Havamal Rune Song -- Odin's Sacrifice and the Eighteen Charms

The rite, step by step

1. 1

   Light a Candle for Odin

   Set a single candle on your altar or table. Light it. This flame represents the eye Odin kept -- the one he did not sacrifice at Mimir's well. The other eye sees what the living cannot. Say: 'Hail Odin. Allfather. Hanged God. Seeker who paid the highest price for the deepest knowledge. I light this flame and open this text in your name.' Place your cup of mead or wine beside the candle as an offering. You will drink from it later.

2. 2

   Read Stanza 139 Aloud -- The Sacrifice

   Read stanza 139 slowly and aloud. In Bellows' translation: 'I ween that I hung on the windy tree, hung there for nights full nine; with the spear I was wounded, and offered I was to Odin, myself to myself, on the tree that none may ever know what root beneath it runs.' This is a god sacrificing himself to himself. There is no higher power to appeal to -- Odin is the highest, and still he must suffer for wisdom. Read it again. Let the image form: the god hanging in the wind-torn branches of Yggdrasil, spear in his side, alone for nine nights. This is the cost of the runes.

3. 3

   Read Stanza 140 -- The Isolation

   Read stanza 140: 'None made me happy with loaf or horn, I looked down below me -- aloft I took up the runes, shrieking I took them, and forthwith back I fell.' No one helped him. No one fed him or gave him drink. He was utterly alone. And in that extremity, he seized the runes -- not gently, not calmly, but with a scream. The word used suggests a cry of agony and triumph together. Sit with this. Think about what you have learned through suffering that you could not have learned any other way.

4. 4

   Read Stanza 141 -- The Revelation

   Read stanza 141: 'Nine mighty songs I got from the famous son of Bolthor, Bestla's father, and a drink I got of the precious mead, poured from Odhroerir.' After the ordeal, knowledge came flooding in -- nine songs from his maternal grandfather, and a drink of the mead of poetry. The runes were not the end. They were the beginning. With them came the songs of power. Odin came down from the tree transformed. Read the stanza once more. Then sit in silence for a moment before moving on.

5. 5

   Read the Eighteen Charms (Stanzas 147-165)

   Read through stanzas 147-165, where Odin lists his eighteen magical songs. Read each one aloud. These charms cover: 1st charm (147): Help -- eases sorrow and grief 2nd (148): Healing 3rd (149): Blunts enemy weapons 4th (150): Frees from fetters 5th (151): Catches arrows in flight 6th (152): Turns a curse back on the sender 7th (153): Quenches fire 8th (154): Settles quarrels 9th (155): Calms wind and wave 10th (156): Confuses hostile spirits 11th (157): Protects warriors in battle 12th (158): Speaks with the hanged dead 13th (159): Blesses a young warrior with water 14th (160): Knows all the gods and elves by name 15th (161): Grants power and fame 16th (162): Wins a woman's love 17th (163): Holds a woman's love 18th (164-165): A secret Odin will not share -- known only to his consort Do not rush. Each charm is a window into the scope of runic magic as the Norse understood it.

6. 6

   Contemplate Which Song Speaks to You Now

   Look back over the eighteen charms. Which one speaks to your current situation? Are you in need of healing (2nd)? Carrying grief (1st)? Facing hostility (3rd, 6th)? Trying to calm a situation (8th, 9th)? Seeking knowledge of the dead (12th)? Beginning something new and needing blessing (13th)? Do not force a connection -- let one charm surface naturally. When it does, read that stanza again, slowly. Hold it in your mind. This is your working stanza for the day or the week. The charms are not spells you cast -- they are orientations, ways of directing your attention and intention.

7. 7

   Drink and Offer

   Take the cup of mead or wine. Say: 'I drink from Odhroerir's stream. What Odin won through suffering, I approach through study, devotion, and the willingness to see clearly. Hail the Allfather. Hail the Rune-Winner.' Drink half. Pour the other half out as a libation -- onto the earth, into a bowl, or at the base of a tree. The gift demands a gift.

8. 8

   Journal

   Write in your journal. Record: which charm spoke to you today and why. What is the suffering or difficulty in your life that might be teaching you something you cannot learn any other way? Odin did not hang on the tree because he enjoyed pain -- he hung there because the runes could not be won cheaply. What are you paying for right now, and what might you be gaining?

9. 9

   Close

   Say: 'Hail Odin, Rune-Winner, who gave himself to himself. The words have been spoken, the text honored, the offering given. I carry these stanzas with me as I go. Heil Odhinn.' Extinguish the candle. The practice is complete.

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