Getting experimental and immersing myself in runes for a full year! After healing from magical burnout, I'm more interested than ever in experimentation. The "Queering the Runes" course has inspired me to undertake a full year immersion of experimentation with the runes.
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Register for the Queering the Runes course now through Jan 28 2025!
Join the Lore Witches & Co discord server
Shop at my store, Lore Books, and get 10% off with code HJPod10: lore-books.com
Join the newsletter to stay up to date on all the things! Including the "Queering the Runes" course!
Support the podcast on Patreon at patreon.com/sirivincentplouff
I have a new podcast! It's called Chaos and Cunning and it is all about the intersection of culture, folk magic, and chaos magic. Basically, I wanted a place to talk about occult things that I engage with that aren't explicitly heathen in nature. Enter: Chaos and Cunning.
This episode is an intro and an explainer. Learn more about host Siri, as well as the general philosophy behind the podcast.
Join us next week over on that feed for our first interview with the one and only Kelly-Ann Maddox!
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Support the show on Patreon: https://patreon.com/sirivincentplouff
Check out Siri's wares at Lore Books: https://lore-books.com/shop
Queering the Runes Course is currently open for registration! Check it out and register here: https://lore-academy.teachable.com/p/queering-the-runes
This is a little bit of a different podcast! I'm actually posting an interview I did with Haley over at Opening the Door Podcast. This episode was originally titled "Exploring Nordic Folklore and Folk Witchcraft with Siri Vincent Plouff."
Because it was released very close to Halloween, we ended up talking almost exclusively about Draugr. Now, posting this over a month later, it is still timely because Christmas is actually a very spooky time of year.
Exciting announcements!
I'm teaching "Queering the Runes" as a FULL ONLINE COURSE! Early bird pricing is $300, and the price goes up to $400 on 12/16.
The intro to Chaos and Cunning is OUT as a teaser now! Go and follow/subscribe/check it out!
This episode was recorded the Friday after election day. In this episode I talk about the ideas of localized resistance. I have a feeling I'll be putting out more episodes like this, probably with more research and heft behind them. I will also be launching a new podcast next month called Chaos and Cunning, which will be a space where I can expand beyond the confines of heathenry to talk about other magical practices.
I had a file mishap and the wrong file uploaded, so I'm sorry if you're seeing this twice! I've had quite the autumn for podcasting errors. It was obviously not my intention to release this incorrectly, but mistakes happen. Ya got me this time, Loki.
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Ryan Smith's fantastic post-election episode: On Endings and Beginnings
Nicolette Miele is an an author, herbalist, pagan witch, and animal advocate. Her first book, "Runes for the Green Witch," is a magical grimoire that immerses readers in the widsom and folklore of the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark.
Check out Nicolette's links, including her apothecary Handfuls Of Dust: handfulsofdust.com
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Join the newsletter to stay up to date on all the things! Including the "Queering the Runes" course!
Support the podcast on Patreon at patreon.com/sirivincentplouff
Welcome back for a conversation about the Younger Futhark with Kari Tauring! This episode is released in celebration of her newest book.
"The Runes: A Pandemic Journey" manifests Kari Tauring’s journaling and teaching of the embodied practice of Völva Stav. In its pages, she walks you through the sixteen Younger Futhark runes, the Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs Charm, and the Norwegian Primstav perpetual calendar. While writing the book, Tauring was impacted by the Global Pandemic and uprising for justice in Minneapolis between 2020 and 2023 and that experience has been woven into the text.
Purchase "The Runes: A Pandemic Journey" here
Purchase "The Day Begins at Sunset" here
Support Siri on Patreon here: patreon.com/sirivincentplouff
Support Kari on Patreon here: patreon.com/karitauring
Preorder Siri's new book, "Queering the Runes"
hey hey! Just popping into your podcast feed to remind you that registration for the last ever live session of Radical Runes closes at midnight on Saturday, February 3rd!
You can register here: https://www.sirivincentplouff.com/shop/p/radical-runes-winter-2024
Radical Runes is a six week course in Nordic divination practices using the Elder Futhark as a launchpad. Each week, I will cover a different topic in depth from a queer, modern perspective. All are welcome - you do not need to be of Nordic descent to practice this kind of magic or divination. You will be learning from a rune expert - I've been studying the runes for years, and made my first set of runes nearly 20 years ago. I think it is especially important to bring queer perspectives to Nordic magic because there is so much shape shifting, trickster, and transformational energy within the Nordic myth cycles.
So join us! I would love to have you!
Perthro is a mysterious rune that means luck, mystery, and the mead. In this episode of the podcast Siri covers the beauty of this rune in a solo-episode. We talk about the different soul parts, and how Perthro is connected with the Hamingja. This rune disappears in the Younger Futhark, which only adds to its mystery. We also discuss the sacred quality of mead and seeking the mead as spiritual initiation.
Support the podcast on Patreon
Buy my book (and Ryan Smith's "Spinning Wyrd") on my bookshop.org affiliate shop
Kari Tauring's Soul Parts and Healing Course
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Sources:
Kvilhaug, Maria. Seed of Yggdrasil. Three Little Sisters Press.
Smith, Ryan. Spinning Wyrd. Llewellyn Books, Woodbury, MN. 2023
Tauring, Kari. The Runes: A Deeper Journey. Minneapolis. 2015.
Tauring, Kari. “Soul Parts and Healing Course.”
Happy Winter Solstice! Have a rerun episode! This episode was originally released on Dec 30 2020.
Did you know there's no future tense in Old Norse? It's a huge part of why I (Siri) don't use the runes for predictive reading - instead, I use them for assessing the situation and figuring out what the best path forward is for me or my client. But there are plenty of other divination methods in Nordic folk magic and heathenry! Listen to this episode to learn all about them.
Sign up for the newsletter to be informed when a Radical Runes Registration is available
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Support the Podcast on Patreon
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Welcome to the 2023 Halloween Werewolf Spectacular! There is a LOT of wolf lore in Nordic mythology and throughout folklore all around the world. I spoke with my friend Matt who has been obsessed with werewolves for most of his life. And at a certain point, doesn’t obsession beget expertise? So I decided to invite him on the podcast for a special werewolf bonanza. We’ll talk about the Werewolf Trials of medieval Europe, the Ulfheidnar in Germanic and Norse culture, Werewolf Saints, and so much more.
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Transcript for this episode can be found here: https://www.heathensjourneypod.com/episodes/s2-e12-halloween-special-werewolf-spectacular
You can support this podcast on Patreon:
http://patreon.com/heathensjourneypod
Want more writing from Siri? Subscribe to the Troll-Brev Newsletter!
Buy Siri's book and more at their Bookshop Affiliate Link:
https://bookshop.org/shop/sirivincent...
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References for this Episode:
Old Thiess, a Livonian Werewolf
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/O/bo46813477.html
Werewolf Magick by Denny Sergent
https://www.amazon.com/Werewolf-Magick-Authentic-Practical-Lycanthropy/dp/0738764450
Wolfs-Head: Óðinn, the Ecstatic God of Tethers & Skin-Turning
[Volume II of the Óðinn Trilogy within the Northern Otherworld Series]
by Shani Oates
https://www.anathemapublishing.com/books-prints/p/wolfs-head
Werewolf: The Apocalypse free intro kit
https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/3370/werewolf-the-apocalypse-free-introductory-kit
Today I'm sharing a conversation with my mentor Kari Tauring. She is the author of “The Volva Stav Manual,” “The Runes: A Deeper Journey,” and today we’re discussing her newest book: “The Day Begins at Sunset.” This is a collection of poems reflecting on the Primstav, an Old Norse calendar stick that helped people follow the seasons and the Saint Days in the Middle Ages. I spoke about this with Sara Axtell as well in episode 19. In that episode we focused on the concept of Unsettling Ourselves - on how we as settler colonizers can actively participate in decolonization while appreciating the land around us. This is pretty different from that episode - here, we talk about the Primstav as a relic of the transition between Paganism and Christianity, violent histories, ancestor work, and more. Kari reads some of her poetry and it is absolutely beautiful.
Learn more about Kari and buy her books here: karitauring.com
If you are in the Twin Cities area and you're available, you should come to Kari's book release party! It's on Sunday, October 29th 2023 at the Bryant Lake Bowl. Details here
Listen to a previous episode about the primstav with Sara Axtell here: Episode 19
You can support this podcast on Patreon:
http://patreon.com/heathensjourneypod
Want more writing from Siri? Subscribe to the Troll-Brev Newsletter!
Buy Siri's book and more at their Bookshop Affiliate Link:
It's been one year since Cassandra Snow and I published "Lessons from the Empress: A tarot workbook for self-care and creative growth!" In celebration of the book's birthday, I invited a special guest host to interview Cassandra and I. Maria Minnis is a tarot reader and author of the forthcoming "Tarot for the Hard Work: An Archetypal Journey to Confront Racism and Inspire Collective Healing." She is absolutely fantastic and we get to talk some juicy details about creativity, where we are now, and how it feels to be one year out from publishing the book.
If you don't have your copy yet, you can buy "Lessons from the Empress" here **affiliate link**
You can preorder "Tarot for the Hard Work" here **affiliate link**
Ren Zatopek is a heretical, hedgeriding witch of the Ced Tradition with more than fifteen years of experience working full-time as a spiritual guide, healer, and ritualist. She has a special interest in helping folks with exceptional intensity, sensitivity, and creativity explore the deeper, more troubling waters of witchery without losing their shit. She believes that a healthy, intentional relationship with trance is a great place to start, so she created the online Hedge+Riders Trance Training Ground as a place for folks to work on the kinds of wide-awake, walking, talking trance states that are most conducive to conscious spiritwork, spellcrafting, and ritual.
+ Ren offers accessible online training through renspiritwork.com
+ Folks local to Raleigh, North Carolina can email hello@renspiritwork.com for info on in-person gatherings.
+ Ren’s elders in the Ced Tradition teach out of The Green Man Store in Los Angeles, CA
You can support this podcast on Patreon:
http://patreon.com/heathensjourneypod
Want more writing from Siri? Subscribe to the Troll-Brev Newsletter!
Buy Siri's book and more at their Bookshop Affiliate Link:
Eiwaz is the first tree rune in the Elder Futhark. It is a highly toxic tree that is used to both poison and heal, and is thought by many to be the tree that Odin hangs himself on to take up the runes. Learn more about this fascinating rune in today's episode!
You can read a transcript of this podcast here: https://www.heathensjourneypod.com/episodes/s2-e8-eiwaz-a-portal-to-the-underworld
You can support this podcast on Patreon: http://patreon.com/heathensjourneypod
Want more writing from Siri? Subscribe to the Troll-Brev Newsletter!
Buy Siri's book and more at their Bookshop Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/shop/sirivincent...
Sources:
Boyer, Corinne. Under the Witching Tree. Troy Books, London. 2016.
Smith, Ryan. Spinning Wyrd. Llewellyn Books, Woodbury, MN. 2023
Tauring, Kari. The Runes: A Deeper Journey. Minneapolis. 2015.
Vesta, Lara Veleda. Wild Soul Runes: Reawakening the ancestral feminine. Newburyport, MA. 2021
Yew - Paradox. Tree Spirit Wisdom. https://treespiritwisdom.com/tree-spirit-wisdom/yew-tree-symbolism/#:~:text=In%20Norse%20mythology%2C%20the%20yew,nine%20nights%20and%20nine%20days. Accessed on 4/27/23Carboplatin-Taxol page. National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/drugs/carboplatin-taxol. Accessed 4/27/23
Success Story: Taxol. National Cancer Institute. https://dtp.cancer.gov/timeline/flash/success_stories/s2_taxol.htm#:~:text=Taxol%C2%AE%20(NSC%20125973),as%20well%20as%20Kaposi's%20sarcoma. Accessed 4/27/23
Today on the podcast, Siri is in conversation with Ryan Smith, author of The Way of Fire & Ice: The Living Tradition of Norse Paganism, and Spinning Wyrd: Exploring the Nordic Mysteries. Expanding on the progressive ideas and practices in The Way of Fire and Ice, this next-step book teaches you how to tap into the forces of the Nordic cosmos. The greatest of these forces is wyrd, the symphony of life cocreated by all beings, from the humblest plants to the mightiest gods.
You can purchase Ryan's books (as well as many others) at Siri's Bookshop.org Affiliate Shopfront: https://bookshop.org/shop/sirivincentplouff
Support the podcast on Patreon: https://patreon.com/heathensjourneypod
I am honored to have Tomás Prower as a guest on the podcast this week. When I started planning this season, I knew that I wanted to bring Tomás on. Tomás Prower is a graduate of the University of California: Santa Barbara with degrees in Global Socioeconomics and Latin American Studies. With fluency in English, French, and Spanish, he has worked for the French Government as a cultural liaison throughout South America with extended assignments in Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, and the Amazon jungle. Since then, he has been the External Relations Director for the American Red Cross of Nevada, LGBT+ Programs Director for entertainment productions in Los Angeles, and a licensed mortuary professional in California and Nevada. Currently, Tomás resides in Palm Springs, California, as the Director of Communications for the LGBTQ+ Center of the Coachella Valley.
Link to the LGBTQ+ Center of the Coachella Valley
In an episode that I didn't plan I swear, Siri discusses harvest festivals and the rune Jera. To Siri, Jera is not just about the year, but it is related to earth itself. This is a rune of appreciation of the gifts of nature, as well as of cultivation. The shape of the rune - two v’s turned on their side and intertwining - speaks to me of cycles. This episode happens to come out on Mabon, and so of course Siri discusses harvest festivals and the deity Freyr.
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Buy "Lessons from the Empress: A tarot workbook for self-care and creative expression"
Isa represents Ice: That which is frozen. It is a barrier. It is water that has become so still, it has been made solid. Ice is one of the elements that signaled the birth of our world.
"Ice is hard and without motion. It constrains the movement of waters, but those who try to walk on it may find themselves moving out of control." - Diana Paxson, "Taking Up The Runes."
Resources:
National Geographic video on singing ice
Jonna Jinton's Atmospheric video of singing ice sounds
After the storm, we must rebuild. After Hagalaz comes Nauthiz. In this episode, Siri explores the ways that the Nauthiz rune reveals what is truly necessary in our lives. Nauthiz, need-fire, rune of potential and action and making choices to get ourselves out of the direst of circumstances.
Here is a YouTube video I found that provides a really nice view on making needfire for yourself. Just be careful!
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Welcome back to the Heathen’s Journey Podcast! Siri took some time off to recalibrate and think through the direction of the podcast. We’re back now, in seasons! Each season we will be focusing on a major theme within heathenry and the runes. This season, we’re covering the second aett of the Elder Futhark through the lens of an Underworld Journey. In this opening episode, Siri covers Hel, Hagalaz, and the Underworld.
Browse the new Heathen's Journey Website: heathensjourneypod.com
Support the Podcast: patreon.com/heathensjourneypod
Preorder "Lessons from the Empress" and buy suggested reading here: https://bookshop.org/shop/sirivincentplouff