Hlaford

He’s looking back at you:
the Lord of the Seed,
with sunlight in his hair,
the God of Many Gifts,
grain growing beneath his feet,
Lord of Elf-home,
most handsome Son of Earth and Sea.

(See the rest of the photo set here. As suggested by the watermark, it is NSFW. But it’s all worth it, trust me!)

Most Handsome God of Plenty

I love turning gorgeous man-art into religious icons. Yup, not the first time.

EDP1: Make your first words be of praise

[To begin my Devotionals series “Establishing a Devotional Practice” (EDP), here’s “Make your first words be of praise“]

The very first thing I do when I wake up is to say a prayer. It could be a long hymn or a single sentence, it doesn’t matter. I face the east, lift up my hands to the sun, and praise the new day. Then, I proceed to the altar and greet our household gods. (Note that this is before anything else, even breakfast or checking my phone.)

I’ve read it somewhere that this seems to be what the ancient Romans (or at least their heads of the household) did, too.

Not an actual picture of my morning view, but I wish it were

Although not a traditional Hellenistic hymn, I’ve grown fond of Sigrdrífa’s prayer (a hymn that I’ve memorised from the days when I was more German than Greek), so this is what I normally recite at the beginning of each day:

Hail to you, Day!
Hail to you, Day’s sons!
Hail to you, Night
and you, daughters of Night!
Look on us here
with loving eyes,
and give victory to those seated.

Hail to the Gods!
Hail to the Goddesses!
Hail to you, bountiful Earth!
Give to us wisdom
and goodly speech,
and healing hands in this life.

It’s a beautiful prayer, Heathen or not, and it’s always started my day ‘right’. Whatever your religio-cultural inclinations are, may your first words be of praise.

Lord of the Fields

This photo could very well suit as a devotional image of the Vana god Yngvi Frey, one of several deities from my Northern heritage I include in my cultus (although, I prefer addressing him by his Saxon name, Ingui Frea, since my ancestors were from the continent, most likely).

Here’s something about Frea from Englatheod:

Adam of Bremen mentions Frea in reference to the temple at Uppsala:

In this temple, entirely decked out in gold, the people worship the statues of three gods in such wise that the mightiest of them, Thor, occupies a throne in the middle of the chamber; Wotan and Frikko have places on either side. The significance of these gods is as follows: Thor, they say, presides over the air, which governs the thunder and lightning, the winds and rains, fair weather and crops. The other, Wotan-that is, the Furious-carries on war and imparts to man strength against his enemies. The third is Frikko, who bestows peace and pleasure on mortals. His likeness, too, they fashion with an immense phallus. (Gesta Hammaburgensis 26, Tschan’s translation)

Idols with large phalluses have been found and are thought to represent Freyr.

I think I’ll be printing this out and housing it in my shrine, together with Dionysos. Who says the Lord can’t have short, dark hair? Hail the Handsome Lord of Plenty!