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A Month for Loki: Community

I'm not the most recon of Loki's followers (I'm sure some of you snicker snorted: GOOD), however, I do enjoy sumbel - yes I know, Wiki, but I lack the spoons to vet heathen sites for racist, folkish bullshit today, so you're getting the wiki. If you need a non-Wiki recon take on Loki worship, read Nono's blog entry on it. Anywho, the practice of Lokabrenna celebrations in July/early August are a modern Lokean practice.

I'm fortunate enough to live near a number of Lokeans - one of my distance kindred members actually wondered aloud recently "why are there so many Lokeans in Florida?"

(personal theory: because Florida. We are a special breed here.)

Because there's a large group of us here (relatively speaking, anyway) - celebrations tend to turn up at my house, which is centrally located here in Florida. I'm fortunate that there are a lot of us here; our kindred does a mixture of local stuff and distance meetings. His altar is decorated with gifts from all over, and I rotate what's out so He doesn't get bored. (note: this does not stop Him from wanting New Things.)

Our sumbel was a mixture of Old and New Things. We have our own version of Sigdrifa's Prayer:

Hail to the Day,
Hail to the Sons of Day,
Hail to the Night,
Hail to the Daughters of Night,
Hail to the mighty, fecund earth!
Hail to the Gods!
Hail to the Goddesses!
Hail to the Ancestors!
Hail to the vaettir that protect our land!
Give us this day goodly wit and speech,
Healing hands while we live,
and may the work we do this day bring honor to our tribe,
and aid and succor to those who need it.

I share this prayer because I love Sigdrifa's Prayer; it's one of the prettiest Pagan poems that still exists from antiquity. When I read it, I wondered why the ancestors and the wights weren't mentioned. It didn't feel right to me, and so I added verses in. It's OldNew. Loki is an Old God; Lokabrenna is a new holiday. It doesn't matter so much to me whether or not a tradition is old or new; it doesn't matter to me even if you're a hard or soft polytheist - I care about reverence. If you approach Deity in a way that is respectful, no matter how Deity comes to you, I can be in community with you.

Loki has many gifts from Pagans of all sorts of stripes on His altar. Some of them are the hardest of Polytheists. Some of them aren't, but all of them respected Him enough to give Him gifts. That makes me happy. This weekend, we passed around Loki's horn and toasted Him. We told stories of how He came into our lives, and how our lives are better for having Him with us. One of my personal favorites is that of our crone, who once uttered "how the f*ck does Loki know me??" and hasn't been able to get rid of Him since, she says it with affection. In the spirit of OldNew, here are some of the toasts we made to Him.

Hail Loki, You glorious f*cker.
Hail to the God of irreverent reverence.
Hail to the Muse.
Hail to the Father-in-Law.
Hail to the ScarLip Who teaches when to speak and how to keep silent.
Hail to Him that keeps His promises.
Hail to the Gift-Giver.
Hail to He that has given land and home to those who love Him.
Hail Loki, Who loves us even in our most broken places.
Hail to He that teaches me that I am more than my body's limitations.
Hail to the God of going mad to go sane.
Hail Loki, Beloved Husband, for I am honored to be your wife.

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Lokean nun, writer, swamp witch. Heather is a Pagan monastic, writer, editor, and mother. She has written and edited for a variety of publications and social media, including science journals, romance novels, and technology blogs. She also holds degrees in education and speech-language pathology, and has a passion for historical linguistics.

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