The Planes, the Bodies, and Germanic Soul Lore

[gullindagan]

In a previous thread, a commenter (shout out to JP again!) brought up the idea of Germanic Soul Lore in relation to the Planes of Western Occultism. According to traditional occultism, which I have received from JMG and Dion Fortune, we have roughly 5 planes with corresponding bodies. The physical, etheric, astral, mental and spiritual.  The physical plane is the plane of, well, the physical body... The etheric is the plane of subtle energy, like "chi". You can feel the etheric body slightly move out of synch with the physical when you go "wheee" over a quick hill in a car. Also, this seems to be the body that survives for a little while after death, but which vampires keep alive through etheric feeding. This is also the "etheric double" which can bilocate, or which can maybe go into battle as a wolf or a bear... The "astral" plane is literally the plane of the Stars, and is the plane of fate and karma as well as images, thoughts and feelings. This is the plane we enter while dreaming, while scrying, thinking or imagining. The "mental" plane is the plane of Meaning. We are just now developing the mental body, we only have a "mental sheath". Above, or behind, within, or otherwise past the mental plane is the "spiritual plane". This is the realm of the spiritual forces which we can only comprehend through the astral and the mental planes, but cannot perceive directly from our current stage. However, it is my understanding that the "divine spark" which is actually the core, or essence of our being, "exists" (the spiritual plane is ineffable, and "exists" isn't really the right word, but there is no right word) on the spiritual plane. The way that I see it, one of the main goals of spiritual work is to develop the lower bodies to the point where the divine spark and the ego are in conscious relation. This work can be helped along by guiding spirits, such as the Holy Guardian Angel, Angel of the Nativity, or other such entities.

The ancient Germanic peoples also had a complicated understanding of what makes up an "individual" (not so unable-to-be-divided after all, eh?) From what I understand about that complex, which I have received mainly from Flowers/Thorsson,  there are multiple bodies that don't exactly correspond to the occult "planes". There the "lyke" or "lich" which does pretty much correspond to the physical body exactly. The "hyde" is the etheric energy, the "ond" (the gift given by Odin in the Voluspa, which means "breath of life") I would also definitely place in the "etheric" plane, but it is in a way connected directly to the Spiritual.  The word "spirit" comes from the Latin for "breath", and I see "Ond" as basically the same as the Hindu "prana." The "hugh" or "hugr" and myne or "minni", or, thought and memory (the same as "Huginn" and "Muninn") to me are two parts of the "astral" body. The "wode" is inspiration, frenzy, and I might consider this a part that reaches between the Astral and Mental, maybe something like the "mental sheath." I think the "Fetch/Fylgia" is a guardian spirit, like the HGA, "Hamingja" is basically "personal power" or "charisma" or "personal magnatism" and "Wyrd/Orlog" is obviously related to "Fate", "Destiny" and "Karma" - though that will have to be another post.

In general, I am still trying to fit these together, but they are like two different artists, one using watercolors and one using oil paint, to paint a portrait. I'd be quite happy to discuss these ideas further in the comments and in future posts. It seems like the Germanic peoples had a much more developed sense of the etheric realms and etheric/spiritual tech than we do now. It might also be interesting to compare Maria Kvilhaug's idea of the initiations hidden in the Norse myths, where the hero faces the internal, female, sun-like higher self, to the idea of the Divine Spark. That might merit it's own post though...

Also, I found this explanation of the Old Saxon ideas of the soul-complex which might be interesting to folks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23aaWeTwnuU

Comments

[jprussell]

Thanks for the shout out!

To start with the end, thanks for the link to that video, it was very helpful, and it's always nice to find someone who is both a serious scholar and also genuinely interested in heathenry as a spiritual practice. I look forward to learning more from him, as the continental Saxons have not been a focus of mine at all.

Traditional Western Occultism Sources?
As for traditional western occultism and its take on the planes, do you have any sources to recommend besides JMG's blog posts and The Cosmic Doctrine? That's where I've picked up most of what I have on the subject, but it feels somewhat like there are big pieces missing from my understanding (of course, I realize that much of that is the need for meditation and unpacking things myself).

Some Sources on the Germanic Soul Complex
For the Germanic soul-complex, I feel a bit more qualified to share some sources and opinions. Like you, I was introduced to the idea by Thorsson, but I had a rather idiosyncratic reason for really diving into learning more about it - I wanted to use it a game mechanic in my homebrew D&D setting! I arrived at a rather unsatisfactory game mechanic, but found many more sources on the subject, though Thorsson's fingerprints can be found on many of them.

First off, Stephen Pollington's The Elder Gods discusses the evidence for these concepts and does a bit of comparative work with the Norse (that's one reason I found the Old Saxon video so interesting - another source to compare!). I'd say the main additions to what you discuss above from him are magen (source of modern "main" as in "he strove with might and main!") and hael (source of modern "hale" as in "he looks hale and hearty after taking up his exercise routine"). Magen seems to mean something like "power, strength, force" and maybe had a chi/mana-like sense to it. Aethem was another word that had similar overtones, but is etymologically linked with ond and more properly seems to mean "breath-when-by-breath-we-mean-the-spiritual/magical-things-that-breath-does" like prana or spiritus. Hael meant largely what it means now - good health/luck, but it likely had more of a spiritual/magical overtone to it in Old English.

In A Modern Guide to Heathenry Galina Krasskova goes very inclusive in talking about the soul complex. Despite looking pretty clearly Thorsson-derived for much of it, she adds in more concepts, like the Mod talked about in the video, the idea that godhi might be a spiritual property held by a religious practitioner and not just a title, a kin-fylgja which is like a fetch, but for a whole clan, wih, as in "sacredness", and litr the color or hue of life, which was one of the things granted to Ask and Embla along with wod, ond, speech, sight, and hearing.

I'm not sure the degree to which I find the extra things Krasskova talks about as "part of the soul", but I also haven't been thinking about it very long and haven't meditated on it yet. I do think they at least to good ways to try to further understand the subtle world through a heathen lens, whether or not some of those parts are part of our soul or outside it.

Trying to Mix Oil and Watercolor
You used an interesting metaphor here, and one I'm not sure I agree with, but that is certainly compelling. If I've learned one thing from JMG, it's that trying to arrive at "natural science" style comprehensive understanding of spiritual matters and the subtler planes is deeply misguided - we're likely dealing with different metaphors that are the best approximations possible for something ineffable, and some of those metaphors might form into systems that make sense together, while others don't.

That being said, let's charge right ahead with trying to get them to make sense together to see what we might learn! Lyke/Lich seems as straightforward to me as it does to you. I agree that Ond is primarily etheric, though I wonder how best to link it with the physical action of breathing, and I hadn't considered the possible link with the spiritual - the spiritual plane is very much the one I have the fuzziest understanding of. Hugh and myne as primarily astral with potential links to the mental fits with my thinking as well. The Fetch as primarily spiritual makes sense to me as well. I had thought of wod as likely primarily etheric, with maybe an element of astral, on the idea that the "lower astral" is about passions, but your point about inspiration potentially fitting more with the mental plane makes good sense.

Now, Hamingja/Luck and Wyrd/Orlog are very interesting and tough. I've had some trouble coming to a good understanding of "Hamingja" and have often seen it equated with the old, much richer idea of Luck as not random chance, but something a bit closer to karma. I had been thinking of it as Etheric, but I'm wondering if it might more properly be spiritual? Similarly, I struggled with where to put wyrd/orlog, and I was thinking mental and spiritual, bridging the two, but that was largely because I didn't know where else to go.

One thing all this makes me think about is how the etheric seems to often be the "interface" between the more familiar physical plane and the subtler plane (for example, the tingly feeling many folks get from magic or spiritual experiences). I wonder if this might be a source of confusion sometimes - for example, a being or a force that is primarily mental or spiritual somehow gets felt as an etheric sensation, and so gets assumed to be etheric (at least by a novice like myself).

Okay, that's quite long enough, I'm sure, but I look forward to hearing more about the Norse myths as initiation, as I'm not familiar with Maria Kvilhaug's work, but I've read a bit about the idea that Baldr's death might be an initiation ritual, and I have some thoughts of my own about Tyr's pledge to Fenris, but I'll wait to share on the relevant post.

[gullindagan]

Yeah Scott Shell is doing some nice stuff, learning lots from him.

As far as the planes, I have read some stuff in some Theosophical literature about it, though I can't remember where. I've mostly just taken it from JMG and Fortune. I have seen similar divying up in unexpected places though.

I really need to get that Pollington book, that sounds very interesting. I was thinking also yesterday about all the English words for parts of the human. I mean, we have "soul", "spirit", "mind", "body", "memories", "thoughts", "feelings", "emotions", "consciousness", "awareness", "ego", "heart", "gut" and so many others, and how those seem to be more like the kind of divisions the Germanic peoples are making, but the Plane bodies are a different kind of ordering.

As far as mixing oil and watercolor, it is just a metaphor! And a metaphor about metaphors at that, though in a way, all words are metaphors...

I think it's right and good to have the fuzziest understanding of the spiritual, as that's the one that we can know the least about. Though in a certain way I think it is always present.

I think the breath is what keeps the "spirit", "consciousness", "soul" or "awareness" in the body. It's when the person stops breathing that they die. So in a way, it's physical, etheric and spiritual, though it is one of the few automatic bodily functions that can be easily altered by the will! I think that's why breathwork is so important in so many traditions. To me it is quite important that Odin is who gave us Ond.

I think Hamingja/Luck is definitely related to karma, but I think the Charisma/personal power thing is an important part of it too. I believe that doing practices such as banishing rituals, or being totally celibate for a time, or practicing exercises of the will, or many other sorts of things builds up a personal power that we might call "mojo", but could also be called "Hamingja"- but the term also probably has a deeper and wider meaning too. I'm trying to find ways to understand these terms using my direct experience. "Mojo" for instance has that meaning now in our culture, but previously in southern black culture it was a specific type of charm.

The thing about Wyrd, Orlog, Karma, Fate, is that in a certain way, they are dependent on the astral realm. Literally the stars. The sage is one who has gone beyond the stars. Beyond his fate. Of course, Odin couldn't alter his destiny, and this brings us to another oil and watercolor moment.

[slithytoves123]

Off-topic, but I floated an idea at JMG's Magic Monday to change the reference to "Sumarbrandr" in the HLBRP to "the Sword of Frey" or "Frey's sword" (long and short versions) to remove what I've learned is a reference to a modern Rick Riordan novel.

I plan to only change that part to start with, to see how it goes, but after that I'd like to try changing the wording of the other items to explicitly mention the gods best known for owning them: "Before me, Odin's spear. Behind me, Heimdall's horn. At my right hand, Frey's sword. At my left hand, Balder's ring." Something about that formulation seems promising.

[gullindagan]

Sounds like a good experiment. Maybe alternate days and see if you feel a difference? Also, have you started the MP yet?

[slithytoves123]

That sounds good.

I have started the MP but am seem to have hit a wall. The first time was like getting the rush of air when you first crack open a door that's been shut for a long time. Since then, the effect has been much more muted.

I recall other people mentioning hitting a wall, so probably I just need to push through it.

[gullindagan]

Yeah that's common, just need to keep going.