An Esoteric Consideration of Ásatrú Cosmogony

Then Ganglieri asked: "Where is this god, what power has he, and what great works has he performed? High said, "He lives throughout all ages and rules all his kingdom and governs all things great and small." Then spoke Just-as-High: "He made heaven and earth and the skies and everything in them." Snorri Sturluson, Edda. [1]

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Cosmogony is the study of the origin of the universe. Each culture and religion has an origin story that forms the basic tenets of their mythos. While the exoteric tales may stir the imagination or be cast off, even by adherents of the faith, for failing the tests of rationality or scientific understanding, the esoteric meanings of such stories convey deep messages for those who embrace the faith or who are raised in that particular culture. In bygone eras, children raised in families that practiced Ásatrú, the worship of the old gods of the North, were bound to understand the esoteric principles of the religion without having to be taught such ideas. Rather, the ideas were one with their worldview and the world around them. Just as there was no division between everyday life, work, chores, etc. and religion, the key principles of religion were embedded in that life. The esoteric understanding of such principles is much more challenging for the modern-day convert to Ásatrú.

For the recent convert to Ásatrú, the deep meanings of the ancient myths are likely not to have been formed in their subconscious as a child but rather learned in later years by reading the Eddas and Sagas or through attendance of classes, or even reading articles on-line. Such a method is fine for conveying the exoteric details, but often leaves the esoteric understanding to the individual themselves—a chore that is often not undertaken. Why does this matter? Religion provides us with insights on how we ought to live. They provide answers to questions like, why are we here? What is our relationship to others and to nature? Why is there suffering in the world? What happens when we die? Ásatrú, not unlike other religions, provides answers —but such answers are often obscured or misunderstood while we live our highly fragmented and compartmentalized lives. Unlike our ancestors, our daily lives, our work lives, even many of our personal relationships fall outside of our Ásatrú faith.

While there is much to learn and appreciate from various aspects of the mythos, cosmogony, the origin of the universe —provides great insight into our worldview. The Ásatrú origin story aligns in many key ways with that of other ancient religions especially that of the Hindus, with whom we share a common root, but varies greatly from the Judeo-Christian genesis myth. Deeply embedded in the subconscious of many converts to Ásatrú is the tale of god (Yahweh) creating the universe in six days. For those who ascribe to a creation myth, the creator-god is, by definition, separate and unique from his / her creation. In the Ásatrú origin myth, the universe comes into being prior to the gods. All springs forth from the mighty gap, Ginnungagap. The Vǫluspá says,

“It was a the beginning of time, when nothing was; sand was not, nor sea, nor cool waves. Earth did not exist, nor heaven on high. The mighty gap, was, but no growth.”[2]

Beyond the mighty gap exists an immeasurable divine force or essence that we might call the “hidden god.” For the Hindus, this is Brahman, the highest Principle of the universe, from whose essence everything emanates.[3] Brahman has no beginning and no end. It is ultimately both the highest god and the smallest atom. All that comes into being, time as well as the physical and spiritual universe are part of that same divine essence. We are told that the part of the Ginnungagap that faced north was filled with the weight and heaviness of ice derived from the world of Niflheim. The part that faced south was fiery filled with the sparks and molten particles of Muspelheim. From these awesome forces of nature came, in the form of a man, the primal frost-giant, Ymir. As the ice melted there came into being Audhumla, the primal cosmic cow who nurtured Ymir by feeding him milk from her teats. The origin story goes onto reveal the generations that led to the birth of Odin and his brothers, Vili and Ve.

Odin and his brothers killed their ancient primal ancestor, Ymir and fashioned the earth and heavens from his corpse. We are told that from his body the lands were formed, from his blood, the seas. From his bones, the rocks were formed and from his skull, the skies. Odin went on to set the molten particles from Muspelheim and fix them in the sky as the stars.

The Grimnismál reveals,

"Of Ymir's flesh the earth was shaped,
of his blood, the briny sea,
of his hair, the trees, the hills of his bones,
out of his skull the sky.
But of his lashes the loving gods made
Mithgarth for sons of men;
from his brow they made the menacing clouds
which in the heavens hover."[4]

Odin, along with his companion gods Hoenir and Lothur found the trees or logs Askr and Embla (Ash and Elm) who had grown from Ymir’s hair. Lothur provided them with the gift of blood and blooming hue (body), Hoenir provided sense and intellect (mind), and Odin breathed the gift of spirit.

All that is are part of the divine ALL — that essence that preceded the creation of all things. The earth and the skies were fashioned by a creator god—All-Father, Odin, but he himself came into being from what preceded him.

Each person is endowed with a divine spirit breathed into mankind by Odin (spirit-within). We are not separate from the gods but rather part of the same whole as the gods. We spring forth from an evolutionary Nature that includes the seas, the rocks, the plants, the land, and all creatures who inhabit such places.

The Pagan-folk band Heilung (Healing) emphasizes this understanding during the opening ceremony at each of their concerts. They chant along with those in the audience,

“Remember, that we are all brothers
All people, beasts, trees
And stone and wind.
We all descend from the
One great being
That was always there
Before people lived and
Named it,
Before the first seed sprouted.”[5]

Indeed, our cosmogony, our origin myth, suggests a great being —a divine essence that is unknown and unknowable from whence all things descend. As we live our lives, we do well to understand our relationship with Nature —we spring forth from it, not unlike all peoples, beasts, and trees. The manifested god, Odin has shared his spirit with all of mankind. As Heilung chants, “We are all brothers.”

As the ancient civilizations sought to understand themselves and the universe in which they lived, they gave names to the gods and the other Higher Order Energies that they experienced. The names of such powers differed from land and people as did the stories which ultimately served to explain the world and each culture's special relationship to it. Each of us shares the supreme divine essence and springs forth from the same source.

Such understanding provides the first ray of personal enlightenment and enables us to take an initial step towards overcoming artificial and self-imposed division and fragmentation. There can be no doubt that our external divisions and conflicts are reflected, and even magnified, internally resulting in personal spiritual conflict. Our innermost essence, our true self, is derived from the spirit breathed into us by Odin. As we become conscious of that spirit, we become whole once again and recognize our divine essence and our part in the ALL.

Notes:

1. Snorri Sturluson, Edda, trans. Anthony Faulkes (North Clarendon, VT: Everyman, 1995), 9.

2. The Vǫluspá as quoted by Snorri Sturluson in his Edda.  See Sturluson, 9. The verses quoted are from Vǫluspá

3. There is a critical distinction between Brahmā, the male creator God of the Indian pantheon, and Brahman, the highest universal principle of the Universe, the essence of which all emanates and all returns.

4. Grimnismál 41 and 42 from Lee M. Hollander, trans. The Poetic Edda, (Austin, University of Texas Press: 2012), 61.

5. Opening Ceremony. Songwriters: Kai Uwe Faust / Maria Franz / Christopher Magnus Juul Kristensen. Opening Ceremony lyrics © Season Of Mist Publishing, Season Of Mist Publishing France.