Loki and Sigyn
By Leah Svendsen
Loki, the joutnheim half adopted brother of Odin. Make a toast to Odin and you have to make one for Loki. This adopted giant has never been widely reverred both historically and in the present. However , in recent times that has been changing. Afterall Loki is the one who will lead Ragnarok the final war of the gods. Loki both creates and makes trouble for the Aesir or the Gods of the air. He also finds solutions for them as well. As a joke he shaves of Skadi's golden blond hair and makes her bald. Since she is thor's wife, Thor demands that he fix it. So of to the dwarves he goes. Going to two different clans he proposes a contest. This brings many gifts to the Gods and a toupee for Skadi but in the end Loki gets his mouth sewn shut. Another time someone steals thor's hammer. Loki dresses himself and thor up as females with the intention of marrying the person who stole it. they get the hammer back. Loli is a trickster god to say the least.
the God's are not all good and not all evil. Rather they are much like us with both good point and bad points. Hard to tell them at times from the Giants and other huge larger than life beings. In fact they even marry giants. Loki as the trickster often gets into trouble. Often times it seems he is treated more harshly than he deserves to be treated. the punishment does not fit the crime. Many times his tracks produce ifts for the gods. Once when the gods needed a wall around Asguard they promised a wall maker Freya's hand in marriage if he could complete the wall by a certain date. Freya was not happy about this. The Goddess of Love and War was too independent fo that. So Loki shape shifts into a female horse and causes the wall makers horse to runaway . He does not complete the wall in time. He gives birth o the eight legged Sleipner.
Loki can be a gender bender at times being a woman and at others a man. Despite his craziness he is the perfec deity to create a safe space for the LGBTQ folks.
He has had numerous children from different mates. With Anngrboda the forest giant he had Fenris, Jorgemonder and Hela. Hela is queen of the underworld, Fenris is a giant wolf who eats Tyr's hand as they try to subdue it. And Jorgemonder is the midgard serpent. With Sygin he had Narvi and some other child. Of course when Loki calls out the gods at a feast, his son is killed and Loki is tied to a rock with his son's entrails while a serpent drips poison into his eyes. The loving Sygin holds a bowl to stop the poison from going into his eyes.
The book gives a strong overview of both the rise of Heathenry and the most recent honoring of Loki and Sygin. heathenry itself is not monlihic like the major monotheistic religions appear to be, there are Odinist, Uraglawe and rokkatru. The final chapter give characteristics and traits of the deities and rituals in chapter six to honor them. The rituals are self growth rituals mostly with some honoring of holidays. perfect for those new to Loki and heathenry. Wish the rituals would go deeper then the typical self growth rituals.
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