Moura 4
Today was a busy day outside of the apartment. Incidentally, the spirit of housekeeping and preparing for spring caught up with me in my errands. The car needed some basic maintenance work today, so I suppose you could say that we were getting the car ready for spring. I stopped at the craft store up in the city to get supplies to use for making Yule/Nativity gifts this year. While I was there, I picked up some peg doll blanks.
With a little work, I made three new icons for my altar. I feel better about my altar now because I have these icons for three deities who are making their presence known in my life in a big way over the last year. I originally was going to paint them but now I think they're so charming just as they are that I'm going to let them be.
Above is the peg icon I made for Freyr. Like Freyja, he is supposed to be blond. He is shown holding a sheaf of wheat in his left hand, indicating that he is a god of vegetation. His right hand grasps the hilt of a sword. Now, some would take umbrage at the fact that I have depicted Ingvi with a sword when the lore states that he lost his sword to win his bride. This is not my ignoring that bit of lore. I have two reasons for presenting him with the sword. First, I knew that I wouldn't be able to do a passable job of depicting an antler on here. Second, when Freyr shows up for me and he is armed, I frequently see him with a sword. At times, he has had a spear or a firearm, but mostly it has been a sword. Thus, I depicted him as he has revealed himself to me. My gnosis is different from someone else's gnosis and that is ok. The nine worlds are big enough for differing views.
Finally, there is the peg icon I made for Loki. Unlike the other two icons, Loki is depicted with colored hair. I didn't make it red because I didn't think that red pencil would show up on the wood and because Loptr likes to show up with dark hair. If you look, you will see that unlike the other icons, Loki's has a mouth. I have shown his mouth as sewn shut in homage to his kenning Scar Lip and a reminder of that particular myth which is the origin of this kenning. In his left hand, Loki holds a twig of mistletoe, where much of his modern fame seems to stem from. In his right hand is his weapon, referred to in the myth as a twig but many of us Lokisfolk suspect it is a wand where as there are many scholars who claim it is a sword, named Lævateinn (which translates to Damage Twig).
Freyja stands on my altar with the icons of Dea. This is not because I see her as a manifestation of Dea but because it felt to be the right place to put the icon. Freyja has been helping me overcome a good deal of trauma and anxiety. I am pleased that I finally have an icon for her. While it wasn't a mighty need, the icon helps me connect with her better. As soon as I finished the icon and I set it on the altar, I felt a powerful sense of warmth and approval from her. Thus, I believe she is pleased with my rendering and approves of it as both an object of devotion and an offering of said devotion.
Freyr is precious to me. The peg icon is the second icon that I have made for him. The first was a little string doll. It is a very plain string doll with an entirely accidental strategic bulge of yarn that is quite phallic. While the string doll served its purpose, I was dissatisfied with it because I felt it was far too plain. As I made the peg icon, Freyr watched me work and spoke of how charmed he was with it. It was a joy to make it and give it in offering to him. The fact that he expressed approval of it as I was fashioning it and beamed with delight when it was finished just increased my joy.
Loki is also dear to me. I had wanted an icon for him for quite some time. All of the statuettes that I had seen that were depicting him just hit the wrong notes for me. While I understand that very viking Loki (seriously my friend had the best description for this statuette with that moniker) appeals to many and is concordant with the lore, I just didn't get warm fuzzy feelings when I saw it. And I am one of those people who has warm fuzzy feelings for Loki (for many reasons, some of which are pretty complicated). I wanted an icon that reflected him but also gave me the feelings that I got when I was in his company (most of the time). This peg icon, initially, was going to be a place holder until I found one that was professionally made that gave me those feelings. And then I realized that what I made really was exactly what I was looking for.
At some point, I am going to make a few more peg icons. I have yet to place one for Odin. I also want to make a peg icon for the housewight and ones to serve as foci in my devotions to my ancestors that I don't have a physical tie to beyond my blood. The housewight has expressed some interest in an icon. I thought that the string doll I made was going to work but they don't like it as much as the peg icons I made. I am probably going to paint the icon for the housewight. And I am probably going to leave the peg icons for my ancestors bare, unless they express interest in them being decorated.
Freyja stands on my altar with the icons of Dea. This is not because I see her as a manifestation of Dea but because it felt to be the right place to put the icon. Freyja has been helping me overcome a good deal of trauma and anxiety. I am pleased that I finally have an icon for her. While it wasn't a mighty need, the icon helps me connect with her better. As soon as I finished the icon and I set it on the altar, I felt a powerful sense of warmth and approval from her. Thus, I believe she is pleased with my rendering and approves of it as both an object of devotion and an offering of said devotion.
Freyr is precious to me. The peg icon is the second icon that I have made for him. The first was a little string doll. It is a very plain string doll with an entirely accidental strategic bulge of yarn that is quite phallic. While the string doll served its purpose, I was dissatisfied with it because I felt it was far too plain. As I made the peg icon, Freyr watched me work and spoke of how charmed he was with it. It was a joy to make it and give it in offering to him. The fact that he expressed approval of it as I was fashioning it and beamed with delight when it was finished just increased my joy.
Loki is also dear to me. I had wanted an icon for him for quite some time. All of the statuettes that I had seen that were depicting him just hit the wrong notes for me. While I understand that very viking Loki (seriously my friend had the best description for this statuette with that moniker) appeals to many and is concordant with the lore, I just didn't get warm fuzzy feelings when I saw it. And I am one of those people who has warm fuzzy feelings for Loki (for many reasons, some of which are pretty complicated). I wanted an icon that reflected him but also gave me the feelings that I got when I was in his company (most of the time). This peg icon, initially, was going to be a place holder until I found one that was professionally made that gave me those feelings. And then I realized that what I made really was exactly what I was looking for.
At some point, I am going to make a few more peg icons. I have yet to place one for Odin. I also want to make a peg icon for the housewight and ones to serve as foci in my devotions to my ancestors that I don't have a physical tie to beyond my blood. The housewight has expressed some interest in an icon. I thought that the string doll I made was going to work but they don't like it as much as the peg icons I made. I am probably going to paint the icon for the housewight. And I am probably going to leave the peg icons for my ancestors bare, unless they express interest in them being decorated.
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