Written by Federico Pizzileo 🇮🇹 Fire is a natural element that has always aroused particular amazement in man, acquiring a material but also philosophical meaning for many cultures and traditions, thus becoming fundamental for the birth and evolution of civilization. Remaining in the European territory, we know that the Greek philosophers identified fire as one of the so-called arches; Heraclitus believed that the world had originated from this primal force that regulates all opposite opposites, in its form of eternal becoming associated with the Logos. In religions all over the world, fire is an emanation of divine power, as an element that continues to burn continuously, just like the one below, soContinua a leggere…

A study of the cognitive and spiritual dimensions of pre-Christian Scandinavian falconry. 🇮🇹 Article by Marco BonoraRevision byValentina Moracci This article aims at a first study with relative, given the scarcity for the present of information, hypotheses, on the falconry reality. It is possible to assume that the hawks were well known in the northern countries as early as the sixth century, thanks to the movements of peoples from the east, the question arises as to whether there were aspects of the art of falconry, not known in other kingdoms during this period.Already formed around 500 AD and evolved up to the era of Viking raids, falconry in the peoples of theContinua a leggere…

Written by Federico Pizzileo 🇮🇹 The figure of the dragon has always been an object of fascination in the minds of the European and Eurasian people. During the thirteenth century, in Iceland, this symbol consisted not only of a purely imaginative vision of man, but of a real creature that contained pure knowledge. It can be seen in the analysis of sagas such as Þiðreks saga af Bern and Þáttr af Ragnars sonum, in which the intent of literary use of this figure prevails considerably, much more than other more nebulous texts such as the Brennu-Njáls saga. But the image of the dragon dates back to a long time ago. In classicalContinua a leggere…

Article by Chiara Conte Translation by Valentina Moracci 🇮🇹 The tree in Norse mythology is intended as a support for the world. The three components of such tree (roots, trunk, branches) can be compared to the three layers of being, namely light, heat and drought in opposition and complementarity to darkness, cold and humidity. The roots dig the subsoil, the trunk is linked to the live of the surface world, the branches rise toward the sky. In the Nordic world, the cosmic tree is of tremendous importance. Studies have been carried out on the basis of archaeological finds, including rock carvings representing trees on ships thus reporting signs of its sacredness (forContinua a leggere…

Translation by Valentina Moracci 🇮🇹 Le Goff, in regard to the concept of memory, states that in a society that does not use the written word collective memory seems organized on three levels: Group identity based on certain myths The prestige of the dominant family Technical knowledge as in the recovery of magic formulas. Such levels must always be kept under control in order to obtain a correct recovery of traditions. In the oral transmission of knowledge is possible to locate real and proper communication tools such as gestures and memorials. A culture characterized by orality transmits knowledge through sound. On the other hand, when such knowledge is conveyed in written formContinua a leggere…

Written by Lucrezia Nai Translated in English by Sonia Francesconi 🇮🇹 The Norse area of influence extended from Scandinavia to Kiev and Novgrod in the east, to Constantinople and Baghdad in the south via river links. Among the oldest known accounts of pagan Scandinavian rituals in Slavic territories, the one by Ibn Fadlan, a delegate from Baghdad who witnessed and reported on the funeral and cremation that took place on a Rūs ship around 922 AD, is of great importance. This rite, held on the occasion of the death of a noble, was presided over by a figure Fadlan describes as the ‘Angel of Death’, accompanied by two ‘daughters’. The analysis ofContinua a leggere…

Translation by Federico Pizzileo 🇮🇹 The first edition of the Kalevala appeared in 1835, edited by Elias Lönnrot based on the popular epics he had collected in Finland and Karelia. When the Kalevala first appeared in print, Finland had been an autonomous Grand Duchy under Russia for a quarter of a century. Before this, until 1809, Finland was part of the Swedish empire. The Kalevala marked an important turning point, brought a small unknown people to the attention of other Europeans and strengthened Finns’ self-confidence and faith in the possibilities of the Finnish language and culture. The Kalevala began to be called the Finnish national epic. Meanwhile Elias Lönnrot continued to collectContinua a leggere…

Translated by Davide Grillo 🇮🇹 In the Edda of Snorri, there are two distinguished kinds of Elves: those of light (jçsàlfar), who dwell in Alfheim and shine like the sun, and those of the darkness (dokkàlfar), of dark color, inhabitants of the caves of the earth. According to popular tradition, developed throughout the Middle Ages in Iceland and the Färöer Islands, Dokkàlfar have their vast kingdom in the mountains of Miðgarð, in wild and inaccessible caves. In some cases are undoubtedly identical to the dwarves but of a completely, opposite nature. They are celebrated and honored also for the connection with the deads, during the Alfablót. The strong bond to the cultContinua a leggere…

Translated by Federico Montemarano 🇮🇹 The conception of souls for the siberian people maintains the same characteristics as the Heathen conception of Soul. A difference, but only marginal and logistic, can be seen with the distinction of free soul and corporeal soul. (Here the separation between Necromancy and Negromancy we refer to as Vanatrú Italia) The free soul is the manifestation of the Harmr,  the double that can also exist autonomously. It manifests itself passively and actively in dreams or altered states of consciousness, under control (seiðr in Iceland) and out of control (Lappish shamanic tradition) Here soul and dead have a strong correlation. When dead there is the same dualism ofContinua a leggere…

Translated by Elio Antenucci 🇮🇹 The Draugur is a necromantic creature of the Scandinavian tradition; belongs to the Vanatrú practice, and they were faithful companions of the Vanic witches. These creatures were also nicknamed Aptrgangr, that means, those who walk after death. Creatures that accompanied the Scandinavian folk and that were evoked by the witch of the Vanir under shamanic action and under the practice tröldr, in utiseta above mounds. In old Norse the term was associated with “ghost” as the spirit of a dead man, although it was often linked to some forms of dragons, the same forms that we find in necro practice as Fafnir, hence the Norwegian word “drage”,Continua a leggere…