Happy? Baldersvaki

Published: Sat, 06/20/20

Today is the Mid Summer solstice, the longest day of the year. From now on the days get shorter again until we have the shortest day in mid winter, and so it continues. In Scandinavia today is also known as Baldersvaki or ‘Balder’s Wake’. Baldur is the beloved son of Frigga and Odin who symbolises the sun. Today is the day that the sun reaches its highest point in the sky and keeps the night at bay for the longest time. From now on the sun loses the battle with darkness by a few minutes each day until we are once again enduring the long winter nights of December and January.

Why did Baldur die? Because he had a dream that his life was going to end and he confided this experience to his parents. Frigga decided that nothing and no one was going to harm her son and made all things, animal, vegetable, and mineral in all the nine worlds, swear that they would never harm Baldur. She missed the mistletoe and either missed Loki too, or he just lied if he did promise not to harm her son. Baldur then became the focus of foolish games where anyone who wanted to could throw a spear or an axe, or loose an arrow, at the young Aesir. The weapons would impotently bounce off Baldur as wood and metal had sworn to do him no harm. So, Loki disguised himself, visited Frigga, and persuaded her to reveal that the rootless Mistletoe had been missed when the word went out asking that nothing would harm Baldur. Armed this this information Loki soon made an arrow tipped with Mistletoe and enticed Baldur’s blind brother Hod to
shoot the arrow at Baldur as Loki guided his aim. Within moments the invincible Sun god was dead. Loki was to blame of course but who convinced Baldur he was immune from harm, and thus encouraged him to play such a foolish game in the first place?

This weekend we should have been in Norfolk for the Rune Retreat as we were this time last year. We are not gathered this time because regulations on who can gather together and requirements for ‘social distancing’ make it impractical to hold such an event. As far as I can tell all other camps seem to have been canceled for 2020. Baldur’s dream that he was going to die got him killed. Of course no one dies of a dream but his over protective mother and then a sense of invulnerability had inevitable consequences. Covid 19 has done massive damage to the world economically, culturally, and socially. Having to cancel the Rune Retreat may seem like a trivial matter but losing the freedom to gather to celebrate, learn, and simply share in being human is a loss to be deeply mourned. Of course all that has happened in the last few months has been about keeping us ‘safe from infection’ just as Frigga was determined to keep her son safe
from whatever harm he had dreamed about. Being a mother is a wonderful thing, I am enchanted watching Venetia being a mother to our daughter Iduna, but, as we grow up, mothers need to know when to let go and step back and let us take responsibility for our own lives.

Regards

Graham

PS I would still like to have a gathering of some kind at the end of the summer or early autumn. However, this event will be small, discrete, and will not be advertised on social media. Invites will be sent directly to those who may be interested, probably by post and I will request that there is no online discussion of the event. If you have been on previous events which I have arranged then you may receive an invite, members of Ice and Fire Stav will get first refusal.