Post by vermindaspirit on Jul 29, 2005 6:26:49 GMT -5
The world tree, Yggdrasil is central to the heathen cosmos....Consisting of the 9 worlds of Gods, men,giants and other beings that exist.. The Yggdrasil tree is the almighty tree The Ash...
Nine is considered to be a magical number and the 9 worlds are as follows:
Asgard..
Vanaheim..
Midgard..
Jotunheim..
Svartaflheim..
Niflheim..
Muspellheim..
Hel..
The roots belonging in the Underworld, the branches supporting the heavens and the center being the Earth or Confusion, Balance, and Creative forces..(past,present,future)...
The Ash tree is used for prosperity, protection,healing,astral projection,divination, love and past lives.................
Odin's vision as described by Snorri Sturluson an ancient bard and historian,appeared as giant Ash tree called Yggdrasil...It was so vast that its branches spread out over the whole world and reached up over Heaven....
Around the tree were 3 disc,set one above the other, with a space in between..These were the 3 realms that made up the cosmos..They were the Upper world, Middle Earth and the Lower world, suspended among these 3 realms were 9 worlds...
In the Upper world branches, lived the Gods, Asgard was the world of a tribe off Gods known as the Aesir, living in great halls,they were warrior Gods representing aspects of the old sky God called All father,who was eventually replaced by Odin..Also in the Upper world were the fertility Gods known as the Vanir,there were 27 Gods and Goddess in all..........Finally the Upper world featured a third world of knowledge, the land of the light elves,magical creatures who expressed the spirit of nature.....
The second level,the lower branches and the trunk was called Middle Earth....This is the realm where human lives were unfolded...Please note that middle earth does not merely refer to the material world of every day existence, rather it is the spiritual world of humankind..It is surrounded by water a vast ocean and Jormungand the immense world serpent lay in its ocean...He is said to be so long that he encircles middle earth and bit his own tail!...Without him this realm would have exploded in a raging chaos, for he 'bound' the energy of this realm.....
Another world that existed at the outer edge of Middle earth, over the ocean was the world of the giants or ents called Jotunheim..These giants were the ones that established the earth, they were huge elemental forces very strong but low on intellect..Also in this realm in the north, lived the dwalves..They lived underground in a place called Nidavellir ( dark home )..There was also another world called Svartalfheim ( land of the dark elves)..There is no clear distinction between the dwalves and dark elves, they appear to have been interchangeable.....
Odin also saw that the Upper world and Middle world were connected by a bridge of fire, a rainbow bridge called Bifrost ( Trembling way)...The trembling way would transport the seer / shaman / wizard from the world of mundane reality to the otherworld,the transcended states of consciousness.....
Deep within the roots lay the underworld, Nifheim, the world of the dead...Located 9 days north wards and down wards from Midgard....Nifheim is a place of bitter cold and unending night...Its citadel is Hel.....This world to the seer could be dark and potent but it also held wisdom of the dead.......
Yggdrasil has 3 mighty roots,one each for the three realms of the upper world,middle- earth and lowerworld....The first reached into Asgard, nourishing this root was the well of Wyrd, by which lives 3 Wyed sisters,makers of destiny...The second root spread to Jotunheim and under this root was the spring of Mimur, the great wise giant who taught wizards some of their important spells..The third root plunged into the underworld, under which was the spring of Hvergelmir, the source of the 11 rivers and the lair of the dragon Nidhogg...Nidhogg sends challenges and riddles up the full length of the trunk of Yggdrasil carried by a squirrel, to a great eagle whose claws grasp the highest branches......
Has much as i would love to take credit for all that information, t however goes to Brian Bates,'The real middle earth'magic and mystery in the dark ages,2002....
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