Spring Time (Var) and Planting

-

 


Spring is working its magic and I feel the need to turn outwards again after a long pandemic winter. I have quite a few things I am working on for this blog that are in some stage of editing, but I just cannot motivate myself to sit that long. The woods are calling…

Every new bud and leaf is like a song. Every dew drop captures rainbows. Birds are scurrying about the forest floor looking for things to build nests with. The deer are making themselves scarce now that there is more food, but I still see their footprints in the mud. The forest is starting to wake up.


I want to spend each sunny day outside in the woods or preparing my garden. But I am not convinced that winter has had its final say. 


Let me first say that I see Spring as a scientific designation, not a religious one. From the perspective of Heathenry I recognize only Summer and Winter as seasons, but I find myself switching in my brain between these two modalities of understanding in order to relate to people in the broader world.


I have been reading Rune Rasmussen’s book The Nordic Animist Year. He describes April as Grass Month, a time of vernal transition and fertility when the fields are prepared for the first planting. Now I don’t know much about grain, but nothing gets planted outside in April here usually, not if you want it to survive. Perhaps in Scandinavia the seeding schedule is a bit different as it seems that the first seed is sowed at the end of April. On occasion I recall my uncle planting his crops early and getting a second crop later in the season, but I am not sure if it was in April or May. 


Usually people here say either mid-May or Victoria Day weekend is when it is safe to plant outside. The same is said in Urglaawe traditions of the Pennsylvania Dutch, where it is believed that the Reifries (Frost Giants) will make a final attack on Midgard between May 12th and 15th. It is a bit farther North here, and last year I had to cover my plants in June because there was more frost. Hopefully, we will not have another blight year. 


According to the Nordic Animist Calendar, last year was marked by the Hail rune with the following meaning attributed to it in The Swedish Rune Poem:


“Hail is best when (you are) at home.

ie. Timely winter” 







This year is marked by the Need rune, with the following prediction:


“Need is the only choice. 

ie. Hard times”





I am curious to see if it plays out this way. In any case, it is time to engage with the land and build relationship, and hope for a good harvest.





Further Reading:


Hollerbeer Hof, Journal of Urglaawe, Braucherei, Hexerei, and Deitsch Wisdom. Volume 34. Spring 2017.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12K4nw6bMxoTfi7Z9BPoCCYnW5PjSA8D1/view 


The Nordic Animist Year by Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen



Photo Source:


Photo is my own.

Popular posts from this blog

Language Trees: The Importance of Mother

-
Image
       I recently saw this image appear in my feed on Facebook, and although I think it is better than a lot of illustrations of language trees that I have seen, it makes no sense that a primarily English illustration of a language tree fails to include Old English. For those of you wondering, the OE word for mother is “modor.” As such, on this diagram it should be the branch off of Proto-Germanic which is not the branch labeled Old Norse. (I will relabel the diagram below so you can see what I mean.)       There are a lot of perfectly terrible language trees out there, so by comparison this one is fairly good. The actual form of a tree really lends itself to illustrating the evolution of language as it splits into branches of varying lengths. I spend a lot of time looking at different languages for fun in my spare time. My current focus is Norwegian, but I have a background in Old English from my university years and I have studied Old Norse and ...
Read more

What Women Can Learn from Skaði

-
Image
Whenever the icy winds roar across the prairies and the temperatures drop I find myself thinking about Skaði. I imagine her standing out in some field among the snow drifts with snowflakes caught in her hair, laughing as the wind shrieks around her.  Nordic goddesses are all pretty tough, but Skaði is next level. Perhaps it is her Jötunn blood, or perhaps it is how she loves to be out on the land. I spend a lot of my time hiking in all seasons. My body quickly adapts to the temperatures, I know well when the weather will change and I am prepared for it. Many people I know complain when they have to go outside this time of year, but there is a certain satisfaction in victory over the elements, in surviving all of winter’s harshness, not just enjoying its sweetness through the window. The frigid temperatures remind us that it is a gift to be alive every day and that we should make the most of it. Skaði more than beats the elements, she thrives in them. And this is also metaphorically...
Read more

Heathen Lullabies, and Raising a Whole Child

-
Image
I have been spending too much time on TikTok lately. Which is probably a poor use of time, however, occasionally something interesting comes of it. For instance, I recently was just flipping through content and found a song sung by bella.dandrea which is a "Norse Pagan" (for why this is in quotations, read here ) song meant to be sung to your daughter as you are waking her up in the morning. The lyrics are as follows: There once was a little lady Little idel leigh And she stood up tall and proud The drums they are so quiet To the way that her feet pound Freya smiling down Idunn she’s oh so proud Nott so joyous Syf so happy Hamynga dares to grin Hel can’t help but stare The little lady there They all feel so proud Happy little lady found Chorus: Little idel leigh, del leigh, little idel lay Little idel leigh, del leigh, little idel lay Hey! (x2) I thought this was quite beautiful and it sent me down a rabbit hole on heathen lullabies, and what was out there. It will probably ...
Read more