Wards and Protection Rituals?

[yewberry]

Could you elaborate a bit on this? I have a basic list of the runes but not much on which is more appropriate for specific situations.

Well, the modern interpretation of the Elder Futhark is at least somewhat speculative.  So I'm flying by my nethers in this regard.

I get the impression you're looking for something (anciently) historically concrete, and honestly there really isn't much.  Can you give me a better idea of what precisely you're looking for?

Brina

[yewberry]

I would also second what Brina is doing here, leaving gifts and offerings out for the wights on her property to enlist their assistance in the warding and protection of the place. Never a bad idea to get on your local wights' good side, believe me! I have seen homes wrecked (physically as well as emotionally) because the housewights were furious with the people in the house.

Just to be completely clear to anyone reading, while I respect recons in all their flavors, I'm not remotely Asatruer.  At all.  If the critters I work with call themselves Land Wights, good on 'em.

Brina

p.s.  Hi, Bob!

[yewberry]

I do like Brina's approach, it makes sense to me. And I'm starting to get familiar with housewights. I didn't realize how much I missed them until I moved out at home. Everyone used to say that the house I grew up in felt "lived in and alive." I don't know what the wights here like.

In my experience, spirits-of-place are like people.  Some are permanent or semi-permanent.  Some are decidedly transient.  I tend to deal with them on a one-to-one basis.

I have wondered how they feel about people moving in and out, as with rental situations or when there was a lot of churn in the housing market.  I worked with spirits that seemed permanent when I was transient (an old farmhouse on acreage that I rented).  They seemed to understand my need to move on, but they tugged at me when I left.  Especially the ones in the garden.  All the perennial plants I moved from there carry remnants of that place, which makes me extra-tender about them.

Brina

[bobthesane]

Thank you so much for this information! I only really looked at the runes because I recently joined a local Pagan group and when they heard I was heathen, they gave me a bag of runestones. Haven't touch them yet.

I do like Brina's approach, it makes sense to me. And I'm starting to get familiar with housewights. I didn't realize how much I missed them until I moved out at home. Everyone used to say that the house I grew up in felt "lived in and alive." I don't know what the wights here like.

I asked this question originally because everything was going haywire in my surroundings. And protection is always nice. Now I'm off to go see if the wights here want some cinnamon (its all this poor college student has on hand, I drank my last beer trying to finish a project).

Some people prefer the runes for a more 'authentic' feel to their galdr. I am actually one of those. It helps put me in the right mindset. I know other heathens who practice poet's magic who are perfectly happy with 12pt Ariel in OpenOffice . Again, the shape of the lettering isn't the most important part, but the ideas formulated by them. A single rune by itself holds little power. A word holds much more. An entire poem, in the Sagas, was able to heal as well as cause great physical harm (see the Saga of Egil Skallagrimson for examples).

As for what local wights like, there are common items that most all wights enjoy in my experience. Offerings of beer/wine/liquor are always good. Honeyed milk is also a sure-fire wight pleaser. And of course food offerings, particularly food that you have prepared yourself and have eaten. Also spices and herbs (pepper, salt, mint, and probably yes cinnamon are all good). Other than that, a few simple things you can do to stay on the housewights' good side are to keep a tidy home. Nothing pisses off a wight more than extreme clutter and dirtiness. They will let you know when they are displeased. As an example, ever had a set of keys go missing only to find them in the wierdest place? Most people think they left them there in a fit of absent mindedness. Or did they...? (I have some amusing and uncanny stories I can relate about things that have happened to me, remind me sometime ).

So what kinds of haywire things have been going on? You may find that the simple expedient of introducing yourself to the local wights and offering them some honeyed milk can go a long way towards alleviating any tension you have with them. And don't forget your Disir! Call on them for aid as well. The mothers of your line have an interest in your well-being, so don't hesitate to enlist their assistance if you need to.

[bobthesane]

Just to be completely clear to anyone reading, while I respect recons in all their flavors, I'm not remotely Asatruer.  At all.  If the critters I work with call themselves Land Wights, good on 'em.

Brina

p.s.  Hi, Bob!

LOL call them landvaettir/landwights/land spirits/nunnehi/wee folk/whatever, I think that the spirits of every place are all similar in many ways. Yes, they are shaped in part (personality-wise) by the culture of the people inhabiting the area, but there do seem to be many basic commonalities shared by most of them. Just because you don't call yourself heathen doesn't mean that your way of interacting with the spirits around you is any less 'heathen' than mine. And frankly, possibly more heathen than some people I've met

[DancesWithHorses]

Well, the modern interpretation of the Elder Futhark is at least somewhat speculative.  So I'm flying by my nethers in this regard.

I get the impression you're looking for something (anciently) historically concrete, and honestly there really isn't much.  Can you give me a better idea of what precisely you're looking for?

Brina

Less so anciently concrete and more so simple and "logical." Your approach really does appeal the best to me. I do have an attraction to folk and superstitions, so maybe that's why I look for traditional wards and protections. For example, where I come from, horseshoes didn't mean anything as far as luck or protection but light is considered a ward. A light in the window is something my grandmother swears by (now that she's feeling better, I finally got to talk to her again).

Some people prefer the runes for a more 'authentic' feel to their galdr. I am actually one of those. It helps put me in the right mindset. I know other heathens who practice poet's magic who are perfectly happy with 12pt Ariel in OpenOffice . Again, the shape of the lettering isn't the most important part, but the ideas formulated by them. A single rune by itself holds little power. A word holds much more. An entire poem, in the Sagas, was able to heal as well as cause great physical harm (see the Saga of Egil Skallagrimson for examples).

As for what local wights like, there are common items that most all wights enjoy in my experience. Offerings of beer/wine/liquor are always good. Honeyed milk is also a sure-fire wight pleaser. And of course food offerings, particularly food that you have prepared yourself and have eaten. Also spices and herbs (pepper, salt, mint, and probably yes cinnamon are all good). Other than that, a few simple things you can do to stay on the housewights' good side are to keep a tidy home. Nothing pisses off a wight more than extreme clutter and dirtiness. They will let you know when they are displeased. As an example, ever had a set of keys go missing only to find them in the wierdest place? Most people think they left them there in a fit of absent mindedness. Or did they...? (I have some amusing and uncanny stories I can relate about things that have happened to me, remind me sometime ).

So what kinds of haywire things have been going on? You may find that the simple expedient of introducing yourself to the local wights and offering them some honeyed milk can go a long way towards alleviating any tension you have with them. And don't forget your Disir! Call on them for aid as well. The mothers of your line have an interest in your well-being, so don't hesitate to enlist their assistance if you need to.

 
Thanks very much for taking the time to answer all my questions! I speak Swiss German, if I really want that extra kick, that's what I turn to. I like the runes but very little to be honest.

As for haywire things... I can not sleep well while living at school. I can sleep for 5 hours at home and feel great but even with 8 hours at school, I feel like I didn't sleep at all. And some nights even though I want to sleep, I can't. There's other things, at home we have goats that are just not growing right and its not just one or two which is "normal." I'm talking pens full and no matter what we do, they won't get better and we've looked at every angle when it comes to veterinary medicine, care, housing, everything mundane. And there's all sorts of other things, like a major rat infestation that will not leave (when you run through 200 packs of rat poison a month, its really bad!). Just "normal" things that have gone a bit far from typical. We've always had rats and mice but not in those numbers. We always have a few sick goats but not dozens. And now our entire sow herd got sick. Again "normal" but not at the same time, its really hard to explain how 224 sows got sick within 18 hours! Maybe I'm over-thinking, but I'm at the point where if wards and protections will help, I'll do it. A Roman Catholic friend of mine told me that maybe setting up wards and protections would help. I'm at the point where I'll do anything if it would just help my animals.  She suggested two medals (can't remember the names right now) but since I'm not Christian, I wanted to look at other wards and protections as well.

[bobthesane]

As for haywire things... I can not sleep well while living at school. I can sleep for 5 hours at home and feel great but even with 8 hours at school, I feel like I didn't sleep at all. And some nights even though I want to sleep, I can't. There's other things, at home we have goats that are just not growing right and its not just one or two which is "normal." I'm talking pens full and no matter what we do, they won't get better and we've looked at every angle when it comes to veterinary medicine, care, housing, everything mundane. And there's all sorts of other things, like a major rat infestation that will not leave (when you run through 200 packs of rat poison a month, its really bad!). Just "normal" things that have gone a bit far from typical. We've always had rats and mice but not in those numbers. We always have a few sick goats but not dozens. And now our entire sow herd got sick. Again "normal" but not at the same time, its really hard to explain how 224 sows got sick within 18 hours! Maybe I'm over-thinking, but I'm at the point where if wards and protections will help, I'll do it. A Roman Catholic friend of mine told me that maybe setting up wards and protections would help. I'm at the point where I'll do anything if it would just help my animals.  She suggested two medals (can't remember the names right now) but since I'm not Christian, I wanted to look at other wards and protections as well.

Wow... I don't presume to know the ins and outs of your situation, but it really sounds to me like there's some serious environmental factors at work here. "Something in the water", as they say. In this case I would advise an approach akin to WWII's "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition". Or rather, "Hail Odin and call the EPA"

[DancesWithHorses]

Wow... I don't presume to know the ins and outs of your situation, but it really sounds to me like there's some serious environmental factors at work here. "Something in the water", as they say. In this case I would advise an approach akin to WWII's "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition". Or rather, "Hail Odin and call the EPA"

 
The water was tested... currently my dad blames the weather, its the only thing he can't control . We got a fraction of the rain all year. He's hoping that once winter comes things will calm down. That is provided we get a winter. I never thought I'd be praying for winter to come! I'm not looking forward to 6' snowdrifts but I have a feeling that is what its going to take (at least to eliminate the rats and get the goats feeling better again). I can't wait for Christmas, I get to go home and sleep again.