Readings: Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13; John 20:19-23 |
Proverbs 8:22-31; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15
Last Sunday for Pentecost I did a private seiðr ritual to divine the Holy Spirit and have spent the past weeks doing some discernment about it. (I figured if this had to be late, between Trinity Sunday and the Solstice is still good timing XD.) The Holy Spirit’s coming on Pentecost marks the end of Easter and a celebration of the Mystery of the Holy Trinity it’s part of with the Father and Son. The gendering here is used to describe and make more relatable a Divinity that exists beyond any label we could make. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit could also be Parent, Child and Fiery Wisdom Gained Through Unconditional Love, but I don’t think that will catch on any time soon. I see The Holy Trinity as a way of beginning to explain a cosmic loom with the relationships between Weaver, Weaving and Wool. Or the entanglements of Creator, Creation and Conscience as a plural system of divinity. It’s One Body hosting multiple trios of Beings. Knowledge, Wisdom and Experience flowing together. Like a fractal, could keep zooming in on it forever.
Doing something known as “Norse pagan witchcraft” to reach the Holy Spirit may seem wrong or weird but as a völva I found the vivid descriptions in the scripture readings to be very helpful for discerning between the Holy Spirit and other entities. Words of wisdom and knowledge, healing, prophecy and discerning spirits being in the list of gifts the Holy Spirit can bring is a very reassuring reminder that things like magic and witchcraft are not unnatural or inherently evil. (Also Sophia (Wisdom) in Proverbs makes me think a bit of the völva in Völuspá sharing her memories about how Midgard was made.) Because the Holy Spirit can be in anyone/thing, the “common good” is the constant given to identify it. Not everything done in Christ’s name is for the “profit of all”. Many who say “Jesus is Lord” use their pulpit to line their own pockets. And many say “Jesus is accursed” do it while helping those churches abused and abandoned.
The reading from Acts describes a charismatic, ecstatic spiritual experience which I used as a guide for what to expect. There was a “rushing of a mighty wind” at the beginning of the ritual. This is not unusual for seiðr rituals but I did not expect how the wind would be knocked out of me as my Baptisms of water and fire collided like the steam that rose from Ginnungagap. For a few moments I was in an endless expanse with every fiber of my being warped with love weaving in. I expected conflict between the “tongues like fire” and the runes on my tongue from Lokean vows, but they were illuminated instead with the raw power words have. And how that can be refined by learning different ways to communicate. There’s a New Moon approaching, the first as we move back into Ordinary Time. Good for planting new seeds or seeing how deep old roots go in the quiet dark of the earth.
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