(HSL stands for Heathen Soul Lore)
Winifred Hodge Rose
In the Völuspa verses about Ask and Embla, we’re told that after they are given Ond and Oðr, they are given La, Læti, and Litr Godas: in my understanding, these comprise our Hama soul. Let’s move on now to exercises meant to guide us into deeper understanding of this gift from the Gods.
Reading:
First read Book I (Heathen Soul Lore Foundations), Chapter 6: “The Shape of Being Human: The Hama Soul,” or the website article of the same name. This will give you general, research-based information about Hama.
https://heathensoullore.net/the-shape-of-being-human-the-hama-soul/
Then read Book II (A Personal Approach) Chapter 6: “Exploring your Hama, Lich-Hama, and Ellor-Hama,” or Study Guide 6 of the same name on my website, and work through those exercises in your Daybook or Workbook. This will help you learn more about your own Hama.
https://heathensoullore.net/study-guide-6-exploring-your-hama-lich-hama-and-ellor-hama/
Practice Notes:
At the level of soul lore study here, I have not developed ideas about the hamingja or spirit of luck, and about hamrammr, the ability to take on different etheric or astral shapes, to any significant extent, though I mention them briefly in both books. I feel there is enough to learn regarding our own inherent souls and their functions, first, before we go on to more arcane souls, spirits, or soul-expressions. The exercises I offer for the Hama soul here can provide a very good foundation for future work with the Ellor-Hama or shifted shape, if you choose to do that later. Other writings about luck on my website and books provide some basis for working with hamingja. If the hamingja and / or shapeshifting are things that are already part of your experience and self-understanding, you can incorporate that perspective into your responses to these exercises. Suggestions for further reading on these topics are listed below.
Bindrunes
I have designed bindrunes that express some of my perceptions of each of the souls, shown in Book II and in the Study Guides on my website. If you have some familiarity with rune-lore, I encourage you to use my Hama bindrune for meditation, and / or create your own Hama bindrune and use that one. If you are not up for creating a bindrune right now, you’re also welcome to meditate on a single rune, or several, that seem related to your Hama soul.
Work with your soul-tokens, if you are using them
When you are doing the reading, writing the exercises, meditating, communing with the Deities and spirits, using divination or spaeworking, and working with bindrunes or single runes, keep your token(s) with you. If you are creating a specific Hama token, such as a strand of yarn, cord, or thread that will eventually be braided or otherwise combined with tokens for your other souls, begin work on this now.
Divination and spaeworking
If you like to use runes or another system of divination, by all means use them to explore more questions and insights about your Hama soul and record them in your Daybook. Likewise, if you are experienced with spaeworking, seidhcraft, or similar esoteric or magical work, these are excellent ways to explore the souls, but should not be pursued before learning proper methods and precautions, through reading such as I recommend in previous HSL program steps.
Hama Initiation Ceremony
If you wish to perform a Hama initiation ceremony, and hallow your Hama token if you have one, here is the text for this ceremony: https://heathensoullore.net/hama-initiation-ceremony/
Further reading
If you’d like to read more about astral shapeshifting in the Germanic and other European / Northern traditions, you could look at this interesting book:
Claude Lecouteux, Witches, Werewolves, and Fairies: Shapeshifters and Astral Doubles in the Middle Ages.
There is much that can be found about hamingja and luck, including on my website and in my book Oaths, Shild, Frith, Luck & Wyrd: Five Essays Exploring Heathen Ethical Concepts and their Use Today. This article discusses hamingja and luck in a specific context: their role in the formation of a marriage, home life and family: https://heathensoullore.net/heathen-foundations-of-marriage-bargain-gift-hamingja/