Neolithic Shamanism: Spirit Work in the Norse Tradition - Raven Kaldera 2012
Alder (Alnus glutinosa)
The Green World: Plants
Raven: I’m always a little wary of going to the Alder Man, because unlike other Greenwights, who simply make the connection or not, the Alder Man is likely to jump out and suddenly be nose to nose with you, his face contorted and that mad gleam in his eyes. I know the drill: I’m supposed to snarl right back. That’s because he likes me now. If I’d done that in the beginning, it would not have gone well for me. The Alder Man does not give out his power without great sacrifice. He asks a price, and it is always steep, usually a test of your mettle. The King of the Rivers is a powerful ally, but he reminds me of why shamanic work is dangerous, every time.
Galina: I love the Alder Man dearly and only wish I had more cause to seek him out. He first came to me when I was learning the gifts of fire, and he helped me through a fairly intense and grueling ordeal. As a spirit, he is a deeply associated with the Lord of Muspelheim, with the World of Fire, and with the power of fire itself. He’s gaunt, severe, no-nonsense, dangerous, and harsh. He is scarred with tattoos and other markings, and his hair and eyes are dark. I have found him a powerful and worthy ally. He has helped me begin to master the crafts of fire and to understand not only its power but its nature. He’s a hard teacher but delights in those students who master what he has to teach. He demands both respect and a certain spirit. Neither the passive-aggressive nor the brazen and impudent need apply.
The Alder spirit has a long history in northern Europe, and in some places he was worshiped as a god. Among the reindeer-herding Saami people, he was known as Leabolmmai or Liejbalmaj, the Alder Man who brought game to hunters. He was said to be the master of animals, and it is unclear whether he is another god of hunting who is associated with the alder tree or the actual Alder tree spirit taking on a local hunting god’s job. The first element in his name, liejp, refers to both the red sap of the alder tree (a sacred substance that was used to paint symbols on shaman drums and protect people from danger from ritual objects) and to menstrual blood. The symbolic power of the menstrual-blood man takes on more significance when we remember that alder was the tree of Loki, the ergi (gender-transgressive) shapeshifter god among the Norse. (Galina feels that menstrual blood is almost useless in magic, and certainly useless as a substance with which to feed allies, but that it does have some use symbolically in connecting to one’s female ancestors, if one is a woman, and in certain fertility charms. It’s certainly symbolic of the immense ritual power of taboo, and it can, at times, be used to tap in to this.) Leabolmmai was said to be the bitter enemy of Juoksahkka, the bow-wielding goddess of hunting, as it was their job to choose the sex of the unborn child, and they often disagreed over what that ought to be.
The alder’s red sap was used as a dye for clothes and the painted shaman drums, and was spat through a ring by Saami women into the faces of hunters who returned from killing a bear; this neutralized the bear energy and made it safe for them to come into their homes. It was used by the Celts to paint the faces of sacred kings about to be sacrificed. Alder produces two additional dye colors that were also used—green from the flowers and cinnamon brown from the twigs—and as such was triply sacred. The green dye was used on items to work with the faeries, and the brown to wrap things meant to be kept secret. The dyes symbolize three of the four elements—Fire, Water, and Earth.
Alder trees are native to all of Europe. An alder grove is actually one enormous tree that spreads by root runners; the entire grove is one entity. Alder is the tree of Fearn, the fourth Celtic tree month; in British folklore he is known as the King of the Rivers, with the Willow as his queen, due to the tree’s love for marshy land and riverbanks. In Germany, the Erlekonig, or Alder King, was a faery chieftain who tended to steal children. The inner bark was supposedly used in the flying potions of witches, but as it has no discernable hallucinogenic effect (and quickly induces vomiting), we must assume that they were being affected directly by the Alder spirit, through some kind of alliance. Alder has a long relationship with the element of Fire, as it makes the best charcoal. The tree was once a mainstay in smelting ore.
The Alder Man is mysterious and a little scary. He appeared to us independently as a thin, angular man, pale parchment skin stretched over the odd-shaped bones of his face, with piercing red eyes. His chin and nose and forehead protrude, almost like a Man in the Moon face. He dresses in fur skins and is tattooed (or painted, neither of us could tell) with glyphs and patterns the color of red ochre; bone earrings hang from his lobes. A knife and a bow hang on his back, and he carries a little bowl of red paint with which he touched Raven, still with that wide-eyed half-crazy stare. “Blood and Fire,” he said. He speaks in short cryptic phrases like that, and you have to interpret what he means as if it was an oracle. Before Galina’s fire ordeal, he appeared in a very similar way to her with words about Fire and Earth. He is very conscious of the fact that he is a sacred tree, and he becomes violent if disrespected.
The Alder Man has three great powers, like his dyes. He can help you connect with animal spirits, as his red side offers; this is the gift of the hunter and tracker. He can help you connect with the faeries, as his green side offers. He can help keep you hidden and secret—silent and unseen when your enemies arrive, able to move in and out of shadows discreetly—as his brown side offers. However, he will give only one of these gifts to any single person, so you must decide which you want.
Exercise: Singing Alder
If you dare, find an alder tree and sit next to it. Don’t sit under it, as you haven’t been given permission yet. Sing to him—he likes it when you put your proposition in song. Sing about your positive qualities and why he should work with you. Sing to him about the bargain you want from him, the ways you will put that gift to use, and how willing you are to make a sacrifice. After you have finished singing, close your eyes and breathe, and see if he responds. If he doesn’t, leave quickly.
If you manage to make a deal with him—meaning that you are both brave and lucky—it would be best if you could manage to take home a small part of the tree that renders the dye corresponding to your bargain. Make a dye of it and dye a strip of cloth, which you can carry when you are doing the act that requires his aid.