Laurie Asra Sottilaro
Source: Trees – Ask & Embla. First soul that comes into being at conception; Kicks off the growth of the fetus, starts the heart, etc.
Type: Life-soul
Keywords: Feorhcynn – the kindred of all living beings. Mind, intellect, law, priesthood, nature, trees
Other Language Synonyms: Feorh (Anglo-Saxon), Ferh, Verch, Ferch, Vair.
Spheres: law, religion, emotion, self-transformation, nature
Afterlife: Goes elsewhere… possibly on cremation or decomposition. Returns to the world of nature in some form? Might become part of an ancestral spirit complex.
Patrons: Thor, Odin, Vili, Ve, Hœnir, Lodur, Alaferhwiae (Germanic Matronae)
Care and feeding: “Time spent in nature, living with natural rhythms and patterns of life, and quality time with the Gods and Goddesses” (Rose 2021 66). Tune into our life energy and connection to others’ life energy.
Foothold: Sensory and nervous systems. Fills our entire body, similarly to Qi or Prana.
Interface: La & Laeti
Concerns: Autistic individuals and/or individuals with ADHD may be especially sensitive to imbalances in their Ferah soul. Tools for working with and interacting with Ferah may be helpful for self-regulation and overall well-being.
Runes / Bindrune: Kenaz, Berkano, Ac / Oak, Aesch / Ash (the latter two are part of the Anglo-Frisian Futhorc).
Awareness: nature, natural energies, their flows; laws & their patterns; connection to Deity. Membership in feorhcynn.
Notes and references:
The Ferah, in different forms, ensouls all living beings, and was present before humans made the evolutionary leap to homo sapiens. Its energy is very close to the physical spectrum, and it was pictured as a kind of fluid, an etheric substance that filled the body; it’s quite possible that this is the location of the Qi and Prana of Eastern traditions. It is the seat of sensation, emotion, and perception, and it is what triggers our biochemical responses to outside stimuli (“fear, pain, fever, etc” (Rose 2021 53)). “The Ferah is intimately involved with all the vital functions of our body or physiology and metabolism, our neurotransmitter and endocrine functions, our responses to environmental cues, and our growth and deterioration in youth and age, health, and disease” (Rose 2021 54).
“Both our physical senses, and the analog-sensorium of our imagination, flow through this Ferah substance as well as flowing through our body and brain. Our experience of the world is, or should be, a full-body experience of all our senses, physical and metaphysical. And in this full-body experience, our Ferah soul is our foundational actor, sensor, and responder” (Rose 2022 63-4). One must keep in mind, then, that things like torture and physical harm take place upon the Ferah as well.
“Our Ferah is responsible for detecting and evaluating all physical and metaphysical sensory cues in our environment, and for deciding on appropriate responses…Our conscious mind’s activities in this regard are part of Ferah’s process.” (Rose 2022 69) It is present in the accord or discord between individuals. See Rose 2021 pp. 52-54, and Rose 2022 pp. 63-4, 69.
The Ferah is not just responsive to physical and social stimuli, but also Divine cues. It “can provide impetus for fertility magic of all kinds, as well as natural magic associated with plants, trees, animals, stones, storms, lightning, and bioelectricity…[and] can protect against negative spiritual influences associated with death, illness, and pain” (Rose 2021 67) “Our Ferah soul can feel ‘higher’ emotions, and can be characterized by wisdom, holiness, or cruelty” (Rose 2021 55). “It is the Ferah soul and energy, specifically, which provides the benefits of sacrifice to the gods and goddesses” (Rose 2021 60).
An important concept when dealing with Ferah is the adjective derived from it: Feraht, meaning ‘wise.’ “A Feraht person is someone who is deeply pious and devout, who focuses his or her life on the Divine, and derives from that attentiveness a more spiritual kind of wisdom” (Rose 2021 55) “By being truly Feraht, priests might protect themselves and their people from vengeful souls who considered themselves mortally wronged by execution or other corporal punishment” (Rose 2021 59).
There can be issues for a weak Ferah as well; “While a well developed Ferah confers wisdom and power, a Ferah which has gone out of balance can become over sensitive, hyper-reactive, anxiety-ridden, fearful, phobic” (Rose 2021 66) A weak or damaged Ferah may engage in harmful compensating behaviors such as slyness, deceptiveness, cruelty or brutality (Rose 2021 66-7).
The Ferah is a prominent soul during childhood; “it provides a very great deal of our simple joy in life, and emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being” (Rose 2021 66). The term was often interchangeable with a person’s life. For example, “A criminal’s Ferah was the scyld or debt owed for a capital crime, and it was stated specifically in those terms” (Rose 2021 58). When life ends, The Heliand and Beowulf both indicate that the Ferah must be laid aside before the afterlife can begin (Rose 2021 62).
All the possible afterlives of Ferah are still being explored, however “Powerful Ferahs may become the kind of Guardian spirits reflected in the Germanic (and Celtic) matronae of Roman times. They were place-based spirits or genii loci of rivers, cities, regions, clan and tribal domains, rooted in a specific area” (Rose 2021 64). “These ideas link the Ferah soul with the Disir and Alfar ancestral spirits, which I believe are the Hugr souls of the ancestors, and with the spirits of the land. I think that one possibility, among others, for the Ferah soul after death is to accompany its partner Hugr soul, and perhaps one or more landwights as well, to form together a powerful ancestral or semi-divine land-warder spirit” (Rose 2021 65).
Possible Traits:
| Aware of connection with feorhcynn | Anxiety-ridden |
| Confidence level re social cues | Brutality |
| Connected | Cruelty |
| Delight | Fearful |
| Evolutionary soul | Hyper-alert |
| Lawful | Hyper-reactive |
| Open hearted playfulness | Isolated |
| Meticulous re religious laws & obligations | Judgmental |
| Patterns | OCD |
| Piety | Oversensitive |
| Reads and responds to both environmental and social cues | Phobic |
| Reverent | Rigid |
| Sensitive | Sly |
| Strongly connected to trees / mountains / weather / nature | |
| Wise |