Heathen Soul Lore #6 Winifred Hodge Rose Ond gave Odin, Odhr gave Hoenir….(Voluspa vs. 18, in the Poetic Edda) The first gave ond and life, the second consciousness and movement….(Gylfaginning in the Prose Edda) Ullr’s grace, and that of all the Gods, To him who first takes away the flame; The worlds will open to Asa-son, When he heaves up the kettle. (Grimnismal vs. 43 in the Poetic Edda, vs. 42 in translation) In my previous article about the Ghost (Ond, Ahma, Ghost and Breath: Basic Meanings), I began the attempt to put the complexities of our Ahma and Ghost into some sort of shape that would be useful for modern Heathens.   In case I have not already made this clear, I will note again the impossible task of describing a concept of the ghost or spirit (or any of the other souls) that is consistent across time and place for all Germanic Heathen peoples.  My purpose in writing all of these articles is to contribute to a systematic modern Heathen theory and practice of all activities involving our souls, using historical evidence as source material.  As all modern Heathen loremasters have experienced, developing a modern body of soul lore means imposing some consistency and clarity even where it did not always exist in the historic record.   In all these articles I try, however, to show why and how I draw the conclusions that I do, so that you, the reader, can test and judge them for yourself. Origin and Afterlife of Ghost and Ahma Whether or not our Germanic forebears believed in an abstract, transcendent, pure consciousness-being-soul, a question which is difficult to answer based on the little evidence we have of their beliefs, this is a belief which is held by many people today, including many Heathens, I think.  It is part of the modern landscape of belief.  This transcendent, eternal, abstract consciousness, this Spirit in its ultimate sense, I am calling Ahma, the Gothic term for “spirit.”  It corresponds closely to the Hindu Atman, which is very ancient in origin and could well reflect, in part, an ancient Indo-European understanding of Spirit.  Certainly, the words Ahma and Atman are closely related, as I discussed in my previous article. What is the relationship between our Ahma-Spirit and our Ghost?  Are they one and the same, or different from each other?  I believe they parallel the nature of our Gods and Goddesses, in the following way.  Ginnungagap, the Gap of Magical Potential, contains within it the proto-energy-matter that has not been actualized or materialized in any way.  We can call this the Godhead or the Source, something that is beyond any attempt to characterize or describe.  As this wells up and overflows from Ginnungagap, it gradually takes on the characteristics of energy and matter as we know them.   Thus are formed the Gods and Goddesses, the Worlds and the elements of matter, of souls and bodies.  The Gods and Goddesses have personal characteristics, they are beings who can be described and known to some extent by us, and to whom we can relate in a personal way. Yet they are also shapes – Hamas or soul-skins – of the Godhead / Source / Ginnungagap-outflow.  Our Ahma-soul corresponds to this primal source, with its lack of personal characteristics and its limitless nature.  Our Ghost, on the other hand, corresponds to our Gods and Goddesses as personal, individualized entities.  Our Ghost relates to our Ahma in the same way that the Holy Ones relate to the Source within Ginnungagap.  They are one in substance, but have different characteristics; or rather, the Ghosts and Gods have characteristics, while the Ahma and Ginnungagap cannot be defined by characteristics. We can think of Ahma as the steam or mist rising up out of Ginnungagap, based on the common Indo-European word-roots for spirit, breath, wind, steam (Greek atmos).  This is the same mist that rises to fill Niflheim / Mist-Home and coalesces into Hvergelmir, the Roaring Cauldron of World-Energy.  The Gods shape or distill our Ghost out of this spirit-steam and blow it into us at the moment we take our first breath.  Because our Ghost-soul is shaped from Ahma / Source, we can call it a shape-soul and understand it as the hama or shape of our Ahma-soul.   But the Ghost is a being in its own right, not simply a shape of something else, just as the Holy Ones are beings in their own right and not just sacks of Ginnung-power.  Although Ghost comes from the spirit-steam hovering over Ginnungagap, once it is shaped into the Ghost it has a different life and fate, with natural ties to the Gods and Goddesses if one chooses to pursue and honor them.  Our Ahma, on the other hand, remains essentially connected to the Ahma hovering over Ginnungagap. I am thus considering Ahma and Ghost to be two distinct souls in the tally of Full-Souls that I am exploring in this series of articles. One can, by certain kinds of spiritual practices, reunite one’s Ghost with the Ahma spirit-steam of Ginnungagap.  This path bypasses our connection with the Gods-as-personal-beings, breaks open the soul-skin of our Ghost, and returns our personal portion of Ahma to the primal spirit-steam.  This path is described in other religions and spiritual practices as Nirvana, union with the Godhead, disembodiment into Pure Bliss, and other efforts to describe the indescribable.  Certain religions, Eastern in particular, hold this as the aim of all their spiritual efforts and development: to burst open the Ghost’s skin and release the impersonal Ahma to return to the Source.  My impression of Heathen belief, past and present, is that most Heathens prefer to keep their Ghost whole and (if all goes well) dwell as a personal Ghost-being with the Holy Ones in the afterlife.  The connection between Ghost and Ahma still remains, both in life and after death (I will describe this below), but so does the distinction between them.   However, nothing prevents Heathens from choosing to follow the kinds of spiritual disciplines that break down the Ghost and return Ahma to the primal source in Ginnungagap.  This dissolution of the Ghost into pure Ahma may also be a path for those who feel no attachment to any Deities during their lifetime, and thus may feel no benefit to staying in a shape, the Ghost, which can interact easily with personalized Gods and Goddesses.  Among other things, Ghost forms the bridge between abstract, impersonal Ahma, on the one side, and personal Gods, Goddesses, humans and other personal beings on the other. An individual can choose whether this bridge, the Ghost-soul, is meaningful to retain after death, or whether to dissolve personal Ghost into impersonal Ahma-spirit. Athom and Ghost My previous article about the Ghost showed how closely Ghost / Spirit and breath are tied together.  Our Ghost consists of Ahma-Spirit encapsulated in a soul-skin, a hama.  The Ghost is thus like a pod (but a pod with personality!) existing within a wider field of Ahma.  Ghost pulsates within this Ahma-field, drawing Ahma, the steam from Ginnungagap, into and out of its skin in a nourishing bath of spirit-power: this is what keeps it strong and living, and sustains the vital ties between our Ahma-soul and its hama, our Ghost-soul.  When our body, our Lich, breathes, it is mirroring the pulsations of our Ghost.  In other words, our Lich breathes because, and only because, our Ghost is pulsating within the field of Ahma.  As our Ghost expands and contracts, so do our physical lungs, our andribb or chest where our ribs enclose our ond. This understanding of the relationship between Ghost, Ahma, and Athom or breath makes clear many spiritual and physical phenomena.  Effective meditation requires mindful breathing, which involves tuning our physical breath pattern to the pulsations of our Ghost, thus opening a way for our awareness to touch Ahma-Spirit in a transcendent experience.  People who are in a very deep meditation or trance, or who are in a coma or unconscious, experience a loosening of the Ghost from the Lich.   When the Lich is not fully connected with the Ghost breathing becomes very slow, and the conscious awareness that is tied to the Ghost is located elsewhere in an out-of-body experience.  In a Lich which is slowly dying, the Ghost is simply drawing more and more distant from the Lich, taking with it both breath and consciousness.  When the final breath flows out, the Lich has “given up the Ghost,” just as we take in the Ghost during our first breath of life after birth.  Heathen mothers and other Heathens who attend a childbirth should be fully aware of the wondrousness of this moment: not only is a child physically born, but the Gods and Goddesses are present, most especially Odin as our Ghost-Giver, and many good Ghosts are gathered round to attend and honor the Ghost-Giving. Regulating the breath is a time-honored way of regulating consciousness or awareness, aiming toward various kinds of experiences ranging from simple meditation to ecstatic visionary journeys and paranormal activities.  Some traditions emphasize calming and slowing the breath to achieve these experiences; the Eastern traditions such as Zen Buddhism and some forms of Yoga are examples.  Breath regulation is often achieved by whatever form of galdoring is customary in that tradition, such as the chanting of Tibetan monks and the plainsong used in Christian monasteries.  One example is the full, chanted Eastern Orthodox Christian liturgy for the Holy Week preceding Easter, which lasts for eighteen hours a day. One can imagine the powerful effects this can have on the Ghosts of those who chant and those who listen mindfully.  And of course, in our tradition there are many creative possibilities for using rune-galdor to energize our Ghosts. Slowing or regulating the Athom is only one way of activating our Ghost, however; the opposite action of speeding and exciting the breath is also effective. Our Ghost can be excited inadvertently, with no spiritual intention or control; the results are often negative in these cases.  Examples are hysteria, panic, shock, injury or pain.   Germanic words for these states show the Ghost-connection: Anglo-Saxon and Modern English aghast; Gothic uz-gheizan; and others that I listed in my previous article.  Our Ghost is temporarily shocked loose from our Lich.  Depending on the severity of the shock and the degree of loosening, our reactions range from panicky breathing and gasping (when we gasp, we are instinctively trying to draw our Ghost back into our body, before we faint) to fainting or coma. In cultures around the world people are often concerned about sneezing and yawning, and we are taught to cover our mouths when we do this.  Modern folk consider this to be due simply to courtesy and hygiene, but the practice is deeper and older than such considerations.  It is meant to prevent the inadvertent breathing out of the Ghost when yawning or sneezing, as well as avoid breathing in any ghosts that are floating around “out there.”  Note that the Greek word for spirit is ‘pneuma,’ which comes from PIE *pneu, to snort or sneeze. (This is really rather an amusing ‘life history’ for this word which later, under the development of Greek philosophers and Christian theologians became the word for the transcendent human spirit!)  Presumably, the ancient Greeks would not have called ‘spirit’ and ‘snort, sneeze’ with the same word unless they believed that the spirit could be inadvertently set loose from the body by explosive breath. If you look at photographs or drawings of native people present at a shamanic healing ritual or an exorcism, you may notice that some cover their mouths or turn away to avoid breathing in the expelled ghost or evil spirit.  I have seen some pictures where mothers in these circumstances are covering their babies’ mouths to keep them safe, while themselves turning their faces to the side so as to be out of direct line with the escaping ghost.  Some cultures also cover their mouths when laughing or weeping, for the same reason, especially because these excited states arouse one’s own and others’ Ghosts.  Recall, from my previous article, that the word and concept of “ghost” relates directly to a “state of excitement or arousal.”  I must point out here that the Ghost is not closely involved in our everyday emotions, which are more the domain of other souls.  Ghost does not so much feel or cause emotions; rather, Ghost is activated and energized by strong, sudden emotions or physical states similar to the way that water molecules are energized into steam when heated.  Unusual breathing, like sneezing, laughing, sobbing, singing, shouting, gasping, screaming, and so forth, is likely to excite or alert one’s own and other people’s Ghosts, as well as any non-human ghosts / spirits hanging around.  It is these kinds of “excited breathing” situations, reactions to sudden, strong emotions or physical states, that can lead to ghostly entrances and exits on the breath. Shamans and other spiritual technicians use this tie between Ghost and breath, and the excitability of the Ghost, both to elevate their own Ghost to paranormal levels of activity and sometimes to manipulate the Ghosts of other people to bring about healing or cursing.  I would say that shamanic healing and bewitchment more often involve other souls of the patient / victim than that person’s own Ghost, but sometimes Ghost-work is needed in the process.  And regardless of which soul of the patient is being healed, any shamanic work that involves excitation of the shaman’s breath, heating of the body through dancing, singing, sweating, and so forth, and especially loss of consciousness, likewise involves the Ghost of the shaman.  (Others of the Shaman’s souls, such as Hugi and Mod, are generally involved, and perhaps associated spirits such as the Hamingja, Fylgja and Gandr.)  I’ll repeat here the verse I quoted from Grimnismal at the beginning of the article, which may have several layers of occult meaning which relate to the subject of this article:             Ullr’s grace (hylli), and that of all the Gods, to him who first takes away the fire.  The worlds will open to Asa-son, when he heaves up the kettle.  (Grimnismal vs. 43 in the Poetic Edda; vs. 42 in translation.) On the surface, the verse applies to Odin’s situation of being tortured by being placed between two fires in Geirrod’s hall.  It also implies a form of spiritual initiation or training, since that is Odin’s purpose in speaking the poem: to instruct young Agnar about the mysteries of the Gods and prepare him for sacral kingship.  (See the prose introduction in the translation of Grimnismal.) This initiation is not simply one of endurance and courage, however.  “Steaming” a person between two fires is an image of distillation, of refining and distilling a substance down to its essence.  I mentioned in my previous article that the terms “spirit” and “alcoholic spirits” (German “Geist” is used for both meanings) are not just coincidentally related.  Our Ahma rises like steam from Ginnungagap and is distilled by the Gods into our personal essence, our Ghost.   Once our Ghost has been refined by the ordeals of life under the tutelage of the Holy Ones, we become a son or daughter of the Aesir and receive the grace (heil, hylli) of Ullr and all the Gods.  When the “kettle” is lifted off the fire, our bodies are removed from the boiling fire of life, the steam of our Ghost rises, and the Worlds lie open before us.  This is what I see as the “life / afterlife” meaning of the verse.  It can also be seen as a reference to seidhr or shamanic practice.  Being heated by the fire can refer to the body-heating exercises often used in shamanism, such as violent exercise and / or steam-bathing.  The kettle may contain herbal or alcoholic steam that has psychogenic effects, leading to a trance state where the Ghost can come forth and act.  (See Larrington’s note 58 on page 271.) In summary, our Ghost can extend itself outside the body, as long as there is still an Athom-tie between it and the body.  Athom-work is the way to bring this about, and it can be achieved by two opposite techniques.  The breath and body can be quieted (along with the mind and the other souls), allowing the Ghost to release itself from mundane ties and enter otherworldly realms.  This is the approach of mystics and other spiritual seekers, as well as some forms of artistic creativity such as composing music.  Conversely, the breath and body can be brought to an extreme state of excitation, thereby arousing the Ghost to paranormal action: this is the path that most shamans take, as well as berserkers and some kinds of artistic performers.  When the Ghost is fully extended, while still tethered by Athom, the practitioner is in a very deep state of trance or even unconscious.  Extreme examples are Yogis who can enter a state of suspended animation, or legendary shamans of different cultures who could survive for long periods underwater or who fall deeply unconscious while in the shamanic state.  Wode Once we move into the realms of Ghost-excitation, we are dealing with the phenomenon of Wode (Anglo-Saxon) or Odhr (Old Norse).  In the Old Norse sagas, odhr is generally presented in the form of battle-madness, as shown in the berserker and other warriors in an exalted state of consciousness.  In Old Norse poetic literature odhr appears more often in the context of great inspiration toward poetry or wisdom.  An odhar-smith referred to a poet.  Odhroerir meaning “odhr-stirrer” or wode-stirrer, is either the name of one of the  cauldrons from which Odin drank to gain poetic power, or the name of the mead of inspiration itself which he drank and carried off (Havamal vs. 107, 140; Simek p. 250).  It is also the source of his gift of poetic wode to humans, as is told in Skaldskarpamal of the Prose Edda (p. 62-3).  The Anglo-Saxon … Continue reading Ghost Rider: Athom, Ghost and Wode in Action