![\"HandmaidensVar\"](\"https:\/\/www.hypnoticwishes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/HandmaidensVar.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhat is a dumb supper?<\/h2>\n
It is a meal shared with a spirit, offering them hospitality as an honored guest, warm food and a seat at your table. \u201cDumb\u201d means \u201cmute, unable to speak aloud\u201d, and some prefer to call it a \u201cSilent Supper\u201d. This simple rite has been used across the centuries in Europe on All Hallow\u2019s Eve, also known as All Souls Eve, Samhain and Halloween. Our ancestors used it to communicate with their deceased loved ones, but we can also honor our gods in this same way. What has survived of Northern European Pagan rites is almost entirely based on the virtue of spirituality: there\u2019s very little ritual, you just share your food and drink with the gods. This is one of the ways that I honor the gods of the Northern Tradition, and I share with you here how I first met with V\u00e1r, goddess of oaths and handmaiden of Frigga in Asgard. This is my personal gnosis, my experience of communing with this goddess. Yours may be entirely different. Only once we compare the experience of a number of people will we have a chance to know with some certainty what She is like. I’d love to hear about your own encounters with Her and other deities. Note:<\/em> In Icelandic, V\u00e1r is pronounced like the second syllable of the word \u201cdevour\u201d (due to the accent on the \u2018a\u2019), but with a short rolling \u2018r\u2019. It sounds a lot more like the word \u201cvow\u201d that way.<\/p>\nDumb Supper for V\u00e1r<\/h2>\n
The kitchen had just been cleaned, the couscous cooked, and the table set for two, with a bowl of chips to snack on while I served. I lit three candles, turned off the electric lights, and filled a tankard with cold water as the Guest Cup. Next to the kitchen entrance stood a small table with a large bowl of warm water, soap and a towel. I opened my apartment door, tankard in hand, and softly spoke: \u201cV\u00e1r, goddess of Oaths, daughter of Asgard, I welcome you to my home and offer hospitality. To the weary traveler I give, this cup of water to refresh, warm water, soap and towel, to cleanse the dirt of the road. Be welcome, V\u00e1r.\u201d I stepped aside, and waited to feel the presence pass by me, holding up the cup for Her. I then closed the door, and squeezed into the kitchen, clear of the washing table, waiting till I felt Her seated. I offered: \u201cWould you like some chips while I serve?\u201d She agreed, and I put a handful of them on Her plate. I got a better look at Her as my Sight cleared, in the chair I reserve exclusively for gods and spirits. It\u2019s the only one in my kitchen with armrests. V\u00e1r appeared to be slender faced and auburn haired, about 30 years old. From what I could tell, She wore a white unadorned tabard over a dark blue dress, but it could have been brown. I didn\u2019t see Her well below the table level, so it could just as well have been a skirt or trousers. I was a bit apprehensive about meeting Her, expecting a stern punisher of oath breakers, eager to point out my failings. Instead, She was perfectly pleasant, gracious and good natured. I shared the meal I\u2019d made, couscous with sausage, toasted cheese bread and orange juice. I asked if She\u2019d like anything else to drink, and She said \u201cMaybe tea, later\u201d. I served Her, then myself, and started the meal with the entertainment, singing and playing a song on mandolin (The Chemical Worker\u2019s Song). We ate and chatted, as I asked if She\u2019d tell me more about what She did and cared about. These are some of the answers She gave as we ate: \u201cReliability, that is what I care about. It is crucial for acting with honor. And will, will is what makes us great. Without will, you don\u2019t have what it takes when things get difficult.\u201d \u201cWhat do you mean by that?\u201d I asked. She looked down at the meal and said: \u201cTake this table for example. What makes a table great?\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d I replied, \u201cits ability to hold food reliably, the evenness of its surface\u2026 that it inspire confidence in its ability to be a good table.\u201d She nodded and added: \u201cMy power is the fortitude to decide, and to accomplish, whatever it is you\u2019ve decided. It is what heroes have. You keep to what you want and make your plans real.\u201d \u201cSo you\u2019d rather help people do what they said they\u2019d do, rather than have to punish them?\u201d \u201cIndeed. You can call on me for that help, for strength to succeed in your task, for the fortitude I cherish.\u201d I chewed on that new insight into Her ways, and wondered: \u201cWhat about punishing oath breakers?\u201d She sighed: \u201cI am the agency of a form of karma, as you understand the term. It would happen without me, but I can choose what punishment is most useful.\u201d Pondering what I\u2019d seen at many sumbels, I smirked and added: \u201cSo what happens when people make stupid oaths?\u201d She just stared and stated: \u201cPeople should learn not to make them,\u201d shaking Her head. We ate some more, and I asked: \u201cAnd divorce, how do you deal with that?\u201d \u201cYou must repay the other for your broken oath. Both must atone when they divorce.\u201d \u201cBut people often get into nasty battles over their divorce,\u201d I added. She looked annoyed, \u201cThere should be no bloody battles. They compound the oath-breaking with dishonor. People should know better than that.\u201d I nodded. \u201cRight. And then there\u2019s the whole fact that oath breaking leads to the unhappy place in the afterlife, along with murder\u201d She smirked, \u201cThat\u2026 has been somewhat overstated. It\u2019s not an automatic thing. Those who wrote down the lore were very strongly against oath-breaking, so they made it among the greatest offences to the Gods. It isn\u2019t good, but it\u2019s not that bad either.\u201d \u201cThank you for the clarification. We have so little lore about you, what would you like to be known as goddess of?\u201d \u201cI am a goddess of oaths, reliability, and fortitude. Fortitude is not a brief spurt of will or strength. It is strength that endures, that pulls you through a task\u201d I ran over that word in my mind, fortitude. Bemused, I wondered aloud: \u201cI\u2019m surprised you like the word \u2018fortitude\u2019 so much. It\u2019s not a Germanic word.\u201d \u201cNo, but it works, and it is in a language you understand,\u201d She smiled. \u201cSo instead of making oaths in your name, what would be a good way to call on you, when planning a task?\u201d \u201cYou can say: \u2018In the name of V\u00e1r, I do as I decided.\u2019 That\u2019s simple and to the point. It lets me know you\u2019re determined, and want to succeed. It opens the door for me to help you achieve it, and gives your more mindfulness of the importance of your goal.\u201d \u201cAnd what\u2019s so important about this mindfulness in doing tasks?\u201d \u201cReliability strengthens your soul. Doing what you say you\u2019ll do shows a strong spirit.\u201d She then took my right hand, examined it, and traced the line that goes down the middle of my palm, from the middle finger to the wrist with Her finger. \u201cThis is my line,\u201d She said. I didn\u2019t remember what that line was for, and looked it up later. Here\u2019s a description of the Fate Line: \u201cThis line is believed to be tied to the person’s life path, including school and career choices, successes and obstacles. Sometimes this line is thought to reflect circumstances beyond the individual’s control, or alternately the person’s choices and their consequences.\u201d Before the supper was over, I asked one more question: \u201cSo what do you think of New Year\u2019s resolutions ?\u201d She scoffed good naturedly: \u201cDon\u2019t ask! Waste of my time they are!\u201d When the meal was done, I thanked Her for coming, bade Her safe journey as She departed, then blew out the candles. The leftovers from Her plate went into the compost. Tuesday February 1, 2011, Last day of the January moon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
V\u00e1r’s Dumb Supper Goddess of Oaths UPG In January I pledge, as V\u00e1r is my witness, So help me V\u00e1r, Beloved be kind. What is a dumb supper? It is a meal shared with a spirit, offering them hospitality as an honored guest, warm food and a seat at your table. \u201cDumb\u201d means \u201cmute, unable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[22,27],"class_list":["post-457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual","tag-goddesses","tag-upg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hypnoticwishes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hypnoticwishes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hypnoticwishes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hypnoticwishes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hypnoticwishes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hypnoticwishes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":462,"href":"https:\/\/hypnoticwishes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457\/revisions\/462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hypnoticwishes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hypnoticwishes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hypnoticwishes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hypnoticwishes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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