Laurie Asra Sottilaro
Source: Odin to Ask & Embla; first breath
Type: Life-soul
Keywords: Breath, Spirit, Intellect, Ginnungagap
Other Language Synonyms: Athom (Old Saxon), Önd (Old Norse), And- (Anglo-Saxon)
Spheres: Spirit, infinity, transcendence
Afterlife: remains with the Ghost in its time with the gods; alternately dissipated back to Ginnungagap
Patrons: Odin
Care and feeding: Breathing exercises; attunement with Unity
Foothold: Breath, lungs, diaphragm
Interface: The energies and nutrients we absorb by breathing
Concerns: As this is our connection to the infinite, the Ahma tends to be concerned with matters of spirit and unity, and can be strengthened through meditation and breathing exercises.
Runes / Bindrune: Dagaz, Ansuz, Tiwaz, Kenaz
Awareness: Unity, limitlessness, pure Being
Notes and References:
“Our Ahma-soul corresponds to the primal source, with its lack of personal characteristics and its limitless nature” (Rose 2021 94). “This transcendent, eternal, abstract consciousness, this Spirit in its ultimate sense…corresponds closely to the Hindu Atman” (Rose 2021 93). Ahma’s source and eternal connection lies in Ginnungagap, where it rises with the mist from the well Hvergelmir, which in this sense is placed in the gap itself. “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 Ahma source 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” (Rose 2021 93)
Our Ahma may be enclosed within our Ghost, but at the same time it is still connected to the mists of Ahma floating over Ginnungagap. “Inspiration flows from the fields of Ahma and into our Ghost, very often with inputs from the Holy Ones along the way. As it first flows into Ghost, inspiration is a brilliant, scintillating, but unshaped form of energy, just as Ahma is” (Rose 2022 111).
There are many interesting clues in the Anglo-Saxon language that give us some ideas on the way that Ahma, which to them was ‘and’ the term which never stood alone but was always part of a compound word. “In Anglo-Saxon , and-giet meant: ‘understanding, intellect, knowledge, perception, senses, meaning, purpose'”(Rose 2021 83). “I also see a connection here with the Anglo-Saxon and-wlita, our countenance and appearance…the andgiet serves as a (mental) screen which projects outer knowledge inwards in the form of perceptions, to be perceived by our inner self, while the andwlita serves as a (physical) screen, our face and appearance, which projects our inner self outward to be perceived by others” (Rose 2021 84).
Possible Traits:
| Able to just “be” | Detached |
| In “the zone” | Disconnected from body |
| “Old soul” (not literally) | Overly focused |
| Oneness of Spirit | Unable to track time |
| Timeless |