ISSUE 7

Articles Available Online:

My Own Private Ecological Disaster ~ EditorialThe prescient H.G. Wells once wrote that human history might soon become a “race between education and catastrophe.” I would add that this race started a long time ago, for criticism of the Industrial Revolution has accompanied its viral growth since its inception. And now, in 2010, amid a (supposedly) flourishing “Green” movement and increased awareness about the environment, we face one of the largest environmental disasters in human history.
Norwegian Yule DinnerI get very inspired to cook Norwegian foods at this time of year. When I lived in Norway I really enjoyed all the special foods that were served and enjoyed during the Yuletide season. So when I came back to the US, I decided that I would celebrate the Winter Solstice by feasting on Nordic cuisine.
Squash SoupJust last week I accidentally bought an unusually large squash, weighing close to 2 kg (4 lbs. 6 ½ ounces). It was a butternut, obviously coming from a healthy vine, with beautiful colour and shape and just perfectly ripened. What to do with it? A giant pumpkin soup was the obvious answer!
Bisp ~ Mulled WineIn Scandinavia, drinking spiced wine during the holiday season is a celebrated event. Norwegians have special holiday parties dedicated to drinking spiced wine during the winter holidays. The most common wine is called Gløgg. Here is a different version called Bisp...
Heiti of the Gods[This article by Siegfried Goodfellow is a companion to or amplification of "Forming a Mythic Response to the Deepwater Catastrophe," an article by Siegfried featured in Issue 7, Winter 2010, of Hex Magazine – Ed.] Heiti of the Gods: Fridlef as Njord, Amundus as Volund, Bjorn as Hodur, and Helgi as Halfdan An explanation by Siegfried Goodfellow, with special research help from Carla O'Harris. There are many in modern times who may not be familiar with these identifications known in ancient days, and candor requires bringing people to the sources from which they are derived so each may make up their own mind as to their solidity and validity. The explanations here may seem Byzantine, but such is the fate of tracing polynyms amongst the skalds, who loved labyrinthine foldings, and once you grasp the gestalt underlying these different variations, the logic becomes crystal clear.

Articles Only in the Printed Publication:

Ghost Stories!
Tales of personal encounters with the (un)dead by six people: Elizabeth, Maribeth, Mallory, Juleigh, Henry, and Johannes.
Evening on the Beach
Three brothers, bound by blood and battle,
walked upon the beach at sunset of a long and busy day.
The waves washed in as foam there at their feet,
then cleared and ran in riffles back to be amid their own,
and sunlight sparkled on the water as it went.
And there upon the sand lay logs of driftwood, two,
left high and drying slowly in the late day light.
Of these there was an ash tree,
just the trunk, but tall and straight and strong,
impressive to the eye.
The other, of an elm, was not so tall, but rounded,
with a shape more interesting to see.
The brothers looked, and thought,
and after thinking knew their day was not done yet…

Poem by Steven T. Abell
My Journey into Traditional Nutrition
I n the last few years, but especially in the last six months, I have been working to transform my relationship to cooking and eating along traditional lines. Specifically this means that I have been trying to eat a diet that accords more closely to the essential nutritional elements of traditional diets from around the world (many elements of which have also received extensive scientific endorsement). It also means that I have been moving away from the typical fare of late modern Western society.

Article by H. A. Laguz.
Running with the Hunt
Anyone who has a hard time with Odin at all, ever, will have one during the Yule season, that time of thin veils and perilous sanity when dangerous wights and the wandering dead walk among the living. Along the same lines, anyone who can love Odin during the Yule season truly knows what it means to love a God of madness. For it is at this time of year that this God (though never precisely safe to deal with) is at His most dangerous, His most primal, His most volatile. At other times of the year, He can be the wise King, the crafty Runemaster, the eloquent Lover, even the patient Healer. But at this time of year, during Yule, He is first and foremost the Huntsman, a storm waiting to be unleashed.

Article by L. Beth Lynch.
Interview with Malakhi Thorn
When I found Heathenism I was already committed naturalist. In my mind it was a natural progression from seeking out the wilderness to embracing Heathenism. I had long admired the Native American spiritual tradition for its deep interwoven relationship with nature and animals. When I began studying the root texts that inform Heathenism, the myths, tales, and legends were steeped with references to the forces of nature and animals, etc. I feel as if I have found a spiritual path befitting my feral spirit.
Forming a Mythic Response to the Deepwater Catastrophe
When events are too terrible for human emotions to hold onto, it is sometimes necessary for myth to provide a container to hold the tremendous and overwhelming feelings so they may be processed poetically, and with mythopoeic insight.

In the ‘Dreamtime’ sagas of the Teutons, we find an epic battle between Njord, ruler of the seas, and Volund, the famous smith of technology and industry, that poignantly speaks to our present situation.

Article by Sigfried Goodfellow.
Dreaming, Death, and Memory: Sketches for a Heathen Cosmology
The consequences of our relationship to myth are vast – and I here use myth in the broadest of senses, for anything can be mythic, and for good or ill: religion, politics, literature, music, art. We human beings seem to instinctively imprint the trappings of our experience with mythic watermarks, often quite unconsciously. Our world is woven from imagination, and this can work both for and against us, though often we lack the perspective to understand the significance of our deeds or their consequences. Forgetfulness of this last point is a hallmark of the modern predicament.

Article by H. A. Laguz.
Calling the Ancestors
Poem by Michael Berman.
Within Your Chilly Coffin
Poem by Christina Finlayson.
Song for Forgotten Fathers of England
Poem by Math Jones.