THE NORNS (Painting made in tribute to the Swedish artist John Bauer)
Occasionally I see a post on social media where people (who often identify as a lightworker) announce that they did a piece of work where they “burnt off” or “wiped out” at lot of karma in one afternoon. I have no idea how they did that, but I am fairly confident that it is only an imaginary act! Something that makes them feel good or empowered. (If you have the recipe, please share it in the comment section and I will try to be open-minded!)
The whole point about working through karma properly is that it is done in relationship because it involves interacting with other beings; not only human beings (including our ancestors and descendants), but also land, locations, complex situations etc.) We Westerners tend to think of karma as “interpersonal” (between me and someone else) but karma is often collective as well. It involves entire groups, family systems, generations, land masses, eco-systems, animal species, nations or tribes etc.
Welcome to my third essay in a series exploring different aspects of shamanic work and ancestral (or inter-generational) healing work. For new arrivals, let me explain (again) that I started my shamanic practice in inner city London (almost) accidentally. I had enrolled in a shamanic practitioner training program (in the UK) because the spirits were urging me to seek professional training. Completing the required case studies for my training soon mushroomed into a thriving inner-city shamanic practice, catering for people from all possible cultures, with a long waiting list. (It kept several other shamanic practitioners in work too!) Doing so much intense one-to-one work, I soon discovered that vital pieces were missing in the training that I myself had received. The most glaring omissions were that I had not been taught shadow work, nor was I taught ancestral healing work. (The third missing “biggie” was de-possession or spirit release work - what the Church calls “exorcism”, a horrible word!)
For those who need to catch up (or refresh), here are the links for the previous two essays:
Essay #2 ANCESTRAL HEALING WORK & UNRAVELLING INTERGENERATIONAL IMPRINTS
Let me also mention that this week I will be interviewed by Jodi Garrod about these topics (and other Hag and Baba Yaga matters related to the Sacred Feminine). So check out her Substack and keep an eye out for the Podcast dialogue at Jodi Garrod -She Moves Me!
Actually there was a fourth missing component. Work that my native (Old Norse) tradition excels at and is fairly explicit about (if you teach yourself Old Norse and dig deep enough!) I am talking about Fate, Destiny and the matters of free will. I am specifically talking about working with the Norns (the Powers of Fate). This work poses an important question: Can we change the weave? (Meaning can we change the fate, or destiny, of a person [or group, eco-system, animal species, country etc.?)
My home tradition makes a distinction between two words, when it comes to discussing the matters of Fate. Before we discuss this, let’s pause for a moment and reflect (or meditate) on the difference between the words Fate and Destiny in English.
Feel free to share in the comments what your reflections were!
IN THE MISTS OF TIME, painting by the author
The Old Norse word Ørlǫg means primal law. In the rune pouch, Rune NAUD (or NAUTHIZ) refers to Necessity. Ørlǫg is “what is fated”. It refers to shaping forces and immutable characteristics: genetic material, parents and location of birth, (dis)abilities and talents. Ørlǫg is not personal, it just is. We cannot change it.
Our “Weird” (Urðr in Old Norse which became wyrd in Anglo-Saxon) refers to the tapestry of our life that is currently being woven. This is about what happens to you personally and what will (or might) happen in the future. It is more personal and you also have more choice (free will) in how you engage with this field of potentialities, and respond to this. Positive ways of working with karma (and unhooking from karma) definitely exist, but this work requires time, finely honed skills, commitment and copious amounts of daily and fearless shadow work.
In the Old Norse tradition the Powers of Fate are represented by the Norns. The Norns mete out (more literally “carve”, like runes) the fate of all beings. They are ancient beings and their names are often mistranslated. I have said before: I teach in classrooms, not on Substack, but just to clear up a lot of confusion and mistranslation “out there” in the popular public domain:
The eldest Norn is Urðr. Her name is often translated as “The Past” but more correctly it is about source and all things primordial or primeval. “What was there in the beginning”.
The middle Norn is called Verðandi. Her name is often translated as “The Present” but more correctly it means “the process of constantly becoming”.
The youngest Norn is called Skuld. Her name is commonly translated as The Future but that is not at all what her name means. It means debt! This refers to what is being owed. What needs addressing or balancing!
Polite request: if you use or quote this information, could you credit me please? I sometimes see segments of my own essays appear in posts on IG without the proper source given. Please don’t do that, it is a big sin in the publishing world and the proper term for it is plagiarism! Thank you for honouring that boundary!
Anything that hurts or makes a noise (in life, relationships, communities, villages and cities, forest, oceans and eco-systems) seeks healing, meaning that it seeks balancing, witnessing and transmuting.
I discuss all of this in much greater detail in my upcoming Handbook for Rune Magicians! As a taster, here is just one paragraph from this book:
“The Wheel of the Runes tells the story of Creation. At Rune REID, Cosmic Law is set in motion, the underlying structure of the universe appears or solidifies into both a material and vibrational reality. The Norns are the embodiment of those forces, shaping lives and destinies (Rune NAUD) through need and necessity, deciding the matters of Birth and Death.”
THE DREAMING OF THE ANCESTRAL MOTHERS, painting by the author
As many of you might be new to all this (and already suffering from information overload), let’s now switch to plain English!
The word Fate has a rather ominous ring. When something is “fated” we perceive it as unavoidable. We cannot escape it. It is going happen, no matter how we feel about it or how hard we try to escape it.
In contrast, the word Destiny has a lighter (or more hopeful) touch. It feels more positive: our own soul and divine powers guiding us to the right outcomes for us. It invokes an image of us stepping into all were are meant to be, and meeting the right people along the way. Entire films are made about “destiny dates” (people who are meant to meet) or people trying to avoid their destiny but it still catching up with them.
Perhaps the most famous tale is about the Servant of Samarra:
In a distant land and time, a merchant in Baghdad sent his servant to the marketplace. The servant, upon his return, was pale and trembling. He told the merchant that he had seen death in the market, and she had threatened him. Fearing for his life, the servant asked his master’s horse to flee to Samarra, thinking death wouldn’t find him there. The merchant, curious, went to the market and confronted death. Death seemed surprised, saying her gesture was one of shock, not of threat, for she was surprised to see the servant in Baghdad when she had an appointment with him that night in Samarra. SOURCE
I often think about the mysteries of karma, as I observe its workings closely in ancestral healing work, with the students and clients I have the privilege of working with.
In everyday life I have heard people say “Oh, the karma will catch up with him!” after, say, an incident of road rage. Another popular phrase is “God punishes immediately!” When something unpleasant hits a person acting unpleasantly, without delay. The infant within all of us yearns for the perfect and benign justice of, let’s say, a nursery school setting. Where kind teachers monitor every exchange between children and step in to make things “fair”. However, in adult life, there is no referee. Fair is a cultural or moral aspiration, not a natural outcome (which more resembles a race for resources and “the survival of the fittest” or survival of the most selfish and greedy people).
I have also heard (or seen) the word karma used abusively and rather narcissistically. For instance: “Well, she must have done something in a previous life that she is now facing the consequences of, or paying the price for” (meaning that we don’t need to get involved or feel sorry for her). Another expression of this same phenomenon is “He chose this!”, about a person with a serious disability, disadvantage, medical condition or some other significant life challenge. That is just an opt-out clause, because it allows the speaker not to feel compassion for a person’s situation. Meaning it leaves them free to enjoy their own (more privileged or comfortable) lives without guilt or genuine soul-searching (shadow work).
In truth I call that attitude moral superiority based on absolutely nothing. If you are going to speculate about other people’s previous lives (as in incarnations on Earth), have you even looked into your own deeds in previous incarnations? Do you really know what you are talking about?
This issue (and many related matters) is explored in far greater detail in my series of posts about SPIRITUAL NARCISSISM.
Next I think about misunderstandings. Perceived injustice, when actually all that occurred was (or is) two people talking (and not abusively or manipulatively, in this case) from two opposing viewpoints. Taking offence is generally a choice! (See my recent essay: FINDING THE COMPLIMENT IN AN INSULT). We can also choose to realise that people mostly talk about themselves, and constantly project out the shadow content of their own mind! We can train ourselves not to take it personally but step back and think: “(This is nothing to do with me but) how fascinating to see a glimpse of the inner workings of their mind!” They have exposed themselves and shown their cards.
Also see SHADOW WORK.
Then we can think about people who are adults, but have little or no agency: for instance people with profound mental disabilities, mental health issues or severe autism. Are they responsible for everything they do (say hitting a parent or care worker) when they have no concept whatsoever of the way their actions impact others? (The spiritual “lite” or popular way of explaining that is saying “they are here as teachers for others!” And perhaps they are).
AND THE MOON IS MY DORSAL FIN (Swimming With Sharks)
Based on many years of performing ancestral, inter-generational and even inter-cultural healing work (with larger groups from different backgrounds and parts of the world), I have developed the following beliefs:
Karma is real, but it is about unfinished business and learning, not about Divine punishment.
We are involved in collective karma as well as personal karma. (I personally believe that entire groups incarnate at the same time, to work on unresolved issues, sometimes from a very long time ago). The field of astrology shows that there are “generational issues” people work on and there are planets representing that in natal charts. Collective karma is also being worked out by successive generations.
That there is no cosmic tit-for-tat, where (say) every single mean word, minor crime or incident of road-rage is on replay (that would create Hell on Earth for sure!) Instead I believe that we are all actors on stage in a Karmic Theatre Performance and that we can start unhooking from this. This becomes possible only once we absorb the learning and realise it is only that: a role, part we play (not the ultimate or eternal reality).
Based on years of work with individuals (and entire family groups) on extremely difficult material, I even believe that there might be a swapping of roles between lives. Maybe my mother was my child in previous life. Maybe I was disabled a previous life and now I look after a disabled person in this life.
This is a very difficult point (stated only tentatively, because I cannot prove it!) But I have come to believe that the victim and perpetrator are two closely connected archetypal scripts, and as part of our human journey we eventually embody both roles (over periods of several lifetimes or incarnations on Earth) so we experience both sides of the equation (the flip side of the same coin, as it were). The larger idea being that we extract all possible learning and realise that:
“I am human and I consider nothing human alien to me!” Terence (Publius Terentius Afer)
We learn and then we unhook from a specific dynamic, we release ourselves from the grip it has on us. I wrote a previous essay about estrangement: THE ESTRANGEMENT EPIDEMIC (Who will look after us in old age?) The core of “cutting off” (as we more commonly call it today) is unhooking, stepping back, refusing to engage further in harmful interactions.
In my home tradition we have a term: “Changing the Weave”. It is based on a conceptualisation of the Norns as “weaving reality”. (In truth the Old Norse texts provide little support for this. The Norns are far more often described as working with water!) Historically accurate or not, such metaphors are still useful because they “make great mysteries more manageable”, because they give us a practical handle for working on this. Tried and tested ways for Changing the Weave exist and I teach them in advanced classes. Of course this work is always subject to the blessing and cooperation of the Norns. Remember: human ego has no place in this work (neither on the side of the client nor on the side of the practitioner or facilitator)!
The ancient Norse texts state very clearly that the Norns have great powers. They are more powerful even than the gods, because they even carve the fate of the gods! If we really meditate on that (trigger alert!) we start wondering whether, for instance, human beings can really murder another person, unless the Norns have “carved this event” into the fabric of Earth Reality. In everyday English: we are told that only the Norns can decide a person’s time of death. Once that has been carved (by the Norns), the death may be natural, accidental, the result of medical malpractice or even an “opportunity” for a murder and victim to work through a karmic experience together.
I am well aware that on the everyday level this sounds absolutely hideous: of course we hold people accountable for the crimes they commit. We also teach our children that all human actions have consequences. BUT, my question really is: is there a larger picture or puzzle, where things happen for reasons our “small” human minds do not understand? That is the mystic in me speaking. The part of me plugged into the spirit world and eternity. The human mother in me struggles with this.
Isn’t it hubris (pitting ourselves against fated limits which exist for good reason) to push the sacred boundaries between Life and Death in all the ways that science is doing at this time? Think of commercial surrogacy, cloning, AI, genetic engineering and designer babies, weapons of mass destruction, space colonization… and so forth. Are the Norns carving this, or are human beings carving disastrous outcomes (and the Norns are allowing this because it was fated)?
Ultimately the matters of Fate and Destiny throw up questions on a continuum between the modern belief that “we are the creators of our own reality” and predestination or fatalism. I believe that the truth is somewhere in-between. Our fate provides a skeletal structure for a human life (and that is the blueprint a skilful astrologer looks at in a natal chart) but this leaves plenty of space for us to use our free will.
I will leave it here for today! Please share your own views or observations in the comment section. Unfortunately I cannot promise to reply to all personal emails I receive through Substack. And I ignore 98% of DM’s on all social media platforms because life is short and precious (and the Norns are always ready to strike!)
I try (but sometimes fail) to get out at least one essay a week (sometimes more), due to travel, international teaching commitments and family care responsibilities (our family lives with Alzheimer’s and I have written several posts about that). If you would like to see regular posts about about Nordic spirituality and my life as a Forest Witch (and of course short videos of all the wildlife here!), please follow me on Instagram or Facebook, thank you!
Imelda Almqvist, Forest School, Sweden
BIO FOR IMELDA ALMQVIST
Imelda Almqvist is an international teacher of Sacred Art and Seiðr/Old Norse Traditions (the ancestral wisdom teachings of Northern Europe). So far she has written four non-fiction books and two picture books for children. Natural Born Shamans: A Spiritual Toolkit for Life (Using shamanism creatively with young people of all ages) in 2016, Sacred Art: A Hollow Bone for Spirit (Where Art Meets Shamanism) in 2019, Medicine of the Imagination - Dwelling in Possibility (an impassioned plea for fearless imagination) in 2020 and North Sea Water In My Veins (The Pre-Christian spirituality of the Low Countries) was published in June 2022.
The Green Bear is a series of picture book for children, aged 3 – 8 years. The stories and vibrant artwork, set in Scandinavia, invite children to explore enchanting parallel worlds and to keep their sense of magic alive as they grow up.
Imelda has presented her work on both The Shift Network and Sounds True. She appears in a TV program, titled Ice Age Shaman, made for the Smithsonian Museum, in the series Mystic Britain, talking about Mesolithic arctic deer shamanism.
Imelda currently has a handbook for rune magicians (about the runes of the Elder Futhark) in production (it will be published by Moon Books in 2026) and the book after that will be about Inuit culture and mythology. Imelda runs an on-line school called Pregnant Hag Teachings, where all classes she teaches remain available as recordings, which can be watched any time.
Website:
http://www.shaman-healer-painter.co.uk/
YouTube Channel: youtube.com/user/imeldaalmqvist
Online School: https://pregnant-hag-teachings.teachable.com/courses/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imelda.almqvist/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/almqvistimelda/
I always love how you share your wisdom with both genuine power, depth and a lot of nuance. A pleasure to read.
As a reply, I would like to share a quote from Perdita Finn's excellent book 'Take Back The Magic'. It's about weaving, too, and I was planning to use it as the theme for the Season's Circle I am hosting this afternoon, for the participants to contemplate. After reading your essay, it feels only more relevant.
In the book, Finn goes into depth about working with the dead and the ancestors. This is an excerpt from a letter to her deceased father. Weaving is the central motif.
"Yet you know where you belong now, Dad, don't you? From the other side of the veil you can at last see the big picture, the whole design, the long story of your soul from one lifetime to another.
As a child I spent hours happily doing embroidery alone in my room. Remember? You and mom were both talented sewers... you stitching people up in the operating room and she creating costumes for me to wear. Thread and cloth filled our house, and I was fascinated by weaving and tapestries.
I loved how on one side of the fabric there was a tangle of threads - threads that led nowhere, threads cut too short, knotted threads, all a jumble of mismatched colors. But turn the cloth over and there on the other side a picture of flowers in a field or trees in a forest would emerge. Every thread made sense on the other side, every thread was part of the design.
What if our souls were nothing but threads piercing the veil, first one way and then another, sewn back and forth eternally? From this side, we see only the knots, the tangles, the threads cut too short or too soon. What if we could feel the long thread of our souls entangling with other threads? What if we could follow a red thread through to the other side of the tapestry as it becomes a dress, a jewel, a rose, a pair of lips, a heart?"
Thank you for this fascinating article Imelda. I have heard of the Norns and knew little about them. I've read and worked more with the Moirai from Greek mythology where they do talk very much about the weaving of the thread. They are the daughters of the Goddess Ananke, also known as Necessity. (See Plato's The Republic and The myth of Er)
The first sister, which is either Clotho or Lakesis (depending on where you read it) is the one who weaves the thread of the incoming Soul, the weaving also weaves together the Soul and the Daemon. The second sister is the one who ties the knots, which is where the term a twist of fate originates. It is those crossroads moments of chosing a familiar way of being, or chosing another path which is the untrodden way. Atropos, the elder sister, is the one with the scissors who cuts the thread. What I love about Atropos is that she is at the beginning as well as the end with the cutting of the umbilical cord.
What I love about the Moirai and the Norns is they are sisters, not brothers. Always coming from and emerging from the feminine.
Thank you again for sharing all that you do.