Drinking From the Well of Mímir; An Ásatrú Man's - Angelfire

253 Pages·2003·1.47 MB·English

i
ii
Bil Linzie
Drinking at the Well of Mímir
An Ásatrú Man’s Meanderings through the Last 30 Years
Of Drinking at the Well of Mímir
Dec. 8, 2000
i
This piece may be reproduced freely by anyone as a portable document format
(*.pdf extension on filename is required) as long as this frontispiece remains with
the document and as long as the credits for authorship remain. Anyone wishing
to repackage this document for distribution must contact the author. I believe that
information should be freely given, therefore, I have no problem granting permission
for redistribution. I have a problem, however, with people who simply take without
permission and without giving credit where credit is due: these, I consider to be the
lowest form of scumbag and will not hesitate in the least to point it out.
Enjoy!
st
Happy Yule and a Prosperous 21 Century!
Wm. (Bil) R. Linzie,Eyvindr Hearth, Dec., 08, 2000
Contents
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
Chapter 1. World Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 2. Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
A Tale of the Beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
The Problem of Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Chapter 3. Midgard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Chapter 4. The Sky Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Chapter 5. The Underworld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Chapter 6. The Sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Chapter 7. At the Well of Urð . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
TO DRINK AT THE WELL OF MÍMIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Chapter 8. The Making of a Seiðman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
8.1. The Death: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
8.2. The Sick Come By: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
8.3. The Quick Dead: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
8.4. Disease Is Everywhere: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
8.5. On the Gathering of Plants: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
8.6. On Cleanliness: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
8.7. On ceremony: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
8.8. On the Making of a Seiðman–A Final Word (or Two): . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Appendix A. The Ásatrú-Folk Manifesto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
A.1. GENERAL COMMENTARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
List of Figures
1. Frontispiece of the old book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
3.1. Goðafoss–Falls of the Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
4.1. The Forked Bridge–Midnight at Jól . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4.2. Himinbjörg–to the far North . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
4.3. Aurora Borealis–Souls flying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
5.1. A photo of Helheim—Fosnes—Reflection in the water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
7.1. The carved FUÞARK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
7.2. Northern Seeress–photo from pub. dom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
8.1. The seiðman with Fliegenpilze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Preface
I don’t consider this volume to be any great piece of research. There are plenty
of researchers out there far more knowledgeable than I, and I have no problem with
that. I don’t consider these books revolutionary in any way either; I seriously doubt
whether they will change the practice of Ásatrú in the modern world. What they
are is an Ásatrú man’s view of the world after having been Ásatrú two years short
of a full third of a century. They are my views.
When I was in 6th grade just entering junior high school in Lambertville, Michi-
gan,Ihadfewthoughtsaboutreligion. OurtownwasacollectionofGerman-American
Lutherns(who,likemygrandfather,rarely,ifever,attendedchurch)andPolish-American
Catholics who only went to church until they were old enough to start helping on
the farm. My mom was the oddball French-Canadian-Ojibwa Catholic who forced
me to go to Mt. Carmel Catholic church until I was 14 years old and who does
not know to this day that I schwäntst (played “hookey”) catechism from age 8 on.
I asked my Grampa Jack one morning when we were hoeing corn what religion he
was. After a minute of leaning on his hoe and thinking he said, “I guess I belong to
the Linzie religion” and that was good enough for my 6th grade mind. Back then,
I really didn’t think much about anything except for Laura Berry (who still comes
to mind off and on) and Melanie Sigler.
I was schwäntsing Mr. Thompson’s study hall one fine day and wound up in the
school library which really wasn’t much except that Laura or Melanie might show
up once in a while. I don’t know why I was looking at the books on the shelves (a
rarity for me at the time), but I ran across an old book:
Norse mythology,
legends of giants and elves, trolls, wizards.
The tales, poetry and the like were all familiar to me familiar to me. I had heard
many of the stories, and nasty giants, ogres, and elves were all a part of growing up
in that time and place which almost seems like a foreign country now.
Growing up in a German-Polish-American farming community which had barely
th
crept into the 20 century in the early 1960’s, one was barely out of rural Germany
and the stories were common. Most kids (except for the ones just moving from the
Preface v
Figure 1. Frontispiece of the old book
(a)
city or just visiting on summer vacation) and about half the adults of my parents’
generation accepted the reality of elves. I remember the time when old Pussig
VanGunten and his wife climbed the tree in front of their place, and told the road
crew that if they were going to chop down the tree, they would have to chop it down
with the two 80 year olds in it. Pussig was smart enough not to tell the road crew
just why the tree couldn’t be chopped down, but most of us knew who really lived
in that tree. So, when I pulled the smelly old book down, it felt familiar.
IcreakedopenthecoverandreadthequotebysomeguynamedThomasCarlyle.
“I think Scandinavian Paganism, to us here, is more interesting than any
other. It is, for one thing, the latest; it continued in those regions of Europe
till the eleventh century: eight hundred years ago the Norwegians were still
worshippers of Odin. It is interesting also as the creed of our fathers; the
men whose blood still runs in our veins, whom doubtless we still resemble in
many ways. Strange: they did believe that, while we believe so differently. We
have tolerable means to do it; for there is another point of interest in these
mythologies: that they have been preserved so well.
“Neither is there no use in knowing something about this old Paganism
of our fathers. Unconsciously, and combined with higher things, it is us yet,
that old faith withal. To know it consciously brings us into closer and clearer
Preface vi
relations with the past,-with our own possessions in the past. For the whole
past, as I keep repeating, is the possession of the present. The past had always
something true, and is a precious possession. In a different time, in different
place, it is always some other side of our common human nature that has
been developing itself.”
–Thomas Carlyle
I loved that book and read it cover to cover at least four times a year for the next
3 years. My Grampa Jack was “Linzie religion” and so was I, but I belonged to the
Ása-Faith as well.
I later bought a second printing of the book and still enjoy it. After 30 years of
Ásatrú the book has begun to even take on the smell of that original I once held in
my hands.
rd
I love the fact that I am a 3 generation German-American. I now live in the
southwest in a predominantly hispanic community and enjoy enchiladas y tamales
as much as I do Sauerkraut mit Schinken und Äpfeln, but I never mistake where I
came from. I read a lot more now than I used to and move a little slower than when
I was still chasing Laura (and I do mean chasing—she was fast). I have a family of
my own and I am 30+ years and 2000 miles away from the place of my upbringing,
but I feel more a German-American now than I did growing up. I wrote this book
as an expression of thanks, I suppose.
This book came together over a period of 10 years. I started in 1990 (the year
that our town’s electricity went out on Superbowl Sunday), and I lost the first
thirty or so pages to an old, borrowed Apple IIe. Fortunately, I still had the original
handwritten copy. Since that time, I’ve gone through 3 computers, Windows3.1,
Windows95, Windows98, and now Linux/ FreeBSD; countless rewrites, and have
lost half my hair, grown long in the tooth, became a Grampa, and got remarried
only to have two more sons (one of whom is “Jack” born 99 years and 9 days after
his namesake and founder of the ‘Linzie-religion’). A lot has happened in those 10
years.
The book actually started out as a 5-page essay but quickly took on a life of its
own sprawling out well beyond a ream of paper. The topics wander mainly because
I like it that way. It starts with the individual who slowly discovers his relationship
to the world. It starts at the center of the universe, i.e. me–(yes, I’m slightly
narcissistic), and then looks out, then up, then down, and then further out. It is
not an instruction manual, but rather a record of learning. I’ve put in beaucoup
quotes and named the authors and their books as well. There are plenty of personal
observations in here (actually, the bulk of what’s here is personal observations–I
just ‘scotch-taped’ the personal observations together with quotes).
I’m well aware that authors like to argue. One writes about a new theory–the
Preface vii
next knocks it. I am not one of those authors. The older I get, the less I like to
argue and the more I like to play fiddle and play with my sons (and my wife, when
she lets me catch her). If you want to get hold of me to tell about a great fiddle
tune you heard, you’ll have my undivided attention; on the other hand if you want
to tell about a mistake I made in my logic–forget it, I’m not biting.
I put this book out for free. I did that for a reason. If you find that some of my
ideas are good, fine, they are there for the taking. Information is really no different
from fiddle tunes in my mind. They are both there to be taken–enjoyed. I don’t
figure the book’s a top-seller anyway, so I prefer to give it away. The way of life
that the Ása-Faith offers is an enjoyable thing, and this is my way of giving-back.
One other thing: I believe that the Ása-Faith should be free and personal. No
one can tell another how to experience life, and certainly, no one should pay to learn
about how to experience life. I am not against people coming together for Ása-Faith
holidays, but I still don’t like organized religion any more than Grampa Jack did. I
wrote The Ásatrú Folk Manifesto 1 in honor of him. He was my greatest inspiration,
was a family man, and farmer, an upstanding member of our little community, a
regular at the Grange, and the best of Grampas.
1 See Appendix for The Ásatrú Folk Manifesto. It is self explanatory.