Exploring the Nine Realms

This is a copy of a drawing from
Norse Myths by the Delauires

In this drawing, Odin looks so much like St Michael. I only realised this when i started drawing it. Many years ago - well four years now! I drew St Michael on the Class One board. He was in the almost same pose and the horse was doing the almost same thing.

Odin is one of the Aesirs. I still have not figured out if the Aesirs are Archangels or Angels - or something in between. Schwarz says they are Archangels which gave up their Archangelic status to be angels and as a result they have gained superpowers - ie powers which are extra to their angelic status. But they aren't quite archangels. It is interesting - Odin also has Christlike qualities - for instance, he hangs on the World Tree Yggsdrassil and he sacrifices himself to himself - it is a form of initiation to gain knowledge. He gives his eye so he can read the future.

The Norse cosmology

In Class Four they start to learn geography - this is the first map i have given them - a map of the world of the Norse Myths. It is all held together by the World Tree, which is also a description of the unseen universe - the toroidal form which supports all life. It is how life moves - it is the natural flow of life. Once i had this conversation with a friend who is a materialist zoologist. I find this mindset so interesting - basically despite being completely entranced by the natural world, this perspective says there is nothing beyond that which is physical. Anyway, i said i loved art because it helped me make sense of the natural world and in doing so it made life richer. The come back was, why would you need art? Then i said, well for instance, look at a tree - we were driving down a road in Donegal and there were lots of trees. I said, the tree is such an archetype. It has been with us and lived in our imaginations for such a long time. When i see a tree, i don't just see the tree, i see the Tau - the cross, that connection the tree makes between heaven and earth, the World Tree which is so much part of many religions, i see the poetry of the tree, i think of Blake saying that he passed a tree and each leaf was an angel, i think of the tree which blossomed in the Selfish Giant... the tree is more than a tree because it is a tree. That is magical. This person replied - well, i don't need all that - i just see a tree.

I felt so deflated. Will he never understand? No, clearly not.

Anyway, the World Tree - how can anyone read Norse mythology and not come away completely smitten with this description of our entire consciousness described as and inscribed in the World Tree? The description of the Tree is captivating. It gives life, it suffers, it shudders and groans, it reaches into the furthest heavens and the deepest Hel, literally. It shelters the Well of Memory and at its base lives the Three Norns, the women who can see into the future. When i first read its description it was as if something lit up inside me - i could SEE the world tree. I could see the little squirrel that ran up and down, carrying gossip between the dragon to the hawk. The four deer which nibbled at its leaves. It could have been a description of cell life. It was so ridiculously beautiful and accurate.

Anyway... i can't sleep because of jetlag, because i am excited about class and because i am completely nervous. Today we went to Little Wing. I had literally spent the entire day working at the school, putting the final touches to the classroom. I love the work i do. Love it. It fills me with wonder.

So, i am going to do more preparing now - it never ends....