Experiencing the Ond
By Ed LeBouthillier
According to the Lore as recorded in the Voluspa, after Odin, Vili (Hoenir) and Ve (Lothur) created the universe and the Earth:
17. Until there came three
mighty and benevolent
Æsir to the world
from their assembly.
They found on earth,
nearly powerless,
Ask and Embla,
void of destiny.
18. Spirit they possessed not,
sense they had not,
blood nor motive powers,
nor goodly colour.
Spirit gave Odin,
sense gave Hoenir,
blood gave Lodur,
and goodly colour.
(Voluspa, Thorpe Translation)
As it was written in the Old Norse, stanza 18's first three lines say:
Önd þau né átto,
óð þau né höfðo,
lá né læti
né lito góða;
Literally, it says:
"Ond" they didn't own,
"Oth" they neither had,
"La" nor "Laeti"
nor "Lito Gotha."
It follows by saying:
önd gaf Óðinn,
óð gaf Hœnir,
lá gaf Lóðurr
oc lito góða.
Liberally, it says:
"Ond" gave Odin,
"Oth" gave Hoenir (vili),
"La" gave Lodur (Ve),
and "Lito Gotha"
The gifts of the gods were, thus, Ond, Oth, La, and Lito Gotha. On the surface, these can literally be translated to be breath, cognition and voice, blood, and good bearing.
But these gifts also provide a clue to exploring the spirituality of our ancestors. In the next issues of Hlidskjalf, we'll be exploring each of the gifts of our gods and realize how they can bring us closer to the mysteries known and wielded by Odin. We'll start by exploring Ond, how to develop it and use it. We'll then work through each of the Oth, La and Lito Gotha.
OND
Ond literally means breath and it refers to both normal breathing as well as the "Vital breath" of life. It is from Odin that we get this vital breath. Consequently, it is through using this vital breath that we can know more of Odin's mysteries. Through Ond, we can develop advanced levels of consciousness and spiritual power.
OTH
Oth means thought or voice, or the condition of awareness; we have these things in our daily lives. We're aware of sounds around us, of our own thinking, of our comfort or discomfort. But Oth, as a gift from Vili [will] (aka Hoenir), is also a spiritual component which allows us to touch and understand the world of the gods. We can have many levels of Oth, many degrees and kinds of awareness. By controlled Ond, we can choose and control our own Oth.
LA and LITO GOTHA
La means blood or vital fluid, our vital warmth. In a wider sense, La is also our spiritual energy. Lito Gotha means good color. Literally, La is the energy medium that drives the body and gives it this good complexion, the complexion and warmth of life. Incidentally, Ve gives us this La and Lito Gotha. Literally, Ve means the consecrated separation. It is with this separation of what is inside our body from what is outside that we experience life.
SUMMARY
So, from each of these gods, Odin (actually Othin, with the root Oth), Vili (the will) and Ve (separation and consecration), we get the gifts necessary to reach our spiritual potential.
From Odin, we get Ond, from Vili we get Oth, from Ve, we get La.
OND EXERCISE
We are constantly breathing and yet we most often give it little thought; but concentrated, controlled breathing is the manner in which we enhance our consciousness and our focus and enter the other states of consciousness necessary for enhancing our awareness of the forces of the nine worlds. Ond is an important part of ritual as well. Through controlled breathing during blot, we become aware of the cosmic forces involved in the blot activity. Through Ond, we bring an enhanced vital energy to our blots.
The current step in our wanderings is to become aware of our Ond. As we become aware of it, then we can begin to use it for other purposes. In the following, we will exercise our breathing to relax ourselves, focus our Oth, develop our Ond and feel our La.
SETTING
The first step is to find a place for your meditation. This should be a quiet place with no distractions. There should be no expectation that children, pets, spouses, phones or any others distractions will interrupt your meditation. This can be inside your house or outside. You may want to take a pillow with you to sit on.
The process involves sitting or laying in a comfortable position for about twenty minutes, concentrating on your breathing, focusing your mind on one thing and relaxing. As you get good at this, you will be able to enter into the controlled Ond wherever you are, even when seated in your car.
For the sitting position, it is preferred that you be supported by your rump with your legs slightly hanging and crossed loosely in front. If you're comfortable with it, you can sit directly on the floor. You may be more comfortable with a pillow under your rump to raise it about six inches off the floor. One way to look at this is as if you were sitting on a log in front of a camp fire. You shouldn't be raised too high, but a little raise above the floor helps relaxation and blood flow. Your hands should hang loosely down your side, resting on your thighs. You should sit up straight, with your spine straight; don’t slump. This is a concentrated activity.
An alternate way to do this is to lay down on the floor on your back, with your legs and arms out just a little so that they're not touching each other or your body. The major problem with the laying down approach is that it takes concentration to not fall asleep.
PROCESS
The first step is to calm your body and regulate your breathing in a deep and rhythmic way.
First, work on your breathing. Breath deeply and rhythmically, focusing your Oth/mind on your breathing. The cycle of breathing should be on the order of three seconds minimum for a complete inhalation and exhalation. You will have to adjust the depth and rate of your breathing to not feel out breath and so to feel comfortable. You can breathe out of either your nose or mouth.
Initially, as you breathe, you may feel slightly lightheaded. This is normal. However, be careful not to hyperventilate. If you find you're too lightheaded, then slow down your breathing or the depth of breath until you feel comfortable. Eventually, the breathing will be natural, deep and relaxing.
Clear your mind of any thoughts. At first this may be difficult, you may find yourself thinking about things and unable to stop thinking about them. You will eventually learn to focus your Oth on your Ond with total concentration, but it will take some time. Don't fight the thoughts; just continually try to minimize any thoughts on anything other than your breathing.
As you start feeling comfortable, concentrating on your breathing, start relaxing your muscles. First, make sure that (if you're seated) your posture is good. Work on making your spine as straight as possible. Imagine that there's a broom stick along your spine to help you straighten it. Second, the most likely places for tension is in the shoulders, face and around your eyes. Let the muscles in these areas relax. Let your shoulders drop into a relaxed and tension-free posture. Relax your face muscles and make sure that your jaw is not clenched.
Sometimes, you may find that you're unable to relax specific muscles. Again, don't fight or force relaxation. Over time, you will get better at relaxing your muscles. One technique to speed up the relaxation process is to slowly and methodically tense up the desired muscles in the tense area and then to slowly release the tension. You can go around each of the various muscles of the legs, the trunk, the shoulders, the chest, the neck, the face and the scalp and bring each of them to a well-relaxed condition.
When you are starting to feel relaxed, you should return your focus on your breath. This is the key part that we're working on attaining: an awareness of your breathing in a rhythmically and deep way.
Over time, as you do these meditations several times, you will be able to quickly relax yourself and bring your focus to where you want it to be.
One key part for the reason of this activity is that this breathing skill becomes an important part during the performance and pacing of ritual. For example, you may want to ensure that you start your blots by bringing everyone to a condition of silence, breathing nine times, performing the first hammer cross, breathing nine times, and continuing the hammer rite. As you get better at your breathing exercise, your ability to focus and enter into an altered state of Othr becomes better. In this way, you are beginning to deal with the primal gifts of Odin, Vili and Ve in your rituals. In ritual, one of your tasks is to experience the spirituality of our gods and goddesses as well as helping others experience altered states of Othr.
By learning how to control your Ond, you will become better acquainted with one of Odin's gifts to humanity.
In the future, we will provide additional focus exercises and will develop new skills and states of Oth and experience your La.