About this Event
A Winter’s Day Retreat of Northern Myth, Rune Magic and the Dragon’s Lair
This is a day retreat to practice Northern ceremony, story, word magic, trolldom and rune-chanting through the deepest dark of the year. With inspiration from the Goddesses across time, we will use our deep imagination to descend into the dark labyrinth and meet the dragon that guards treasures with an aim to return to our hearths and homes with protective spells, blessings and songs (vardlokkur) to light a inner fire in the darkest time of the year with the intent to benefit our communities and friends.
Morning Session: The Dragon’s Lair
The dragon here will our alchemical guide, uniting serpent and eagle, underworld and upper world, the light hemisphere and the dark. The dragon image as integration: the moment two opposing forces stop fighting and the result of the serpent biting its own tail.
In this morning session, we will journey into the dragon's lair through story and inquiry, looking for the gold and treasure that the dragon guards.
We will ask - what is being guarded, and why is it precious enough that a dragon is set to protect it? What if the gold is not a material winning but an inner substance, a lost part of ourselves, buried long ago in memory? What if the dragons and monsters in caves, wells, and burial grounds are the remnants of the ancient Gods and Goddesses many of us have lost, waiting for us to unearth their richness?
Afternoon Blot, Land Spirits, Myth’s and Rune Chanting (Vardlokkur)
In the old Scandinavian smallholding world, the landscape was infused with the otherworld. Elves and trolls lived in tree roots, rocks, mountains, rivers, and lakes, and under the floorboards of the homestead. Crops and cattle were thought to thrive when the spirits were given gifts, so people offered food and drink to the elves at auspicious times of year, especially in winter.
This is the blót practice.
In the afternoon, we will braid and practice right relations with the “Tomte” and land spirits, and we will hear of the mythical creatures across the otherworld of England and Scandinavia, how they still embody the anima loci, the local spirits. We will discover how traditional folklore can be used in understanding land spirits in familiar landscapes. Living well with the landscape meant weaving a braid of relations between the homestead and the lands spirits. Many of them we have forgotten. We will explore ways in which we can live with respect and harmony of these life giving forces.
There will also be a journey through the Sacred Tree, Yggdrasil, using chanting (galdr) and seiðr techniques, through sound and visualisations.
Practical details:
Lunch: Please bring your own packed lunch.
Atmosphere: We are in a wonderful loft and yoga studio in central Brighton. There will be warm spiced dark mead, and hot glögg at the end of the blot and some small nibbles.
Group size: Small and supportive, maximum 25, please book soon to avoid disappointment
Inclusivity: this event is actively LGBTQ-supportive, and diversity is enthusiastically encouraged.
Your host:
Andreas Kornevall is Swedish and the author of Waking the Dragons (Green Magic Publishing) storyteller and ecological activist. He is a fellow with the Centre for Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred. He is a member of the 'Forn Sed' (Old Customs Association) in Sweden which works closely with ancient Norse culture, traditions and spirituality, unearthing old legends, forgotten folklore and endangered Norse languages. He regularly acts as as a Blot-Godi (Norse Ritualist) and conducts BLOT ceremonies and traditional "High Seat" ceremonies where he lives in England with this wife and two daughters and his Finnish Lapphund dog Appo, keeping ancient practices, customs and culture alive.
kornevall.com
Event venue & nearby stays
The Loft, 40, Upper Gardner Street, Brighton, United Kingdom
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