I was upon a snow covered mountain deep within a forest. Frantically searching for items I needed, I heard a voice say “stop”. I was so confused and out of my element that I heard the word “stop”, but I did not comprehend it. This was my first encounter with Skaði, who hit me with the end of her bow so hard that I woke up from my dream with a knot upon my head.
So it begins…
A New Connection
After my dream concussion, I knew that Skaði was making her entrance into Dark Goddess Collective. This Giantess, with her connection to mountains, winter, and the wilderness, began to make her presence known.
“Your torch must begin outside and underneath its resting place will contain a relic of how we’re connected.”
How do you make a bow that rests under a candle?!
A Bow and Birch
Recently, very heavy storms passed through our area and the gum trees released what I lovingly refer to as witch balls. As the candle sat outside amongst the fallen offerings, my resourcefulness kicked in. I knew exactly how to make the bow and remembered the forest from my dreams had me surrounded by Birch Trees (and I just so happen to have some birch bark!).
Immersion
Scholars tell us that the best way to learn a new language is immersion. It makes sense: to immerse ourselves in something is to connect fully to it, not just with our full focus but with the body too. In this way, I felt into what it would take for an immersion to take place. Music is one way that I find a certain resonance and frequency toward allowing connection to flow through.
I pulled up a playlist of Nordic music, and what I found was heavy on drums and the breath. Many sounded like lullabies. The more I felt into this and allowed it to seep beneath my skin, my body began to move. I moved in a type of remembrance of the drums being what we are brought into this world with, mimicking the sound of a mother’s beating heart and what I imagine to be the air of her life force whooshing around us all. It was not unlike the wind through the forest of Birch upon my first meeting with Skaði.
Just Move
As my body moved to the music, I was entranced and captivated by it all. I grabbed the candle from outside and allowed flow to take over. The water and earth from outside, the salt bed the candle would lay upon (over the Birch and Bow), I picked up the candle scribe and let the images carved come to me in their own way. Once carved, I blew across the candle and placed it into what I perceived to be its position within the bowl.
At the Center
Once the song ended, I could feel the whisper from her:
“Stand at the center, find what’s at your North, South, East, and West – in that order.”
I went to grab one of my decks and passed it over, letting the connection to her guide me until I landed on one that met the energy of this connection. I shuffled and pulled the cards as requested (no dream concussion required!).
As I finished and let it all sink in, I felt her guidance again:
“You are at the center with a torch that faces South and to the North reflects the fire upon the darkness of obsidian.”
I cleared off a small table, putting the candle at the center, the carvings facing south, surrounded by the cards and an obsidian mirror at the North. As I lit this torch, I knew she had arrived.
You can listen to more here about creating your own!
A Candle & A Key,
Kaycee
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