This is a brief essay on a suggested blending of Celtic and Norse religions. Sure the Gods that are worshiped are different between the two, and certain spiritual ideas do not share themselves in these religions., but this doesn't mean that they can't be put together. The Pantheon of Gods is simply expanded and thus appears to cover more aspects of life. However to begin with good Pagan should in any case at least aknowledge that the gods of other pantheons exist. Then the spiritual belifs are different, yet they are all old and true secrets. Logicly true plus true yields true.
"But Why do this?" you may ask. In no way are you forced to. But keep in Mind though that the purpose of this site is to put rare information and new topics for research out in order to expand the scope of human knoledge. I feel that it would be a great step forward if we could at least strive for a Universal Religion. You may be boggled to find that there would be probably some 1,000 or so Gods in a Universal panthion of Gods. However one of the the things that we as Pagans may be proud of is that we have a complex religion. This is why most of us get peaved when we are labeled as primitive religions.
I should probably begin with the cosmology of the two religions and how they may blend. The Celts had an upper world (great place of faries and Gods/esses), middle world (hey that's us) and an underworld (a place of the dead). In the upperworld things wer a lot brighter, cleaner, nicer etc. In the underworld things are muddier, dirtier, and often times crueler (not that it is a negetive place, it's just not as nice). The middle world is supposed to lie inbetween these worlds. The faries actually lived in both worlds but were more bountious in the upperworld, the same case holds true for the gods. There wer special gods designated to the underworld. This theory seemed, and seems to work. In the Norse faith there were 9 worlds (again we see 9 as the holy #). The worlds were conected by the Befrost bridge. A shaman could thus travel them. All of the worlds that we know are part of Ygdrassil (the world tree). There are possible worlds outside of Ygdrassil, however I have not heard of any research in this subject. Ygdrassil is often spoken of as an Ash tree but is really a conglomerate of all kinds trees that exist and existed.
The worlds are as follows: ASGARD
ALFHEIMR,
MIDRIGARD,
SVARTALFHEIMR,
HEL,
VANAHEIMR,
JOTUNHEIMR,
MUSPELHEIMR,
NIFLHEIMR,
ASGARD :This is the strong hold of the Gods of the Aesir. It is here that they make their home. This is the realm of conciousness (remember that only men and Gods have conciousness.
ALFHEIMR This is a realm of great beauty. It was given to Freyr for his first tooth. It is inhabited mostly by elves (Thus the name). This is a place where supposedly one can never be sad, for Freyr was the god that never could make anyone cry (even in death).
MIDRIGARD This is our realm. It is in the very middle of the world tree. In fact it is a combination of many aspects that are found in the other worlds.
SVARTALFHEIMR This is the region rigt above HEL. It is the home of the Dwarves. They are suposedly the same as the Dark elves (that's what I learned when I was there). These dwarves actually work for the Goddess HEL. They also play a part in upholdin certain branches of the world tree. It is at this level that the tree starts to branch out.
HEL This is the realm of death ruled by the Goddess HEL. It lies at the bottom of the world tree. This is symbolic. In death we rot, turn to soil. It is on this soil that the tree grows. HEL is not at all a bad place. It is a place where people go after they die. In my belief I feel that this is where people go in awaiting for Re-incarnation for their next life. As the Celtic tradition states, people go to the underworld and make plans for their next life. Arrangements with the souls of others are made for the uppcoming life on Earth.
VANHAHEIMR This is the home of the Vanir Gods. This is a realm of balance.
JOTUNHEIMR This is a place of Chaos, a realm of motion. It is the home of the giants (not the team).
MUSPELHEIMR This is the realm of fiery energy. It is Ruled By Sutre (a giant) and is supposed to be purely made of hot stuff, lava, fire, and horrible things that boil. It is simmilar to the Christian concept of Hell>
NIFLHEIMR This is a realm of pure cold and ice. It is home to a few strange creatures and breeds of Elves found nowhere else.
If you have any information that you feel I may put in here please write me a little Schpeal about it.
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How To Combine Them
The easy way that I see how to combine the cosmology of the two is to separate the world tree into three sections, so that it is like the Celtic Cosmological Map. The Norse worlds wouldn't become sub-worlds, rather would be classified into Upper or Under worlds. The upperworlds would be as follows:Asgard, Alfheimr, Niflheimr, and Vanaheimr. The underworld would be composed of: Hel, Jotunheimr, Muspellsheimer and Svartelheimr. Midrigard would of coarse be the Middle world. The Distinction
The methods to use these would of coarse be different. The way to acces the celtic worlds doesn't work for accesing the Norse worlds. To reach the Norse worlds you must cross the Befrost. To access the Celtic worlds you must use the burial mounds, or Lake. Then you may wonder what the difference is in the method you may use. The true distinction (I learned this from a bunch of elves in the upperworld) is that the Norse system of projection is more to cause change, to experience, to bond with energy patterns. The Celtic paths are more for self- discovery, to gain knowledge (as you are more likely to meet a guide using the Celtic method than by using the Norse method) and to discover parts of yourself (shadow self, animal guides, etc.).
PLEASE AWAIT MY ESSAY HERE. (NOT YET COMPLETED)
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