THE DAY OF ALL HEARTS

The Swedish version of Valentine's Day!

In Sweden Valentine’s Day is called Alla Hjärtan’s Dag: The Day of All Hearts!

For many decades my mother-in-law used to send out cards to all the people she loved. Her interpretation was that this day is not just for "lovers" (in the romantic sense) but for celebrating all possible forms of love. This is how she raised my husband as well. He grew up believing that today is the day for telling everyone you love (or appreciate, or feel gratitude for) that you love and appreciate them. At age 91 1/2 MIL is too old and unwell to send out cards but she recently wrote a poem, with some assistance from me, which you can find here. Spoiler alert: it is about love! It appears near the top of this post:

WHERE MEMORIES FLY AWAY AND RETURN - LIKE BIRDS

My mother-in-law is a reasonably well-known Swedish poet. She introduced me to this concept of All Hearts Day when I was 19 and it had a lasting impact on me.

Let’s face it, I am hardly the Dream Wife. My husband puts up with all my quirks. He has quirks too, unsurprisingly. We turn each other’s quirks into affectionate jokes! Anyway, a few days ago I asked him: “Am I hell to live with? Please tell me the truth!” His reply was: “Not at all! Every morning I wake up and knowing that I am going to see you today, that I share my life with you, fills my heart with joy!” That is not a bad definition of love, is it?

I am a teacher of Seiðr and Old Norse Traditions. In the Viking Age (one period I teach) "Love" was all about right action and right choices, not about mushy feelings. It was about honor, about prioritizing and defending kith and kin. It was also about protecting the hearth, the homestead and community. Your land and your country.

Western culture often focusses on romantic love to the exclusion of many other forms of love. The world (obviously) needs all the love it can get, so why prioritize one kind of love (with a heavy focus on projection and personal neediness!) over another?

Speaking for myself, I also love my friends, my students, the people who shaped my life, even my ancestors and people long dead (because I am alive today because of them!) The friends of my children all have a place “under my wing” too. They can always come to me when they need a mentor, or “responsible/spiritual” adult to talk to - and they do (amazingly!)

And why prioritize only human love? It is so anthropocentric (human-centered)!

I feel a deep love for places too. I have written extensively about both Greenland and my Forest School in Sweden. My soul feels at home in the Arctic. It craves time in the Far North. I love snow and ice, icebergs. The Winter Goddess, Skaði, is my ally. Polar Bears are my favorite animals. I often think I am a bear walking the earth in human coat!

Can I really say that the land loves me in return? That may be anthropomorphic (projecting a human shape and emotions on non-human beings or forces). What I do know, on the innermost level of deep conviction, is that the land embraces me, heals me, welcomes me home. It sends me profound dreams (many of them are about healing the relationship between human beings and land/earth/nature). It gives me the ultimate sense of belonging. I honor all beings whose bones are woven into the land I walk on.

Last week I taught an (online) sacred art retreat dedicated to Swan Maidens. The core story is that man steals a woman’s wings and forces her to live with him. Eventually she retrieves the wings or feathered cloak and flies off.

I literally have Swan’s Wings. I also have two swan bone flutes. READ THE STORY HERE!

However, the Norse Swan Maidens (whom I created the art retreat around) are not like that. They are Valkyries and have a connection to battlefields! (They are way less sweet and fluffy than we think!) Three swan maidens voluntarily go live with three men BUT they develop a “Seven Winter Itch” and fly off the ninth winter. They return to their fate and the matters of battlefields (who lives and who dies). The word Valkyries means choosers of the slain.

Love is not a clear-cut thing. Sometimes walking away and saying no is the most loving thing to do. Sometimes, we need to make choices that are loving to ourselves, to be a better presence in the lives of others. We know this, but it is hard to do. Western culture has the concept of tough love!

Today I will celebrate Alla Hjärtans Dag and meditate on love as an action word. Feel free to break out of your romantic bubble (if you are lucky enough be in one) and join me! Consider wrapping love around people, places or situations who feel unloved. At least make some place for them in your heart, cook up some blessings. Consider sending a message to someone who feels lonely or recently lost a partner (death, divorce, break-up).

You could even consider sending yourself a love note or card!

I aim to post two essays a week here on Substack, but if you would like to see my daily posts about about sacred art, Nordic spirituality and my life as a Forest Witch, please follow me on Instagram or Facebook, thank you!

Imelda Almqvist, London UK

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) will be 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 is currently working on a handbook for rune magicians (about the runes of the Elder Futhark) and on more books in the Green Bear Series. 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/

Twitter: @ImeldaAlmqvist

Imelda