LIBRARY
Varg Vikernes
"Reflections on European Mythology and Polytheism" 2015
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The Sacred Marriage
One thing that is completely absent from almost all books about European polytheism is a proper description and understanding of something as essential and widely practised as the sacred marriage; the marriage between the man and his deity, between women and gods, between men and goddesses. The Judeo-Christians failed to destroy this practice in Europe, but they - like they do with all things they are in contact with - perverted it thoroughly and made it a part of Judeo-Christianity; they had men and women become monks, priests and nuns, and had the latter «marry» the Hebrew «god». What had been a healthy practice was turned into a genocidal tool for the Judeo-Christians, enabling them to ensure that the most well-meaning, peaceful, kind and loving of Europeans didn't procreate.
The sacred marriage, in Greek called hieros gamos (ἱερός γάμος), stems from the Stone Age, when society was ruled by a king found through careful selection, married to a queen found through a no less careful selection. The most beautiful girls came together and competed in a series of contests, known in Scandinavia as brudhlaup («weddings», direct translation is «bride-races»); the contests were tests of skill (e.g. who can make the best thread from bog cotton?), patience (e.g. who can finish sewing a shirt before Sunset?), persistence (e.g. who can sew for hours without rest and finish it without crying?) and kindness (e.g. who will help her opponents?). They had to do this without bleeding (e.g. by not hurting themselves with the needle, causing their finger to bleed), and all those who succeeded were eligible as May Queens.
The May Queen was then either chosen by lottery (i.e. the spirits picked the one they found best for the task) or by the winner of the May contests for men, who would then hand an apple to the one he thought was the most pretty of them all.
The men aspiring for the position as May King would first of all have to climb a sacred tree (usually an oak) and find a sacred bough (usually a mistletoe) and then bring this to the arena where they were to participate in a race for men. This was done to make the (last year's) May King vulnerable to them; he was a god himself so he was invulnerable to all who didn't bring a mistletoe; the life force of the May King was stored in the sacred bough. The men participated in all sorts of contests; archery, running, jumping, swimming, climbing, spear throwing, axe throwing, riding, ring games (i.e. hitting a ring hanging from a tree with a spear, a sling stone or a rock, often [in later times] with a lance from horseback), wrestling and boxing. But they also had word games, where the men had to e, g. make the funniest poem (and make the May Queen laugh), they had to gather honey, find fresh water, find the largest pearl in a seashell on the bottom of the sea, solve riddles, make fire, catch fish, hunt game and so forth.
We know of all these contests from the Scandinavian fairy tales, and also from the French and German fairy tales gathered by the Grimm brothers, but of course the true meaning of these have been hidden, not by Judeo-Christians, but by the European polytheists who did this to ensure their survival in a world where the Judeo-Christians destroyed everything European. Now that you have the key to understanding these wonderful fairy tales I suggest to visit that world again. You will be amazed by just how much you understand now, just by reading this far in one single post by a European polytheist. Like I have said before; you only need one single light to banish the Judeo-Christian darkness and be able to see.
The man ending up as the May King was the strongest and most intelligent of them all! He was a real man, a Herakles (Gr. "the honour of the chosen"), but the May Queen was just a little girl, not even of age; she was not allowed to bleed, from her finger, when participating in the bride-races, but she would only be allowed to participate at all in the bride-races if she hadn't yet had her first menstruation. She would also lose her role as a May Queen if she bled for any reason, including when she had her first menstruation.
The May Queen was herself a Goddess; the youthful health and beauty of nature incarnate, she was a vanir ("beautiful"); Venus, Aphrodite, Freyja, Aine, Shieba, et cetera. She was to be protected at all cost, and who would be better for this than the best man of them all? He married her, in a sacred marriage, and his task was to protect her from the ills of the world. It was a purely symbolic marriage, with no marital rights, and no physical intimacy between the May King and the May Queen. These two most beautiful of the deities, these vanir, were to rule society until the next bride-race, when they could either keep their titles or hand them over to someone better than them.
The May Queen - when she bled for the first time - returned to being just another normal (albeit very beautiful) young woman, who eventually married a lucky man and probably had lovely children with him. She returned to being an ordinary âss ("spirit", pl. æsir) again.
This was not the only sacred marriage in the European society though. The bard (skâld/skâldmær), the vateis (gôði/gyðja) and the druid (drôttinn/drôttning), or if you like the travelling priest/priestess, the priest/priestess and the priest-king/queen respectively also married their deities. The best known of these are of course the Bacchantes and the Maenads, but actually all the priests and priestesses did. They became one with their deities, after a sacred (symbolic) marriage. They came under the protection of a god or goddess just like the May Queen came under the protection of the May King. They were safe from all harm...
When they became of age, usually after 10 years in service for their deity, around age 17-18 (for both boys and girls) they would leave the protection of their deity and instead marry, and - unlike the life-denying Catholic monks, priests and nuns - they would become useful citizens and have children, just like everybody else.
The tradition of letting the young do service to a deity was not just religious education for that individual, it was also a way for the society to produce true gods and goddesses, idols for the others, ideals, heroes and heroines, role models. They were handpicked from the masses; only the most beautiful (healthy) girls and the strongest and wisest boys were given this honour, and it was indeed an honour to serve a deity! To marry a deity!
Now, Judeo-Christianity arrived, but this romantic and beautiful tradition didn't go away, and it did not only take form of the genocidal plan to not allow priests, monks and nuns to procreate. We also know this European tradition as it developed into what became known as Chivalry. Yes, the customs and behaviour of European warriors became known as Chivalry and their contests turned into Knight Tournaments. All of this was a continuation of European polytheism. Rather than give an apple to the girl they found most beautiful they rode elegantly over to the stand and lowered their lances to pick the noble girl they would dedicate their (potential) victory to, and she would - if she accepted his proposal - tie her handkerchief to the lance. He would then, before the joust, untie the handkerchief and tie it to his sleeve instead. And from thence comes the English saying; "to carry your heart on your sleeve"; to openly show your feelings. To openly show what girl you find the most beautiful. There was no longer any religious sacred marriage between the lucky knight and his favourite. The Judeo-Christians had successfully taken that away from them.
The European gallantry survived for almost 2 000 years. It began to fade, and it faded rapidly in the XIXth century, but two great wars provoked by the Judeo-Christians in the XXth century ended it all, and the European spirit was with some exceptions here and there replaced by perverse and hyper-sexual Judeo-Christian mentality, propagated heavily by their entertainment industry and the news media. The probably only thing modern soldiers have left from this European gallantry is the way they greet each other, holding their right hand to their hats. This was originally done by the knights to lift their visors when they met other knights, to show them their faces, to show who they were (behind all that armour). Every man had the right to know whom he was up against; who am I killing? Who is killing me?
The sacred marriage, in Greek called hieros gamos (ἱερός γάμος), stems from the Stone Age, when society was ruled by a king found through careful selection, married to a queen found through a no less careful selection. The most beautiful girls came together and competed in a series of contests, known in Scandinavia as brudhlaup («weddings», direct translation is «bride-races»); the contests were tests of skill (e.g. who can make the best thread from bog cotton?), patience (e.g. who can finish sewing a shirt before Sunset?), persistence (e.g. who can sew for hours without rest and finish it without crying?) and kindness (e.g. who will help her opponents?). They had to do this without bleeding (e.g. by not hurting themselves with the needle, causing their finger to bleed), and all those who succeeded were eligible as May Queens.
The May Queen was then either chosen by lottery (i.e. the spirits picked the one they found best for the task) or by the winner of the May contests for men, who would then hand an apple to the one he thought was the most pretty of them all.
The men aspiring for the position as May King would first of all have to climb a sacred tree (usually an oak) and find a sacred bough (usually a mistletoe) and then bring this to the arena where they were to participate in a race for men. This was done to make the (last year's) May King vulnerable to them; he was a god himself so he was invulnerable to all who didn't bring a mistletoe; the life force of the May King was stored in the sacred bough. The men participated in all sorts of contests; archery, running, jumping, swimming, climbing, spear throwing, axe throwing, riding, ring games (i.e. hitting a ring hanging from a tree with a spear, a sling stone or a rock, often [in later times] with a lance from horseback), wrestling and boxing. But they also had word games, where the men had to e, g. make the funniest poem (and make the May Queen laugh), they had to gather honey, find fresh water, find the largest pearl in a seashell on the bottom of the sea, solve riddles, make fire, catch fish, hunt game and so forth.
We know of all these contests from the Scandinavian fairy tales, and also from the French and German fairy tales gathered by the Grimm brothers, but of course the true meaning of these have been hidden, not by Judeo-Christians, but by the European polytheists who did this to ensure their survival in a world where the Judeo-Christians destroyed everything European. Now that you have the key to understanding these wonderful fairy tales I suggest to visit that world again. You will be amazed by just how much you understand now, just by reading this far in one single post by a European polytheist. Like I have said before; you only need one single light to banish the Judeo-Christian darkness and be able to see.
The man ending up as the May King was the strongest and most intelligent of them all! He was a real man, a Herakles (Gr. "the honour of the chosen"), but the May Queen was just a little girl, not even of age; she was not allowed to bleed, from her finger, when participating in the bride-races, but she would only be allowed to participate at all in the bride-races if she hadn't yet had her first menstruation. She would also lose her role as a May Queen if she bled for any reason, including when she had her first menstruation.
The May Queen was herself a Goddess; the youthful health and beauty of nature incarnate, she was a vanir ("beautiful"); Venus, Aphrodite, Freyja, Aine, Shieba, et cetera. She was to be protected at all cost, and who would be better for this than the best man of them all? He married her, in a sacred marriage, and his task was to protect her from the ills of the world. It was a purely symbolic marriage, with no marital rights, and no physical intimacy between the May King and the May Queen. These two most beautiful of the deities, these vanir, were to rule society until the next bride-race, when they could either keep their titles or hand them over to someone better than them.
The May Queen - when she bled for the first time - returned to being just another normal (albeit very beautiful) young woman, who eventually married a lucky man and probably had lovely children with him. She returned to being an ordinary âss ("spirit", pl. æsir) again.
This was not the only sacred marriage in the European society though. The bard (skâld/skâldmær), the vateis (gôði/gyðja) and the druid (drôttinn/drôttning), or if you like the travelling priest/priestess, the priest/priestess and the priest-king/queen respectively also married their deities. The best known of these are of course the Bacchantes and the Maenads, but actually all the priests and priestesses did. They became one with their deities, after a sacred (symbolic) marriage. They came under the protection of a god or goddess just like the May Queen came under the protection of the May King. They were safe from all harm...
When they became of age, usually after 10 years in service for their deity, around age 17-18 (for both boys and girls) they would leave the protection of their deity and instead marry, and - unlike the life-denying Catholic monks, priests and nuns - they would become useful citizens and have children, just like everybody else.
The tradition of letting the young do service to a deity was not just religious education for that individual, it was also a way for the society to produce true gods and goddesses, idols for the others, ideals, heroes and heroines, role models. They were handpicked from the masses; only the most beautiful (healthy) girls and the strongest and wisest boys were given this honour, and it was indeed an honour to serve a deity! To marry a deity!
Now, Judeo-Christianity arrived, but this romantic and beautiful tradition didn't go away, and it did not only take form of the genocidal plan to not allow priests, monks and nuns to procreate. We also know this European tradition as it developed into what became known as Chivalry. Yes, the customs and behaviour of European warriors became known as Chivalry and their contests turned into Knight Tournaments. All of this was a continuation of European polytheism. Rather than give an apple to the girl they found most beautiful they rode elegantly over to the stand and lowered their lances to pick the noble girl they would dedicate their (potential) victory to, and she would - if she accepted his proposal - tie her handkerchief to the lance. He would then, before the joust, untie the handkerchief and tie it to his sleeve instead. And from thence comes the English saying; "to carry your heart on your sleeve"; to openly show your feelings. To openly show what girl you find the most beautiful. There was no longer any religious sacred marriage between the lucky knight and his favourite. The Judeo-Christians had successfully taken that away from them.
The European gallantry survived for almost 2 000 years. It began to fade, and it faded rapidly in the XIXth century, but two great wars provoked by the Judeo-Christians in the XXth century ended it all, and the European spirit was with some exceptions here and there replaced by perverse and hyper-sexual Judeo-Christian mentality, propagated heavily by their entertainment industry and the news media. The probably only thing modern soldiers have left from this European gallantry is the way they greet each other, holding their right hand to their hats. This was originally done by the knights to lift their visors when they met other knights, to show them their faces, to show who they were (behind all that armour). Every man had the right to know whom he was up against; who am I killing? Who is killing me?
Varg Vikernes