I would like to thank Edred for his insightful response.  I am still struggling to understand some of it.

Edred (and anyone else), could you further elaborate on how and why you equate Odin and Set?
What do you see to be the roles of philosophy and scholarship in approaching mystery?

Structuralism and Functionalism represent two fundamentally different ways of approaching the study ofthe humanities.  In this post I discuss both of these and also address some of the issues with "structural functionalism" and its relatives.  Towards the end I will offer my own synthesis.  I would note that structural functionalism is often a workable synthesis to some extent as well but I would prefer to detach the structuralist from functionalist approaches a bit more than that school of thought tends to do.

Edred Thorsson's Conclave talk (available here) was very interesting and thought provoking.  I highly recommend it.  However, it it he posed an important thought I disagree with, namely that there is Odin and Set are identical.  While this is the Yrmin Drighten's subjective understanding (and the thought was portrayed as such), and he is entitled to it, I want to explain why I don't personally see this sort of hard identification between gods across traditions to be very helpful.

UPDATE (11/11, 4:10pst):  Inserted word "personally" to paragraph above to help show that this is a matter of my own approach.  Added mention of tomorrow's post at end.

I recently read two books that came out of the Heremtic tradition (one from the Ogdoadic side and the other from the Rosicrucian side) and have concluded that the differences between these traditions are often more telling than the similarities.  The two books were "Astral Projection" by Denning and Phillips, and "The Tree of Life" by Israel Regardie.

A tree does not only live by its roots.  The leaves, reaching upwards towards the shining sun provide an important second form of nourishment.  In this final portion, I discuss why it is not enough to focus on the darkness below and why we should also grow tall and strong like trees.

An acorn falls from an oak.  A squirrel buries it in the earth and later forget about it.  An archetype is born for human growth.  In this episode I will explore the need for seeking the darkness as a first step in magical growth as well as how this changes as we grow.

Let's face it.  We all have issues and insecurities.  We all imagine that some things in life will be worse than they are, and it is all too easy to get bound by these fears.  The problem is that these fears are dangerous where magic is concerned.

One of the most transformative realizations I made when I was a Learner in the Rune Gild over a decade ago was the idea that the discussion of Yggdrassil in Voluspa was closely tied to the creation of the first man from the ash tree.  Leaving aside the legitimate problem with translating "embla" for the mment, my own view is that this is a gender-neutral metaphore.

Back in the mid to late 1990's, I had read an early manuscript version of Dr. Flowers' "Lords of the Left-Hand Path" and I discussed the ideas in it with my father, a Quaker mystic who considers himself to be "right-hand path."  The discussion became very interesting and left a lasting mark on my views on the subject.

In one of my talks on the day before the Moot,  mentioned Tom Lin as a balad as connecting roses and abortion.  This was in context of discussing thorns and childbirth.  This balad, from Scotland, has versions going back to the 13th century.

The balad tells the story of a girl who becomes pregnant by an elf (who used to be a human, we find out later).  It provides a great deal of food for thought and shows both typical Celtic and Norse influence merged in a number of ways (Christ is referred to as the one who "died on tree" for example, and this shows Norse influence).

This version is not so old (I believe it was collected in the 18th century) but many of the structures are believed to go back to the Middle Ages.  (The version I sang was an impromptu translation into American English.)

For the full lyrics of Child Balad 39A, click "read more."

I have sent my fate/timepaper off for initial form and content review.    Once I get feedback here, it will go through several rounds of proofreading, and eventually offered here.

My basic thesis is that the ancients saw "fate" as an allotment of life and luck, circumscribed by quantity and law.  These these are explored in the Eddas and Sagas and the structures are compared to similar views among Greeks, Celts, and Indians.

Two of the more important books that have shaped these views are:

"From Religion to Philosophy" by F. M. Cornford (1914) and
"The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki" (Jesse Byock translation). 

The paper is 33 pages long, single-spaced, 9x6.  It goes well beyond my previous work on the subject.

After four editorial rounds thus far, I have sent the Theory of Magic paper off for one more person to review it.  In the upcoming weeks, I expect it to appear here.  I wanted to take a moment to discuss my approach and how it differs from past approaches.

Most attempts at a theory of magic have occurred from one of two vantage points:  Either they represent a tradition's approach to magic, or they represent a fully exoteric analysis of the subject (i.e., they are approached from a vantage point outside the tradition).  The latter includes both current Semiotic theories of magic and even Frazer's approach.

What makes my approach different is that it is a structuralist, and even Semiotic, approach which attempts to put forth a theory of magical ritual which allows us to analyze the esoteric (i.e. inner-traditional) frameworks.

The basic thesis is that magical theories operate in a different way than logical theories and are based on a different set of psychodynamics.  These psychodynamics can be cultivated and provide a framework for understanding the observations of Frazer, Grambo, and others.

I expect this to be available in future weeks.  The paper is 17 pages long, single-spaced, 9x6.

The other day I was having a conversation with someone and he brought up the idea that Hagalaz is a seed.  At first I agreed with him pointing him to the rune poems, but as I have continued to look at these in the original anguages, I have concluded that the hail-as-seed formula is actually far more deeply rooted than I had expected to find.  Read below to find out why.

Hi all;

I will be delivering a lecture in Seattle, on Saturday, March 28, 4-6pm. The location is The Hugo House in Seattle (http://www.hugohouse.org/).

The cost will be $10 at the door.

This lecture will include a non-technical introduction to comparative mythology and linguistics, an overview of the historical nature of the Futharks, and a look at Norse cosmology, society, and time. Those who have my book will note that this material is supplemental to the introduction and first three chapters. Also while there will be a slight overlap compared to the last lecture, this overlap is small and limited to the history of the Futharks.

Among other elements, this lecture will cover:
1) The role of mythology in traditional cultures
2) An overview of comparative studies.
3) "Archetype" in mythological vs "Archetype" in psychological studies. How these are different and how they change how we approach the myths.
4) Trees and Humans in Indo-European comparative myth and iconography.
5) Trifunctional formula and the connections between social and cosmic order
6) Additional information regarding Norse concepts of fate and time.

The lecture will last approximately 2 hours including question and answer sessions, and attendees will be given recording options for the lectures free of charge.

Additional discussion may follow.  We have the room until 7pm.

This week, I have chosen the first two paragraphs on eihwaz.  This sums up the intro of the Yew tree as world tree.  One thing I seem to have removed from the book (and now question that decision) is that European Yew trees are mostly dioecious.  This means that a tree is usually either male or female and this would add an additional link both to the idea of the World Tree and to humans as well.

There is always the possibility of a second edition.

My new excerpt is up on Edred.net.  It is a short couple of paragraphs from The Serpent and the Eagle about Gullveig, Kvasir, gold, and goddesses.  These all address the role of gold in the mythology.  Listen to it and other excerpts at:

http://edred.net/community/members/16/audio.php

This week's excerpt explores the connection between Norns, Etins, and Thurses.  These concepts are ntroduced so that one can more clearly see the interplay between ideas of fate and time on one hand and magic and sovereingty on the other.

In my lecture segment covering initiation and the runes (the free segment), I discussed initiation themes and covered the sacrifice of Vikar by Starkad.  After listening to it, I realized it might be helpful to connect the dots a little and provide a few additional points.

I think the discovery of Dumezil's tripartite formula is one of the most important Indo-European-related discoveries ever.  However, at the same time, I am not at all convinced that Dumezil was right in the nature of scope of the formula.  Personally I think that Dumezil excluded some important, closely related structures from comparison and focused too much on this formula as the primary social model of the Indo-European peoples.  Nonetheless, the discovery is extremely important.

This may be the subject of a forthcoming paper by me, and it is not possible to adequately treat the subject in a blog post, but read more for some preliminary thoughts.

This week's excerpt "Conscious Action" is from chapter 2, "The Tripartite Universe."  The specific excerpt is a partial set of conclusions which arise from trying to fit magical theory into Dumezil's framework.

I have decided to post a short (approx 3 paragraph) excerpt from my book as read by me.  I have already started with a short excerpt introducing Serpent symbolism, and next week will provide some thoughts on conscious action and magic.  Each excerpt will be 1-1.5 min long and together all excerpts will help provide a sampling of the sorts of information and analysis found in the book.  Feedback on the excerpts is welcome.

Excerpts will be posted to my songs section and to the Serpent radio station.

I have been working on a replacement (or enhancement) to the Semiotic Theory of Magic.  Here are a few preliminary notes.

The semiotic theory of magic has a few shortcomings when it comes to addressing certain elements of magical ritual.  Everything is forced through a communication framework which, though a definite improvement on Frazer's model, still leaves a lot to be desired in some areas.

Ing wæs ærest | mid Eastdenum
gesewen secgun, | oþ hé siððan eft
ofer wæg gewát, | wæn æfter ran;
þus heardingas | þone hæle nemdon

There is an under-discussed meaning in this stanza.  Read below for more.

(UPDATE:  Due to software issues, I have replaced the stave with the name.  For some reason this system doesn't like Unicode too well).

Those who have listened to my full lecture (available under digital downloads, or at http://edred.net/community/members/16/vault.php?p=2) have heard a few things I have said about ALU.  This is really the tip of the iceberg, however, and I am in the process of delving into this subject more deeply.  "Ale"  apparently comes from a suffixed form of "ALU" which is unattested in the archeological corpus, but the connections between ale and the formula may still bear additional fruit.

I have decided to start a Rune-Gild hall in Washington State.  It is open to all Gild-members who are within reasonable travelling distance of Seattle Washington, though the primary physical presence is likely to be a ways from there.

Wednesmere Hall will provide a solid foundation for Rune-work and outreach in the Pacific Northwest.  In this forum I will not be describing the benefits to Gild-sibs.  However, here I can discuss what sorts of outreach I plan to non-Gild members of the Gild in the Pacific Northwest.  Read below to see what this means both to non-Members of the Gild in the Pacific Northwest.

One of the topics which perpetually occurs is whether Odhinn follows a right- or left-hand path.  After a great deal of thought I have come to the conclusion that the modern terms don't apply and that a different division would have been made by the older followers of this tradition.