July For Loki Using 30 Days Of Deity Devotion Prompts, Day 7 Names And Epithets

July for Loki using 30 Days of Deity Devotion prompts, Day 7 • Names and epithets

•Loptr: airy one or lofty one, from the Old Norse lopt (air, sky, or heavens). One of my favorite bynames for Loki, it underlines its bond to the element Air and I find it so fascinating!

•Gammleið: Vulture’s-Path, possibly a kenning for Air itself too, but even more intriguing when we think that Vulture is a scavenger animal, and Fire, Loki’s main element, is also a way to the Otherworld through the sacred ritual of cremation. So, is Loki a Death god too? In my experience, he totally is.

•Lóður: some see Lóður as a god on his own, but I agree with Dagulf Loptson’s analysis and think that’s another name of Loki. Lóður, with Óðinn and Hœnir, basically creates humanity: as they were walking together on a beach they came across two fallen trees, Askr (ash) and Embla (elm). Each god blessed them with a gift: Óðinn with önd (breath), Hœnir with óð (spirit or senses), Lóður with lá (blood?) and litu góða (good color). When Loki meets the Jötunn Þrymr, he calls him Lóður

•Vé: in Gylfaginning, Snorri replaces the names Hœnir and Lóður with the even more mysterious names Vili (will) and Vé (shrine). Assuming Lóður and Loki are the same, so should be Vé and Loki.

•Hveðrung, Roarer, probably a reference to his being a god of Fire.

•Inn Bundi Áss: The Bound God, referred to Loki’s punishment of being imprisoned and tied in a cave, waiting for Ragnarök.

•Frumkveða Flærðanna: Father of Lies, which is funny, because though Loki is of course cunning and smart, and more than capable of using lies to get out of trouble, his devotees know him for being, in fact, the god of truth. Harsh truths, too, but true all the same.

•Inn Slægi Áss: The Cunning God, what were we saying? Yes, he’s sly as a Fox, and brings the Æsir precious gifts thanks to this, not to mention how often he gets them out of trouble.

•Goða Dólgr: Enemy of Gods, one can’t blow the Nine Worlds to Helheim without being considered an enemy of these touchy Æsir.

•”Föðurbróður, vársinna ok sessa Óðins ok ása”, from Skáldskaparmál, Prose Edda: “brother, comrade, and table companion of Óðinn and the gods”. This pretty much explains itself.

Art: Loki as Gammleið by Dagulf Loptson

July for Loki using 30 Days of Deity Devotion prompts, Day 17 • How does this deity relate to other gods and other pantheons?

As a multi-pantheon pagan, honoring deities from Nordic and Celtic tradition, I can say they go along well - in my case, at least. Same for Loki and other deities from the Nordic pantheon, at least the ones I happened to celebrate outside his own family. I know some had different experiences, but that's so personal I think there's no other way to find out than try.

One thing I'll say, though. Each of us that is called to serve the deities, is called to do so in different ways. From some of us, one specific deity could claim a special kind of devotion. That's my case with Loki - obviously. He never asked me to celebrate him and him alone, but in my case he can be pretty exacting in terms of time and energy - which is lovely of course, feeling him present and near! Even so, I manage to dedicate some time to my other deities too, whenever I feel called to do so, and it's never been a problem. On the contrary, Loki is curious by nature, and often encourages us to explore beyond what we know.

Art: It's a Shapeshifter Thing by slysilver42 on DeviantArt

Or maybe you'll cry your eyes out.

Or maybe both.

why don't you listen to simon and garfunkel and maybe you'll calm down

July for Loki using 30 Days of Deity Devotion prompts, Day 10 • Offerings – historical and UPG

Only historical offering that I know of is from Telemark, Norway, where people used to throw the skin from boiled milk into the hearth fire as a sacrifice to Lokje (source: Dagulf Loptson, Playing with Fire).

In my personal experience, Loki enjoys lots of different offerings on his altar, and not only that! 

Friendly reminder: of course this post is not meant to be all-comprehensive, nor valid for every devotee! The best way to find out what he likes from you, is giving him offers yourself and listen.

UPG appreciated offerings from my practice: lava rocks; sulphur; obsidian, carnelian, fire opal/agate and dark/firey crystals in general; dandelions; Fox/Snake/Hawk/Spider-related "things" (jewels, bones, fur, skin, feathers…); horns/antlers; cinnamon; coffee; whiskey; rhum; candles; tobacco; sweets; chili pepper; smoked salmon; raw meat; phallic shaped stuff (anything does); red, orange, black, green things; music.

There are many other ways to make offerings to him though, in everyday life!

Easy example, don't kill spiders/flies/critters around our home, free them. Consider making a donation (or some volunteering) to a local animal shelter housing animals related to him. Help those in need, especially children and women. Help people having a hard time, even by "just" acknowledging their feelings and listening to them. Always be true to yourself, the best and possibly most difficult offering you can give Loki.

Pic by fistina-marina

July for Loki using 30 Days of Deity Devotion prompts, Day 20 • Art that reminds you of Loki

Very tough choice, as there is a lot of excellent art that reminds me of Loki, both dedicated to him or not. Among all the spectacular pieces out there, I chose this picture called Ginger Trickster by erebus-odora on DeviantArt for a particular reason. It’s the closest portrait of Loki as he appeared to me the first time he showed his face (at least that I can remember of), between 2011 and 2012. I was perfectly aware that it was him, though he chose Tom Hiddleston’s face. Yeah, yeah, silly fangirl projecting pagan fantasies on an actor, right? Wrong. Because when you’re in the presence of a deity, you can FEEL their energy, no matter what face they choose. Btw, later on I discovered, talking with other people too, that Loki does enjoy Tom’s portrayal of his MCU version, so I guess it’s no wonder that he chose a similar aspect to show up to me that night. And he had flowing red/cinnamon hair, bright yet dark green eyes, lips with scars from the accident with the Dwarves, just like this picture. So, of course my heart skips a beat everytime I see this wonderful piece of art. And I know there’s lots of prejudice, lots of people thinking that lokeans enjoying MCU Loki along with being devoted to the god Loki are just fakes, wannabes or whatever; this post is especially dedicated to them and to the people who were victims of such prejudice. If my experience is worth anything, and I hope it is (otherwise I don’t know why I’m writing this stuff out here), that’s just not true. Some people may daydream of having spiritual experiences when they’re just not, projecting their own fantasies into those unreal experiences, yes. But just because a deity shows up in a modern or even fancy aspect, it doesn’t mean the experience is faux. Each of us is the only one that knows which deity is talking to them, deep down inside we can feel it. And no one can tell others what is right or what is wrong, or how a deity should manifest or not. So, the moral of this post is, nevermind the bollocks. Which, incidentally, is a great lesson Loki loves to teach to his devotees.

Art: Ginger Trickster by erebus-odora on DeviantArt

July for Loki using 30 Days of Deity Devotion prompts, Day 9 • Common mistakes about Loki

Countless. So here are just a few I've heard myself.

•He's evil, "the Norse Satan" (as if Satan was originally evil himself, but that's another story). False. No deity is good or evil, but I guess it's easier to separate rather than consider the whole of reality.

•He's the bad boy of Ásgarðr, rebel without a cause, always messing around. False. He definitely knows how to create Chaos, and enjoys it from time to time, but he mostly loves to travel the Nine Worlds and take good care of his family and his people.

•He's dangerous to "work with". May be true, it wholly depends on your attitude - but isn't that so for any spirit/entity/deity?

•He will destroy your life. False. He will destroy what needs to be burnt, only to let what really matters grow free. That may include a huge part of the false truths you built around and for yourself. but would you rather live in constant denial of who you are?

•He will lie to you. Absolutely false. He will tear you apart with the hardest truths you never had the courage to face, he'll guide you and show you how to deal with them, and you'll be finally free.

•His devotees are dangerous people. Well. If I may say so myself. Just joking! Us lokeans generally tend to be respectful and inclusive people. You can always find the occasional arsehole, as everywher; but maybe because most of us experienced hard times in our lives, we tend to be compassionate towards others. Of course, Loki also teaches us not to take bullshit from anyone, so if you consider growing tired of your unfairness being a bad person, then yes, a lokean would probably very bad for you.

Art: Loki is scheming the murder of Baldr by joan789 on DeviantArt