Freja - the Force from Within

No holding back - when Freja captures your soul, and flares you open from within. It's all pain from now on.

War Goddess. Protect what you love. No one can care for your innermost passions but you.

Love Goddess. Love what you protect. And when the right person comes along - you don't have to hold on anymore. To share what you love - enriches all.

Goddess of magic. Sorceress. All - knower. From the roots of the world tree, she draws the life force. To hold life force in body, is great magic indeed. Directing it - changes everything.

Goddess of life and death. At the edge of the void, only life carries us on. We cut, we blaze, we bleed, we die. Through it all she's walking close - close to you and me.

Closest of gods. Lover of humans. Inviting us to get warm by the seidr fire. Melting our frozen doubts. Catching the drops in her motherly hands. Burning our hearts - until we take our stand.

The Runes Are Dancing

The runes are dancing.


Vibrating.

Waiting to be yours.

For you to step into them. For them to be embraced by you.

They don't care if you can pronounce them correctly in Old Icelandi, while hanging up side down in an old ash tree. They don't care if you read every verse of the stories once told by the night fires burning.

They care only of this:

That you know how to carry them inside of you. That you know how to feel them - how to be them.

To be them. Then your theirs. Then they are yours.

Most powerful, ancient signs. As are all signs. As are all letters. As are all languages.

Every sign drawn, every letter written, every word spoken, every sentence woven - shoots out roots and arrows, shoots out threads of good or ill.

Watch every word you write and speak. Play with the runes if you will. They teach respect for the expressed - for spoken and unspoken words just the same.

Loving, breathing, pulsating building blocks of worlds. 

The runes are dancing - always dancing. Dance with them if you wish.

Illustrations Sofia Karin Axelsson

Towards a New Form of Leadership

Article published in Edge Magazine - "Towards a New Form of Leadership."

"Leadership has become a slightly suspicious term over the years. From an elegant term full of responsibility and capability, many people today associate leadership with misuse of power and corruption. The more anarchistically inclined may have come to the conclusion that the time for leaders is gone, that we are now all our own leaders, and we don’t need any guidance in any area, be it political, social, moral or spiritual." ... more

Thanks to Edge Magazine for publishing me. Always a joy.

Skadi - Goddess of the Oldest Magic

Frost. She comes from the mountains, with the scent of snow yet
not fallen embracing her. Embracing us - no more summer

bouncing growth. It's time to take aim. Bow and arrows on her back. Visions in her eyes: visons of witches, visions of women, visions of brave men of the new world. She takes us for long walks. Urges us on to take long strides.

Goddess of crescent moon, sharp and tangible. Easy to cut your fingers on. Bleed if you need to.

Find your prey and stalk it silently. Patience overflows. In silence we find what has been untold. That she's of giantess race. That she comes with the oldest magic.

Bright white and shadowy gray. Skadi means shadow. She makes us walk with them: our untold stories, our forgotten selves. Let them walk side by side. Harming none, now that they are seen, From them we weave stronger dreams, the rest we throw in the stream.

With summer gone, she rules us all: shadow and light, crisp views unfold. We can see, we take aim, we hold on to the whole, just barley touching the ground - as we move forward.

Immigration - Election Time and About Time to Get Some Perspective

Election time and about time to get some perspective on issues that are to complex to leave too simplifications. Read Mexican Roots, American Soil: A Quest for the American Dream, by Ernie Bringas. A book about immigration that is intelligent and knowledgeable, by a first generational Mexican American:

"... my first purpose for writing is to help mitigate the prejudicial attitudes that prevail. It is prompted by what I consider to be a direct assault against the Hispanic people, most notably, against Mexicans ..."

"I hope my family’s story— fleeing from the battlegrounds of the Mexican Revolution in 1916 to the USA—will help other Americans recognize the positive contributions made by immigrants that have woven their unique threads into the American fabric. That’s one of the great values of immigration. It’s the bloodline that keeps our nation from becoming anemic, and stagnant.  From top to bottom, the social, musical, athletic, professional, and intellectual contributions made by the constant flow of immigrants are incalculable."

"We must be mindful that the benefits of immigration are a two-way street. I will simply say that I am eternally grateful to my family members who had the vision for a better life, and had the tenacity to make that better life possible by crossing the Mexican/American border.  I still marvel at their courage and foresight.

On the other hand, I can point with pride to what this country did for me and for our family as a whole. With open arms this nation provided all the opportunities needed for the pursuit of happiness, including education and job opportunities. We, in turn, gave back with service, dedication and loyalty. That will become evident as our story unfolds."

All quotes from Mexican Roots, American Soil: A Quest for the American Dream.

Written by Ernie Bringas.

Images with courtesy of Pixabay.

When Hel Is Walking through the Waters, Roses Bloom in the Dark

When Hel is walking through the waters, roses bloom in the dark, roots turn and sniff for more.

A goddess, a place, a state: final destination made divine. The most scary thing made holy. Holy as rotting corps are holy.

What do we do with Death? Death goddess whispers sound advice, to faint for us to hear.

Autumn is here: season of the witch: holy times, the time of Hel.

Photograph by Michael Peter Langevin

"Mexican Roots, American Soil: A Quest for the American Dream," by Ernie Bringas

A Book Review - by Michael Peter Langevin, 

from the October issue of The Echo World

Mexican Roots, American Soil: A Quest for the American Dream

Written by Ernie Bringas

Published by: Phantasm Press, 2016

This is a book for our times. With the immigration issue blaring in the headlines, and being forefront in the presidential election debates, this is a refreshing story of the journey of the author’s family members who fled the battlegrounds of the Mexican Revolution. After documenting his family’s story the book becomes the author’s autobiography. 

Ernie was recording in Hollywood with his band The Ripcords while attending school to earn his B.A. at California State University, Long Beach. After the Ripcords broke up Ernie earned his Masters of Divinity at United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio. Ernie was a dedicated minister for decades. As a minister Ernie worked in many poverty stricken communities and did his best to bring the teachings of Christ to those whom it could most help. This book is often humorous about a first generation Mexican American. As an Amazon review so well states: “It illustrates through real-life example that the “sky’s the limit” for anyone in search of the American Dream. Immigration issues will continue to be front line controversies for years to come. Mexican Roots, American Soil seeks to help Americans recognize that the welcome mat afforded incoming immigrants does not have a one-sided advantage. Immigrants continue to weave their unique threads into the American fabric.”

Michael Peter Langevin

For more bookreviews from the October issue of The Echo World, go here. And to p.11.