Becoming Odin: Tracking the Odinic Path in the Edda
"Becoming Odin" was written on 12 January 2020 although the key ideas have been forming in my mind over the past couple of years. I recall many of these thoughts taking shape while touring Columcille Megalith Park during the spring of 2018.
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For Ásatrúars the two primary texts are Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda and the anonymous compilation known as The Poetic Edda. It has long been my contention that Snorri’s thirteenth-century work contains secret messages and meaning for those who understand or are able to decipher the text.[1]
The first part of Snorri’s Edda contains the well-known Gylfaginning (“The Tricking of Gylfi”), one of the most important early accounts of the Norse gods. On the surface, Gylfaginning recounts the tale of a wondrous visit to Asgard (ON: Ásgarðr) by King Gylfi of Sweden. Once in Asgard Gylfi poses a long series of questions to its rulers, High (Har), Just-as-high (Jafnhar), and Third (Thrithi) --three of the many names of Odin.[2] Odin’s answers then provide an education about the Norse gods from the beginning (Ginnungagap) to the return of life and the rule of the gods in the days following the battle of Ragnarök. I have come to the conclusion that Gylfaginning is far more than a feel-good or informative account of the lore of the Norse gods. Concealed in Snorri’s “secret language”[3] is an account of the Odinic Path[4] —the way in which an initiate may become Odin—or at minimum become Odin-like.
While the ruling gods in Southern Europe, Zeus and Jupiter are gods of law and order, Odin, the ruling god of the North, is a god of magic and death.[5] In this case, “magic” means something far greater than the parlor games of modern illusionists. Occultist Aleister Crowley provided this definition, “Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will.”[6] Stephen Flowers expands upon Crowley’s definition in this way, “Magic is the willed application of symbolic methods to cause or prevent changes in the universe by means of symbolic acts of communication with paranormal factors.”[7] Therefore, “magic” is a practice whereby normal expected causalities bound by the order of the universe (multiverse) are altered by the will and methods of the magician. An Odinic magician or follower of the Odinic path then strives to become Odin –rather than simply a worshipper of Odin. Stephen Flowers explains,
“In the spiritual technology or magic of the ancient Germanic peoples, the Odinic magician would, by using runic formulas, actually transform himself into a godlike being analogous to the general characteristics of the god Odin.”[8]
When I first became aware of this theory, I was dismissive. The idea seemed foreign to Western thought and religion, as I understood it. Rather, it seemed to me, to have originated in Eastern thought and especially Buddhism where we learn that Siddhartha ultimately achieved Enlightenment and became the Buddha.[9] Later, I concluded that while of a Western origin, that this theory was based on the occult concept of “left-hand path.”[10] The practitioner of the left-hand path attempts to make change in the objective universe through imposition of their will. This contrasts with the concept of “right-hand path,” where change in the objective universe is sought through an intermediary—a god. Most adherents of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and even Ásatrú embrace the right-hand path where, through a process of prayer or even sacrifice, a god intervenes to provide the desired outcome.
To determine whether the concept of an Odinic Path is merely an anachronism, let us consider Snorri’s text more rigorously. Central to the text of Gylfaginning is the character of King Gylfi. For many years, I was bothered by the fact that Gylfi sets out to find Asgard and is successful in his search. For Ásatrúars,not only is Asgard the home of the Æsir gods, it is a different “world” altogether from Midgard, that world inhabited by humans. Certainly it is possible that Snorri intended to humanize the old gods and the world that they inhabited. In fact, on the surface, his “Prologue” suggests this. However, later in the text of Gylfaginning, Snorri refers to the nine worlds.[11] May it be that the “Prologue” is written to deceive the uninitiated? One clue is found in Snorri’s description of Gylfi’s journey; we are told that he “travelled trackless ways.”[12] If Gylfi merely traveled to a remote kingdom in Sweden, as the Prologue suggests, why were his ways “trackless”?
Snorri provides another important clue regarding King Gylfi—we are told that he “was clever and skilled in magic.”[13] Certainly the magic that Snorri refers to is not that of mere illusion. To clarify his meaning, Snorri begins Gylfaginning with an often-overlooked account of Gefiun—who is described as a woman of “the race of the Æsir.”[14] This brief tale recounts that Gylfi offered Gefiun a plot of land the size, which she could plough in a single day. Along with four oxen from Jotunheim (Giantland), Gefion ploughed a tremendous territory called Zealand—today the largest island in Denmark proper. Snorri writes,
“He (Gylfi) was quite amazed that the Æsir-people had the ability to make everything go in accordance with their will. He wondered whether this could be as a result of their own nature, or whether the divine powers they worshipped could be responsible.”[15]
The relevance then of this story is that it sets the stage for Gylfi to travel to Asgard—to find the source of the power of the Aesir. His question notably strikes right at the heart of the left-hand / right-hand path debate—is it possible to change the objective universe in accordance with one’s will or do such outcomes result from the proper worship of certain divine beings.
As Gylfi sets out for Asgard, he first “assumed the form of an old man and so disguised himself.”[16] We are neither told why such a disguise was necessary or how Gylfi “assumed” the form. When our weary traveler arrives in Asgard, a man standing in the doorway of the hall asks him his name. Maintaining his deception, Gylfi responds quite importantly that his name is “Gangleri.” The name Gangleri means “wanderer” and is one of the many names of Odin himself. The tenth century lay Grímnismál (“The Lay of Grimnir”) identifies Gangleri as one of the names of Odin.[17] Gylfi amazingly has assumed the form of Odin, traveled along trackless ways and arrived at Asgard to question the Æsir about their ability to shape the universe according to their will!
Gangleri is brought into the presence of High (Har), Just-as-high (Jafnhar), and Third (Thrithi), three further names of Odin. I am reminded then of the often-cited text from the Havamal when Odin is sacrificed on the windy tree Yggdrasil to himself.
“I ween that I hung on the windy tree,
Hung there for nights full nine;
With the spear I was wounded,
And offered I was To Othin (Odin),
myself to myself.”[18]
As Odin is able to sacrifice himself to himself, so is he able to question himself. Gylfi’s tale describes a rite of initiation. Gylfi makes a sacred pilgrimage to Asgard where he, following Odin as his role model, becomes Odin in the form of Gangleri. Face-to-face with Odin in triadic form, Gangleri’s first question is then rhetorical in nature:
“Who is the highest and most ancient of all gods?”[19]
Far from humanizing Odin, Snorri goes on to explain that Odin’s greatest work was making man and giving him a soul—hardly within the capabilities of a normal human.[20] The questioning continues and various details are provided including the story of Ginnungagap and the origin of Ymir, the primal frost giant. Of Ymir, we read the bizarre tales of male and female beings growing from his left armpit and how his legs begat him a son. We learn later of the birth of the sons of Bor: Odin, Vili and Ve. These sons of Bor famously kill the frost-giant Ymir and reshape the world from his remains. This ends the chaos of Ymir’s world and establishes order and law that now shape our world.
Order and natural law establish what people commonly think of as causal effects. We understand what things can happen and what cannot—and how an action may result in an outcome. The practice of magick defies such rules and utilizes primal chaotic energies in which anything is possible, dependent on the will of the magician. This is made possible since the world we inhabit is founded upon the remains of the chaotic primal-being Ymir. Magick, of which Odin is notably ruler, can then be practiced by those whom Odin has breathed his “inspiration.” Key to the method is the joining of Will (Vili) with the Sacred (Vé). Therefore, through the assertion of individual will in a sacred setting, the inspired may transcend the normal rules of our world and achieve magical results through the utilization of chaos—forces outside the normal laws of cause and effect.
Gangleri’s questions continue and the answers provide an account of much that we now know of Northern lore. After he is told of the return of life in the days following Ragnarok, there is nothing further to teach.
“And now if you know any more questions to ask further into the future, I do not know where you will find answers, for I have heard no one relate the history of the world any further on in time. And may the knowledge you have gained do you good.”[21]
Following this declaration, the hall and the castle disappear and Gangleri finds himself standing once again on open ground.
Snorri writes often of “deceptive appearances.” His deception was likely necessary to avoid the punishment for heresy that would have been inflicted by the Christian Church had he been more direct. It is my contention that Gylfaginning contains a hidden message regarding the Odinic Path for those who are willing to gain the ancient knowledge and assert their will in a sacred setting. Should we embrace the hidden message and method of Snorri’s masterpiece, then we, like Gefiun may indeed make everything go in accordance with our will.
Notes:
1. See especially my article, “Gylfaginning: Sealed in Secret Language.” https://talesfromtheironwood.blogspot.com/2019/12/gylfaginning-sealed-in-secret-language.html
*********
For Ásatrúars the two primary texts are Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda and the anonymous compilation known as The Poetic Edda. It has long been my contention that Snorri’s thirteenth-century work contains secret messages and meaning for those who understand or are able to decipher the text.[1]
The first part of Snorri’s Edda contains the well-known Gylfaginning (“The Tricking of Gylfi”), one of the most important early accounts of the Norse gods. On the surface, Gylfaginning recounts the tale of a wondrous visit to Asgard (ON: Ásgarðr) by King Gylfi of Sweden. Once in Asgard Gylfi poses a long series of questions to its rulers, High (Har), Just-as-high (Jafnhar), and Third (Thrithi) --three of the many names of Odin.[2] Odin’s answers then provide an education about the Norse gods from the beginning (Ginnungagap) to the return of life and the rule of the gods in the days following the battle of Ragnarök. I have come to the conclusion that Gylfaginning is far more than a feel-good or informative account of the lore of the Norse gods. Concealed in Snorri’s “secret language”[3] is an account of the Odinic Path[4] —the way in which an initiate may become Odin—or at minimum become Odin-like.
While the ruling gods in Southern Europe, Zeus and Jupiter are gods of law and order, Odin, the ruling god of the North, is a god of magic and death.[5] In this case, “magic” means something far greater than the parlor games of modern illusionists. Occultist Aleister Crowley provided this definition, “Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will.”[6] Stephen Flowers expands upon Crowley’s definition in this way, “Magic is the willed application of symbolic methods to cause or prevent changes in the universe by means of symbolic acts of communication with paranormal factors.”[7] Therefore, “magic” is a practice whereby normal expected causalities bound by the order of the universe (multiverse) are altered by the will and methods of the magician. An Odinic magician or follower of the Odinic path then strives to become Odin –rather than simply a worshipper of Odin. Stephen Flowers explains,
“In the spiritual technology or magic of the ancient Germanic peoples, the Odinic magician would, by using runic formulas, actually transform himself into a godlike being analogous to the general characteristics of the god Odin.”[8]
When I first became aware of this theory, I was dismissive. The idea seemed foreign to Western thought and religion, as I understood it. Rather, it seemed to me, to have originated in Eastern thought and especially Buddhism where we learn that Siddhartha ultimately achieved Enlightenment and became the Buddha.[9] Later, I concluded that while of a Western origin, that this theory was based on the occult concept of “left-hand path.”[10] The practitioner of the left-hand path attempts to make change in the objective universe through imposition of their will. This contrasts with the concept of “right-hand path,” where change in the objective universe is sought through an intermediary—a god. Most adherents of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and even Ásatrú embrace the right-hand path where, through a process of prayer or even sacrifice, a god intervenes to provide the desired outcome.
To determine whether the concept of an Odinic Path is merely an anachronism, let us consider Snorri’s text more rigorously. Central to the text of Gylfaginning is the character of King Gylfi. For many years, I was bothered by the fact that Gylfi sets out to find Asgard and is successful in his search. For Ásatrúars,not only is Asgard the home of the Æsir gods, it is a different “world” altogether from Midgard, that world inhabited by humans. Certainly it is possible that Snorri intended to humanize the old gods and the world that they inhabited. In fact, on the surface, his “Prologue” suggests this. However, later in the text of Gylfaginning, Snorri refers to the nine worlds.[11] May it be that the “Prologue” is written to deceive the uninitiated? One clue is found in Snorri’s description of Gylfi’s journey; we are told that he “travelled trackless ways.”[12] If Gylfi merely traveled to a remote kingdom in Sweden, as the Prologue suggests, why were his ways “trackless”?
Snorri provides another important clue regarding King Gylfi—we are told that he “was clever and skilled in magic.”[13] Certainly the magic that Snorri refers to is not that of mere illusion. To clarify his meaning, Snorri begins Gylfaginning with an often-overlooked account of Gefiun—who is described as a woman of “the race of the Æsir.”[14] This brief tale recounts that Gylfi offered Gefiun a plot of land the size, which she could plough in a single day. Along with four oxen from Jotunheim (Giantland), Gefion ploughed a tremendous territory called Zealand—today the largest island in Denmark proper. Snorri writes,
“He (Gylfi) was quite amazed that the Æsir-people had the ability to make everything go in accordance with their will. He wondered whether this could be as a result of their own nature, or whether the divine powers they worshipped could be responsible.”[15]
The relevance then of this story is that it sets the stage for Gylfi to travel to Asgard—to find the source of the power of the Aesir. His question notably strikes right at the heart of the left-hand / right-hand path debate—is it possible to change the objective universe in accordance with one’s will or do such outcomes result from the proper worship of certain divine beings.
As Gylfi sets out for Asgard, he first “assumed the form of an old man and so disguised himself.”[16] We are neither told why such a disguise was necessary or how Gylfi “assumed” the form. When our weary traveler arrives in Asgard, a man standing in the doorway of the hall asks him his name. Maintaining his deception, Gylfi responds quite importantly that his name is “Gangleri.” The name Gangleri means “wanderer” and is one of the many names of Odin himself. The tenth century lay Grímnismál (“The Lay of Grimnir”) identifies Gangleri as one of the names of Odin.[17] Gylfi amazingly has assumed the form of Odin, traveled along trackless ways and arrived at Asgard to question the Æsir about their ability to shape the universe according to their will!
Gangleri is brought into the presence of High (Har), Just-as-high (Jafnhar), and Third (Thrithi), three further names of Odin. I am reminded then of the often-cited text from the Havamal when Odin is sacrificed on the windy tree Yggdrasil to himself.
“I ween that I hung on the windy tree,
Hung there for nights full nine;
With the spear I was wounded,
And offered I was To Othin (Odin),
myself to myself.”[18]
As Odin is able to sacrifice himself to himself, so is he able to question himself. Gylfi’s tale describes a rite of initiation. Gylfi makes a sacred pilgrimage to Asgard where he, following Odin as his role model, becomes Odin in the form of Gangleri. Face-to-face with Odin in triadic form, Gangleri’s first question is then rhetorical in nature:
“Who is the highest and most ancient of all gods?”[19]
Far from humanizing Odin, Snorri goes on to explain that Odin’s greatest work was making man and giving him a soul—hardly within the capabilities of a normal human.[20] The questioning continues and various details are provided including the story of Ginnungagap and the origin of Ymir, the primal frost giant. Of Ymir, we read the bizarre tales of male and female beings growing from his left armpit and how his legs begat him a son. We learn later of the birth of the sons of Bor: Odin, Vili and Ve. These sons of Bor famously kill the frost-giant Ymir and reshape the world from his remains. This ends the chaos of Ymir’s world and establishes order and law that now shape our world.
Order and natural law establish what people commonly think of as causal effects. We understand what things can happen and what cannot—and how an action may result in an outcome. The practice of magick defies such rules and utilizes primal chaotic energies in which anything is possible, dependent on the will of the magician. This is made possible since the world we inhabit is founded upon the remains of the chaotic primal-being Ymir. Magick, of which Odin is notably ruler, can then be practiced by those whom Odin has breathed his “inspiration.” Key to the method is the joining of Will (Vili) with the Sacred (Vé). Therefore, through the assertion of individual will in a sacred setting, the inspired may transcend the normal rules of our world and achieve magical results through the utilization of chaos—forces outside the normal laws of cause and effect.
Gangleri’s questions continue and the answers provide an account of much that we now know of Northern lore. After he is told of the return of life in the days following Ragnarok, there is nothing further to teach.
“And now if you know any more questions to ask further into the future, I do not know where you will find answers, for I have heard no one relate the history of the world any further on in time. And may the knowledge you have gained do you good.”[21]
Following this declaration, the hall and the castle disappear and Gangleri finds himself standing once again on open ground.
Snorri writes often of “deceptive appearances.” His deception was likely necessary to avoid the punishment for heresy that would have been inflicted by the Christian Church had he been more direct. It is my contention that Gylfaginning contains a hidden message regarding the Odinic Path for those who are willing to gain the ancient knowledge and assert their will in a sacred setting. Should we embrace the hidden message and method of Snorri’s masterpiece, then we, like Gefiun may indeed make everything go in accordance with our will.
Notes:
1. See especially my article, “Gylfaginning: Sealed in Secret Language.” https://talesfromtheironwood.blogspot.com/2019/12/gylfaginning-sealed-in-secret-language.html
2. Lee M. Hollander, trans., “The Lay of Grimnir: Grimnismal,” The Poetic Edda (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1962), 63.
3. Snorri Sturluson, “Skaldskaparmal (The Language of Poetry)” Edda, Anthony Faulkes, trans. (North Clarendon, VT: Everyman, 1995), 61.
4. The term “Odinic Path” should not be confused with “Odinism.” The latter term is used by several organizations synonymously or nearly so with Ásatrú –belief in the Aesir gods. While such organizations may have a specific political outlook, that matter is beyond the scope of this article.
5. Stephen E. Flowers, Lords of the Left-Hand Path: Forbidden Practices and Spiritual Heresies (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2012), 76.
6. Crowley used his term “magick” to differentiate from the word “magic,” popularly associated with the tricks of illusionists. The quote is taken from his Magick, Liber ABA, Book 4 originally published in 1913. https://www.deliriumsrealm.com/crowley-magick/
7. Flowers, 9-10.
8. Flowers, 80.
9. One may seek out Hermann Hesse’s classic Siddhartha or for a brief account of The Buddha see: https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/history/history.shtml.
10. The most complete account and explanation of the concept of the left-hand path is provided by Stephen Flowers in his, Lords of the Left-Hand Path: Forbidden Practices and Spiritual Heresies.
11. Snorri Sturluson, “Gylfaginning" (“The Tricking of Gylfi)” Edda, Anthony Faulkes, trans. (North Clarendon, VT: Everyman, 1995), 9.
12. Ibid, 8.
13. Ibid, 7.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Hollander, 63. Odin is known by many names and titles. Interestingly Snorri too identifies Gangleri as a name of Odin later in his text. See p. 21.
18. Henry Adams Bellows trans., The Poetic Edda: The Mythological Poems (New York: Dover Publications, 2004), 60.
19. Sturluson, 8.
20. Ibid, 9.
21. Ibid, 57.
Copyright © 2020 by Donald van den Andel
Copyright © 2020 by Donald van den Andel
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