gullindagan

"17.Unz þrír kvámu

ór því liði

öflgir ok ástkir

æsir at húsi,

fundu á landi

lítt megandi

Ask ok Emblu

örlöglausa.

18.Önd þau né áttu,

óð þau né höfðu,

lá né læti

né litu góða;

önd gaf Óðinn,

óð gaf Hænir,

lá gaf Lóðurr

ok litu góða."

17. Then, from that band, from the Aesir's home

Came three, powerful and compassionate

They found two upon the shore; Ash and Elm

Without power, lacking purpose

They had no breath, they had no mind

They had no blood, nor voice, nor vitality

Odin gave breath, Hoenir gave mind

Lothur gave blood, and vitality"

The concept of the macrocosm and the microcosm is fundamental to an esoteric understanding of reality, which is best summed up in the Hermetic maxim “As above, so below.” Whether you look at Hermeticism, Taoism, Vedanta or any number of other traditions, you find this principle as a crucial part of the theoretical framework, and it's no different with esoteric Heathenry. The Great Tree – called varirously Yggdrasil, Mímameiðr, Læraðr, or Hoddmímis holt in the Norse myths, has been a famous example of an axis mundi to anthropologists and historians, but as occultists, let us not forget that it is a symbol for the whole multiverse, the whole cosmos. It extends throughout all the worlds. It has its roots in the springs from which all waters arise, and grows up past the Middle Garden, rising through the realms of the gods all the way to Gimlé. The Great Tree is not just an axis mundi, but is also the Great Man. Maria Kvilhaug translates “Heimdallar” as “Great World.” (Kvilhaug, The Seed of Yggdrasil, pg 113) Just as the Cabalistic Adam Kadmon is also the Tree of Life, so too is Heimdallar, Yggdrasil. The Great World is a living entity. It is alive, and conscious, like you and me, only with intelligence and majesty beyond our comprehension because we are just minuscule cells of this Great Being, this Cosmic Tree.

We are the little trees. As humans were molded from clay in Genesis, we were enlivened and animated by divine beings from trees in the Völuspá. In skaldic poems, humans are often called trees in kennings. A man could be a “fir-tree of battle” and a woman could be a “ale-willow” or “sapling of rings” and so on. This use of trees to refer to humans in skaldic poetry is quite extensive, and it's fair to say that there was a clear relationship linking trees and humans in Heathen thought. There is also the story of Líf and Lífþrasir (which mean “Life” and “Love of Life”), the two humans that survive Ragnarök by hiding in Hoddmimis holt, which Rudolph Simek says is “an alternative name for the trunk of the world-tree Yggdrasill.” He continues “Thus, the creation of mankind from tree trunks (→ Askr, → Embla) is repeated after the Ragnarok as well. The concept of the origin of mankind from trees is ancient in Germanic regions.” (Simek, 2007, p. 189)

So what does this mean? Well, it means that we are part of a greater whole, whether or not we believe so. It means that we can learn about this greater whole by learning about ourselves, and also, that by working on ourselves, perfecting ourselves, we help perfect the greater whole too. It also means that by helping others, and working for the greater whole, we help ourselves.

Let us learn more about ourselves through the lens of the Norse scriptures. When Odin hangs himself on that “windy tree” in order to find the runes, what is he doing? With all myths, there are many levels of meaning, but let's look at this from the lens of macrocosm and microcosm. The Tree is the physical universe, but the Tree is also a physical body. If we see Odin in this myth as a representation of Spirit, as Maria Kvilhaug does, then we can see that hanging on the windy tree is a metaphor for incarnating into a breathing physical body. It is by incarnating into a body, into the physical universe, that a soul-essence can learn, can become. Life, with all it's pains, pleasures, sorrows, obstacles and joys is an initiation. But there is something that is incarnated, and reincarnated, and that is what you are, essentially. The real You. One could say the goal of all spiritual work is the awakening of that essence, while still in the physical body.

But what is this world? What is the reality that the body is embedded within? Well, in most esoteric traditions they split up reality into multiple planes. Some have seven, some have four, some just have two. In esoteric Heathenry we can say that there are three main levels, with three sub levels each, coming to nine total. These three main levels correspond to the three gifts given by the Odin, Hoenir and Lothur. Odin gave önd, which is “breath” or “spirit”. This corresponds to the highest plane, the spiritual plane, the plane of higher intuition and pure consciousness. Hoenir gave óð, which means “mind” or “feeling”. This is corresponds to the astral plane, the plane of emotions, images, thoughts and feelings. Lothur gave lá and litu góða. This is the gift of blood, vitality, voice and movement. These belong to the physical plane. These planes are a part of our every day experience, though most people haven't been trained to tell them apart.

The lowest, or most outward, sub-plane of the physical plane is pure, unconscious matter. This is the plane represented by the pieces of driftwood. Just a little higher are the etheric sub-planes. They are still part of the physical plane, but they are slightly more subtle. The first of these is the sub-plane of blood, of vitality. This is warmth, energy. You experience this sub-plane when you go up in an elevator and feel a little hiccup in your whole body, or when you feel energized after bathing in sunlight or cold water,. You can also feel the lack of this etheric energy when you're depleted from stress, exhaustion, or overindulgence. The next sub-plane up is the sub-plane of sound and movement. You can't see the sound waves when you hear somebody's voice, but they are there, still part of the material universe. They can be detected and measured.

The astral plane is the next plane, and is also easily observable through experience. This plane is the plane of emotions, thoughts, feelings, perception, memory and imagination. The lowest of these planes is the sub-plane of negative feelings, emotions and thoughts. When you're trapped in feelings and thoughts of self-pity, hatred, and jealousy, when you imagine hurting yourself or other people, you are in this realm. The next sub-plane is of more balanced thought and emotion. This is the realm you experience when you plan your future, read books and think about the concepts in them, or remember somebody fondly. The highest sub-plane of the astral is the plane of abstract images, thought, and exalted emotions. This is where theoretical mathematicians work, this is also where you are working when you're having a really good meditation. This is also where you are when you experience pure joy, or true compassion.

The highest plane, the spiritual plane, is subtle and transcendent, but you also experience it every day, whether or not you realize it. This is the plane of higher intuition, meaning, and consciousness. Have you ever felt inundated by the knowledge that all things are impermanent and that you will die? The emotions belong to the astral plane, but the intuition that triggered the rush of beautiful and transcendent feeling belongs to the spiritual plane. Are you conscious? How do you know that you are conscious? That knowledge, of what you are, the undeniable self-evidence of consciousness, is a glimpse into the spiritual plane. What you are essentially is beyond this plane, but the direct knowing comes from this plane. It's too subtle to split up into three sub-planes that would be meaningful at this time, because we are barely conscious of it at all.

People can experience all of these planes, and indeed live within all of them at the same time, but they usually are more focused in one sub-plane. Many people aren't even aware of the higher planes, though they're embedded in them nonetheless. Most children have their attention focused on the physical plane, as they learn to navigate this physical reality. Attention on the astral plane starts mostly in the teen years, as young people start identifying with certain images, emotions and thoughts, and learn to navigate this realm. Many people stay at this level, and never access the higher levels, but most people do experience feelings of pure joy at least a few times in their life, or intuit the impermanence of everything, even if they immediately turn their inner head away.

Modern industrial society is entirely focused on the material plane. Material reductionists can't deny the existence of thoughts, emotions, and consciousness, so they continually try to make them into purely physical phenomena. For instance, they assert that consciousness is a product of the brain. This is a backwards way of looking at reality. It would be truer to say that the higher realms are more real than the physical. It is the divine powers that give the physical world purpose and power, just as it was the divine powers that gave the first humans purpose and power.

And just as there are a myriad of creatures that live in the physical world, there are many entities that reside on other planes. We exist on all three planes, though barely on the lowest of sub-plane of the spiritual realms. Animals exist on the physical plane and the lower astral, though some also exist in the higher astral planes, and it is possible that animals such as whales may exist on even higher spiritual sub-planes than us. Divinities, of course, exist on the spiritual planes, extending higher than we can conceive of. There are other spirits who exist just in the astral planes, or just one astral plane. For instance, there are astral parasites that feed on negative emotions, which the ancient Norse might call “thurses”. What were called “light-elves”, by comparison, exist on the higher end of the astral and into the highest realms of the spiritual. Though these beings exist all around us, we generally cannot perceive them very well. Magical training helps build your capacity to sense them, and the Ceremony of Conjuration gives you a framework to work with specific beings intentionally. Obviously, not all beings are beneficial to humans, but all have their place in the cosmic spiritual ecosystem. Just as maggots help clean up rot and refuse, so do denizens of the lower astral have their rightful niche. Just as you wouldn't necessarily want to bring a grizzly bear home with you, there are spiritual creatures who you don't want to get too close to either.