Web of Wyrd November 2003
The Last Six Months
Since the last issue, things have progressed very well. The Midsummer course was really good, and although many people couldn't make it those that did found they had pretty much personal tuition (due to the number of instructors present) which was very useful. Heading up the teaching staff were Ivar Hafskjold himself, along with Graham Butcher (Thule of the Oxford Hov) and Alex Fell-Bowers (Master of Arms of the Lincoln Ve), along with assistants, so the students were very well catered for. The weather was fantastic, too, which made for very good training conditions, in a beautiful site.
There was no course in July, due to Graham receiving an invitation to teach at a summer camp organised by the Druid Network. This was an excellent opportunity to present Stáv to a wider audience, and by the end of the weekend it is fair to say that a lot more people had heard of it. More than that, some of those who participated in Graham's workshops were interested enough to take their studies further, and have since been to classes and on our courses. So a big thank you to the Druid Network for giving us the opportunity to pass on the considerable benefits that Stáv has given to us, and we look forward to working together again in the future.
For August, we were back in Kent for another of our Survival courses. This was an excellent opportunity for Alex to teach elements from his forthcoming survival book, and the good weather provided the perfect setting for such things as emergency shelter building, map reading, fire lighting and knotwork
September saw the first of our new rolling programme of courses, and our new venue.
We started off with a course looking at storytelling, and the various methods and techniques that can be employed for the creation and telling of stories. This was done by looking at some stories from the Eddas and traditional riddles to demonstrate the principles, as well as practical exercises in constructing stories from simple outlines.
In October we ran a course looking at the Health aspects of Stáv, both physically and in relation to how to deal with stress. The course was co taught by Howard Haselton, who brought his extensive knowledge of yoga to show some simple techniques for relaxation and energy conservation. This was balanced by looking at how the mindsets can be employed to deal with situations, and a guided meditation.
For the November course, we will be looking at Galder - the traditional chants practised in Stáv, that are good for improving body, mind and energy levels.
THE ORGANISATION OF STAV
It has now been 12 years since I started to teach Stav to my four direct students who have since branched out on their own, teaching their own version of the multifaceted philosophy that is Stav. It has recently become clear that we all tend to stress different aspects of the art, and that it is becoming increasingly confusing for beginners.
The Grey Council has therefore during the last few months been discussing a format that will hopefully clarify things somewhat.
The idea, though still under discussion, is to split Stav into five "Houses", each under a "Thul", or Lineage Holder, who will be the head of his "tradition" There can be only one "Thul" for each House, and he or she will appoint his or her successor.
The "Thules" make up the Grey Council and co-operate in the day-to-day running of Stav as a whole, but do not interfere in the affairs of the individual Houses. Likewise, everyone involved in Stav, makes up the Stav-thing, or Parliament, which is held once a year at Heimbu. The Thing will influence the general direction of Stav, but not the running of the Houses, though advice will be welcome. Below is the proposed names and organisation of the different Houses.
HEIMBU Heimbu is the senior House. It is also the Beverley Hov, but this is seldom or never referred to. The Thul of Heimbu is also known as the Hosling. At the moment there are 2 Ves directly connected to Heimbu, Tyrs-ve in Osaka (Japan) under Ve-gydje Sachio Michihata and Skulds-ve in Smaland (Sweden) under Ve-gode Arnulf Gullberg. Titles used at Heimbu is Gode, which can be differenced as Gode, Ve-gode and Hov-gode according to function.
VALGARTH Valgarth is the name of the House of the Brassfield-Thorpe lineage of Stav and also the name of the main Hov. There are 3 Ves connected to the House, Ynglinga-ve in Radwell (UK) under Ve-gode Christoffer Lambert, Heimdalla-ve in Arlington, (Texas) under Ve-gydje Tonya Langley, and Aldis-ve on Sandey. (Orkney) under Ve-gydje Kate Brassfield-Thorpe. Titles used at Valgarth are Gode, Ve-gode and Hov-gode according to function. The House also acts the main Seid authority in the Stav community. There are several Godes connected to the House that have not yet established a Ve.
THE WISDOM FIRE? The Wisdom Fire is the name of the House (still not decided) of the Laderus lineage of Stav and the San Francisco Hov is the main Hov of the House. There are at present 2 Ves connected to the House, Tyrs-ve in Manly (Australia) under Ve-gode Anthony Lange and Ulls-ve in Walwa (Australia) under Ve-gode Neil Lewis. Titles used at Wisdom Fire are Gode, Ve-gode and Hov-gode according to function.
TYRGARTH Tyrgarth is the name of the House of the Watkinson lineage of Stav and also the name of the main Hov. There is one Ve connected to the Hov, Freys-ve in Grove Dale in Victoria, Australia under Green Belt Rodney Bennett. Tyrgarth uses coloured belts for students. Titles used at Tyrgarth are Black Belt, Black Belt Instuctor, Black Belt Senior Instructor. There is currently only one Black Belt connected to the House. He is working at Tyrgarth, not yet having established his own Ve.
ICE & FIRE Ice & Fire is the name of the House of the Butcher lineage of Stav. The House uses Groups, Centres and Schools and titles are Student, Practitioner and Master. The Oxford School of Stav is the main school of the House. There is at present one other school, the Lincoln School of Stav under Master Alex Fell Bowers, and 3 centres. They are the Milton Keynes Stav Centre under Practitioner Darren Wells, the Hamburg Stav Centre under Peter Romero-Sauer.
There are several Practitioners connected to the House that have not yet established a Centre.
Return to Top of PageThe End of Days?
Remember the 1970's? It is usually remembered as a major disappointment after the 'swinging' sixties. The main thing I remember about that decade, apart from fashions I would rather forget about and a lot of banal popular music, was the apocalyptic feeling that seemed to permeate the time. A very popular TV series was called Survivors and it depicted a world where a biological accident has wiped out 99% of the human race leaving the remainder to try and survive with no social structure and only the remnants of modern technology.
Magazines such as Survival weapons and techniques and the radical biker publication, Back Street Heroes were either mainly or partly concerned with how to survive the collapse of civilisation. Popular children's books and TV also picked up on the theme and cinema kicked off the Decade with the Omega Man which told the story of the last man alive in a world of Zombies. The media was full of stories of financial crisis, industrial unrest and the threat of nuclear war.
Today there is a comparable pessimism. Margret Atwood's latest book deals with a nightmare future world where genetic engineering has gone crazy. Fears of terrorism, global warming, economic meltdown and religious conflict. In some respects it is just like the 1970's all over again but there is one big difference.
In the 1970's there was a well founded fear that social, economic and technological systems were unstable and likely to collapse. The consequences of this were not expected to be pleasant, but it was seen by many as practically inevitable. The big difference between then and now is that during the 1970's, while there was a healthy scepticism and often, a profound pessimism about the system, there was great optimism about mother nature and the capacity of the human spirit to triumph over adversity. This was also the decade when martial arts took off in the west in a big way and the whole movement towards alternative philosophies really took hold. A lot of it looks very naive today and there was a lot of nonsense around. It was also a hopeful and enthusiastic time when change seemed inevitable but the human spirit would prevail.
In today's world there seems to be a sense that it has gone too far, there have been articles published in major newspapers suggesting that ours will probably be the last generation on earth because we will have precipitated: global warming/new ice age, used up the fossil fuel/had a catastrophic nuclear accident, lost our will to fight/had a really huge war between the West and the Muslim world and so on and so forth. It is almost as if we want to believe that our generation is so special that there can never be another one like it. We are certainly getting plenty wrong but to believe that the world can't manage without us is just arrogant nonsense. Every culture has a myth about the end of time when a terrible cataclysm destroys all that human kind holds dear. In the Norse mythology the day of Ragnarok, when all will be destroyed, is described in graphic detail in the Voluspa. Also described is how a new world will be formed from the old one. A fresh, new home for the Gods and mankind where the good things about the old world are remembered but none of the evil remains. I believe it is a mistake to take apocalyptic stories in which God destroys the evil (ie. the people we don't like) and creates a paradise for the good (ie. us) too literally. In fact the process of destruction and rebirth are happening continually and have done since the beginning of time and will continue until the end. Yes, our present social, political, economic and cultural structure will change, it will seem like a cataclysm for some, there will be much 'wailing and gnashing of teeth' and new ways will develop and the cycle will continue as it always has done. It will only be a disaster for those without faith and courage to see that Orlog has a greater wisdom and purpose than just maintaining our comfort and security. We have to be willing to see the reality of the problems which we cause for ourselves and be able to let go of illusions which we cling to in order to avoid facing up to our fears and doubts. But we do have within ourselves the ability to overcome difficulties and create new ways of living in which health, happiness and vitality are not only possible but can be made reality.
Graham Butcher
Return to Top of PageIn Search of The Warrior Spirit by Richard Strozzi-Heckler
(North Atlantic Books ISBN 1-55643-116-3) The publishers of this book have placed it in the category 'Martial Arts'. The Author is indeed an Aikido Sensi and the book comes out of his experience in teaching Aikido to Green Beret's during a six month experimental training programme. The object of this project was to see if training special forces soldiers in the latest human potential and self development techniques would be of any benefit. The three main areas were meditation, bio-feedback and Aikido training. This was combined with diet, bodywork and very carefully monitored physical training. There were also guest instructors taking part whose backgrounds varied from Karate Sensi's to a Benedictine monk During the course of the programme there were special projects which covered a meditation retreat, a seaborne exercise and an artic warfare wargame. The meditation retreat in particular seems to have caused the author some serious heart searching, especially when he had to consider the paradox of sitting in meditation with a big guy wearing a tee shirt emblazoned with 'Death from above' and a big skull and crossbones. The whole book is a combination of a detailed description of the day to day reality of the programme, drawn direct from the author's journals, and a consideration of what does it mean to be a warrior in the modern world. The programme was actually conducted between 1985 and 86 but the issues it raises are more significant than ever today. The example of what has just happened in Iraq has shown how effective the US military machine is in destroying enemy forces. It has yet to show it can successfully win the peace. This book explores the gulf between the soldier who only follows orders and abdicates as much responsibility as he can onto the system and chain of command. As such he may be obedient and efficient, but has no inner resources and needs feel little compassion or responsibility towards the rest of the human race. The warrior by contrast is a fully realised human being with all the potential that can bring. But his compliance with mindless or unethical orders cannot be taken for granted. When first asked to take part in the programme the author found that he was criticised by non-military liberals who seemed to think that soldiers were not fit to receive the kind of training they were offering. That to place skills such as Aikido and meditation in the hands of the military was, at best a waste, and at worst irresponsible. The participants in the programme varied enormously in their response, some believed that it had changed their lives and continued to practice meditation and Aikido, others, that it had been a waste of time and they would have been better off with 'conventional' military training. As far as the military itself was concerned it seems that the programme was only repeated once and then not in its entirety. The author heard through the grapevine that the top brass's attitude was that they had an army to run and didn't want to hear about meditation and martial arts. This book is of considerable interest to anyone concerned with the relationship between the military and society, the problem of being both a human being and a soldier. It doesn't provide any easy answers but at least it confronts the questions. Who out of the wide range of guest instructors did the participants report they were most impressed with? The Benedictine monk,came top of the poll, and did the Aikido work against a Green Beret? The author reports one situation where he felt he had to try it out. He was simply able to grab the soldier by the throat and the attack stopped. Sort of inconclusive, like the book, but also strangely satisfactory. Graham Butcher
Return to Top of PageMilk and Honey - By G D Butcher
In the old testament we are told that when the spies returned from reconnoitring the promised land they reported that it was 'flowing with milk and honey' - the two things we most crave for in our diet, fat and sweetness. This has a perfectly reasonable evolutionary basis. Foods that are naturally fat and sweet tend to be particularly nutritious. Also, generally speaking fruits and vegetables that are safe to eat taste sweet and toxic ones taste unpleasant. (This is by no means always the case but it can provide a useful guide.) So, for thousands of years, mankind was always in search of fat and sweetness, and dried fruits, honey, certain vegetables, nuts and seeds (and of course products from milk and animals) provided these. Rich people could and did indulge to excess but for most of the human race the desire for these tastes provided a stimulus towards a healthy balanced diet rather than a real risk of obesity or heart disease. Sugar has been used for thousands of years, but only in its natural form as juice direct from the cane. The raw juice will not keep for more than a very short while. But around the 6th century the Persians developed a means of converting the juice into a stable form which could be stored, transported and consumed anywhere. The Arabs over-ran the Persian empire in the 9th century and took over the sugar trade and began to consume a huge variety of sugared foods, drinks and fermented sugar products. The first signs of diseases associated with excessive sugar consumption appeared and the Arab empire collapsed, the addiction to sugar may well have had more than a little to do with this. Later the Portuguese and then the Spanish took over the sugar trade and began capturing slaves from Africa to work in the cane fields in South America, they became immensely rich, their populations became addicted to sugar and their influence in the world declined. The British took over in the West Indies and the slave trade was driven by the insatiable demand for sugar and its derivative, rum. In the year 2000, Americans were consuming 151 pounds of sugar and related substances each. This causes enormous health problems, obesity, diabetes and tooth decay to list just three. This fuelled the demand for artificial sweeteners, such as Saccharine and now Aspartame. This last, in particular, may be calorie free but it is made from Formaldehyde and Methanol and is highly toxic. The US Food and drink administration lists 92 health risks from Aspartame, including death! See references at the end of this to find out more. Fat from milk and from organically reared animals has been an essential aspect of the Northern diet for centuries. There are now risks from using food products from animals that have been given growth hormones and antibiotics. But worse than this is the prevalence of Hydrogenated fats. This is vegetable oil which has been stabilised to make sure it keeps its form and texture over a wide range of temperatures. We are most familiar with this in the form of margarine which we can spread straight from the fridge where butter at the same temperature would be very hard. We are also told that it is better for us than animal fats. My father was a process engineer and worked for a time in the food industry. Even thirty years ago he refused to eat margarine and strongly discouraged my mother from having it in the house. He knew how it was made. The vegetable oil is heated in the presence of a catalyst and combined with hydrogen to 'hydrogenate' it. Put simply it is turned from an oil into a plastic. This cannot be used by the body in the way that natural fats and oils can and clogs up arteries and impedes hormone production. These products are found in a huge range of food items - shop bought biscuits, cakes, pastries or pies will almost certainly have some hydrogenated fat in them. This is a very brief overview, please check out the links below. In a society which is more and more dependent upon pre-prepared food most people will be ingesting dangerous quantities of sweeteners (I include refined sugar in this category) and will be heading for huge problems for their long term health. Reduce use of sugar as much as possible, cut it out all together if you can. Use Honey, dried fruit, fruit juice or barley malt instead. Also avoid sources of Hydrogenated fats. For really healthy eating we need to source the raw ingredients directly and prepare them for ourselves. This goes right against the prevailing trends of convenience and time saving but it could be the best long term investment for your health that you can make. for more information go to: Dorway.com
Return to Top of Page‘BLOODFEUD’ by Richard Fletcher
(Penguin ISBN 0-14-028692-6) ‘Bloodfeud’ is one of those (many) books that I have been meaning to get for a while, partly because I was intrigued as to whether it was a work of historical fiction, or simply an historical account. The blurb gave very little away - merely the basic facts of a murder case from nearly 1000 years ago : “In March 1016, Earl Uhtred of Northumbria was ambushed and brutally murdered by a rival magnate - with the full collusion of, and while under a guarantee of safe conduct of, England’s ruthless new ruler, King Cnut. This act set in motion a sixty year cycle of violence, treachery, slaughter and revenge.” So - fact or fiction? Actually, it falls somewhere between the two. Although it is a purely historical work, Richard is not averse to speculation - but that should not suggest that there is a blurring between fact and supposition. In fact, one of the things that most impressed me about this book is the approach to factual gaps:- this we know; this we really don't know, but it is very tempting to think that maybe…etc. The reader is left in no doubt what parts come from evidence, eg royal charters, etc., and what is theory. Sometimes these theories and speculations run off into an extended ‘what ifs’, but rather than confusing the issue, they actually add some colour and depth to what could be a very dry subject. As it is, the tale rolls through 150 years of English history in a manner that sometimes leaves the reader breathless at the sudden changes and turnarounds of power in the Old English kingdoms and shires. There are works that look more closely at the Norman invasion, at the reigns of the Old English and Scandinavian kings, but Richard has a knack of taking what is pertinent of these times and events, in how they relate to the worlds of the two Northumbrian dynasties of Uhtred and his killer, Thurbrand. He skilfully gives the reader just what is necessary to draw them into the world he has shown, so that when things turn nasty and bloody (as they usually seem to), the reader feels involved and affected by the happenings. It is also refreshing to have a book of this calibre dealing with the area North of the Humber, rather than the Wessex powerbase of Kings Alfred and Harold. Being so used to the idea of a Great Britain, one tends to forget just what a divided land this used to be. Leaving aside hostilities (and peace) with our neighbours Wales and Scotland, even the land of Northumbria, though ostensibly under the rule of the one ‘King of England’, was to all intents and purposes a kingdom unto itself. The Earls that ruled there were powerful enough to threaten the Southern king if not handled in the right manner, as the various Wessex kings (and the Normans) found out, almost to their cost. Although there have been many very good books written on the area, they have tended to be academic rather than ‘user friendly’, meaning that there was little joy there for those without a specific interest in the subject. Richard Fletcher has written a work that will appeal to many interest groups, and anyone reading this will come away knowing a little (or a lot) more about pre- and post Norman invasion Britain. Not only Britain, though - it seems that the author must have studied every available piece of historical evidence. The world he paints extends to the East of Europe, and the tensions between the Christian Germans, and the Pagan Slavs at their border. Closer to home, this is also the time of Macbeth, made famous by Shakespeare, as well as Scottish kings Malcolm and Duncan, and they also get their mention in the big picture. This book is also of particular interest for anyone familiar with Yorkshire or North Lincolnshire, as many of the happenings and places may be local. Also, from a Stáv point of view, it is interesting to see how important Beverley was in the area, and getting a connection from the present to 1000 years ago. Darren Wells
Return to Top of PageVe & Vettir Shaun Brassfield-Thorpe
In modern Stav we refer to the training-centre run by a Gode (a Stav-teacher) as a Ve. But what do we mean by this? In contemporary Stav, we use the term Ve to mean roughly the same thing as the term Dojo used in Japanese martial arts (although in the orient the term is not restricted to martial arts but is used of any place where a philosophy is taught). A Dojo is a place where a ‘Way’ is taught (the ‘Do’ element, also found in e.g. Kendo, Aikido, Bushido etc is the Japanese equivalent of the Chinese ‘Tao’ or ‘Dao’ i.e. a / the ‘Way’). In Stav, a Ve is a place where the ‘Way’ of Stav - it’s philosophy, not simply its physical skills and applications - is taught and practised. But the literal meaning of the term ‘Ve’ is very slightly different. The Old Norse term Ve literally means a ‘Holy Place’. It can thus be translated as ‘Shrine’, ‘Sacred Space’, ‘Sanctuary’ and so on. This occasionally confuses some people, as Stav is not a religion and so it can seem contradictory to talk of holy places, shrines, sacred spaces etc in a non-religious sense - but this is due mainly to contemporary attitudes towards the concepts of holiness, sacredness and spirituality which have somewhat been co-opted by organised religions and then permeated general consciousness. Stav is really not a religion, organised or otherwise, but it is a spiritual philosophy. It is, at a literal level, a ‘holy philosophy’. But to try to understand this it may be important to understand the original meaning of the term ‘Holy’. At a simple level, the word ‘holy’ is etymologically and conceptually linked to the words ‘whole’, ‘wholesome’, ‘holistic’ and ‘healthy’. Something, or somewhere, that is holy is something that is complete, in balance, harmonious and thus both wholesome and whole. Something that is out of balance, un-natural, in a deep sense ‘incomplete’, is thus unholy. That which is ‘holy’ has all its parts integrated, nothing is missing from it, it is in balance with its own nature and within the pattern of the universe (Orlog). It is fairly important to realise that this definition of holiness has nothing at all to do with human constructed values of morality, with doctrines of any specific creed or belief system, with faith in any gods and so on. Indeed, it is in principle possible for an atheist, an animist, a polytheist, a monotheist etc all to agree on such a definition of holiness unless their own subjective views, dogmas and so on blind and bind them from simply accepting and acknowledging the completeness of nature itself. ‘Holiness’ does not automatically equate with ‘good’ and ‘un-holiness’ with ‘evil’ - ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are basically just subjective human reactions to a thing or concept. But it would be fair to say that holiness equates with nature, health and balance and un-holiness with that which is un-natural, un-healthy an un-balanced. Likewise this does not mean that a holy thing cannot be destructive, deadly and dangerous - for these aspects are all a part of nature and to ignore one half of a cycle would be to render something unholy, incomplete; by the same token something unholy can at times be, or seem to be, beneficial and useful - but being out of balance or un-natural, these benefits are short lived and can lead to further imbalances and an unholy cycle of incompletion until balance is restored and a whole nature embraced. So, in modern Stav we refer to a training centre as a Ve, a holy place, a place where the philosophy of Stav is practised. Sometimes people thus expect that a Ve should be a building like an ornate temple. But this was not the original meaning of the term. A temple-hall was referred to as a Hov or Hof, and this was a large centre serving the needs of a region and its community. A Ve was originally a little different - it could, basically, be anywhere. Some places simply seem to have high levels of beneficial megin (energy) and thus were considered Ves. Such sites also make very good places for e.g. performing the runic stances, rituals etc because of their high megin levels. Often these are ‘just’ natural 'beauty spots' such as springs and fountains, waterfalls, lakes, groves of trees and so on, but sometimes a place can seem to have nothing very special about it to mundane eyes yet simply has a very strong megin of its own. One of the defining features of a true Ve is that it acts as a focus point for natural energies. Where this was noticed in the past, people no doubt gathered and in time put up cairns, monument stones etc (probably so that those who couldn't see or feel the megin could still find the place) and later shrines, temples etc arose, which then became the sites of churches in the early Christian period. I think it is a chicken-and-egg situation as to whether such sites were regarded as 'holy' because they had strong megin, were very fertile, or were home to spirits, as basically when you have the one the others follow. Such a site is a 'Ve' - a 'Holy Place' (in the earliest sense of the term - that is, a place that is 'whole', 'wholesome', 'healthy' etc), and this is why most of the original Ves were open-air spots rather than temples (Hovs). But while some places simply seem to have a natural energy of their own, others can acquire this energy and thus attract vettir (spirits), become more fertile, and more 'holy') simply by being regularly used in a wholesome, holy, way. If, for example, an individual, or especially a group, regularly meets at a place and performs energy-work (such as using the stances, lokk-seid, spiritual / magical ritual etc) the place itself often gradually experiences a raise in its own level of energy. This is extremely beneficial for all concerned. At a simple level, imagine a spot that is just barren land. If you plant some trees, herbs, wild flowers and so on, you will almost immediately begin to make it more fertile. But the real job of this is done because birds, insects and other animals will start coming to the place and they then fertilise the plants, the soil and so on, and so the cycle continues. Energy work and the vettir [spirits] etc seems to work in a similar way. This is one reason why having a regular place to practise the stances is a really good idea, either for an individual or a group. Most of the time, ones stance work etc helps to raise the energy level of not only ones self and the group one works with but also the place one is practising in (which if you have an already potent spot is really quite something), but if for example you or a member of a Stav group happens to be unwell, often the megin of the place will help to bring this back into balance. I suspect this is why quite often if a person is deeply troubled, they might do something like go to a church and sit for a while (even if they are a complete atheist), or go sit under a tree or in a park etc. Basically they are often subconsciously drawn to a place that has higher megin levels, and is 'holy' (but in a rather non-religious sense). Sometimes, when people practise the runic stances, they find they experience unusual phenomena such as seeing colours or lights either around the individuals they practice with, or connected to the place at which they train. Usually these are one of two types of phenomena. Either a person finds that they are able to ‘see’ the vettir (spirits) of the place, or else they find they can ‘see’ megin (energy) itself. Looking first at the vettir, I won’t begin to attempt to 'classify' different types & how one may tell the difference between them here, but one type that is quite frequently encountered often appears to human eyes as twinkling, shimmering lights or floating stars etc. There are countless folklore descriptions of things like the will o' the wisp, faeries etc which will give you the sort of idea. If you've ever seen the Disney version of 'Peter Pan', think of Tinkerbell - forget the bimbo-fairy with insect wings bit when she's seen close up which is largely [though not totally] just a post-Victorian idea of 'fairies', just think of how she's shown from a distance, as a light dancing around Peter Pan, sometimes accompanied by the sound of some ethereal bells - that's actually quite a good and fairly 'classic' description of these types of spirits / vettir / faer-folk / ljos-alfar (light-elves) / alvorna etc (they have many names and descriptions in folklore). These types of spirits seem to be attracted when people are doing any sort of energy work, such as performing the stances. Personally I think that they simply are drawn towards the megin which is flowing more freely during activities like the stance-work. Of course, these and other spirits can also be called during Lokk-Seid, or generally turn up during any other activity that utilises a lot of megin e.g. some forms of magical working (or taking a stroll to the woods with your lover...) simply seem to draw them like a magnet. I may be doing them a gross injustice here, but in my experience a lot of these types of land-vettir (there are others, and some are totally different) have a sort of sentience but not intelligence in the way humans understand it. They often seem more like, say, bees that are drawn by someone planting flowers or opening a pot of jam. Like bees, they can usually tell if someone is either hostile or friendly towards them, can prove rather annoying or even a little dangerous if not simply accepted for what they are or if they feel threatened, but bring enormous benefits in the sense of making the land more fertile and wholesome. On the other hand, sometimes when people experience colours around individuals they are not perceiving spirits, but rather megin itself. It's sometimes difficult to easily describe this but it is fairly common, not only in Stav but also in any tradition which employs 'energy exercises' (such as Qi Gong, Yoga and so on) and there are plenty of people who've experienced this sort of thing (and others) while performing the runic stances. Different people experience this sort of thing in different ways - not everyone has visual effects (some 'hear' things, some 'smell' them, most people 'feel' something etc), and where and when they do 'see' something, these can be of different types of phenomena. Probably the most common 'visual' effects tend to be seeing a sort of aura e.g. a 'glow' surrounding either a whole person, or say the exposed areas of skin such as face and hands. Typically this might be fairly non-distinct such as a vague intensity of light without a definite colour, or else specific colours might be identified either across the whole person or in specific areas e.g. a whitish colour around the head but a greenish colour around the stomach and so on. Quite often sparkly lights like twinkling stars are seen (which of course may either be a part of the bodily energy, or else spirits drawn towards this) especially in the 'field' or 'aura' of energy surrounding the body (in Old Norse this is basically the 'Hamr', although different people use the term to mean different things). Sometimes it's more 'profound' e.g. while for most people these will be reasonably mild and subtle experiences, sometimes (if a person has a 'talent' in this way) they can be rather more 'odd'. These might range from the fairly common-place such as being able to sense other people's moods, state of health etc a bit more than before, through too e.g. 'seeing' a person's fylgja (animal totem) or spirits they are linked to etc, or even for example having 'prophetic' glimpses into things etc. It is never wise to expect this sort of thing to happen, and certainly not to try to force it to occur unnaturally, but sometimes the stances can produce unusual states of awareness, so if a Stav student experiences something, no matter how unusual it may seem, this doesn't mean they are mad or hallucinating, and they can always discuss this with their teacher in private without needing to feel embarrassed. It can be very difficult to at first distinguish between ‘seeing’ spirits or bodily-energy, but very basically I'd say that if what is ‘seen’ seems to be centred around a person's or people's body/s, then this is probably the megin-field which surrounds and permeates the body (the Hamr), but if twinkling lights or stars etc are seen floating about a bit more freely e.g. nipping around between people, the training-place, off into the trees etc, then these are probably spirits (Vettir). In any event it is often wise to perform a Blot (basically a 'Blessing') such as pouring out beer, or leaving some other offering e.g. a bit of food such as an apple, or if you smoke, a small pinch of tobacco etc (obviously not half a can of coke and a fag end!) as vettir the world over seem to respond very favourably to this sort of thing. Usually one might either do this around the edges / boundaries of the place, or else at a central point e.g. the Horg (Altar). It is debateable whether the spirits in some way partake of the substance offered, or just recognise it as a sign of good-will and respect, but in any event it 'works' and this has been a tired and tested traditional practise since pre-historic times.
Return to Top of PageStav for the Elderly
G D Butcher
I had always claimed that Stav could be taught to, and practised by, anyone regardless of gender, age and infirmity. Certainly, over the years I have had to work with students with a surprising range of problems and ailments. In all cases they have found benefits in persisting with Stav training. Recently I was challenged to take this a little bit further. Age concern runs many day centres for the elderly in community centres and village halls all over the country. It is becoming more and more apparent that even the very elderly can benefit from some exercise. So teachers of various disciplines are invited in to conduct such sessions. This usually means, yoga, chi gung, or aerobics. As far as I am aware I am the first one to teach Stav in such circumstances. I even get paid for it and usually a lunch as well.
The circumstances are usually as follows:
You have group of up to 15 or 16 people aged between 70 and 95, often with examples of every ailment that afflicts the elderly. There is something slightly surreal about teaching breathing exercises to someone who is reliant on her oxygen bottle. But the same lady was very interested and wanted to know how Stav compared to Chi Gung, so you can never assume that you are wasting your time. Exercises have to be practised sitting down and some participants will be visually impaired, deaf or sometimes, both. The way I approach the class is by performing each stance with the emphasis on the breathing, both sides of the body if appropriate. Then a stretch or strengthening exercise based on each stance.
For example :
for Ur I tell them to imagine sitting by a river and some creature has grabbed them by the wrists with its tentacles and is pulling them into the water. So you resist going forward and then pull back until you imagine you are suddenly free. For Nod and Ar the right and then the left hands are held up in the stance position and the hand rotated in a waving motion to strengthen the wrists and develop flexibility. The most difficult ones to work with are Sol and Yr but in both cases it is possible to press on the ground and resist pressure on the insides and outsides of the knees. Sometimes, at the end, it is appropriate to do a guided meditation exercise for relaxation. It is a good idea though to make sure that the group have some idea of what you are up to, many elderly people have never really come across the idea of meditation so the idea has to be introduced rather carefully. Once they get the idea they seem to enjoy it though.
Obviously quite a few of the participants will be very limited as to which exercises they can do or even attempt. But that doesn't really matter. At least some of the group will attempt a little more movement or a slightly deeper breath than they might otherwise try. It has also forced me as a Stav teacher to look more deeply at what Stav is about and how we can further develop its scope and application.
Age Concern is very anxious that exercise should be available to the elderly to help them maintain their strength and independence as long as possible. I hope during 2004 to start offering training in teaching Stav is specialised areas, such as to the elderly. The opportunity to teach is certainly there, so if anyone is interested in such training please get in touch.
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