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From Cunnian comes this topic:
“Thoughts on the interaction/possible necessity of imbedding practice in cosmology.”
This question came at a great time, as I recently finished Kinship Vol 5: Practice. I will have forthcoming thoughts on that which will likely dovetail with these here.
To Be Imbedded is to Know
Without interacting with and imbedding it in one’s life, and imbedding oneself into it, the cosmology is not lived through and is mere thought experiment, metaphor, or mental masturbation. To imbed, or more commonly embed, is “fix something firmly into a substance”. A Heathen cannot be a Heathen if you will not imbed yourself into a cosmology. There is no meaning to what you are doing, there are no relationships with which to build with any of the Ginnreginn, and no way to build an identity. There is no way to understand the Ginnreginn without cosmology, the cosmos itself, our place in it, any of it without actually imbedding yourself in that cosmology.
There is a weight of difference between reading on cosmology, and understanding, knowing you are part of it, your place in it, and how things work. Imbedding in cosmology affects everything you do, from how you make and live your everyday life choices to what political positions make the most sense to you, even to choices of life partners and how you want to be buried. An imbedded cosmology affects everything even if we do not always give it that weight when we think on it. What we put into our mouths and if we consider those Beings people, what prayers we may make, to whom we make prayers, why we make those prayers, what offerings are made, what taboos we keep and why, all of those are part of living in an imbedded cosmology. Likewise, how we treat those we share this World with, if we believe in other Worlds at all or if we believe this World is just an illusion, comes down the cosmology we imbed into.
How we live and die are tied up in cosmology. What is right action, to whom do we hold first obligations, and what we call ourselves is tied up in it. How we employ language, and in what ways we describe ourselves, all have some kind of tie to cosmology. Some of this we are still recovering, as many of us grew up with English as our primary, and for many of us, our only language. If it seems I excessively lean on Old Norse and work a lot of neologisms into my religious life, it is because I understand how important language is to shaping consciousness, and while I cannot speak Old Norse or modern Scandinavian language well, there is still importance in using the Old Norse language to describe spiritual phenomena, such as Önd for breath and the power that resides in it. Whether the personal microcosm of the Sálættr or the macrocosm of Yggdrasil, the understanding we hold of how we are intertwined affects our mindset, and so, our behavior. From right thought comes right action. How we understand to live well and right in the world leads us to living well and rightly in action.
What to do with us after we die are all tied up in cosmology. What choices of care the Dead receive seem the best to a person is often down to what cosmology they have. What position we get buried in or how our things get passed on, or if some or all of our things get buried or passed on, all have bearing on this. When folks run on the default they are not thinking about it being Christian, yet that is what it is in the United States. When you run on the default in the United States you get buried in a casket and placed in the East. Like a lot of things, the overculture supports this choice, even rewards it. Sometimes there is great discomfort, for ourselves and others, in living imbedded in our knowledge of the cosmos. Likewise, what is virtue and virtuousness follow similar lines of thought. Far too in the overculture often ‘forgiveness’ is prized above right action, and the mindset that right action is often wielded with in the overculture is punitive, small-minded, and oriented towards the rich and powerful individual, not the collective good or even individual freedoms.
How we understand our interconnectedness as Heathens is directly related to the understanding of Urðr or Wyrd. Without this understanding, without an imbedded sense of connection with one another, the Worlds, the Ginnreginn, there is a lack of knowing who we are and how we are in relationship with the cosmos and one another. In other words, without imbedding, our identity and knowing of ourselves, let alone those we are in community with, is incomplete. There is a lack of knowledge of who we are, what we are, who and what we are aligned with, or even what it is we are doing as Heathens without it. You can learn for years about the myths -certainly many non-Heathens do, and know a considerable amount. What, to me, marks a Heathen as different from just a history enthusiast or scholar of history, religion, etc., is that this is a living, connected, and known connection with this cosmology not only intellectually, but emotionally and spiritually. None of this should imply a Heathen needs a perfect or even somewhat complete knowledge, understanding, or knowing to be a Heathen. It needs to be a knowing you are imbedded in the Heathen cosmos, and at least some idea of what and who the Ginnreginn are. You need to be living in the world that is aligned with that knowing.
Magic and Spiritwork Requires Imbeddedness
My definition of magic, simply put, is the carving or weaving of Urðr to an end. Magic may involve vættir directly, such as in seiðr, or it may involve just your voice, as with galdr, or the use of your Megin (power/might) or Hamingja (group luck/power), to affect change. Without knowing how we push and pull on one another through an imbedded understanding of Urðr, our magic is generally less effective because it is engaged with in less technique. There is no way to develop power and magical expertise without imbedding in a cosmos because you lack the basic understanding of how power works and what it even is. Without imbedding the notion of Megin, Hamingja, or indeed any of our souls is useless, because without the macrocosm the microcosm makes no sense. It too is imbedded in the cosmos, and they as understandings are intertwined with one another.
Magic and spiritwork is incredibly dangerous without a baseline understanding of how the cosmos works. This does not mean someone needs an encyclopedic knowledge of Heathen religion, cosmology, myth, etc., though those certainly do help. Rather, it means that if you do not know Who Dvergar or Álfar are, understanding of Them from history and folklore, and what to expect from Them, then you do not how deep of trouble you can get in, how you might misstep, or affect relationships for good or ill with Them. You can, of course, FAFO (Fuck Around and Find Out), though without the basics of how to respectfully interact with these vættir you will be doing a lot of FO for your FA. There is also the understanding that sometimes missteps with vættir mean doors are closed to you. They are, after all, people, Not understanding the cosmology and who and what the Ginnreginn of that religion are, and then expecting to be able to have useful relationships is a rationale I do not understand. If someone showed the least amount of care they could in getting to understand who I am or what I am about at bare minimum before trying to strike up a working arrangement, I would likely turn them down. If they pushed the issue, I would shut them down and escalate from there.
That these basic norms of respect seem to be missing when some folks want to get into magic speaks the effect the overculture has on the understandings we carry regarding magic. In many strains of Protestantism there is a pervasive idea that if I have right belief (belief in God, God’s might/power) then I am in the clear to make demands on others. This way of doing things overrides and ignores relationship. Instead of talking things out with the parties involved, the default assumption is I am right, and others should bend the knee. This mindset of control absolutely needs to be set aside when someone is seeking to get involved in Heathen spiritwork and magic. It is foolhardy and dangerous to have it.
Imbedded cosmology does not mean you bow and scrape before every vættir you come across. Being imbedded in the Heathen cosmos asks you to put unearned swagger at the door. If you are going to ask Ginnreginn to teach you magic, whether that Being is a God, Ancestor, or a vættr, you will need humility to learn and recognize not only are you not in control here, you are more often than not at a disadvantage. This is where magic can often show up as a useful tool to provide us leverage. An example: We have the varðlokkur in the story of the völva, Þorbjörg from Eiriks saga rauða, which is either translated as “spirit enticing song” or “spirit calling song” per Price in The Viking Way. However, the person employing it is a trained and recognized völva, so she has the relevant experience and standing necessary to navigate how the varðlokkur works and when it is called on vs. another rite. Óðinn gave His eye to Mímir for wisdom and hung on Yggdrasil to gain the Runes. There is no such thing in Heathenry as a free lunch.
Sometimes the imbeddedness required of us is to offer, to sacrifice, to give. If we want to receive the wisdom and teaching to access methods of engaging with magic, with power in Heathenry, you are going to have to get used to this. You need to know that questions around magic are those around power. If you do not want to wield power that is fine. There is nothing saying that in order to be a Heathen you need to practice magic. Magic is the use of spiritual power to get things done. If you do not imbed into the cosmology of Heathenry then there is not much point to learning about magic or spiritwork, because both are enmeshed with the cosmos and most often vættir.
If you want to learn specific forms of magic like seiðr, spá, or Runework, you are going to need to ask Ginnreginn to bring you into good relationships and to teach you well. Ideally, you can find a human teacher to help guide you in this way. However, if you do not want a human teacher, there are the Ginnreginn Themselves, such as Freyja, who is the primary teacher of seiðr and spá and can also teach about coming into relationship with the Runevættir. Even when a human teacher is involved, you are going to need to have good relationships with the Ginnreginn related to the path of magic you want to come into knowledge and experience with. Part of the beauty of understanding the exchange between Óðinn and Freyja as I do is that if someone does not get or want to get into a relationship with Óðinn but feels comfortable with Freyja, that is an option. Is that noted in the texts anywhere? No, but it is my understanding and experience of Them. Without an imbedded understanding and knowing of the lore we have, lived relationships with the Ginnreginn, and the willingness to dig and ask questions, insights like these pass us by.
Even everyday spiritual care is informed through an imbeddedness in cosmos. We do not have original sin to purify through baptism, and the concept of sin itself is absent from Heathenry. Why then would spiritual cleanliness and how it is expressed in modern Heathenry through spiritual hygiene like cleansing, grounding, centering, and shielding matter? Without an understanding of how we bump up against each other in this life, there is a lack of knowing that spiritual hygiene is relatively morally neutral (as opposed to cleansing oneself of sin which is paramount in Christian religions) and a matter of self-care and respect for other vættir.
Conclusion
Whatever your level of involvement in Heathenry, the work of imbeddedness is necessary to practice it with knowledge, respect, and knowing. It forms the basis of how we understand ourselves in the interconnected nature of the cosmos, what we consider to be sacred, and what forms of conducting ourselves are good, with all the philosophical and religious weight that simple word conveys. Imbeddedness informs our understanding of what is respectful, helpful, or unhelpful in a given situation, and what actions further good relationships between ourselves and the Ginnreginn. It is how we conduct ourselves, shape our days, and how we act in both everyday life and emergencies.
To be imbedded is to know, yes. To be imbedded is also to be known.
Sarenth Odinsson 
