Episode 16 – altars and sacred space
Shout out to Dalton Essick, who suggested the topic for this episode :)
Things we talk about in this episode:
Opening Music:
'Ancient Whispers I' by P C III, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence.
[http://freemusicarchive.org/music/P_C_III/Ad_Astra_Vol_1/03_Ancient_Whispers_I]
Closing Music:
'Round II - The Ancients' by Learning Music, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence
[http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Learning_Music/An_End_Like_This/32_Round_II_-_The_Ancients]
Background fire ambience by inchadney from freesound.org
Suzanne needs to practice more…
A mostly UPG episode – UPG means that a lot of the content of this episode is the personal opinions and experiences of Suzanne and Kate.
Parsecs and lettuce
Medieval Scandinavian community halls – the Hof
Not that Hof… http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001327/
The saga references to altars
The outside altar made from stones
What’s currently on Suzanne’s altar
A ritual hammer – Suzanne found a small short-handled lump hammer from a DIY store works just fine.
What your altar might look like…a wooden box, a shelf, a small table top etc...
What an altar can be used for – a shrine or ritual space, or an area to hold sacred items
‘Nobody can tell you how to heathen’
Changing an altar – for the seasons, for different gods, for different festivals
Stepping into sacred space from the mundane
What is sacred space?
Altar size – pocket altars available from Odin’s Beard Woodworking - http://www.odinsbeardwoodworking.com/
The use of Godposts – this comes from descriptions in ‘Witches of London: Lars’ by Aleksandr Voinov - http://www.aleksandrvoinov.com/witches-of-london.html and check out Gungir Godposts: https://www.facebook.com/Gungnir-Godposts-1565456350415538/
The Hammer Rite – the creation of temporary sacred space
Closing sacred space
Parallels of sacred space – segregation of space in churches in Christianity; washing of hands, face and feet, and removal of shoes before prayer in Islam, Roman shrines, temples and the covering of heads/wearing of masks as preparation for ritual.
Creating temporary sacred space.
Using ritual tools – temporary or permanent.
You don’t need expensive ritual kit to be able to heathen and connect to the Gods.
‘My Grandfathers Axe’ - a philosophical argument better know as the Paradox of Theseus Ship - https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/wi-phi/wiphi-metaphysics-epistemology/wiphi-metaphysics/v/ship-of-theseus Simply: if you take an axe or ritual tool, and replace each part of it as it gets worn, once all the parts are replaced with identical new ones, is it still the same axe as it was at the beginning?
Consider treating yourself as the altar – the use of ritual clothes or jewellery
Take time to develop your own practice
An Altar to Sunna – an example of things you might consider using
The historical record – what do the sagas tell us about altars?
Adam of Bremen and the temple at Uppsala http://www.germanicmythology.com/works/uppsalatemple.html
What’s associated with an altar in a Hof? Oath rings and Bowls
Sacrificing animals – the changing nature of wealth
The nature of sacrifice in Roman religion.
Experiences with the divine are all valid.
How to find us online
Kate gets scandalous
