Wightridden, VIII

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VIII.

Open to the Divine

[Possessee/Medium]

345-96

pp. 346-7 being possessed by deities

p. 346

"The Gods are coming back, and They want to be able to use human bodies in order to get things done. According to Them, this is the way that it was done once ... . We're doing it because They want us to ... . In the current climate of both the overarching Neo-Pagan demographic and the smaller subset of Asatru ..., god-possession is looked upon with suspicion ... . ...

p. 347

My answer to this has always been that ... people with the Sight can easily tell whether or not that's a God in that there body ... . ...

{Persons who have developed Second Sight can observe a Deity to approach and then to entre the body of a possessee.}


Experienced spirit-workers need to band together to discern what is real".

p. 348 paucity of any mention of the possessee by the possessing-deity during possession

"If the deity does refer to the {possessee}, they {he or she} will rarely refer to them {him or her} by name; more likely they'll say "this one" or something like that. This is because being called by name can actually shake many {possessees} out of the possession and call them back to themselves (a useful trick for helping someone ground afterwards if they're having difficulties coming all the way back). In some Afro-Caribbean religions, the Orisha or Lwa may not recognize themselves {himself or herself} as being in a {possessee's body}, although we've never had this happen with Northern-Tradition {Norse} Deities."

pp. 348-9 gestures are made by deity while in process of seizing possession

p. 348

"[G.K.] writes : "A Lukumi friend of mine offered this advice : ... that particular Deity will be [communicating while in the process of seizing possession] through

p. 349

certain signals, movements and gestures, which indicate that the {possessee} is about to be {completely} possessed. The {possessee} him[-] or herself may not be aware of this.


When I was possessed by a goddess at a public gathering recently, one of my handlers ... noticed that


as She was settling Herself in me, She kept making a specific hand gesture ... and he noted it's exactly the same gesture that his patron Goddess and God will make when one of Them is trying to ride him and he's resisting".

{Hand-gesture are also used by Vietnamese possessing-spirits (dead historical personages) to indicate their identities in the process of seizing possession.}

pp. 350-1 "reasons why a spiritworker would channel a wight"

p.

#

purpose

350

1.

"Training purposes. Sometimes there are skills that can't be taught to you through words, but require a wight to enter your body at least partially and "motor you through" the skill. (For example, Loki taught me pathwalking in this way.)"


2.

"Information purposes. If a client comes to you with a question and one of the Gods {or of the Goddesses} wants to answer that question themself {himself or herself}, ... it's useful to be able to temporarily {be possessed by one of} them if need be."

351

3.

"Public devotional purposes. For some {most} people. a spirit-worker {possessed by} a deity at a public ceremony is the only chance that they'll have to see and speak with a divine force. This is very important, both to the Gods and to the worshippers."


4.

"Errands for the deity. Sometimes a god or wight will want to do something in our world that requires a cooperative human body. ... Occasionally it will involve an interaction with another deity



which needs to happen in mortal form for some reason (usually unknown to us, as They don't necessarily give us the whole story)".

{This could be the most effective way for them (the Deities) to intercommunicate if, e.g., they reside in different subplanes, communications betwixt which are arduous and subject to long delays.}


5.

"Doing {spiritual} work on someone that requires you as a {spiritual} channel. This is rather more of the "classic" shamanic work where the shaman asks his spirit helpers to come through him and aid an individual who needs help."

pp. 352-4 levels of deity-assumption ("expanded" from a list "attributed to Willow Polson")

p.

#

level

description

352

1.

"Enhancement"

"This is speaking about a deity; for example, giving an invocation in the third person, or telling a story."


2.

"Inspiration"

"you speak from the perceived viewpoint of the deity. In this case, you speak for rather than speak about them. Instead of "Aphrodite did this," it's "Aphrodite wants this.""


3.

"Shadowing"

"This is where the deity "rides along ...". There's is a feeling of them {their} being just behind your shoulder".

353

4.

"Integration"

"here you speak as the deity in the first person. This is generally done only as the highlight of a ritual".


5.

"Aspecting"

""co-consciousness", meaning that the deity's mind and energy and their {the mortal's} own are equally present and share command of what will be said. ... [G.K.] comments about it : "... at this stage, I am ... able to (or allowed to) explain sensations, thoughts, or emotions that I pick up from the Deity to whomever the Deity is speaking to {also through G.K.'s mouth} for greater clarification. There are those possessions where I am sure it's co-consciousness and later find out that ... large portions of time are simply blanked out so that ... memory of the experience is in reality piecemeal.""

354

6.

"Possession"

"the deity comes into the person {possessee}'s body, displacing their {the mortal possessee's} own personality/soul ... and speaks directly to the audience or client. Depending on the god and the situation, the deity may commandeer the body for other things {such as, eating or engaging in sexual intercourse (either with another incarnate deity, or with an ordinary mortal)} as well.

Generally the {possessee's} consciousness at this point is either




extremely distanced (possessees have reported seeing and hearing things as if underwater or from a long way away, or the sound might be turned off entirely)

or they are completely unconscious and have no memory of the experience.




My Pagan group ... often refers to the former as being "in the back seat behind the safety glass" (while the deity is 'driving"),

and the latter as "locked in the trunk"."

{Variants of ritual play-acting (Levels 1 & 2) are so very different in nature from degrees of actual praesence of a deity (Levels 3 through 6 -- which might be expressed in various ways), that they (the different sets) ought not to be included together in the same scheme.}

p. 355 haunted costumes

"we've found that what we call "haunted costumes", or ceremonial clothing that belongs only to that deity, and is donned only to {be possessed by} them, helps a good deal. ...

Anyone who seen the initiatory rites of Korean shaman[esse]s will be impressed by the ceremonies utilizing dozens of ceremonial costumes, donned one after the other by the spirit-worker[ess], to see which spirits enter them and become their helpers."

pp. 355-6 sexual demands rendred by a deity who is in possession of the body of a mortal

p. 355

"Something that groups who have started to publicly {be possessed by} European deities are discovering ... is that our Gods occasionally want sex{ual intercourse} as an offering.


This is in contrast to Afro-Caribbean deities, who have been covered under a blanket of Catholicism for so long that they no longer have any kind of sex{ual activities} with the

{Whenever Afro-Caribbean religions become involve in any accurate reconstruction of their authentic origins, they surely will likewise return to performing sexual intercourse in public view as a religious caerimony.}

p. 356

congregation, but our deities are still used to the ancient rites, and sometimes expect it.


... nearly all deities will refrain from approaching anyone in that way who isn't already interested and open to the idea.

{Woe betide any mortal who is disinclined to have sexual intercourse with a deity of opposite gendre! Damnation of the soul is surely in store after death for the impious rejecter (or rejecteress) of such a glorious honor as sexual intercourse with an exalted deity.}


In fact, they seem to have an eye for figuring out who would be into that, and homing in on them. ...

{This is done by reading the minds of mortals by deities. Once that the deities have read the mind of a mortal and deciphered that that mortal is not eagre for sexual intercourse with a deity, then a condign punishment of that impious soul with afterlife torments is forthwith decreed.}


(The sole exception to this is Loki, and other Trickster Gods ... .) ...

{Loki is aequivalent to Dahomean god Gede, the jokester of the cemeteries, who is consistently erotically inclined. Sexual solicitations must be made persistently by him, for his cemetery-duties require that he remind mortal souls that if they resist sexual contacts with deities, then post-mortem the torments will be grievous.}


I can say from experience that ... the Gods are not thrilled with safe sex{ual intercourse} and {genital-}fluid boundaries".

{Evidently, the deities would like for humans to be willing to acquire curable venereal diseases as a sacrificial ordeal endearing themselves to those deities.}

p. 356 drumming

"As the Afro-Caribbean folk discovered long ago,

{This was not "discovered" by "Afro-Caribbean folk", but rather simply inherited by them from their African forebears.}

having someone drumming during the rite helps a great deal. In their case ... there are

special (secret and oathbound) drumbeats

{Because everyone in attendance at any of their ritual sessions heareth these drumbeats incessantly throughout every ritual, these special beats actually cannot be "secret"; and are "oathbound" only insofar as they are forbidden to be used for unrelated saecular performances.}

for each Orisha or Loawhich help to call them and keep them present.

I've been told that there are such drumbeats for every deity, but that the ones of the northern-tradition Gods are lost."

{These drumbeats can be largely restored simply by utilizing the drumbeats of those African deities who most closely resemble the European ones.}

pp. 360-1 [by L.H.] haunted altars & channeling the deities

p. 360

"For me it started {by my} doing priestess work. One night, after a ceremony at a Gnostic church, while ... masturbating, ... this identity with a huge starry span became present ..., which is


the Egyptian goddess of stars.

{NW-t, night-sky goddess having her nude body star-spangled}


So having had that experience, I spoke to my teacher[ess], and she said that perhaps I should try being the ceremonial divine channel. ...

With the Gnostic ceremony, as soon as you get onto the altar, one or another of the goddesses comes and possesses you ... . So I would have a whole variety of different goddesses looking out through my eyes at the congregation, ... and my eyes would always feel funny, as if I was {were} looking out {through} them secondhand. ...

Then, next, I learned how to channel, and let entities use my mouth to speak with. Then I would go into it more fully and pretty much my whole body would be beyond my control while they {possessing-deities} were

p. 361

there. ... But most of the time {during deity-possession} I'm pretty aware of what's going on, even when I'm "behind the safety glass" ... although more recently less so. ...

I've {been possessed by} ...


the Enochian entity called Ebifahe {>EBIP + >ah.iya 'sibling' [instead of Freemasonic >ah.iram >abiw 'inventor' from S.or]?}

{namesake of ABIPon tribe in Argentina?} {EBoPP the lemur was given ("HASC") the 2 luminous eyen of Iku the water-chevrotain [Iku the death-god of the Yoruba = Ku the 4-eyed death-god of Dahomey -- cf. "Ku, the ruler of the Sapa spirit world" (TLH, p. 108)] for plantains which became plantain (crescent)-shaped luminous moon.}


another Enochian called Narwaj ... . ...

{Strong's 5371 /NiRGan/ 'whisperer'}


I've learned from Arachne ... . ...

p. 362

But then it it starts to seep into everyday life; you can be in a constant state of being {over}shadowed, a walking pair of eyes for your deity to ride with."

"HASC" = "How All the Stars Came". Harold Courlander : A Treasury of African Folklore. Crown Publ Inc, NY. pp. 263-7. http://starstories.wikispaces.com/Africa

TLH = George Schwab (ed. by George W. Harley) : Tribes of the Liberian Hinterland. PAPERS OF THE PEABODY MUS, Vol. XXXI. Harvard Univ, 1947. http://archive.org/stream/tribesofliberian00schw/tribesofliberian00schw_djvu.txt

pp. 363-4, 366-7 [by G.K.] being overshadowed by a Deity; aftermaths of deity-possession

p. 363

"My first experience with a God choosing to temporarily inhabit my skin occurred ... when I was still working with Fellowship of Isis. ... I had honored Anubis many times before before, and I recognized the feel of that presence ... . He slid gently into my consciousness, and I allowed him ... a light shadowing ... . ...

p. 364

It wasn't until I converted to Heathenry and got snapped up by Loki ... that things began to get really interesting. ... In teaching me journey work, or certain aspects of magic, galdr, and seidhr, Loki would often ride me lightly, enough to overlay his consciousness with mine and to guide my hands in the techniques".

p. 366

"Especially during the aftermath, when the Deity has gone, people may experience a plethora of reactions from tears to giggling laughter. ...

p. 367

Be aware that there may be vestiges of both the Deity's energy and occasionally personality traits, likes, dislikes and even emotions that linger in the {possessee} for some time after the possession."

p. 368 miraculous healing of the possessee

"I've had Deities (particular healing Goddesses) clear away energy blockages, heal pain, etc. as They left, leaving me in better condition than before the possession."

p. 369 maintaining records of a Deity's likings

"The most important thing to note are the wants, likes and dislikes of the Deity in question. ... It's best if handlers or attendants can record what a given Deity likes for the future. ... Write it down."

p. 371 need for peremptory accommodation to unexpected deity-possession; African models for European Deity-possession

"Of course, if and when a God {or Goddess} arrives, for things to go well, there has to be ... a ritual staff that is flexible and and experienced enough to take appropriate action, and model that action for the community. In other words, the ritual has to stop and change to accommodate and attend the arriving God or Goddess."

"Some Heathen spirit workers who are already experiencing possession eventually seek out the Afro-Caribbean diaspora religions, such as Umbanda, Lucumi, ... and Vodoun to learn how to safely cope with this. While this is helpful,

I personally worry about the risk of transplanting African-style rituals into a Northern-Tradition context".

{It could fairly be expected that possessing-Deities, as a universal group, would be relatively invariable, so that European traits of a possessing-Deity ought to be very nearly identical with traits of some African possessing-Deity; with efforts needed to seek and to find such specific nigh-identities.}

{It could more reasonally be regarded as troublesome that features of Roman Catholic saints have been transplanted into, and therewith come to distort, the features of some West African deities of the diaspora in Cuba, in Haiti, and in Brazil; for, Christian saints are often less alike to African deities than pagan European deities are to African deities.}

pp. 373 & 375 sexual activity by a deity while in possession of a mortal; or by a mortal when about to be possessed by a deity

p. 373

"in Afro-Caribbean religions the orisha will not have sex{ual intercourse} while in the {possessees}' bodies. This doesn't necessarily hold true for the Northern Gods, who may wish to do just that."

p. 375

"our Gods ... might not know, for example, that right now is not a good time for possession, because ... you're having sex{ual intercourse} with a partner".

pp. 374 & 376 ways of extricating out of an ongoing spirit-possession; and ways of frustrating an impending spirit-possession

p. 374

"Some people have a hard time getting out of a possession ... . There are techniques to help bring a person back ... . For me, calling my name, touching me while calling my name ..., and removing ritual regalia often helps."

p. 376

"If you feel a god-possession coming on ..., there are things you can do to snap youself out of that early trance state ... . ... These techniques can also be used for anyone who feels that something is trying to "move in on" their consciousness ... .


1. Cold water ... . Step into a cold shower ... . ...


2. ... salt water. ...


3. Eat something extremely hot and spicy, like a swig of tabasco sauce ... . ...


4. Worst case ... : Tell a friend to ... slap you".

pp. 377-8 contra-indications

p. 377

"The Path of the {Possessee} is contraindicated for :

1. People with trust issues. ...

2. People with poor boundaries. ...

p. 378

3. People with small children, or other full-time responsibilities that cannot be shirked ...


4. People ... with multiple personality disorder, where all of the individual may not be able to consent to the {becoming deity-possessed}".

{FALSE. There is no such thing as true "multiple personality disorder" (which is simply a false definition invented by psychiatrists in their capacity as capitalist propaganda-agents) : there is no such thing as any person's "personality" being "split". Materialist capitalist-stooges invented the terms "split personality" and "multiple personalities" to explain away cases of spirit-possession. In every case, what is falsely labeled this (alleged "split" and/or "multiple" personality), is actually a case of susceptibility to be possessed by a spirit or by variety of spirits.}

pp. 380-1 [by L.H.] Deities' motives and needs in seeking to manifest by way of possessing a mortal medium

p. 380

"Regarding ... limits on the Gods : ...

If they want to come a possess a person, they're going to do it anyway ... . ... But the effort involved for a deity to come and possess someone ... is huge ... . ...

p. 381

They have to make quite an effort to get this dense.

And anyway, most Gods want {praefer} to come down where they are wanted and honored ... . They don't come down without a purpose for all that effort, and if you can set things up so that they get the honor ... that they desire, it will be worth it to them to come by appointment ... . The one exception might be trickster gods like Loki ... . Most Gods would rather be welcomed".

pp. 382-3 the 3 Norse pantheons

p. 382

"we have three separate pantheons -- Aesir, Vanir, and Ro,kk[a]r ... .

The Ro,kk[a]r are the oldest ... . ... The Ro,kk[a]r are given much more space in this series for that reason ... .

p. 383

... When you are a northern-tradition spirit-worker and you move into the ancient shamanism practices, ... you are ... sent to them for training by your patron{-Deitie}s. Some of them ... are frightening when they do come.


The Vanir came with agriculture and with the first coming of the ox-cart ... . ...


The Aesir came with the conquering horse-peoples ... ."

pp. 384-96 possessions of spirit-media by specific Norse deities

p.

deity

food

clothing, tool

colors worn

384

O`dinn

leeks, asparagus

cloak, hat, spear

blue, grey, black

385

Frigg

plum

robe, girdle, keys

white, pale blue

386

To`rr

goat

hammer

red plaid

387

Ty`r


cloak, sword

dark red, dark grey

388

Freyja

honey, pork

gown, fan

green, gold

389

Njo,rd

salmon

sweater, cap

blue, white

390

Freyr

cherry

linen, cotton

yellow, gold, green

391

Gerd

root vegetables

gown, veil

brown, grey, purple

392

Skadi

game meats

furs, bow, arrows

white

393

Hel

dried flowers

robe, mantle, ring

black, grey

394

Loki

cinnamon, cayenne

"weird toys"


395

Angrbo`da

game meats

tunic, pants, knife


396

Sigy`n

cheese, butter


brown

pp. 384-96 peculiarities of specific deities in their capacity of medium-possession

p.

deity

trait

384

O`dinn

"likes to talk, to counsel, and to solve disputes."

{These are also the main features in Umbanda mediumship.}

385

Frigg

"She prefers ... female attendants ... . If they can handspin -- ... traditional spindles ... -- She will bless the spinning".

386

Eir

"is used to passing on psychic energy healing."


Gna`

"the only reason to call her is to beg her to take a message to some Aesir deity."

{Likewise, Irid- ('Rainbow') is messengeress to the theoi.}

387

To`rr

"is happy to Party Down with loud music and ... He might dance".


Ty`r

"During the {possession}, the {possessee/medium} will be unable to move or feel their {his} right hand ... -- and sometimes this numbness will last for a few hours after Ty[`]r has left".

388

Freyja

"is very flirtacious, and ... she may choose someone willing and eager, and go off with them to a bedroom."

"We have noticed ... "Mar[-]do[,]ll" {'Lake-Valley'} to signify ... Njord {Njo,rd}'s daughter, ... who has searched the seas" for O`d.

389

Njo,rdr

"Nerthus and Njord {Njo,rd} have arrived both together".

{Because Njo,rd (< */Narit-/) must be the same sea-god as Nerites, therefore Nerthus ought likewise to be a sea-goddess, perhaps Amphi-trite.}


Nerthus

"Nerthus ... is always veiled".

{Amphi-trite's "hair is enclosed with a net" ("PA")}.

390

Freyr

"there is no natural male phallus that is big enough"

{Priapos "was represented in carved images ... with very large genitals" ("GP").}


"

"feeding each other honey"

{"sacrifices offered to him consisted of ... honey" ("GP").}

39

"

"is to gentlely blow on their forehead or chest"

{Priapos "took care his breathing was" (Ovidius : Fasti 1:391 sq -- "GP").}

392

Gerd

"has been called to do cleansing-rituals for women who have ... miscarried".

393

Hel

"Hel ..., the Death Goddess, has a different sort of aura than most deities. While they glow and shine,



she's more like a black hole, sucking in all the light. ...

{I saw this goddess one day (in B., GA, decades ago) while awake : she was standing facing me (also standing), only inches away. She was short and slender, and so utterly dark that no bodily features were discernable, though from her silhouette I could perceive that she was nude. I immediately regarded her as Kali (whose name signifieth 'Black', and may be cognate with /Hel/).}



One of the things that she likes is to wear a ring on every joint of every finger of the left hand, in order to mimic the feel of hard bones. She may give her left hand to people to kiss, She never holds out her right hand {which can manifest as skeletal} to the living, but only to those who have passed on {i.e., to ghosts of the dead}, or are at the moment of dying a physical death. ... Hela walks with a limp, slowly ... . When she is speaking, her hands may move and gesture, but the rest of the time she is still ... . ...

394


If she grips someone's hand or arm in order to say something important to them, her touch has been known to burn flesh. ... .

... the kind of sex{ual activity} she likes to have is ordeal-oriented (meaning that she'll be causing them pain) and it is always arranged ahead of time".


Loki

"(This is where it is important to have a {possessee} with a patron deity to set limits ..., or else someone who belongs to Loki ... .) ... He has been known to bless whiskey and



tell people to add it to their bath water or

{likely a satirical way of expressing disapproval of it}

395


pour it over themselves in the tub ... ."


Angrbo`da

"likes women who ... have authority ... . ... She ... takes large strides. ...

396


She has no patience for whiners, although she will be kind to the ... deformed.

... Angrboda may pick a man who is interested in her and take him off to have a roll in the bushes. She ... prefers to be on top".

"PA" = "Pontia Amphitrite". http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Amphitrite.html

"GP" = "Georgikos Priapos". http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Priapos.html

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Raven Kaldera : Wightridden : Paths of Northern-Tradition Shamanism. Asphodel Pr, Hubbardston (MA), 2007.