E32 - Maria Kvilhaug, Ragnarok, and the New Earth!
Maria has an ever-growing audience for her Patreon page as she explores the parables of Old Norse myths, revealing spiritual mysteries and metaphysical speculation at the heart of Old Norse Paganism! As a big fan, I was super-excited to talk to Maria, and it was so much fun!! In our interview today we talk about: the the dreams and experiences that started Maria in this work, the 'integratedness' of nordic cosmology, the volcanic ash event in the 6th century that created years of darkness & coincided with a pandemic; Maria says alot of interesting things about Loki, Idunn & her field of wells, the writing of the Bladehoner novels, and Maria's heritage of coming from a long line of storytellers. Maria Kvilhaug is the author of The Seed of Yggdrasill, The Maiden With The Mead and the Blade Honer series, as well as other books, articles and lecture videos on the LadyoftheLabyrinth YouTube Channel and her Facebook Page. Most of her works stem from her academic background in the historical, cultural, linguistic and religious aspects of pre-Christian Scandinavia. A Norwegian born and bred, she writes most of her stuff in English in order to best reach an international audience. In order to earn more from her work so that she may finish book projects and make more videos and audio recordings of her books, she opened a Patreon account on Winter Solstice 2020. ❤️ If you've enjoyed this podcast, as a thank you you can treat Rachel to a cup of coffee here! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/rachelgo Maria's links: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/MariaKvilhaug/posts Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ladyofthe.labyrinth/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt1faX3Suw1lPOyzqsosb2A Bladehoner Novels https://bladehoner.wordpress.com/author/ The chant used at the beginning and end of each episode is 'Ka Liko Pua Kukui' https://youtu.be/DVU6zB59DKw In the Hawaiian language, the word kukui means 'enlightened'. The kukui nut tree is a symbol of enlightenment, wisdom, protection and peace for the Hawaiians and is said to contain subtle energy known in Hawaii as “ki”. I learnt this chant from Nonna Beamers book 'Na Mele Huna', and practised for many months. She describes it as 'a gentle nature chant alluding to love... A flower representing a sweetheart is a common love symbol in Hawaiian poetry'. In my own practice I experienced a deeper meaning - of the attraction of the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine to each other, the love that is experienced when they come together and the wish within all of us for returning to this state of oneness once again. Practising this sacred chant helps move us towards internal union by integrating our own divine masculine and feminine and brings us into greater balance.