Happy Fourth of July to all my American readers.
One of the things that I like about this particular time of year is the abundance of local celebrations with fireworks. I love fireworks (something I share with my young god-daughter who can’t get enough of them). It was actually my god-daughter who first got me to associate fireworks and sparklers with Loki. I’ve since found that I’m not the only Lokean to ascribe to Him this particular attribution.
It sounds corny, I know, but there’s an element of the unexpected with the juxtaposition of sound and brilliant colors, fire, (explosives hah!), and illumination inherent in fireworks that somehow does call Loki to mind for some of us. Also, on day two of this project, I talked about the concept of pied beauty (or actually shared a poem of that name) with respect to Loki. I see that: a quixotic beauty, a shimmering, ephemeral blaze of light, explosions like synapses firing too many and too quickly to count….and the colors, and childlike joy that the experience can evoke, the jump of the heart at the noise all of that is something that calls Him to mind, that becomes a visual metaphor for a very specific aspect of His nature…you see how easy it is to find simple connections, reminders, touchstones of and to our Gods in the everyday? Once a connection is well and truly made with one of our Holy Powers, once veneration, adoration, honoring, and love become ingrained habits as automatically satisfying and sought out as breathing, it changes the way one looks at the entire world. Every micron, every scrap of fabric, every flower, every plant, every tree, every building, toy, song, billboard, the flashing panoply of words and rhythms that make up our everyday world…all become potential conduits for the Gods. That is, I think, a magnificent thing, a blessing, and perhaps the most awesome mystery of all.
Me? I see Loki in fireworks, and share such celebrations with Him, and occasionally on hot summer nights, hold rituals to honor Loki in which we light sparklers and other types of fireworks, and set the inky darkness on fire in honor of Him. It’s informal. It’s fun; and once in awhile it doesn’t hurt to call the Gods with laughter and joy.
Hail Loki,
God of unexpected joy,
of innocent and not so innocent pleasures,
Who brings delight to the heart,
laughter to the lips,
and freedom to the often tight fetters
of our minds.
Ever and always will I praise You.
Like a whirlwind adoration shall flow
from every hidden cavern of my heart
for You.
I shall revel in it,
and give myself to its dance.
Like wildfire,
I yearn for You,
as the dry and brittle tinder
of an overgrown wood
yearns for the cleansing kiss
of flame.
Like the pounding roar of the ocean’s waters,
ever shall I batter away
at the rocky shoals of my fears
that keep me from racing with You
boldly, like hungry falcons on the wing,
into the upward swell of joy
that only You, know so well how to tease
out of the untilled soil of our hearts.
For You, Loki,
I will set my world on fire,
and take delight
in the beauty of its colors.
One of the things that I like about this particular time of year is the abundance of local celebrations with fireworks. I love fireworks (something I share with my young god-daughter who can’t get enough of them). It was actually my god-daughter who first got me to associate fireworks and sparklers with Loki. I’ve since found that I’m not the only Lokean to ascribe to Him this particular attribution.
It sounds corny, I know, but there’s an element of the unexpected with the juxtaposition of sound and brilliant colors, fire, (explosives hah!), and illumination inherent in fireworks that somehow does call Loki to mind for some of us. Also, on day two of this project, I talked about the concept of pied beauty (or actually shared a poem of that name) with respect to Loki. I see that: a quixotic beauty, a shimmering, ephemeral blaze of light, explosions like synapses firing too many and too quickly to count….and the colors, and childlike joy that the experience can evoke, the jump of the heart at the noise all of that is something that calls Him to mind, that becomes a visual metaphor for a very specific aspect of His nature…you see how easy it is to find simple connections, reminders, touchstones of and to our Gods in the everyday? Once a connection is well and truly made with one of our Holy Powers, once veneration, adoration, honoring, and love become ingrained habits as automatically satisfying and sought out as breathing, it changes the way one looks at the entire world. Every micron, every scrap of fabric, every flower, every plant, every tree, every building, toy, song, billboard, the flashing panoply of words and rhythms that make up our everyday world…all become potential conduits for the Gods. That is, I think, a magnificent thing, a blessing, and perhaps the most awesome mystery of all.
Me? I see Loki in fireworks, and share such celebrations with Him, and occasionally on hot summer nights, hold rituals to honor Loki in which we light sparklers and other types of fireworks, and set the inky darkness on fire in honor of Him. It’s informal. It’s fun; and once in awhile it doesn’t hurt to call the Gods with laughter and joy.
Hail Loki,
God of unexpected joy,
of innocent and not so innocent pleasures,
Who brings delight to the heart,
laughter to the lips,
and freedom to the often tight fetters
of our minds.
Ever and always will I praise You.
Like a whirlwind adoration shall flow
from every hidden cavern of my heart
for You.
I shall revel in it,
and give myself to its dance.
Like wildfire,
I yearn for You,
as the dry and brittle tinder
of an overgrown wood
yearns for the cleansing kiss
of flame.
Like the pounding roar of the ocean’s waters,
ever shall I batter away
at the rocky shoals of my fears
that keep me from racing with You
boldly, like hungry falcons on the wing,
into the upward swell of joy
that only You, know so well how to tease
out of the untilled soil of our hearts.
For You, Loki,
I will set my world on fire,
and take delight
in the beauty of its colors.
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