I've had interactions with people where I truly experienced something magical, where at times I've recognized something in them that exuded divine energy.
For example, a charming crone woman named Mary used to care for my brother and I occassionally. Each time we knew she was coming to our house to look after us we asked her to bring her VHS copy of the movie "Bear." Another ritual that became part of her visits was my asking her to let down her hair ("Rapunzel! Rapunzel!"). I can still remember the first time I saw Mary's real hair. She wore a short, typical, curled wig like many a crone I met as a child. When she revealed to me it wasn't her real hair I asked her if I could see it. I practically had to beg her to show me, so eventually, she did. She removed her curly accessory, and revealed a braided bun, bobby-pinned down tightly. (In retrospect it looked difficult to get it just right to fit into her wig.) When she let down her hair it was such a brilliant sight to behold. My exact words were, "You have unicorn hair! You should always wear it down, it's beautiful!" I loved Mary's hair so much. I remember wishing out loud that my hair could be like hers someday. It was the longest, brightest white hair I'd ever seen, and it really did sparkle. I learned recently that Mary moved to one of the Carolinas, and to learn she's still kickin' really warmed my heart. Magical Mary of the unicorn hair, so bright like goddess Holle.
In recent years I met the mother of my fiancĂ©'s half brother, who wears her beautiful unicorn hair down...and her name so happens to be Holly. ❄
Recently while working at the bookstore I met an eccentric man who claimed to be a homeless preacher. He wore an extravagant faux fur scarf, a wide brimmed hat, and a fabulous glitter nail polish in shades of blue and purple. He had a limp, so he walked with a cane, and when we made eye contact I noticed he had icy blue eyes, one of which looked like a glass eye. When I noted that mentally I thought of Odin! At one point he asked for cardboard to protect the art prints I sold to him. He proceeded to take out his knife to cut the cardboard into the proper size and shape. He stated aloud, "Most people act all scared when I use my blade, but not you." I found my indifference surprising as well, since I'm normally hyper-vigilant. I trusted I knew his intentions for drawing his knife, and that saved me from experiencing fear. He had that strangely familiar, curious presence to him that I sense when one of the all-father's ravens are near. đź’…
Have you ever met someone who reminded you of a deity, or had some magical mysteriousness about them? Let me know in the comments below!
Monday, December 11, 2017
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Etymology of Goddess Hel, Hela Helle, Holda, Holle
Etymology of Goddess Holda/Holle/Helle/Hel
"bright lady" translated in the following languages:
Afrikaans, "helder dame"
Estonian, "hele naine"
German, "helle Dame"
Yiddish, "helder dame"
German words containing the name of the goddess Hel, Hela, Helle, Holda, Holle:
English "hell" translates to "Hölle".
Eng. "bright" is "hell."
Eng. "cave" is "Hohle."
Eng. "elderberry" is "Holunder."
Holda
Hulda: according to www.behindthename.com, the name Hulda is
"Derived from Old Norse hulda meaning "hiding, secrecy". This was the name of a sorceress in Norse mythology. As a modern name, it can also derive from archaic Swedish huld meaning "sweet, lovable"."
Holle
(This post is a work in progress, please check in again for updates.)
"bright lady" translated in the following languages:
Afrikaans, "helder dame"
Estonian, "hele naine"
German, "helle Dame"
Yiddish, "helder dame"
German words containing the name of the goddess Hel, Hela, Helle, Holda, Holle:
English "hell" translates to "Hölle".
Eng. "bright" is "hell."
Eng. "cave" is "Hohle."
Eng. "elderberry" is "Holunder."
Holda
Hulda: according to www.behindthename.com, the name Hulda is
"Derived from Old Norse hulda meaning "hiding, secrecy". This was the name of a sorceress in Norse mythology. As a modern name, it can also derive from archaic Swedish huld meaning "sweet, lovable"."
Holle
(This post is a work in progress, please check in again for updates.)
Sunday, December 3, 2017
Water & Venom
The following are my personal anecdotes related to water and venomous snakes. Some of these stories depict waking life experiences, and others are from the realm of dreams and shamanic journeys.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I was a small child I had a near-drowning experience at the Frio River. My parents and four siblings were enjoying the water in a myriad of ways. Mom was sunbathing on the shore drinking wine coolers, Dad was holding my baby brother's hand as they waded in the shallows, and my three older sisters screamed and laughed as they "cannon-balled" from a rock into the deep end. While I watched my sisters jump I kept my distance. I was (and still am) terrified of heights, and falling. I preferred being close to the earth, for I felt so much safer close to her.
I was inspecting river rocks, and smiling at the perch as they nibbled at my toes. I recall noticing a small ripple of waves as a small snake swam past me. I began following the snake downstream. I remember hearing the rapids ahead of me when I slipped on the slimy rocks beneath my feet. I was swiftly carried away by the river current.
At some point I managed to wrap my arms around a small boulder, but my head was completely submerged under the rushing white water. I struggled to hold onto the rock, but my legs weren't strong enough to fight the current. I struggled and panicked, it all happened so fast.
Suddenly I noticed my body was no longer fighting. My fear and panic dissipated, and I looked up at the water's surface. The light was dancing gracefully on the rushing water above me, which seemed to move in slow-motion. Bubbles of air escaped from my lungs, and I felt very peaceful. The melody of the river surrounding me calmed me. I was no longer afraid, and felt as though I could fall asleep.
Suddenly, I was pulled from the water, and I choked as I gasped for air. The distance between myself and the river below me made me feel like I was on top of a tree. That "tree" was my father. I remember resting my head on his shoulder, and feeling so safe and warm as that six foot redheaded man carried me upstream.
As we headed upriver my father told me to stay with my family, to not wander off, and to never tell anyone about what happened. I remember hearing the worry in his shaky voice. I'm sure he was painfully stricken with guilt. I felt so terrible for upsetting him that I didn't fully realize what I'd just experienced.
When we made it to shore he placed me on the warm, dry, sunbleached river rocks, and wrapped me in a towel. My brother was sitting at the water's edge with his feet in the water, exploring the rocks and minnows. I looked towards my mother who was still lounging on a beach towel in her bikini... always working on her tan and boozing it up when she wasn't working out at the gym.
I turned away, and looked down the river, and my thoughts returned to that little snake... wondering where he'd gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had another scary experience at a river when I was twelve years old. It was less than a year after my father had passed away. I was tubing on the Nueces River with my mom, stepdad, and two of my siblings. We were out there within six months after the flood of '98. The water levels were naturally higher than usual. At one point on the river there was a fork, and my upper body wasn't strong enough to stay on the safe course. My inter-tube and I were pulled in the wrong direction, and thrown into a tree that was bent over in the middle of the river. My body was thrown into the air while my tube was stuck in the tree. I managed to grab hold of long grass hanging over the water's edge. It sounds ridiculous, but I remember being scared that a water viper would appear from the tall grass and strike me, on top of the possibility of drowning.
My stepdad swam towards me, and managed to grab me. He was strong enough to stand in that powerful water. I remember at one point his foot sunk into a hole in the riverbed, but he pulled himself out. He carried me to shore, and also managed to retrieve my tube.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You'd think that after having those experiences that I'd never want to go near a river again. Quite the contrary, I've visited rivers several times since. I celebrated both my 16th and 18th birthdays at the Nueces River along Chalk Bluff. I have many more joyful and pleasant memories of rivers than unpleasant ones. However, the trauma of those experience still affect me to this day. They manifest as suppressed fears that pop up occasionally, and they usually involve water snakes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I was a kid I must have watched a nature program on the Discovery Channel about sea snakes. I used to daydream that a black banded sea krait would swim up the drain and into my bathtub. Yeah, I had an active imagination paired with post traumatic stress induced anxiety. It didn't help that I had older siblings who'd taunt me, and tell me that snakes could swim up the drains of bathtubs and toilets. Oh yeah, you can be sure as a child I was worried they'd bite my ass while I was on the throne.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I was sixteen I was walking through tall grass with a couple of friends. Baggy jeans were the style back then, and I'm thankful they were. I felt something heavy stuck to my right pant leg, and walked towards a clearing next to a road to see what it was. It was, to my horror, a big fat water moccasin! Instinct took over as I started to kick my right leg violently into the air. Eventually the snake released the grip of its jaws on my jeans, and its body landed on the side of the road. I ran towards my friends who had made some distance ahead of me. The snake had milked some of its venom into my jeans, and it felt like fire ants were on my right calf. I lifted my pant leg to see if there were ants on my leg, and was relieved to see there weren't bites of any kind. My skin must've been irritated from rubbing against the venom on my jeans.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In my twenties I had four experiences with snakes while trail running. The first time was when I almost trampled on an indigo snake. The second time was when my fiancé and I saw an unusually large coral snake being poked at by kids with a stick. We warned the kids, and they apparently had no idea what they were messing with. On a different day we came across another group of kids throwing rocks at a rattlesnake in a tree. We told the kids to stop, and my fiancé joked about job security and Darwinism (dark paramedic humor). Recently I was within inches of landing my foot on a copperhead snake during a trail run. It was so bright and sunny outside that I didn't see it until it quickly slithered off of the trail right from under my foot. That close encounter with the copperhead really shook me up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Throughout my life I've had several different dreams about snakes and bodies of water. I recall one dream I had as a preteen about laying on the shore next to Medina Lake, and a pure white cobra with pinkish ruby red eyes emerged from the water. The cobra approached me, and pierced its fangs into my neck like a vampire. I laid there as though offering myself up willingly, without an ounce of fear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More recently I was on a shamanic journey to the lower world with the intention to meet my power animal. I was guided by Sand Dollar to stop searching the lands of the lower world, and instead search the water. I started off by floating on the surface in case my power animal was a waterfowl. That didn't work out, so I swam down to the floor of the body of water. It was there that I formally met my power animal, swimming as though it were performing a dance. It swam in spirals and circles around my body. Wouldn't you know my power animal is a sea serpent, who came to me in the form of a black banded sea krait. Snake medicine plays a major role in my life. Snakes that live in water and on land symbolize my journey in this life. They represent the parts of me that are seen in the light, and that which conceals itself in the dark.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6/20/2017
Last night I asked the universe to show me something I needed to know or learn in my dream. Early this morning I dreamt both my fiancé and I were bitten by a coral snake. Fortunately my fiancé had a dry bite, but I was not so fortunate. It was such a lucid dream that I felt the pain coursing from my bite on my left hand, and throughout my body. In my dream my mother went with me to the hospital, and as they began to admit me I handed her both my triple lioness/cougar ring, and my engagement ring for safekeeping.
I remember feeling and acting delirious chit chatting with the ER technician or nurse, whoever it was I first met at the hospital. They set me up in a room on a saline drip, and left me there until a venom specialist could arrive. It felt like forever, and I was so tired. I remember my mom being there as a group of students walked by, and she said that they were "piggy-backing." I must have sounded confused because she asked a nurse if she could help explain the term to me, and I remember exclaiming in frustration that I knew what it meant.
The pain from the bite had turned into overwhelming exhaustion. I looked at the tiny fang marks on my left hand in between my thumb and forefinger. It looked like there were four fang marks. Right before I awoke from the dream the venom specialist showed up, and he seemed furious with the staff at the hospital. Apparently I wasn't breathing very well, and the fact that I was on a saline drip alone was ridiculous.
I awoke and shed a few tears, and rolled over to hug my fiancé. He woke up just long enough for me to briefly tell him about the dream. I turned to look towards the window in our bedroom, and a coral light was shining from in between the curtains. I opened the window blinds, and gazed upon the coral, periwinkle, and golden yellow sunrise.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I was a small child I had a near-drowning experience at the Frio River. My parents and four siblings were enjoying the water in a myriad of ways. Mom was sunbathing on the shore drinking wine coolers, Dad was holding my baby brother's hand as they waded in the shallows, and my three older sisters screamed and laughed as they "cannon-balled" from a rock into the deep end. While I watched my sisters jump I kept my distance. I was (and still am) terrified of heights, and falling. I preferred being close to the earth, for I felt so much safer close to her.
I was inspecting river rocks, and smiling at the perch as they nibbled at my toes. I recall noticing a small ripple of waves as a small snake swam past me. I began following the snake downstream. I remember hearing the rapids ahead of me when I slipped on the slimy rocks beneath my feet. I was swiftly carried away by the river current.
At some point I managed to wrap my arms around a small boulder, but my head was completely submerged under the rushing white water. I struggled to hold onto the rock, but my legs weren't strong enough to fight the current. I struggled and panicked, it all happened so fast.
Suddenly I noticed my body was no longer fighting. My fear and panic dissipated, and I looked up at the water's surface. The light was dancing gracefully on the rushing water above me, which seemed to move in slow-motion. Bubbles of air escaped from my lungs, and I felt very peaceful. The melody of the river surrounding me calmed me. I was no longer afraid, and felt as though I could fall asleep.
Suddenly, I was pulled from the water, and I choked as I gasped for air. The distance between myself and the river below me made me feel like I was on top of a tree. That "tree" was my father. I remember resting my head on his shoulder, and feeling so safe and warm as that six foot redheaded man carried me upstream.
As we headed upriver my father told me to stay with my family, to not wander off, and to never tell anyone about what happened. I remember hearing the worry in his shaky voice. I'm sure he was painfully stricken with guilt. I felt so terrible for upsetting him that I didn't fully realize what I'd just experienced.
When we made it to shore he placed me on the warm, dry, sunbleached river rocks, and wrapped me in a towel. My brother was sitting at the water's edge with his feet in the water, exploring the rocks and minnows. I looked towards my mother who was still lounging on a beach towel in her bikini... always working on her tan and boozing it up when she wasn't working out at the gym.
I turned away, and looked down the river, and my thoughts returned to that little snake... wondering where he'd gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had another scary experience at a river when I was twelve years old. It was less than a year after my father had passed away. I was tubing on the Nueces River with my mom, stepdad, and two of my siblings. We were out there within six months after the flood of '98. The water levels were naturally higher than usual. At one point on the river there was a fork, and my upper body wasn't strong enough to stay on the safe course. My inter-tube and I were pulled in the wrong direction, and thrown into a tree that was bent over in the middle of the river. My body was thrown into the air while my tube was stuck in the tree. I managed to grab hold of long grass hanging over the water's edge. It sounds ridiculous, but I remember being scared that a water viper would appear from the tall grass and strike me, on top of the possibility of drowning.
My stepdad swam towards me, and managed to grab me. He was strong enough to stand in that powerful water. I remember at one point his foot sunk into a hole in the riverbed, but he pulled himself out. He carried me to shore, and also managed to retrieve my tube.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You'd think that after having those experiences that I'd never want to go near a river again. Quite the contrary, I've visited rivers several times since. I celebrated both my 16th and 18th birthdays at the Nueces River along Chalk Bluff. I have many more joyful and pleasant memories of rivers than unpleasant ones. However, the trauma of those experience still affect me to this day. They manifest as suppressed fears that pop up occasionally, and they usually involve water snakes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I was a kid I must have watched a nature program on the Discovery Channel about sea snakes. I used to daydream that a black banded sea krait would swim up the drain and into my bathtub. Yeah, I had an active imagination paired with post traumatic stress induced anxiety. It didn't help that I had older siblings who'd taunt me, and tell me that snakes could swim up the drains of bathtubs and toilets. Oh yeah, you can be sure as a child I was worried they'd bite my ass while I was on the throne.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I was sixteen I was walking through tall grass with a couple of friends. Baggy jeans were the style back then, and I'm thankful they were. I felt something heavy stuck to my right pant leg, and walked towards a clearing next to a road to see what it was. It was, to my horror, a big fat water moccasin! Instinct took over as I started to kick my right leg violently into the air. Eventually the snake released the grip of its jaws on my jeans, and its body landed on the side of the road. I ran towards my friends who had made some distance ahead of me. The snake had milked some of its venom into my jeans, and it felt like fire ants were on my right calf. I lifted my pant leg to see if there were ants on my leg, and was relieved to see there weren't bites of any kind. My skin must've been irritated from rubbing against the venom on my jeans.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In my twenties I had four experiences with snakes while trail running. The first time was when I almost trampled on an indigo snake. The second time was when my fiancé and I saw an unusually large coral snake being poked at by kids with a stick. We warned the kids, and they apparently had no idea what they were messing with. On a different day we came across another group of kids throwing rocks at a rattlesnake in a tree. We told the kids to stop, and my fiancé joked about job security and Darwinism (dark paramedic humor). Recently I was within inches of landing my foot on a copperhead snake during a trail run. It was so bright and sunny outside that I didn't see it until it quickly slithered off of the trail right from under my foot. That close encounter with the copperhead really shook me up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Throughout my life I've had several different dreams about snakes and bodies of water. I recall one dream I had as a preteen about laying on the shore next to Medina Lake, and a pure white cobra with pinkish ruby red eyes emerged from the water. The cobra approached me, and pierced its fangs into my neck like a vampire. I laid there as though offering myself up willingly, without an ounce of fear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More recently I was on a shamanic journey to the lower world with the intention to meet my power animal. I was guided by Sand Dollar to stop searching the lands of the lower world, and instead search the water. I started off by floating on the surface in case my power animal was a waterfowl. That didn't work out, so I swam down to the floor of the body of water. It was there that I formally met my power animal, swimming as though it were performing a dance. It swam in spirals and circles around my body. Wouldn't you know my power animal is a sea serpent, who came to me in the form of a black banded sea krait. Snake medicine plays a major role in my life. Snakes that live in water and on land symbolize my journey in this life. They represent the parts of me that are seen in the light, and that which conceals itself in the dark.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6/20/2017
Last night I asked the universe to show me something I needed to know or learn in my dream. Early this morning I dreamt both my fiancé and I were bitten by a coral snake. Fortunately my fiancé had a dry bite, but I was not so fortunate. It was such a lucid dream that I felt the pain coursing from my bite on my left hand, and throughout my body. In my dream my mother went with me to the hospital, and as they began to admit me I handed her both my triple lioness/cougar ring, and my engagement ring for safekeeping.
I remember feeling and acting delirious chit chatting with the ER technician or nurse, whoever it was I first met at the hospital. They set me up in a room on a saline drip, and left me there until a venom specialist could arrive. It felt like forever, and I was so tired. I remember my mom being there as a group of students walked by, and she said that they were "piggy-backing." I must have sounded confused because she asked a nurse if she could help explain the term to me, and I remember exclaiming in frustration that I knew what it meant.
The pain from the bite had turned into overwhelming exhaustion. I looked at the tiny fang marks on my left hand in between my thumb and forefinger. It looked like there were four fang marks. Right before I awoke from the dream the venom specialist showed up, and he seemed furious with the staff at the hospital. Apparently I wasn't breathing very well, and the fact that I was on a saline drip alone was ridiculous.
I awoke and shed a few tears, and rolled over to hug my fiancé. He woke up just long enough for me to briefly tell him about the dream. I turned to look towards the window in our bedroom, and a coral light was shining from in between the curtains. I opened the window blinds, and gazed upon the coral, periwinkle, and golden yellow sunrise.
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