A Heathen Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram

[ecosophia]

Several of my Heathen readers have inquired recently about a project that's been under way for a while -- the development of a system of Golden Dawn magic, parallel to the one I published in my book The Celtic Golden Dawn, but invoking Norse Heathen gods and goddesses and deriving all its symbolism and structure from the Norse tradition.  My co-conspirator Sven Eriksen and I have been working away at it for a while now, and here's the first publicly available result: a version of the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram suitable for Heathens. 

************
The Hammer Sign

This replaces the Cabalistic Cross of the Hermetic version of the LBRP. It's done as f
ollows: 

1. Stand facing east, hands at sides, and form hands into fists. Imagine yourself expanding upward and outward, until you experience yourself standing upon the Earth as though it were a sphere a foot across below your feet.

2. Sweep your hands up and out to your sides in twin arcs, and bring them together above your head, turning your hands as you go, so that the heels of your palms meet. This is best done quickly, with some "snap," and the hands should come together with noticeable force. As they meet, say the words, “Hallow me...”

3. Draw the joined fists down to heart level, imagining a beam of light descending from infinite space above you to your heart, and through it to the Earth below your feet. Say the word, “...hammer...”

4. Snap the arms out to the sides, hands still held in fists, until your arms stand straight out from your body with the palms of the fists turned up. Your body thus forms the image of Thor's hammer, and you visualize yourself transformed into Mjolnir, a hammer the color of lightning, a mighty weapon ready for the hand of a god. Say the words: “...in the High One’s name.”  Then vibrate the word of power WOD.

Practice this several times, so you can do it from memory, before going on to the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram. 


The Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram

1. Perform the Hammer-Sign in the center of the space, facing east.

2. Go to the eastern quarter of the space, and trace a pentagram with the first two fingers of your right hand, beginning with the top point, and tracing counterclockwise to banish. (This is for the banishing ritual; you'd trace clockwise to summon.) Visualize the pentagram drawn in a line of light. Point to the center of the pentagram and vibrate the name THOR.

Trace a circle around to the south, draw the pentagram in the same way, point to the center, and vibrate the name SAGA.

Repeat to the west, trace the pentagram, and vibrate the name RIGR.

Repeat to the north, trace the pentagram, and vibrate the name IDUN.

Trace the line back around to the east, completing the circle.

 3. Return to the center and face east. Say: “Before me the Spear Gungnir; behind me the Gjallar-Horn; to my right hand the Sword Sumarbrandr; to my left hand the Ring Draupnir. For about me stand the five point stars, and upon me shines the Aesir’s light.”

4. Repeat the Hammer-Sign. This completes the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram. 

Three notes: 

a) Sága is a goddess mentioned in both the Elder and Younger Eddas, and Rigr is another name for Heimdall.

b) You can also do a somewhat less complex form of the words in step 3: "Before me Gungnir, behind me Gjallar, to my right hand Sumarbrandr, to my left hand Draupnir," and so on. 

c) Yes, I know the Old Norse didn't practice this kind of ceremonial magic. If you're minded to take offense at the thought that some of today's Heathen's might want to give this a try, I want you to imagine a bold Viking raider striding down the gangplank from his long ship onto his native soil, with a big sack of loot over his shoulder. Do you think that even once, in all the history of the Viking age, it ever happened that the people on shore told him, "No, you can't bring that here!  That's Frankish gold, not Norse"? 

No, I didn't think so either. The same principle applies here: I offer you plunder. It's yours for the taking, if you're strong enough to carry it off.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you so much.

[ecosophia]

You're most welcome!

[(Anonymous)]

Listen up, you heathens!

Happy Summer Solstice!

🌞

[ecosophia]

And likewise!

[(Anonymous)]

This is seriously badass. I wait with bated breath for a full release of this system. Is it intended to be published as a book when complete?

[ecosophia]

Thank you. Yes, Sven and I are planning a book; it'll cover essentially the same ground as The Celtic Golden Dawn -- that is, it will provide a complete system of magical training and self-initiation using Golden Dawn methods, but invoking Heathen deities, deriving its symbolism and structure from Norse sources, and using the runes as its core divinatory system and symbolic alphabet.

One thing Sven and I both noticed is that this stuff has a lot of force behind it. When I do the lesser banishing ritual of the pentagram in the Druidical form, it's like closing a big heavy oaken door in the face of unwanted influences; when I do it in the Heathen form, it's like putting on hobnailed boots and kicking the unwanted influences straight through the walls. I'll be interested to see if other people have the same experience!

Greetings!

[ferngladefarm.com.au]

Hi John Michael,

Just dropping by to say hello, and I have no idea at all about Norse Mythology. It's a great idea though and a worthy task. I wonder what it would look like down here...

Chris

Re: Greetings!

[ecosophia]

There are Heathens down under -- you might want to ask them! ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

Fascinating! I'm definitely trying this.

I don't mean to sound greedy but, what sort of timetable would us heathens be looking at for the complete system?

Not that this ritual along with discursive meditation and runic divination doesn't give me plenty to work with at the moment, I'm just rather excited about this project of yours.

[ecosophia]

It's going to take a couple of years, between time spent crafting the rituals and the text and time spent moving the result through the publication process. I plan on posting some more of the basics here as we go, to get feedback and give my Heathen readers something to work with before the book itself comes out. This plus discursive meditation plus rune divination gives you quite a head start, though, because those will be central to the system of training and divination we're developing.

[(Anonymous)]

You know, I could see Vikings of the future making use of this, to protect
themselves when they make voyages of 'acquisition'.

"Arrr, me hearties. Thar be good mystic booty to be found at John's place. If anybody fusses, hang 'em up by their toes, just like in that leetle Tarot card. Maybe they'll larn it's better to let some things go than mess with us pirates--er--Vikings!"

JLfromNH

Astronomical accuracy?

[(Anonymous)]

I always wonder with these sorts of rituals, does it matter how accurate you visualize the Solar System when you picture yourself as a giant standing on top of Earth? Would it matter solely if you yourself think it matters? Could some gods have a preference for this or that visualization over another? Sorry for the nitpickery.

Re: Astronomical accuracy?

[ecosophia]

It doesn't seem to matter much. As for divine preferences, the best way to settle that is to pray to the gods in question and listen for their response.

[(Anonymous)]

A heartfelt thank you!

DJ

[ecosophia]

You're most welcome.

Thank You!

[(Anonymous)]

Wow! I am definitely going to try this. Thank you so much, JMG and Sven.

OtterGirl

Re: Thank You!

[ecosophia]

Glad to hear it. Give it a few tries and let me know how it goes. In a little while, once a few more details get worked out, I'm also going to post a Heathen version of the Middle Pillar exercise, so that the basic ritual practice of the system will be available to anyone who wants to give it a try.

[(Anonymous)]

Fantastic! Already working on the memorization and visualization.

Thank you!

Side question, have your read Neil Gaiman “Norse Mythology” book?

[ecosophia]

You're welcome. Glad to hear it!

No, I haven't read Gaiman's version -- is it any good?

[(Anonymous)]

I have money burning a hole in my pocket for the whole book.

How do I deal with the Viking Metal electric guitar riffs in my head when I do this?

[ecosophia]

Let 'em play. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the Einherjar had taken to rock guitar as a pleasant interlude between feasting and fighting...

[thesseli]

I love this.

[ecosophia]

Glad to hear it. A Middle Pillar exercise along the same lines will be posted shortly.

[(Anonymous)]

In the CGD Rite of the Rays, you end up standing on the earth with the sun at your chest. In the Hammer of Thor, I notice there is only the earth. Does this mean the ritual is more telluric, less solaric? Or is it simply a matter of choice in symbolism?

[ecosophia]

It's just a matter of choice in symbolism. The relationship between sun and earth is very important in Druidical symbolism, not so much in Heathenry.

Another slam dunk

[mesosylvania]

You've done it again! You create more amazing things than I can keep up with. :-)

I just started on the DMH system, but once I get few years of solid practice under my belt, I would love to explore the Golden Dawn through this new system. I am very drawn to the runes and the northern mysteries, and it's very exciting to see you working on a system that combines these with the Golden Dawn!

Re: Another slam dunk

[ecosophia]

With any luck, in a couple of years there'll be a book in print covering this system in detail. Stay tuned!

[(Anonymous)]

I've been practicing this the last few days, and the effects are definitely noticeable. It feels like a steadier flow of energy keeping me running through the day and less of a stress response to situations.

That said, the first time I tried the banishing form, I did it about three times to make sure I had it memorized and well... when I tried to sleep that night it felt like my body was vibrating. I'm surprised I managed to actually sleep.

Now I try to keep it to summoning in the morning and banishing in the evening, and it seems to be working out well.

-Jean-Pierre

[ecosophia]

That's a good idea. In a bit, I'll be posting a Middle Pillar exercise keyed to this system, and then you can just do the banishing ritual followed by the Middle Pillar exercise in the morning, and be able to sleep more easily! :-)

[(Anonymous)]

This is awesome. Thank you. Im stoked for this book to be released. Im currently working through the Celtic GD book now and learning so much. What are your thoughts on using this version of the pentagram rituals for the Druidical workings in the book?

[(Anonymous)]

May I ask why these specific directions were used? I normally associate Odin with air and North, but I’m probably missing something big here.

[ecosophia]

The directions used in divine names in every version of the LBRP are specifically *not* elemental in nature. They must be four letters each, and -- in polytheist traditions -- you have two gods facing each other and two goddesses facing each other, for best results. The rest is a matter of experimentation until you have a set that works.

[(Anonymous)]

What’s the current update on the system and book? Still really looking forward to reading this! 😊