Gealdor/Mantra as an OR practice.

by Heimgest CG

All OR members who practice blot (and that should therefore mean ALL our members),
will use rune gealdor in these; that is they will at points in the blot sing,
chant or otherwise intone various runes to aid their blot. We will use this
technique to raise energy, to merge with energy, to send energy etc. As the entire
multiverse and everything in it is, at one level, ‘energy,’ this can be a very
potent exercise. It is important to remember that everything is energy and that
all we see, hear, sense etc we only do as we do due to the sensory organs we have.
So when for example we see a tree, we only ‘see’ it as we do because our sense of
vision recognizes the waves and patterns of energy it vibrates at, as a tree. We
‘see’ colour and ‘hear’ sound because our organs of perception operate in that
way; but if we had been created differently, it could be that we ‘heard’ colour
and ‘saw’ sound, and our perception of this realm of reality would in such a case
be entirely different.

Gealdor therefore, among other things, can be seen as a way of consciously working
with energy. In the case of rune gealdor, we are accessing the energy flows the
runes represent. Sound of course is a very powerful energy: it can, and does, have
effects on the flows of energy around us. It effects a physical change. The
obvious example would be the opera singer who can shatter a glass by hitting and
holding a certain note. Certain frequencies affect the human body.

Various military research establishments have (and probably still are),

researching weapons, which could direct a sound ‘beam’ at opposing enemies to
disorientate them and actually kill by rupturing internal organs. So it is a fact
that sound can have a very powerful effect.

Our Gealdor of course, works on a seemingly less obvious and more subtle level;
but nonetheless, just because we do not see glasses shattering around us, we
should not doubt its effectiveness. In any case, our intention isn’t to break
glass but to awaken or to heal etc. And use of gealdor in our spiritual practice
is of course wholly natural and another example of the deepening of Odinism. For
those of you who have an interest in the ‘history’ of the development of the New
Awakening, I will just give a very brief detail on this practice here.

In the early days of this new overt resurgence of our glorious religion, the use
of gealdor was somewhat overlooked in Blotar and personal practice. In fact some
treated it with suspicion. Of course the fact that most (if not all) blot included
hailing the Gods can be seen as practicing a mantra without consciously realizing
it; for in a way these can be seen as a simple mantra. However it was not
generally perceived as such and runic gealdor was only practiced by a few.

The OR was the first of the larger groups to ‘officially’ adopt this practice into
their blot structure and it was one of the things ‘guests’ would comment on most
after a blot. I remember a blot at the White Horse Stone, which had a large number
of ‘guests’ attending. All of them were young chaps who had virtually no
experience of any religious observance at all and the closest they had come to
gealdor would have been chanting at a soccer match. I was thinking they were going
to find the whole event somewhat odd and though the majority of the blot is spoken
and understandable, I was wondering what on earth they were going to make of
standing out in the countryside chanting ‘sounds’ they hadn’t encountered before
and which would not seem to have an obvious meaning. The blot went very well and
afterwards when we all socialized and the blot was talked of, it became apparent
that the part they liked best of all was the gealdor section because they became
filled with energy. They couldn’t detail the feelings they had much, but just said
how it kind of inspired them. However, on thinking about it, that may not be so
surprising.

The bulk of the blot is open to our conscious mind and our analytical thought. Now
if we have not heard them before we will be listening perhaps, not so much to
their inner meaning but as to whether we understand what is being said and if we
agree with it. It makes sense to do so especially if you are attending a religious
service which you have no experience of. It is natural you will want to know what
it is you are saying and partaking in. However, with the rune gealdor, this
faculty is not so active and then the ‘sound’ will appeal to the subconscious and
the folk soul and the energy of the gealdor (in this case runic) will be felt.

One of the early objections I heard raised against its use was that it was
“foreign,” and interestingly in the very early days, there was an element that
felt that even meditation was somehow “foreign.” The thinking behind this I can
only really guess at, but I think it was probably because the bestknown examples
of gealdor or mantra and meditation were seen being practiced by such religions as
Buddhism and Hinduism. This thinking still exists with some in the Asatru world in
general, but it would be rare to find it within the Rite due to the fact that
though we of course look to the past and learn from it, we are not straight
jacketed by it. We seek to identify and be in accord with those core or essential
aspects, which are transcendent but not become outmoded or a re-enactment society
by becoming ‘stuck’ on those outer appearances, things which are transient and
linked only to a particular time. It is also the case that the OR realizes that
our religion, or folkway, our spiritual path and the wisdom it contains- which
leads us to a higher state of consciousness and understanding of creationstretches
back beyond recorded history to the very beginning of our folk organism. This
makes it far more than merely a ‘Viking’ religion. That era is but one of many
eras of our folk so we do not place this limitation on the majesty of our Holy
religion.

I also think because at times the term Mantra was/is used, it caused some kind of
negative reaction. Some have what is really an illogical aversion to what could
well be termed the parent language of our folk, Sanskrit. Again the reasoning
would seem to be that it is “foreign” and the fact that its traceable origin seems
to be in the Indian sub continent. Some East Indian peoples speak and write this
language, so it is seen by some to be “foreign.” However, the fact that strangers
may have adopted it does not invalidate it. That line of thinking would lead to
the rejection of English as many stranger folk speak it as a first language these
days. Personally I feel comfortable with Sanskrit terms, and if I had the time
(which I don’t), I would learn it: it is after all a root language of the Germanic
tongues, so I will at times use them in writings. And again, this blinkered line
of thought that sees our religion as beginning only when it appeared in the lands
of NW Europe, cuts a vast chunk of our heritage away. It is of course true that in
identifying the deities of our religion, we use the names as they were most
recently known, but this is a practical consideration.

Now gealdor is often considered to be intoning the rune sounds only, but this is
too limiting. Gealdor/mantra can include a lot more. This in no way at all lessens
the potency and importance of runic chanting: that is a very good practice. But
also we can include the chanting of a God/Goddess name and combine it if wished
with other names, phrases etc. As well as the energy or vibrational level inherent
in the names etc. our will gives shape and direction to intent.

Possibly the most widely known mantra of all is “OM” or “Aum.” Its precise meaning
can be the subject of an article in its own right, which is not my purpose here,
so I shall give a very concise meaning. It is the sound of creation, but please
realize this is a very concise definition. To say it is not Odinic is rather
limiting, as it is a ‘universal sound.’ Now I hope no one reading this takes that
to mean either I or the OR are presenting a “universalist view” of our faith,
because that would be totally wrong: we are folk centric and that is that. Odinism
is the natural organic ancestral religion of our people and it cannot be anything
else; it cannot be universal. But there are some universal principles obviously.
For example, our planet has one sun, which shines on all parts; there is not a
Sun, which shines only in the Northern hemisphere. There are the great polarities
of masculine and feminine energies, which bring all creation into being and
continually shape it. And so with sounds, for example, back to the breaking glass:
providing its right pitch is reached, it will shatter whether that pitch is
reached in Europe, Mombassa land or the heart of Vinland.

This particular Mantra of “Om” is also considered by some to be the property of

the new agey type noodles. But again, why should we deny ourselves something,
which is natural and beneficial just because we do not like the way some use it?
Were that the case then again, we might just as well abandon our native tongues as
there is no doubt some use our language to present corrupt ideas which we cannot
feel any accord with.

“Om” then is a universal sound, which transcends not just ethnic groupings but all
the various diverse components of creation. Now also consider this, “Omi” (with
its component “Om”) is a name for Odin so contemplation of that, especially while
engaged in meditation and using that mantra/gealdor is a worthwhile practice. The
gealdor of “Om Omi Odin Om” is a very good exercise to undertake regularly.

Everything in existence is energy, vibration. Those of a scientific knowledge will

no doubt be able to express this in far greater detail. However we can all
understand that the entire multiverse is energy and each component just separate
energy fields of vibrations within it. This includes us and it includes our Gods.
We can use the names of our divinities as gealdor/mantra or as part of a gealdric
formula. When we do so, we focus our consciousness very much on that God energy
and if we can focus totally upon this, we can access that energy and open levels
of higher consciousness. Gealdor/mantra helps in this in several ways.

Now, I shall just go off on a tangent here briefly. I do not think it advisable
for males to seek to merge with a feminine energy as manifest by a Goddess, or for
females to seek to merge with the masculine energy as manifest by a God. This is a
very complex subject and one which merits deeper consideration; however I do not
want to include it in this article so I will draw your attention to Eowyn OR’s
article ‘Natural Law, Polarity and Invocation,’ which does give greater detail on
this point. Many thanks Eowyn for this.

To continue then as to how mantra/gealdor helps in this achievement of a higher

level of consciousness; firstly, the very fact that one is engaged in a repetitive
mantra is an aid. The mind is enormously unruly: to maintain utter complete single
mindedness for even a few minutes is difficult and takes a great deal of practice.
Repetition of a ‘sacred’ sound, which is also the subject one is attempting to
fully focus upon, does help. Secondly, we can begin to attune the energy or
vibration of our mind to the vibration of the gealdor. Now in the case of intoning
a God name or a formula related to it, we would be focusing on all the attributes
of that deity and attuning ourselves to that vibrational level. With a rune we
will be attuning ourselves to the vibration of that energy. We can also think of
it as a prayer to that divinity. Now I know some people have a reactionary
aversion to that word prayer because of its Christian connotation. Personally it
does not bother me, as I do not see why I should let a creed, which is not my own
dictate which words I can use. However, if it is a big deal for you, substitute a
word you don’t act in a reactionary manner to; for what I mean is it is an
offering to and an honouring of that divine power.
The CG encourage all members to undertake daily ritual and conscious spiritual
practice; even if it may only be for a few minutes each morning and evening, it
will be of great help in personal development. Including runic or other
gealdor/mantra is recommended. By deepening ourselves, we deepen our religion and
help its sacred radiance shine more clearly; we strengthen and rouse the folk soul
and folk consciousness of our people and help to bring the New Awakening.
Om Omi Odin