Gods and Goddess of Oimelc and Charming the Plow

I put these all on one post for ease of reference and because both holidays are celebrated around the same time. To learn more about each holiday follow the links: Oimelc and Charming the Plow

Bragi:
Son of Odin and giantess Gunnlod
God of Poetry
The bard of Valhalla

Einmyria :
Daughter of Loki and Glut
Goddess of Fire

Eir:
Goddess of medicine, healing, and surgery

Eisa :
Daughter of Loki and Glut
Goddess of Fire

Freyja:
Daughter of Njordr
Goddess of love, sex, beauty, fertility, gold, war, and death

Frigg:
Goddess of Foreknowledge and wisdom

Gefjon:
Goddess of agriculture, abundance, prosperity, and virginity

Glut:
Daughter of Grimir and Alvor
Fire Giantess
Considered by some to be more of a mythological creature than an actual goddess. Often confused as being married to Loki.

Logi: (Halogi)
Son of  Fornjótr
God and personification of fire

Mengloth and Maidens:
Goddess of healing
Handmaidens: Hlif (women's problems), Hlifthrasa (respiratory system) , Thjodvara (bone, muscle, tendons, and other body mechanics), Bjort (fever), Bleik (purity or purification), Blith (mental problems), Frith (inner balance), Aurboda (making medicines and herbal healing),and Eir (listed above)

Nerthus:
Goddess of fertility, abundance, sacrifice

Rindr:
Daughter of Billing
Goddess of winter (in general)
"Magically seduced" by Odin and gave birth to Vali

Skadi: (Skaði)
Daughter of Thiazi (Þjazi)
Giantess and Goddess of archery, bow hunting, mountains, winter weather
She's not necessarily a goddess and is only introduced into the pantheon through a marriage, though it failed. She is still beloved and worshiped as such

Surt:
A fire Giant

Ullr:
Son of Sif, father is not known
God of archery, hunting, and all things related to winter such as skiing and skating, warlike
When Odin was in exile, Ullr ruled as chieftian



© 2016, Copyright The Dame and The Devil Business Blog - Writer The Dame

Oimelc, Imbolc, and Disting

For the purpose of this blog, I am distinguishing between the New Age and Anglo Saxon/Germanic holidays by using Imbolc and Oimelc receptively. Oimelc is actually the root word for Imbolc, though Oimelc is Anglo-Saxon for "ewe's milk".

Oimelc (Ewemeolc) is more of a Scandinavian tradition that date backs to Pagan times seen around the beginning of February. It's a celebration of your female ancestors, the Idises or Disir, and the Goddesses in general. I like to call it the original Mother's Day since it is focusing on who brought us into this world. We all know that without women, birth simply wouldn't happen, so we see a very great significance in the womb and females in general. This is also known as the feast of new beginnings and the festival of Idises.

Most new age pagans will be celebrating what is called Imbolc, which is basically the Celtic version of Oimelc, but with a very heavy lean on the Goddess Brigid. According to Goddess Gift, this is actually her Feast Day and is meant to symbolize that Spring is on its way. Back in our Holly King post, we discussed Brigid as the Winter Queen and bringing forth Beltane when the Summer begins. It's interesting that we would see her as both a winter goddess as well a spring time goddess because these two seasons are not normally thought to correspond to each other. However, when taking into consideration that most Celtics count their Samhain as the new year, it would be an easier idea to grasp. Spring is still an awakening into the new year and new harvests which haven't yet shown to be fruitful. This holiday is meant to celebrate that it will come and it will be great.

Now, with Norse, Scandinavian, and other Germanics, we would see Oimelc as the New Year because it is the beginning of the melting snows. This is usually celebrated around the time of Charming the Plow as well, so you'll see a lot of overlap between the two. While Charming the Plow tends to focus solely on the fertility and planting goddesses, Oimelc also celebrates the healing of the Earth and people after the harsh winters. Most of the time we'll see Ullr, Skadi, and Rindr being the center of attention here because of their deep winter ties, even if they're men. Other Gods to honor are Logi, Glut and her two daughters, Bragi, Eir, Mengloth and her maidens, and Surt. I'll create a master post next week to go into who is who and why.

Disting is specifically Norse and is really just another name for Oimelc. However, Disting itself, can and has been thought to be a whole other part. Some believe its a Thing, which is a meeting or gathering where laws and politics are disgusted. It's also written as the actual act of preparing the soil for planting, like the Plow celebration. Not much more is said on that though.

© 2016, Copyright The Dame and The Devil Business Blog - Writer The Dame Image by Emil Doepler

Charming the Plow

This is likely not a pagan holiday you know much about, but its the one I, personally, celebrate this time of year alongside Oimelc/Disting. (We'll discuss that one next week.)

Charming the Plow is basically just what it sounds like: thanking the Gods and Goddess for last years' harvest and praying for this coming harvest. Now, the time when this is celebrated varies not only from year to year, but also from country to country. Over here in America, I won't celebrate it with those over in Germany or Sweden and that's because the ground may not be ready to plow at the same time. When you celebrate this particular holiday, it's when you first break ground to plant your crops.

I, practicing also kitchen witchery, will be planting my early spring herbs around this time. However, since I also live in a desert, I'll be doing this a little differently than what I write.

The normal way to celebrate is to bake a cake or bread using last years' grain. Before planting anything, you dig a hole using a shovel or plow that you cleansed and blessed and break off some of the bread and place it in the ground. According to the Old English Christian text, Aecerbot, you also dig a hole in all four corners Though from doing some research, it's where you're going to plow the rows. So you can either dig a hole if you're not planting rows, like myself, or you can use your blessed plow, make the rows, and then continue with the bread. I also read that some return the actual grains. Raise your horn filled with water and toast the Gods then pour the remaining water onto the bread symbolizing coming rains. Bury it and pray.

While many celebrate both Gods and Goddesses, I choose to celebrate just the Goddesses of  harvest and fertility. This is the way I incorporate Oimelc, which I perceive as an older Mother's Day. When I pray, cleanse, and even bake I make small declarations to my patron Goddess, Freyja. However, she is not the normal Goddess for this holiday even though she is the All-Mother. Most people and scholars will say that the cake offerings are mainly given to Nerthus and Gefjon.

As you can see, the knowledge on this holy day is pretty sparse, so the best thing to do would be to research into Nerthus and Gefjon to see how people normally honored them and also to read, read, read. In the end, this can be as simple or extravagant as you like going into even blessing the cattle or farm animals, if you have any. Since we are planning to have chickens soon, I'll likely kill one and add its blood to the hole, then cook it and have it for dinner to complete our ritual. That is definitely a bit of my own take since this is usually the time where you'll start to see chicks and more eggs and I also have it tie into my Freyja worship (eggs). This is also a very easy holiday to bring your kids into. What child doesn't want to dig in the dirt and make mud? Or eat cake?! We usually keep the kids away from any animals we offer and they only know that we're cooking, but my kids are very young, the oldest being five. So I'll let that part be up to the parents because some kids are very sensitive up into adulthood.

Here is some wonderful information on Plow Songs and Plow Plays, though they only date as far back as the 1500's. I'll likely put up a blog with some rewritten for more of a Pagan tune if I find the time.


© 2016, Copyright The Dame and The Devil Business Blog - Writer The Dame - Image is from Hex Magazine