Weaving from the fog of secrecy

Deciphering the hidden messages
in Old Norse Myths

The Seed of Yggdrasil - deciphering the hidden messages in Old Norse Myths by Maria Kvilhaug, is a book long awaited by Mythology fans, Pagans seeking basis for ritual, and by the general academic historical society interested in the roots of Northern and Western culture.

'1643 AD: The bishop of Iceland, Brynjolv Sveinsson, received an ancient leather manuscript already 500 years old. It had been hidden away for hundreds of years, from the Church authorities. Brynjolv realized that a long lost ancestral treasure had been recovered. Ancient legends and myths speak out from the leathery pages through the almost forgotten language of poetical metaphors.'

This is a fresh and exciting view on a very original subject and an authoritative peeling back of the layers of secrecy and time.

In her first dissertation The Lady with the Mead, Kvilhaug explored the fundamental thematic structure of several Edda poems rendering what could only be explained as a Pagan initiation ritual.

Such a discovery challenges any notion held by some critics that the Old Norse myths simply reflect the time in which they were written down, which was well after Christianity was introduced.
The discovery of the ritual structure of the myths and the detailed accounts of the various stages of the ritual experience, strongly suggests that the myths do in fact reflect Pagan religious practices.
Due out in Autumn, 2012, this much awaited book can be pre-ordered now through Amazon

- Whyte Tracks ApS, Denmark

Author Maria Kvilhaug

 M Kvilhaug talks about THE SEED OF YGGDRASIL

Mystery in land of the long white fog.

Fiction Fog: a viking saga down under.

'...the standard gothic novel elements are twisted in unexpected ways by the New Zealand setting. An apparently fragile and naïve young heroine shows her Viking blood as she fights a modern-day villain and the draughty old mansion with ghostly noises helps her recover her past. Juxtaposing the exotic setting against familiar daily routines, Kat George creates a fascinating world.'

- The Chronicle, Copenhagen

Strange fragrance of the exotic Passion Magnolia lingers into Autumn, and haunts the pages of this saga set in a Danish immigrant town in New Zealand.

'When a tree native to the northern hemisphere is uprooted and transplanted in the south, adaptations to the new environment can result in strange genetic responses, such as found in the Passion Magnolia - a heavily fragrant, claret-red flower that blooms late into the summer, in New Zealand. A rare and exotic variety, examples occasionally may be discovered hidden away in river valleys at higher altitudes.

The same could be said of northerners emigrating south to settle in the mountains and secluded valleys of the Antipodes.'

 - Scent of Summer Magnolia

Kat George

‘Everyone else smelled like dust and sweat and the lanoline from the wool of the sheep, but Kathy smelled like the strange, red magnolia flowers in the hot summer air, down beside the river. Kathy smelled like magic.’  

About the author:
Kat George grew up on a farm run by three generations of Danish women in New Zealand. Leaving home at 16, she travelled the world, passing through cities and lives, collecting stories and picking up degrees in psychology and literature along the way. She has been rich and owned houses and fast cars, and has been poor, living on the street - then to resurrect once more as a journalist and author. George currently resides in northern europe and is studying runic scripts and early northern belief systems.

Fog and Fire

For Writers at Whyte Tracks

The short fog-knit.
Web logs are Sagas by any other name. Short stories are like 'blogs but are more elegant, more entertaining, developed with more craft and art. The sort of art that comes from a human tradition of story telling 'threading' back to the discovery of fire, when humankind first warmed themselves around the miracle of a living flame and told each other about how they discovered this fire. Then they told about their day, as they threw another log on the fire - hence the first 'logs' were also created.

Then of course the stories became wilder and more exaggerated and bragging built heroes amongst the folk. The sagas of the North were repeated at the grand gatherings down through the centuries, and we still all love a good saga. Witness the popularity of TV sagas such as Desperate Housewives, East Enders, and other gossip-hits. Story telling is at the base and root of our being, whatever our particular heriditary culture. We all tell the stories of our ancestors, repeat jokes we heard, or tell about something funny that happened on the way to the office; we all in our own way, 'log' - throwing logs on the fire.
And fire is the magic word. Stories 'fire' our imagination, with which we become immortal. Its in the blood - this fire that stirs our passion, lights up our emotions. In the old sagas, it was told that Odin and his brothers Vili and Vin found two beautiful trees growing beside the river. They reminded them of young gods, yet sadly were trapped in their wooden form, their short lives. Vili gave them bone, to alter and perfect their appearance, Vin gave muscle so they could break free and walk. Odin gave them breath, so they could speak and laugh, and enjoy the life span of their new forms. He gave them mortality. But Loki, ancient dark trickster and original Time Lord, gave them blood, with a bolt of fire. He gave them passion, and that is eternal. It is this passion for life which makes us gather at the hearth to tell the tales.
Of course in those days there wasn't much time to sit around the fire gossiping, mortals had to fight with tooth and nail for survival in the wild. There was only time enough for short stories. And similarly today's fast pace of life is perfectly suited to the short sharp fiction of the short story; we also don't have time to sit around the fire for a lengthy tale any more, or a heavily detailed novel. It has always surprised me that the short story is much maligned in the book business, until now that is. Now we have 'blogs. It's a primal human urge to 'log' and if the book making industry doesn't provide, the people will do it for themselves.
A good story teller has always been in high demand. From the days of the Druids to Court Jesters and mediaeval troubadours, right up until the age of industrialization, one could arrive in a public place as a stranger and tell a tale for one's supper, and be handsomely rewarded. As Loki knew, power of immortality is in the blood that runs passionately. And fire and passion are what makes a short story great.We all need a short sharp fiction fix. Read one today. Tell your best friend a tale tonight, and throw another log on the fire.

Sparkling through fogs of Time

isbn 9788792632005

The Naiad Legends.
Book one of 8 sagas for children, Why The Naiads Dance is printed in Danish, English and Dutch.

Quirky illustrations and a heart-warming series based on traditional Northern legends, retold for children. The series introduces the gods behind the names of the weekdays through the eyes of tiny, sparkly water-sprites. In book one, enchanting Naiad sisters Scarlett and Rosy discover who they are in the world of the Sagas.
Story books for children, 7 - 12 years. (and for grown-ups who are young at heart)

The Naiads, known in mythology variously as will-o-wisps, tricksy and dangerous in Moor-land mists, to the glamorous sirens of the waterways luring soldiers to ruin in the south. In Saga-Whyte's Hvorfor najaderne danser, book one finds the naiads on a quest to The Source to discover who they are and what is their place and purpose in the general scheme of things.

Book two - Naiads discover Sunni-day is due out by Jule-tide, 2012.

Review: 

". . . Saga-Whyte is more than just a gifted storyteller; she can write, draw, captivate, and most of all enchant. Her book might not quite have you believing in magic; it will, however, make you believe in the power of life itself." 

- Anne Paris-Gerrity, Amsterdam

Buy the English version on Amazon 

Little green Broomstick sweeps fog!

Beyond the Broomstick - Morgana Sythove

". . . Witchcraft . . is an old yet vibrant Tradition, and has grown to adapt to the changing times. There is a lot beyond the broomstick, and Morgana Sythove does a great job presenting some of it."

(review -Yuri Robbers)

  

The little green book, Beyond the Broomstick, is quietly becoming a best seller, world-wide. Originally compiled as a series of High Priestess Morgana's lectures for Wiccan initiates in Holland in 1982, the first printing was in Dutch. The articles were subsequently translated back into English and produced in book form in 2007 as a glimpse beyond popular images of witchraft to the philosophies of Wicca. Today Beyond the Broomstick can be read in Hungarian, Dutch, Spanish and will soon be found in Polish and German bookstores. An Italian edition is also in the planning.

 

Morgana says:

"It is always strange seeing your own work in translation. You are never quite sure if the translator has understood your thoughts and insights. But judging the reactions at the presentation of "Más allá de la Escoba" in Madrid at the bookshop Bohindra (Dec 7, 2011) it is clear that translator Daniel Expósito Romero, has made a wonderful contribution.The launch and presentation was lively and the audience receptive. I certainly enjoyed the evening and talking with the Spanish pagans ... and of course, signing my book was a good feeling!"

Beyond the Broomstick can be found in all good bookstores and here on Amazon.

An adept at knitting fog:



Buddhist Wisdom straight from the dogs mouth in 'The Dog's Tale, a life in the Buda Hills'. Well-known lecturer, playwright and author, Rani Drew, has collated a series of episodes in a dogs life, compiled during her time in Budapest during the third Balkan war (1991-2001). Lecturing at the University of Pécs in Hungary, she taught theatre workshops, English literature, psychoanalysis and gender studies.

Drews British-Indian writing style delights and invites one to read on:

‘‘I think therefore I am’
became the foundation of European humanism. If you reverse this paradigm to ‘I am, therefore I think’, it becomes perfectly valid for all beings. Now don’t get me wrong when I use the word ‘humanism’ for non-humans. I do not intend to give up my animal nature, but having lived in proximity with human beings, I’m afraid I have developed - for better or worse - a desire to articulate my perception of this world,in a non-animal way.’

With a touch of Kafka, the stories of life seen through the eyes of Béla, a rescued dog in Budapest, are warm, sensitive and elegantly ironic. Well worth the read for animal lovers and students of philosophy alike. You will never look at a dog in the same way again.

Now featuring at Waterstones UK, and here on Amazon

Afiliated:
Last Chance Animal Rescue

Dog Pages

Animal Shelter USA