Loki, sitting cross-legged on top of a great stone wall. He’s laying on his back and laughing, laughing until he wheezes and his sides split clean open. Growing a new self from his shuddering carcass. A horse, no a dainty mare. Sleek and white with hooves of silver light. A temptress fashioned to break an oath and slip free from obligation.
Sleek and white with hooves of silver light. A temptress fashioned to break an oath...
Thor, resting one hand on his hammer which, in turn, lays its face upon the sacred body of the earth. Blood stains Mjolnir and seeps down into the soft grass. The guardian of the worlds leans his back now against the newly hewn stones of the great wall of Asgard – testing their intention and their faith. A boundary circle as strong and stubborn as he, a protective shield around the sacred heartland of the Gods.
...a protective shield around the sacred heartland of the Gods.
Our ancestors were obsessed with boundaries. Boundary walls to keep the realms of the Gods safe from the giants. Boundaries regarding who could legally be slain and who could not (an oath-breaker was fair game but you might need a dainty mare to seduce his horse). Boundaries of gender and physical form crossed and re-crossed multiple times. Boundaries between the Gods and the Jotun (even though we all know they were originally one and the same). Boundaries between your tribe, my tribe and no tribe.
In the modern world we cherish freedom, autonomy and self-expression. We tell ourselves we are all about removing the boundaries. We shake our fists at the edifices of rule and regulation that slow us down, keep us stuck and make us weak. Yet without rules, or space, or time we cannot play the game. We cannot communicate, move from A to B, collaborate on intentions (evil or good). So let’s set the board for the real game. Not who wins, not who loses, but how we choose to play.
So let's set the board for the real game. Not who wins, not who loses, but how we choose to play.
This month in the Hearthspace we launch a year of work with the wounded Gods of the North. January is dedicated to Thor and exploration of boundaries. Not with the intention to break, or to build necessarily – but certainly with the intention to perceive and understand.
See Loki there, laughing his sides apart as he balances on top of the great wall of Asgard? The trickster knows when the wall is just a sham. He knows when we’ve spent all our time building the fortress and non tending the treasure inside. Laughing at the wall. That’s his job. See Thor there, laying down his hammer after spilling the blood of the oath-breaking builder? He’s not laughing. He’s praying. Praying that the work has been enough, praying that the wall will hold, praying that the death was justified.
Join our Hearthspace Facebook Group for more on this month’s topic or, if you’re ready to join our weekly classes (including a rune reading, sacred story session and meditation based on our theme) sign up for the Hearthspace inner circle.
