The Elder Gods

In Voluspa (Prophecy of the Seeress) there is an interesting piece that is somewhat obscure but which seems to suggest that within Norse Mythology there did exist a pantheon of Elder Gods or Creator Gods. That is, if I understand this piece right, and the translation is right. One thing that does suggest this is that Woden and the Aesir-Gods are slain at Ragnarok, and regenerated through their sons, which means that they do not exist as Immortals through the Cycles of Time. They are subject to death and rebirth, just as Man is subject to the same. They have also to be regenerated by the Apples of Idunn, the Apples of Regeneration. 

Then the Regin went to the Doom-Stool (rokstola)

The Ginn Holy Gods (ginnheilog goth) held council

As to whether the Aesir should pay compensation,

Or whether all the gods should have a duty.

Voluspa 23.

This, of course, is about whether compensation should be paid by the Aesir-Gods for starting the war with the Vanir-Gods. The inference here in this piece is that the Elder-Gods sit in council over the Aesir and Vanir; this makes sense since the key word seems to be 'Doom-Stool'. What we think today when the word 'doom' appears is that of 'death', but this was never the original meaning of the word, which meant - 'justice' or 'judgement'. Now, clearly the Aesir and Vanir could not sit in judgement upon themselves, so here we do seem to have the hint of the Elder Gods who sit in judgement. In fact, this is actually borne out when we consider the term Ragnarok (Ragna-Rok) which means Doom of the Regin. Here we could take the term 'regin' as referring to the Aesir-Gods, but it could just as well refer to the Elder Gods setting their 'Doom' - Judgement - over the Aesir-Gods. Again, 'doom' is not just 'fate', it is a judgement and thus the Aryan Gods are judged for their past actions and Ragnarok happens because of this judgement. 

It is said that Gap var Ginnunga (Ginnungagap) existed, out of which creation came about. This is usually said to be the Gaping Void which was 'magically-charged'; it would seem easier to say that this 'Gaping Void' was conscious or that it became conscious. Ginn-Unga refers to the 'Offspring of Ginn', which tells us that 'Ginn' existed first, out of which grew 'Ginnung' (Be-Ginn-Ing). 

ginn - great/mighty/holy.

ginn - a jester, a juggler, a joker.

ginna - to dupe, to fool, also to intoxicate. 

In some sense the word ginn would seem to be somewhat akin to the ALU-ULA Runic Formula, the root *alu- also meaning some sort of 'magical force'. This seems to link to the name ILU-VATER who Tolkien saw as the 'Creator-God', also known as ERU - 'The One'. The Ginn-Holy-Gods would thus be the Elder Gods who existed before the Creation of the Universe. The Aesir & Vanir are our Racial Gods, the Gods of the Aryan Race. This set-up is also found in Egyptian Mythology where the Netr/Netera existed before the Creation, and they were the Elder Gods who gave birth to the Racial Gods of the ruling elite over Egypt. 

I mentioned before in a Telegram Post that in the spring of 1997 the force or power behind the mystical experience I had was the Cosmic Joker. It seems that Woden All-Father embodies this concept as a Trickster-God, and it was he, together with Will and Weoh, who slew the Primal Giant to create the Cosmos, so Woden-Will-Weoh existed before this Creation as the 'Sons of Bor' and 'Grandsons of Buri'. Woden-Hoenir-Lodur found the primal material for the creation of Man - Aryan Man. 

Ginn - Ginn-Unga Gap - Conflict of Fire & Ice - Ymir/Audhumla - From Ymir descend the Light-Joten (Armpit-Sweatborn) and Dark Joten (Feet), and from Audhumla (Cosmic Cow - Cosmic Mother) springs Buri. Ymir represents the Primal Sound (Aur-gal-mir), and when he is 'dismembered' this represents the Primal Sound YM (OM/AUM) of which The Creation of Matter is formed. 

Our English word 'Beginning' is the same as 'Ginn-Unga', the prefix 'be-' being an addition; even so the sense of 'To Be' remains here - 'I AM' or 'THAT WHICH IS'. The Knowable that springs out of the Unknowable; hence the idea of a 'Magically-charged Void', since this is truly unknowable and we can easily be 'fooled' by trying to delve into these realms.

There is also Voluspa 64 - 

'Adown cometh to the doom of the world

the great godhead which governs all...

He settles strife, sits in judgement

And lays down laws which shall last alway.'

There is another translation of the first two lines which may make this clearer to understand -

'Then cometh the Mighty One to the Doom of the Gods

The Strong One from Above who rules all...'

Of course, this whole piece is rejected by some academics and scholars because it has a 'Christian' tinge, it suggests that there is a 'Great Godhead' who stands above all. Tolkien seems not to have rejected such an idea, since with the sinking of Atalante (Numenor) it is Illuvater/Eru who intervenes to judge and destroy the lands which had been taken by the Dark Forces. There are hints that All-Father may be a title of this Godhead, also applied to Woden All-Father who works the Will of Allfather here in Middle-Earth. All-Father or Alu-God may also be used for this High God. 

The problem in touching upon his subject is the strange inclination to lump all monotheistic religions into one single category. Yet it is hardly logical to treat the Religion of Zarathustra - a Religion of Light and Order - the same as Judaeo-Christianity which upholds the worship of Shaddai-Jahu - the Shadow Lord. Since these Dark Powers never create, merely parody and copy, then it is quite possible that this was copied from Egypt and the Religion of Akhenaten, especially since Moses is an Egyptian name. 

"Darkness hidden by darkness in the beginning was this all, an ocean without mental consciousness...out of it The One was born by the greatness of Its energy. It first moved in it as desire which was the first seed of mind. The Masters of Wisdom found out in the non-existent that which builds in the existent...."

Rig Veda - Hymn of Creation X129. 

The Wyrd Sisters or Norns set down Orlaug and Wyrd, but they did not exist at the Beginning, since they were the Three Giant-Maidens who appeared in order to set down the Primal Laws and Fate - Destiny. 

The Saxon God Irmin or Ermin has the Irminsul as his symbol; his name is not unlike Eru used by Tolkien. One image of him from Germany shows this god with the 'Scales of Justice', and the Irminsul (at one level) could be seen in the same light, the twin 'arms' being the 'scales' or 'balance'. The Saxons called the Milky Way by the name Iring's Way and the name Iring can be rendered 'Son of Ir'. 

AR  ER  IR  OR  UR

There are other ways of spelling the name 'Irmin' - Earmin, Eormin, Eormun, Ermine, etc. This good is connected to the World Pillar and to the upholding of Cosmic Order. I have mentioned this here because so little is known of Irmin, but he is clearly a god of some importance. His association with 'judgement' and with 'justice' links to what has been said here. 

The Spiritual Centre of Woden's Folk.

 

I have said in the past that the area of the Long Man of Wilmington in East Sussex was a kind of 'Time-Clock' set to be awoken by the Hale-Bopp Comet in the Spring of 1997. At this time I had a profound Mystical Experience and Woden Initiation in which the Mysteries of HelgiH were revealed, and also an understanding of what I was to do came to light. Woden's Folk was founded one year later on April 23rd 1998. This came directly from this Mystical Experience, and the role of Woden as The Great Initiator was made clear - Woden is The April Fool in this role. The link with the Hale-Bopp Comet (Bab Komet) was clear, and just east of the Long Man figure is a comet-shaped Long Barrow called Hunter's Burgh, no doubt hinting of Herne the Hunter, an aspect of Woden. 

Just above the hill-figure is a phallic-shaped Long Barrow where 8 Ale Bottles were later buried in the form of a Swastika on August 10th 1999 to herald the Solar Eclipse and the Resurrection of Ingwe on August 11th 1999. These bottles were of Millennium Ale showing Old Father Time holding a blond-haired blue-eyed baby, a significant symbolism. The Long Man is orientated North, and the two staffs can be seen as the Gateway to Thule. 

This may not be the only importance of this area, which I am going to go into now, since this is an important theme to follow. S.F. Annett has suggested that the area centred around Windover Hill is the setting for an episode in the Petit Saint Graal which is a story about Peredur, son of Evrawc. Peredur is the Welsh version of Parsifal. To save time and space I am going to list these with bullets, each part of this story being in italics, with the 'answers' in the normal print -

• Peredur is on a Graal Quest when he comes across a castle with no inhabitants. Burlough Castle nearby is a low mound without any kind of masonry.
• In the hall he finds a chessboard on which the pieces are playing by themselves. Peredur takes sides and loses, throwing the chessboard out of the window into a river. The 'Chessboard Castle' is found in many Graal Sagas, and Burlough Castle fits this aspect too, since it is near the River Cuckmere and is said to be the 'last home of the fairies' in Sussex.
• A furious maiden enters the scene and rebukes Peredur, telling him that he can make amends by going to the nearby wood and beheading the White Hart that frequents it. There is a small wood-grove in which is Lullington Church, an unusual site for a church. This was built upon a Heathen Site and mound. Hunter's Burgh may also be seen as linked to the hunting of the White Hart. There is also a Hindover Hill overlooking the Cuckmere Valley.
• After beheading the White Hart a mysterious knight appears, seizes the head, and carries it off. The Long Man is said to have a Golden Knight buried above it. 
• As a punishment for his failure, Peredur is sent to a mound beneath which is carved the figure of a man. There he recites a spell and a huge black man springs out of the mound, prepared for battle. Peredur defeats him, and the black man disappears back into the mound. The hill-figure is obviously the Long Man, the mound above is the Windover Hill Long Barrow, and the 'Black Man' is a kind of Wild Man of the Woods figure. 

At the time of the Mystical Experience I had back in 1997 I was told that the Hale-Bopp Comet had been 'sent by Morgana'. This is interesting in that the Chessboard is often linked to Morgana in some of the Graal Legends. The details of this Graal Legend certainly seem to fit the area of the Long Man, and it has got to be of some importance that this has been set here. The author of the book The Wilmington Giant (Rodney Castelden) in which this is quoted, linked the 'Black Man' to 'Herne the Hunter.' The obvious here is that the Archetype of Herne the Hunter is clearly linked to this particular area, and arises anew in different eras, as suits the continuation of the Archetypal Myth and the role of the Archetype. The tale is woven into the Graal Mythos, and thus the Archetype is preserved in some form and passed on into the future. Morgana here is merely a Celtic form of Wyrd - one of the Three Sisters of Wyrd.

That is not to say that the whole purpose of this tale is to preserve the figure of an Archetype, since it clearly preserves the whole area's importance to something even more important - and hidden. Burlough Castle, the 'castle' with no walls, is clearly linked to the Elves rather than the Victorian idea of 'Fairies', though the term 'fairy', if linked to 'Fate', can be seen as having a hidden meaning. The true importance of the area around the Long Man came to light when the 'Time-Clock' awoke the archetype of Woden as the Great Initiator. 

Before I moved down to Polegate, some 2 miles east of the Long Man, I lived in Snowdonia, North Wales. My wife had a recurring dream that I was to move to the Long Man to do a special ritual - which did happen since 'synchronicity' intervened and I was offered voluntary redundancy, enough to make the move to the South of England. This was in 1993, the year in which I was given The Hooded Man Prophecy in Horam; we moved from Horam to Polegate just after this. 

In the nearby churchyard at Wilmington there is a 1,600 year old Yew Tree which figures as the Tree of the Helmetted Waeldal since Waendal is a by-name here of Woden, and the figure clearly once had a Horned Helmet.

Various bracteates, and a belt-buckle from Finglesham, Kent, show the figure of Woden with a Horned Helmet and Twin Spears, which the 'staffs' on the hill-figure would once have been. 

The Wilmington Yew-Tree

Clearly the Yew-Tree is here linked to Woden, but that does not imply that Iggdrasil is a 'Yew-Tree' in particular. Since Yggdrasil, at one level, is symbolic of the White Race, who descend from 'Ash and Embla', then at this level it is an Ash-Tree. The Old English Rune-Poem suggests the 'Ash-Tree' as used for building the Stapule (Irminsul), and under the AEsc-Rune this also suggests the 'Ancestors', thus linked to the Ash again. But here the Long Man, as an aspect of Woden, is linked to the Yew-Tree. We have also 'Wotan's Oak' mentioned in Germany, and Herne the Hunter is associated with the Oak-Tree. Woden has many aspects as All-Father. 

What does seem rather strange is the link here to Woden who is clearly the figure of the Long Man. Over in West Sussex we have the White Stone of Ing which is linked to Ingwe, and which brought to light his being a God of Fire and Light, something not recognised by many. It is strange that no connection has been made, since the clash of RAGNAROK shows like fighting like, and here Ingwe-Frea fights against Surt, the Fire-Giant. He is also seen to have fought and slain Beli, again associated with Fire. Whatever the case, we have Woden-Ingwe here linked to Sussex, one of the last places in England to give way to Judaeo-Christianity. 

The Legend of Cuthman is the Legend of Ingwe, as told in the Old English Rune-Poem, since he travels eastwards pushing his 'mother' in a barrow (wagon). Cuthman is here seen as Ingwe and Krist, which once again is strange in that it is also a connection that the Goths made, as Ulfilas shows. In the above 'Cuthman' carries the Main Beam of the church, the 'halo' (Glory of Light) can be seen around his head. Note the garters shaped as Ing-Runes. 

In the Beginning.......

 

There is, it seems, an Icelandic word ginn which refers to a 'Divine Principle', in the sense that this is unnamable and unknowable. In Iranian Lore this is AHU, a word meaning 'It Is'. There is a Sanskrit term 'TAT' which means 'that', which appears to be the same. Then we have the Old Testament 'I Am That I Am' which was transferred to the Demiurge but originally meant the 'Unknowable' - that which exists in the No-Thing-Ness. (*)

The word Ginn-Unga- Gap would not refer to the above, since 'unga' or 'inga' means 'offspring of' or 'son of'. The word 'Gap' means 'to yawn' or 'to gape', as well as 'chasm' or 'wide'. Ginn-Unga-Gap arises out of the Ginn (Unknowable), and from this arises the Twin Principle of Opposites - Ice and Fire. 

0 - 1 - 2 

The English word 'Beginning' has exactly the same meaning, since the prefix 'be' was not there originally, thus Ginn-ing which is Ginn-unga. The inference of the idea of 'gaping', 'chasm' or 'gap' is that of being 'wide' and we can see here a link between these ideas and the Ur-Rune. Again, in Iranian Lore we find the term uru meaning 'wide', and another idea that springs out of Ur is 'out of'. Ginn-unga-gap springs out of The Void. AHU (Iran) is the same as ASU which means 'spirit' or 'great spirit'. 

The following root-words apply to what has just be said -

IE Root *ghas- To yawn, to gape.

OE ginan, ginian, geoniam - To yawn.

ON gap - chasm.

ON gapa - to open the mouth. (**)

(*) There is a strange thing here in that in the spring of 1997 when I went through a profound mystical experience and Initiation at one stage I glimpsed into an unknown area, and it seemed that the ultimate rulership lay in a kind of Cosmic Joker. This figure seemed to be laughing, so maybe the ultimate reality is a joke played upon itself? I don't know. There is also an Icelandic word ginna which means 'to fool'. We have to also consider that when everything gets to the stage when mankind is unable to put right what has gone wrong, there is an appearance of a god-force, and this is linked to The Fool. We see this in the figure of Parsifal. 

(**) When looking at these ideas the 'Opening of the Mouth' comes into mind, and the swallowing of Woden by the Jaws of the Fenris Wolf. 

'The Joker' is a playing card that is not part of the card-sequence, and is used at any time of the game; it is thus the Card of Chance. It is this chance that can decide the outcome of the game. This is the Harlequin or Herla-Kin if we take the idea of Kris Kershaw. 

Ginn-unga-gap is thus the 'Magically-charged Void' that arises from the Unknowable - Ginn. We have the following root-words that relate to these ideas at this level -

IE Root *gheu- 

To pour, To pour a libation.

To yawn, to gape.

To call, to invoke.

From this root we get the following -

OE gama - 'jaw'.

Variant form *ghau- chaos (Greek).

OE god.

OE gydig, gidig - giddy ("possessed by a god').

Extended form *gheud- gut (intestine).

If we link these ideas together we get - Void-Chaos-Gaping Chasm-God. With these come the means to link with 'god' or 'the gods' - invoke, an offering - and then the result by going 'giddy' as the 'god' takes possession of the Initiate. All through my younger years I had 'giddy' spells which accompanied a vision of a very ancient book. After I started to study the esoteric these stopped. 

Ginn-unga-gap (0) out of which arises 'The One' - The All-Father, Ilu (Sumer-Babylon) Iluvater/Eru (Tolkien), and the ALU-Father who is HALU (Whole, The One), the All-Pervasive Force (Woden), (1). From 'The One' springs the Ice (North) and Fire (South), the polar-opposites, thus the conflict of opposites (2). 0 - 1 - 2. The Void is AFFA (1-6 : 6-1) AF showing the Unknowable, and FA being the Manifested One (All-Father). This was whispered to me in a meditation decades ago, accompanied by a strong 'humming' sound. 

In Gylfaginning we find that the highest and most ancient of the gods is All-Father, who has 12 names, and who lives throughout all ages. 

Ice and Fire - as these interact they produce a 'mist' (Ur) out of which arises Audhumla - the Cosmic Cow or Cosmic Mother - and Ymir (The Primal Giant). 

Audhumla is represented by the Feoh-Rune which shows the 'horns' of a cow, though the name Audhumla can mean 'hornless cow' ('humala'). The root audr can also mean 'fate' and 'desolate'/'desert', and these two may hint at another part of her role. She is certainly the loving Mother of the Gods, the nourisher, the nurturer, who gives her 'riches' (audr = 'riches'). The idea of 'desolate' may be a hint that the Cosmic Mother brings breaks the 'desolation' of the 'Yawning Gap'; and 'fate', well we'll look at this later, since it brings Wyrd into play now.

Now, we know that Audhumla appeared either before or after Ymir, since Ymir fed from her milk. Ymir is the Primal Giant whose name has said to mean 'Twin', and who is the Yima of Persia and Yama of India. Since we find the Rune of Ymir in the Yr-Rune, which itself is a variant of the Ur-Rune, then Audhumla is Feoh and Ymir is Ur, presumably in this order. 

Ymir is also named Aur-Gal-Mer or Or-Gal-Mer, a name meaning 'The Primal Sound', and this is YM ('oom'), the AUM/OM of the Hindus. The Yr-Rune shows an Ur-Rune within which is the Irminsul; it means 'Yew-Bow' which is important. The Yew-Bow and Arrow is symbolic here of the 'hum' produced by the bow-string and also the 'hum' sound of the arrow in flight. Again, we have clues as to this meaning sound and hence sound waves. We read in the Eddas - "no soil, no sea, no waves; earth was not, nor heaven..." 'No waves' is an unnecessary use here, since this is covered by 'no sea', so this suggests a hidden meaning of 'waves' as in 'vibrations'. YM is the vibration of Matter and the Physical Universe is created by 'dismembering' YM(ir); every part of the physical universe is made up of the YM-Sound. (We should note the word 'humla' or 'humula', and the link to 'humble'; the sound 'hummmmm' links to Ym and Om. 'Humble' also implies 'earth' and thus 'matter'.) 

I will call this the 'Vibration of Matter' which is perhaps nearer to its true sense, and makes it easier to understand what follows. "A son and a daughter are said to have been born together under the rhimthurse's arm; foot begat with foot the strange-headed son of the wise giant." (Vafthrudnersmal). Both a son and daughter are born from the armpit of Ymir (Sweat-Born), and these we shall call the High-Born Joten. One foot begat with the other a 'strange-headed son', and thus are born the Low-Born Joten. The High-Born Joten are a Noble Race, the Low-Born Joten are a most Ignoble Race, strange-headed and monstrous. The 'strange-headed son' is Thrudgelmir, who is saved from 'The Flood'. 

For 3 days Audhumla licks the salt-blocks and the head of Buri appeared, and then the body and legs of Buri followed. This is the first of the Gods, and he has a son For who marries Bestla (daughter of Bolthorn, thought to be Mimir), and from their union are begot Woden (Inspiration), Will (The Will) and Weoh (The Sacred). These are also Woden, Heonir and Lodur. Woden, Hoenir and Lodur then create the First Man (Ask) and First Woman (Embla) from two trees. This Man is created with a link between the Earth (Roots) and the Divine (Branches). 

The Ur-Rune itself suggests 'wilderness', since the Aurochs roamed the wild heaths of Europe. It is the collective 'our', and applies to the 'wide' (URU) and that which is 'primal' or 'first'. At some stage the Wyrd Sisters appeared as Three Giant-Maids, representing 'Time' (Past-Present-Future) and they laid down the Ur-Lag) Primal Laws or Primal Layers which are the 'Warp' of their weaving, the vertical threads that are unchangeable. Wyrd is represented by the horizontal threads which can be changed, and are 'constant change that forever remains the same'. Wyrd is forever 'Becoming', and subject to 'worth', i.e. one's past actions decide what is to come. Wyrd is the Weft or Woof. Friedrich Nietzsche's idea of the Eternal Recurrence comes into play here, since the material universe is not finite, so everything that happens does so again and again. Wyrd sets down the Ur-Lag, the Archetypal Myths, and these are played out again and again, but subject to changes due to the Cosmic Cycles. Ur-Lag is also connected to the Dutch word oorlog meaning 'war' or 'conflict', this being the Conflict of Opposites that is set down in the Primal Laws. Man and the Gods are subject to the Will of Wyrd.