Neolithic Shamanism: Spirit Work in the Norse Tradition - Raven Kaldera 2012

Dawn
The Golden World: Sun

Sunna is sometimes called Sol, and the Sun is the living embodiment of her power. She must have been immensely important to our ancestors; anyone living an agricultural lifestyle would be, especially before industrialization, utterly dependent on her for a good harvest. As my colleague Sophie Oberlander noted in Jotunbok, Sunna’s presence in the heavens also has tremendous eschatological import: her capture by the wolf Skoll is one of the signs of impending Ragnarok. More than that though, Sunna’s power is one of the building blocks of an ordered, healthy, whole society. (Think about it: when the Sun goes cold, we as a planet perish.)

Sunna might also be said to have healing power. As the Sun, she brings health and vitality; as the Sun is made of heat and fire, so Sunna’s power has the potential to hallow, just as all fire has the potential to cleanse and consecrate. She drives out metaphysical darkness and decay as her sister Sinthgunt (goddess of twilight) drives out disease. She makes the world holy and by doing so defines the inangard, the sacred enclosure of a healthy community. Scandinavian winters are long, tedious, and rough. The lengthening presence of the Sun in her daily voyage across the sky must have been a welcome sight to our ancestors as winter turned slowly into spring.

Most of all, Sunna is our pacesetter. Most of us, though not inextricably bound to the Sun in the way our agrarian ancestors were, still rise to begin our workday by her unchanging cycles. If Pagan or Heathen, we still celebrate holy tides determined by her movement across the sky. We still crave the return of the Sun during the harshness of winter, when the days are dark by four p.m. Sunna, by her very presence, serves as a potent visible reminder of the Gods’ power and the presence of the holy in our lives. She, as our pacesetter, orders our days and lives just like she did for our ancestors. She keeps the world in order, counting out the seasons and the days. She brings health, wholeness, healing, and growth to our world. We as shamans and spirit workers would do well to pay attention to the daily rhythms of Sunna and her brother. They order our world so carefully that we, who are by our very work committed to restoring and maintaining balanced relationships with the Gods, ancestors, and spirits, can learn much by charting our lives by their course.

Exercise: Sun Meditation

For those of you who—like us—are not morning people, this exercise might be a bit difficult. (OK, more than a bit, let’s be honest.) It is, however, a worthwhile endeavor if you can do it even once a week or once a month. Rise a little bit, maybe ten minutes, before the actual dawn. Go outside, face east, light a stick of incense, pour out an offering, and light a candle, all in honor of Sunna’s approach from the east. If you are in an apartment, this can be done either in a window that faces east or in a local park. Sit comfortably and reach out with your senses, watching for her approach. As the darkness begins to recede (and this alone is magnificent to observe), reach up and welcome her. As she moves across the sky, feel/see/imagine that she is pouring down her energy into you. Feel it flowing into the crown of your head and running all the way down to your toes. With each inhalation, you are actually breathing in sunlight. Continue doing this until you feel that you are full of her energy and light, until you feel as though the crown of your head is overflowing. Then thank her and go about your day, refreshed and renewed, having been brought to energetic wakefulness in tandem with the Earth itself, under her powerful aegis.