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Welcome to the Swamp Witch’s Circle

Greetings, gentle readers, I’m Heather Freysdottir and I’ll be your Lokean Swamp Witch. I’m a Godspouse, which is a type of mysticism that involves sharing day to day life with a Deity, Loki in my case. I know that some would consider that odd, but for me, it’s an extension of my understanding of the sacred. Yes, Loki is holy. I am holy. You are holy. The goal and desire in this Union is to acknowledge the sacredness of this World and Elsewhere, and to bring them together, and be present and aware of both.

When we cast a circle, it’s often said that we create sacred space, but in truth, every space is sacred, and by casting we acknowledge and create awareness of its holiness, and our own, and create a bond of kinship with the humans and Spirits participating in the ritual. A godspouse’s relationship is much the same. We come together with our Beloveds and go out into our communities and create awareness of the bonds that unite us to the Gods and the Land. We are a circle.

We are many other things too – friends, lovers, sons, daughters, wives, husbands, parents, or teachers. In many ways I’m the witch-next-door. I have a teenager at home, and I write and edit for a living. Going back to Loki, as most things in my life lead back to Him, in some twisting, turning way, He was my Muse for many years, though I didn’t know who He was, or that He was a God. And what writer doesn’t adore their Muse? But I’m not the only one to have Him as a Muse, or as a spouse – He enjoys the attention from many.

Likewise, He’s not my only Holy One. I do a lot of work with my Disir, who are the heathen tribal mothers who guard Their family lines, bind enemies, and grant victory in conflicts. The Disir are the female ancestral line, and They were worshiped widely throughout Scandinavia, Germanic, and Celtic lands. Much like my work with Loki, I’ve found union with Them. Their blood flows through my veins, I am Them and They are me. They call me “idis,” which is a living representative of the Disir. They resound through my molecules and my words and deeds. Many shrines dedicated to the Matronae still exist, often erected by soldiers who were leaving thanks for their victories in battle. Heathenry often minimizes worship of the Disir, and one of my tasks to acknowledge the sacred feminine in our tradition.

I used “our” in reference to heathenry, but I’m not solely heathen. I’m quite aware that some heathens don’t worship my fulltrui, and that is not my concern. Loki is a God of many tribes; He is Jotunn and Ás, male and female, at home in land, sea, and sky, and His path does indeed involve “more than one membership to more than one club,” to paraphrase Ani DiFranco. And for love of Him I have more than one membership: I am pagan and heathen, polytheist and panentheist, witch and wife, mother and idis. I walk beside Him Elsewhere, and He walks with me here, in a land far from where He was first worshiped, a land far more like Muspellheim than Jotunheim – hot and sunny, where the trees sway with Spanish moss in the muggy heat. Come into my circle, in perfect love and perfect trust, and listen to the Trickster’s lessons, and be welcome.

Heilsa,

Heather

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Lokean nun, writer, swamp witch. Heather is a Pagan monastic, writer, editor, and mother. She has written and edited for a variety of publications and social media, including science journals, romance novels, and technology blogs. She also holds degrees in education and speech-language pathology, and has a passion for historical linguistics.

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