UKPagan blog entry March 2013:

I've had multiple ideas for posts to this here blog of late:

1. Pastoral paganism.
How many pagans seem to think of nature as that 'Beatrix-Potter-esque' idea of mother nature as a kind, nurturing, loving soul. Probably due to the very sanitised 'countryside' that occupies most of the green spaces in this country. This conveniently ignores that mother nature also is responsible for death, decay and one animal often has to die so another can live. Horrible diseases are just as valid and important a part of the natural cycle as are fluffy mice and kittens and tweety birds.

2. Urban paganism
Again, mostly prompted by the very safe countryside, which mostly comprises of farm, parkland and country estates, I was going to wax philosophical about how pagans 'back in the day' probably had an awareness of their world more akin to that of a contemporary city dweller than someone who lives in today's UK countryside. A kind of 'street sense' would probably have been required to keep those pagans out of danger, not dissimilar to that of someone living in the city who might avoid certain areas or going out at certain times, due to a higher likelihood of something bad happening (think match days or political marches).

3. More 'where's my (pagan) head at?' posts
Well, the title says it all, really. I often have stuff that I need to get out of my head and find that, through the prism of my keyboard, I can sometimes make better sense of my opinions on things.

As it is, though, I've had little time to devote to such posts and so I offer this update as a 'bookmark' if you like, to remind me to post more stuff here going forward.

Whether it'll prompt me to post more or not, though, is anyone's guess...




Shame I never really posted any threads on the UKPagan message board about these. At least that leaves me with more fodder for this site, though.

In the interests of getting hits to this site, though, I will probably intersperse those posts with plenty of stuff about Vikings! ;)

Gullveig: Thrice burned, thrice reborn - A Viking Phoenix or something more?

Taken from an earlier post on my blog at The Valley (www.ukpagan.com)

I've been spending some time thinking about Gullveig.

For some reason, the Aesir pierce her with spears and burn her three times...

This alone got me thinking of how those actions alone are reminiscent of a shamanic ordeal to reach altered states of consciousness. She is, after all, thought by some to become a great seer, a volva, after this ordeal. Three times reborn could be descriptive of her being reborn to take on another role. Of course, "piercing with spears" can also be a euphemism for something else... ;)

And the name, Gullveig. I am not sure precisely what 'veig' means, but Gull, iirc, means 'gold'.

Now, doesn't the norwegian rune poem contain the line:
"Fee (wealth) is a source of strife among kinsmen..."

Could Gullveig have been attacked precisely because she was (perhaps maliciously) causing strife amongst the Aesir?

I need to meditate upon this a little more, I think. Twenty minutes thought on the tram home last night maybe isn't quite enough to solve this particular mystery... ;)



Despite the further meditation I attempted, no further insights were forthcoming. Alas...