Today I lit a candle and did a bit of galdr for a friend. Haggis sat on my hip the entire time and helped me chant the magic into being. I don’t often woo but more and more my practice is done with that wee, curly-haired kiddo in my arms.
He likes to light candles for Odin, Loki, and Brìghde. Often the candles are lit because he escapes the Thunder Dome – the area of our apartment blocked off by the couches and baby gate – and runs to where I keep our tea lights. He also enjoys helping me with our Torsheldg candles. Regardless of the day, the candle lighting process is always the same.
We grab a candle (or two…sometimes three), I put them in the holders I keep on my altar, and then I pick him up and hand him our Need Fire candle. He holds it (with my help. No worries, y’all, he’s not handling it on his own) while I light the wick and then help him light each candle in turn. I say a quick something to the deity in question, hail said deity, and then encourage Haggis to do the same. And he always does.
It’s sweet and meaningful in a way that I wasn’t prepared for and still don’t quite understand.
Today was more of the same. I asked if he wanted to light a candle and he made a gleeful beeline to the altar. He was clearly thrown when we didn’t stay there but, as always, rolled with Mama. He’s a rad wingman like that.
I’d like to say that he was patient and understanding of the time I took to carve a rune into the candle, but I try not to lie. He was irritated with my lack of candle lighting but, as I said before, he’s a rad wingman and he let me do my thing. As soon as the rune was carved into the candle he was on my hip and we were at the makeshift altar space I created on my entertainment center. As soon as I had the candle situated in the holder I handed Haggis the Need Fire and we were once again in familiar territory.
We light the Need Fire and then light the candle. I then chanted the rune – Jera – and pushed my intention at the flame. Every three Jera chants I asked if he could say Jera as well. Each time he responded with an “eh!” and a smile. The entire time his little brown eyes were focused on the dancing flame he’d “helped” me carve.
While I carved and chanted Jera I kept thinking that I should be using Gebo as well. I also kept dismissing the thought because it didn’t fit. It wasn’t until a few minutes after we were done woo-ing that I realized why Gebo was so heavily on my mind.
My father taught me to gladr. He taught me about the Gods, Ancestors, and Wights. He presented me to the Gods when I was an infant and he whispered their adventures into my ears when I was no older than Haggis.
Gebo ran through my mind because the magic I wove while resting my kid on my hip is the same magic my father taught me. The gift he gave me is now a gift I’m giving Haggis.
There are a lot of things I can say about my father and the majority of them are unflattering. Instead of focusing on the static that is his…practically everything, I’ll focus on this:
…gift with like gift should be paid. (Hvml 46)
My father honored our Ancestors when he gifted me with our faith. I am honoring our Ancestors and repaying his gift by passing it on to the next generation.
Every time I settle Haggis on my hip and help him light a candle I am tending the seeds my father planted in my life and teaching my kid to tend the seeds I am planting in his.
Maybe one day he will harvest these gifts and share them with someone he loves as well. Afterall gift for a gift
Hávamál Mama 