Tag: heathenry
Can 👏 we 👏 please 👏 stop 👏 depicting 👏 Sigyn 👏 as 👏 a 👏 child-bride 👏
Seriously ya’ll need to fucking stop with this shit. Sigyn is a grown ass fucking woman for fuck’s sake. We don’t talk about any other of Gods or Goddesses being a child-bride. It’s only one person’s fucking UPG that gets held on a fucking pedestal as Sigyn being a child-bride. I don’t give a shit about “age” or “historic” acceptance of child-brides. That shit is fucking disgusting. Period.
It’s also fucking abusive as fuck. Like in any other relationship in mythos or real life that sort of meeting as a child thing and Loki being Her only friend and “grooming” Her to be His wife reflects real life child sexual abuse. God or human doesn’t matter. That’s what that shit is.
Then there’s the issue of it passively demonizing Loki because who would ever want to marry or be with Him. Like it’s making Him seem so awful that of course He’d marry a child. Or because She was only “groomed” to marry and stay with Him. Fuck that shit with a cactus covered in hot sauce.
I have literally never heard of any interactions with Sigyn or Loki, including my own, where this child-bride crap was verified. All this is is glorifying pedophilia and we already have enough of that in our religion as it is.
This this this this this. This is UPG presented authoritatively and I really despise how often I stumble across it. There’s nothing wrong with having a god or goddess appear to you in child form (Hel often appears to me as a child), but depicting said appearance in the context of a romantic and sexual interaction is awful. In Krasskova’s devotional piece, adult Loki purportedly meets Sigyn when she’s apparently a toddler, has an immediate attraction to her, but knows it would be wrong to pursue anything, so gives her gifts and befriends her while waiting for her to get older. (Which is quite literally the definition of grooming.) In this piece, he marries her when she turns fifteen.
I’m fully aware that gods don’t age the same way humans do, blah blah blah. It doesn’t change the fact that this story uncritically presents pedophilia as sweet, and infantilizes my beloved goddess’ side of her relationship to my beloved Loki, and I hate it. And I’d really ask any adults who are particularly drawn to this interpretation to take a long, hard look at why, and why they find it more appealing than other UPGs where Loki and Sigyn meet and fall in love as two adult equals in a balanced relationship.
I’m having serious difficulties on how to be a polytheist with disabilities, how to make offerings and include the gods in my daily life with my disabilities and problems.
I don’t do much of anything lately after a relapse and even in my best moments I have a hard time with everything.
The only thing I do is e-shrines.
I don’t have many ideas or know what to do about it. It’s an important part of my life but I feel like I’m ignoring it because of lack of options.A low-spoons activity for one person may be more difficult for another depending on their disability and circumstances, but here are some things that I’ve done and seen others suggest:
- Offer water. As awesome as alcohol can be, water
is still symbolic and necessary for life and all that.- Listen to
devotional music, or just music you associate with your gods.- Research mythology or subjects associated with particular gods
- Watch/read/play media featuring your gods, if it exists. Or just media with themes they’d appreciate.
- Set an image related to your gods or faith as your phone or desktop background so you’re reminded whenever you look at it.
- Consider
dedicating a daily task you need to do anyway to a god, particularly something that you find
difficult to accomplish or something that helps you change your life for
the better: workouts, homework, cleaning, etc.Taking your medication could work too, if that applies.- Live by your gods’ values in everyday life.
- Use apps like Stance, Resistbot, and 5calls to speak out about issues important to your beliefs with minimal effort and no human interaction required
- Pray. It doesn’t have to
be anything elaborate, or recited out loud. Even a quick prayer while
doing something else will let the gods know they’re in your thoughts. If it helps, find or write prayers on a good day and just read them back on days that aren’t so good.
Norse Mythology and Advice
Be steadfast like Sigyn, but don’t take any shit.
Be shining like Freyja, but know to put yourself first above all others.
Be humble like Iðunn, but know that you hold powers unimaginable that even they don’t see.
Be careful and shrewd like Frigg, but know when to cherish what you have before it’s gone.
Be wild and free like Skaði, but know that there is no shame in longing for what is home.
Be strong in your convictions like Hel, but know when to have your heart turn toward a worthy cause.
Be enchanting like Gerðr, but know that your radiance is something they can never take from you.
Be a comforting pillar like Sif, but know that it is alright to ask for a helping hand in return.
Be clever like Loki, but know that not everyone can distinguish between cunning and harmful trickery.
Be righteous like Njörðr, but do not bend others to your will and mind like a tyrant.
Be proud of achievements like Bragi, but do not forget the many hands that go into one great piece of work, and dole out thanks accordingly.
Be tender and loving like Freyr, but don’t forget how to fight for your survival with tooth and nail.
Be forever fighting for your loved ones like Týr, but be weary of those who would call you friend and kin only to feed you to the wolves.
Be full of grace and charm like Baldr, but know that not every battle can be fought with the power of soft speech and courtesy when life is on the line.
Be a lover of justice like Forseti, but know that not everyone is looking for advice to their ills.
Be ever keen of eye like Heimdallr, but know that not all secrets that your gaze sees should be shared in others company.
Be blameless like Höðr, but know that even then, all our hands will be stained blood red with some lie or deed eventually.
Be willing to stand tall by your own merits like Ullr, but do not shy from friendly hands that would see you whole and hale to the end.
Be ferocious and strong like Þórr, but know when to stay hand upon weapon and offer kind word instead.
Be a searcher of knowledge like
Óðinn, but be mindful that while we cannot know everything, that does not mean we should stop seeking.
Pronunciation of “Sigyn”
Someone just “liked” an old post of mine where I described how to say Sigyn which is a little bit of a weird word. I did okay at answering but I didn’t really have as well a grasp on what I was talking about as I thought I did, and I said the wrong thing.
Anyway there is actual policy determined by the Íslensk Málstöð, a division of the ministry of education and culture, about the name Sigyn. It says:
Við framburð nafnsins Sigyn hefur hefð skapast fyrir því að bera g-ið fram eins og gert er í orðinu gista.
Concerning the pronunciation of the name Sigyn, it has become customary to pronounce the ‘g’ like is done in the word gista.
That is, like what is written [c] in IPA – sort of like a “k” sound but a little further forward in the mouth.
You can hear a pronunciation by a native Icelandic speaker here: http://forvo.com/search/Sigyn/
For Old Norse the g-sound would most likely have been [ɣ], like in Icelandic saga. But at the time the y would be like it is in modern Danish/Swedish/Norwegian, sort of like a u-sound but further forward in the mouth, or like an i-sound but with rounded lips.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/samflegal/fateful-signs-the-illustrated-havamal
If you’ve been following me for the last few months or more, you know that back in December 2015, I dedicated 31 days to illustrate “The Hávamál.”A lot of folks have been asking me to collect all the drawings into a book, so I did!
Signal boosting a fellow artist’s really cool book project!
I might have to back this one. Looks super cool.
Oh my god, you guys, LOOK AT THE DRINKING HORN.
Inspiration to be strong,
to break chains that bind me down.
Loyalty, devotion, hard work:
Aspects I’ve grown to love of myself,
reflections of your strong, gentle hands.Hail to you, Incantation-Fetter,
For no magic binds you,
No will that is not your own can pass your gate.Lend me your strength, wise mother,
so I may follow in your path.Hail to you, fiery spirit, so beloved.
For yours is the flame that stole the Sky-Treader’s heart.
Hail to you, equal of the World-Breaker.Hail to you, goddess, guardian, guide.
Hail to you, mentor, mother, mender.Hail to you, Sigyn
Sigyn UPG
One of my strongest and earliest UPGs about Sigyn is that She loves stories. She has the biggest library, She is the happiest when someone stands up to tell a tale, She unabashedly loves children’s fic and YA and fantasy and everything.
What about you guys? Thoughts, feelings, impressions?
Holding the Bowl 