XV. Any mundane practices that are associated with this deity?
As far as physical actions go, the first one would be holding the bowl, which is simply holding an empty bowl in this world in order to take Her place in the Cave. Sigyn may request other actions from an individual, but most people tend to suggest holding the bowl to anyone wanting to interact with or do anything with Sigyn.
In a less literal fashion, a person can hold the bowl in more metaphorical ways – helping to support and aid caregivers, being a caregiver, becoming a hospice worker, volunteering to spend time with physically and/or mentally ill patients, volunteering to spend time with people in nursing homes, providing emotional support and resources to those who are mentally ill, volunteering with hotlines, etc.
I currently can’t find the post where I initially shared this site, but emotionalbaggagecheck.com lets you leave baggage or carry someone else’s.
Take care of yourselves, watch the people around you carefully, and cordon off the ones who are toxic, so that the universe can decontaminate them for you through exposure and death.
Warren Ellis
This is always very good advice (I’ve written some version of it myself at various times), but it’s especially poignant for me to read it from Warren, now, because I’ve just had to remove a profoundly toxic, dishonest, manipulative, bad, bad, bad person from my life. You’d think it would be easy, but it wasn’t.
So, speaking from experience: it’s not your fault that a toxic person fooled you, even if they fooled you for years. It’s not your fault, and while it is entirely expected that you go through the normal grieving process that is associated with any loss, try not to spend any time blaming yourself for not seeing all the things that you can see now in hindsight much sooner than you did.
1. Find someone whom you trust that you can share your feelings with – and be real about the pain and different battles that you face. It’s crucial that you don’t just keep your feelings to yourself as you’ll find that they resurface – and they won’t just go away.
2. Share with others who have also walked the road of grief and loss. Although each person’s journey is different and unique, it often helps to listen to others who’ve faced loss. You’ll learn from their experience and what they did to cope.
3. Take time away from sadness – and try to focus on some happy, funny memories of good times you once shared. Be thankful for these memories – but also take the time to consider and be grateful for what you have today. (Note: Distraction is important as you can’t just live with pain.)
4. Allow yourself to cry and to express the way you feel. It’s normal and it’s healthy when dealing with a loss. It usually brings relief and it can help us process pain … and releasing strong emotions can help us to move on.
(Note: If you find it hard to cry, express yourself in other ways – through painting, music or, perhaps, through journaling.)
5. Try and do what you can to establish new routines. When a loved one dies, life can never be the same. But changing old routines can help us start over again – and build a different future, without that person there.
6. Build time for self-care into your daily routine. Set aside 20 minutes to relax and unwind … You could listen to some music, or take a bubble bath. It’s important that you nurture and take care of yourself, and you do what is needed to reduce excessive stress.
7. Recognise that there are likely to be other losses, too. You need to mourn for them as well – as they contribute to your pain.
8. Be patient, understanding and gentle with yourself. The road you walk through grief is unpredictable and hard. You’re on a roller coaster that’s always changing course. But things will change in time – and you will learn to smile again.
While this is written primarily for those who have experienced the death of someone who was close to them, I think that a lot of the tips it would also serve for any type of loss (such as a difficult breakup, losing a job, some other major setback in life) as well.
Non-verbal doesn’t mean non-thinking.
Non-verbal doesn’t mean non-feeling.
Non-verbal doesn’t mean non-communicating.
Non-verbal doesn’t mean non-human.
I can’t get away with not giving Sigyn and Loki by Vera-Ist-44 a mention. It’s my current background, and I will order a print of it for my shrine to Them / Their family / kind of predominantly for Sigyn.
Other than that, I can’t think of a specific example. I know there’s art
in my tags for Them on tumblr, and the faves of my pocky DA account are
primarily of deviations that are associated with Deities (definitely
including Them).
It’d be beneficial for someone in the community who is both time rich and spoon rich to create a text copy of this for copy/paste and printing purposes.
Holding the Bowl 