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Thoughts, lessons, and theology from an eclectic witch from a varied background.

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

July for Loki: Post No. 1 - Sai Vikhë and Loki: Parallels

Dear Reader,

Within orthodox Filianism and Déanism, Sai Vikhë is the janya of discord and strife (among other things). Some find it difficult to reconcile Sai Vikhë's discordiant qualities with the fact that she is a Face of Déa. I offer the following in an attempt to show that Sai Vikhë is an engine of creation despite the fact that she is associated with destruction. I also offer the following to give a bit of a deeper view of what I see the relationship between Sai Vikhë and trickster/chaos deities. (Sai Mati is also a trickster, but I will be covering that in another post.)

On the surface of things, Sai Vikhë is a potentially malefic Face of Déa because her presence brings discord, strife, and general inconvenience. She is associated with the decline of the world from the perfection of the beginning, noted as the Janya who holds sway over the Age of Iron that is the nadir of the greater cycle of Ages where things are at their greatest distance from the perfection of Déa. This makes it pretty easy to see Sai Vikhë as a potential "bad guy" or "dangerous figure" when considering aspects of Déa to approach. This is because discord, strife, and all related topics have a connotation that is generally negative.

I say, however, that we forget the positive connotations of Sai Vikhë and other trickster/chaos figures when we focus in this fashion. Loki is more than a god of mischief. He is also a god of inventiveness and cleverness. Like Sai Vikhë, he is associated with discord, strife, and most of the related topics. Sai Vikhë and Loki, however, are the entropy that prevents the universe from collapsing into utter stillness and oblivion. In Filianic terms, Sai Vikhë is a manifestation of Our Lady's saving Love holding things in existence in the face of oblivion. Sai Vikhë is associated with fire and its heat. Loki is a fire deity (his birth is from lightning striking a pine needle if you read the names of his parents literally). Both are unpredictable.

Both are kindly inclined towards humanity. Where Sai Vikhë will defend Déa's children from the demonic servants and children of the Dark Queen, Loki assists Thor (the defender of Midgard, the realm of humanity) in his efforts in an on going series of battles with other jotnar who would do harm to Midgard. There is a tale, the Loka Tattur, that speaks of Loki saving a farmer's child when other gods are unable to do so through cunning and guile. It is my opinion that there are other such tales lost to history because of the complex political environment of the Christianization of the peoples who believed in the Germanic and Norse gods didn't promote a "good guy" chaos bringer.

If you take a survey of Loki's modern worshipers, you will find that they generally describe him as chaotic-good with a dash of chaotic-neutral in the mix. His worship has been shaped by the information that we have gleaned from the post-Christianization period where the work of preserving the tales was more like Jacob Grimm's efforts to save folk tales and adding his own twist to make them more interesting to readers of his period. Sai Vikhë does not have as rich of a body of literature surrounding her thus taking her measure from the writings of historical documents is challenging.

In my experience, I have found that Sai Vikhë is a bit of a fickle janya. She expresses Déa's love in ways that seem counter-intuitive. She is the one who brings the challenges that we must grow through to become our best selves. She is, at the same time, the one who guides us through these challenges. Sai Vikhë has a sense of humor that seems a bit odd at times and a touch grim because she views all things through the lens of her role within the pantheon. Sai Vikhë, as the janya of strife, is equipped to strike down the demons formed from khear. She may be joyous in her work or solemn. Her attitude is difficult to gauge because she is mercurial in her humor (a similarity she has with Sai Mati in her trickster aspect).

And where Loki is associated with Ragnarok (which I believe is a cyclical process where all things are destroyed to begin anew afterwards), Sai Vikhë is associated with the Age of Iron. I don't believe that either of these things make them 'evil' any more than we are evil for sweeping away a cobweb. Loki is the harbinger of change. Sai Vikhë is as well. They are also the essence of change, which is a chaotic and disruptive experience where we are shaken out of our familiar, cozy setting and set upon a new adventure by the Divine.

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