessing the situation and figuring out what the best path forward is for me or my client. But there are plenty of other divination methods in Nordic folk magic and heathenry! Listen to this episode to learn all about them.

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Welcome to the 2023 Halloween Werewolf Spectacular! There is a LOT of wolf lore in Nordic mythology and throughout folklore all around the world. I spoke with my friend Matt who has been obsessed with werewolves for most of his life. And at a certain point, doesn’t obsession beget expertise? So I decided to invite him on the podcast for a special werewolf bonanza. We’ll talk about the Werewolf Trials of medieval Europe, the Ulfheidnar in Germanic and Norse culture, Werewolf Saints, and so much more.

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Transcript for this episode can be found here: https://www.heathensjourneypod.com/episodes/s2-e12-halloween-special-werewolf-spectacular

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References for this Episode:

Old Thiess, a Livonian Werewolf

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/O/bo46813477.html

Werewolf Magick by Denny Sergent

https://www.amazon.com/Werewolf-Magick-Authentic-Practical-Lycanthropy/dp/0738764450

Wolfs-Head: Óðinn, the Ecstatic God of Tethers & Skin-Turning

[Volume II of the Óðinn Trilogy within the Northern Otherworld Series]

by Shani Oates

https://www.anathemapublishing.com/books-prints/p/wolfs-head

Werewolf: The Apocalypse free intro kit

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/3370/werewolf-the-apocalypse-free-introductory-kit

Today I'm sharing a conversation with my mentor Kari Tauring. She is the author of “The Volva Stav Manual,” “The Runes: A Deeper Journey,” and today we’re discussing her newest book: “The Day Begins at Sunset.” This is a collection of poems reflecting on the Primstav, an Old Norse calendar stick that helped people follow the seasons and the Saint Days in the Middle Ages. I spoke about this with Sara Axtell as well in episode 19. In that episode we focused on the concept of Unsettling Ourselves - on how we as settler colonizers can actively participate in decolonization while appreciating the land around us. This is pretty different from that episode - here, we talk about the Primstav as a relic of the transition between Paganism and Christianity, violent histories, ancestor work, and more. Kari reads some of her poetry and it is absolutely beautiful.

Learn more about Kari and buy her books here: karitauring.com

If you are in the Twin Cities area and you're available, you should come to Kari's book release party! It's on Sunday, October 29th 2023 at the Bryant Lake Bowl. Details here

Listen to a previous episode about the primstav with Sara Axtell here: Episode 19

You can support this podcast on Patreon:

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https://bookshop.org/shop/sirivincent...

It's been one year since Cassandra Snow and I published "Lessons from the Empress: A tarot workbook for self-care and creative growth!" In celebration of the book's birthday, I invited a special guest host to interview Cassandra and I. Maria Minnis is a tarot reader and author of the forthcoming "Tarot for the Hard Work: An Archetypal Journey to Confront Racism and Inspire Collective Healing." She is absolutely fantastic and we get to talk some juicy details about creativity, where we are now, and how it feels to be one year out from publishing the book.

If you don't have your copy yet, you can buy "Lessons from the Empress" here **affiliate link**

You can preorder "Tarot for the Hard Work" here **affiliate link**

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Ren Zatopek is a heretical, hedgeriding witch of the Ced Tradition with more than fifteen years of experience working full-time as a spiritual guide, healer, and ritualist. She has a special interest in helping folks with exceptional intensity, sensitivity, and creativity explore the deeper, more troubling waters of witchery without losing their shit. She believes that a healthy, intentional relationship with trance is a great place to start, so she created the online Hedge+Riders Trance Training Ground as a place for folks to work on the kinds of wide-awake, walking, talking trance states that are most conducive to conscious spiritwork, spellcrafting, and ritual.

+ Ren offers accessible online training through renspiritwork.com

+ Folks local to Raleigh, North Carolina can email [email protected] for info on in-person gatherings.

+ Ren’s elders in the Ced Tradition teach out of The Green Man Store in Los Angeles, CA

You can support this podcast on Patreon:

http://patreon.com/heathensjourneypod

Want more writing from Siri? Subscribe to the Troll-Brev Newsletter!

Buy Siri's book and more at their Bookshop Affiliate Link:

https://bookshop.org/shop/sirivincent...

Eiwaz is the first tree rune in the Elder Futhark. It is a highly toxic tree that is used to both poison and heal, and is thought by many to be the tree that Odin hangs himself on to take up the runes. Learn more about this fascinating rune in today's episode!

You can read a transcript of this podcast here: https://www.heathensjourneypod.com/episodes/s2-e8-eiwaz-a-portal-to-the-underworld

You can support this podcast on Patreon: http://patreon.com/heathensjourneypod⁠

Want more writing from Siri? Subscribe to the Troll-Brev Newsletter!

Buy Siri's book and more at their Bookshop Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/shop/sirivincent⁠...

Sources: 

Boyer, Corinne. Under the Witching Tree. Troy Books, London. 2016.

Smith, Ryan. Spinning Wyrd. Llewellyn Books, Woodbury, MN. 2023

Tauring, Kari. The Runes: A Deeper Journey. Minneapolis. 2015.

Vesta, Lara Veleda. Wild Soul Runes: Reawakening the ancestral feminine. Newburyport, MA. 2021

Yew - Paradox. Tree Spirit Wisdom. ⁠https://treespiritwisdom.com/tree-spirit-wisdom/yew-tree-symbolism/#:~:text=In%20Norse%20mythology%2C%20the%20yew,nine%20nights%20and%20nine%20days⁠. Accessed on 4/27/23Carboplatin-Taxol page. National Cancer Institute. ⁠https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/drugs/carboplatin-taxol⁠. Accessed 4/27/23

Success Story: Taxol. National Cancer Institute. ⁠https://dtp.cancer.gov/timeline/flash/success_stories/s2_taxol.htm#:~:text=Taxol%C2%AE%20(NSC%20125973),as%20well%20as%20Kaposi's%20sarcoma⁠. Accessed 4/27/23

Today on the podcast, Siri is in conversation with Ryan Smith, author of The Way of Fire & Ice: The Living Tradition of Norse Paganism, and Spinning Wyrd: Exploring the Nordic Mysteries. Expanding on the progressive ideas and practices in The Way of Fire and Ice, this next-step book teaches you how to tap into the forces of the Nordic cosmos. The greatest of these forces is wyrd, the symphony of life cocreated by all beings, from the humblest plants to the mightiest gods.

You can purchase Ryan's books (as well as many others) at Siri's Bookshop.org Affiliate Shopfront: https://bookshop.org/shop/sirivincentplouff

Support the podcast on Patreon: https://patreon.com/heathensjourneypod

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I am honored to have Tomás Prower as a guest on the podcast this week. When I started planning this season, I knew that I wanted to bring Tomás on. Tomás Prower is a graduate of the University of California: Santa Barbara with degrees in Global Socioeconomics and Latin American Studies. With fluency in English, French, and Spanish, he has worked for the French Government as a cultural liaison throughout South America with extended assignments in Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, and the Amazon jungle. Since then, he has been the External Relations Director for the American Red Cross of Nevada, LGBT+ Programs Director for entertainment productions in Los Angeles, and a licensed mortuary professional in California and Nevada. Currently, Tomás resides in Palm Springs, California, as the Director of Communications for the LGBTQ+ Center of the Coachella Valley.

Antiracist Heathenry Resources

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In an episode that I didn't plan I swear, Siri discusses harvest festivals and the rune Jera. To Siri, Jera is not just about the year, but it is related to earth itself. This is a rune of appreciation of the gifts of nature, as well as of cultivation. The shape of the rune - two v’s turned on their side and intertwining - speaks to me of cycles. This episode happens to come out on Mabon, and so of course Siri discusses harvest festivals and the deity Freyr.

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Isa represents Ice: That which is frozen. It is a barrier. It is water that has become so still, it has been made solid. Ice is one of the elements that signaled the birth of our world.

"Ice is hard and without motion. It constrains the movement of waters, but those who try to walk on it may find themselves moving out of control." - Diana Paxson, "Taking Up The Runes."

National Geographic video on singing ice

Jonna Jinton's Atmospheric video of singing ice sounds

Information About Lessons From The Empress

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