OND- The gift of soul, the Breath of Life - Gothi Trent East

At the dawn of the cosmos, after Ymir’s remains had been fashioned into the world as our Ancestors knew it, Odin and his brothers happened upon two pieces of driftwood. These two pieces of driftwood became Askr(Ash) and Embla(Elm), the first man and woman of our Folk. The three Gods, Odin and Vili and Vé, each gifted these pieces of driftwood something integral, in order to give them life.

Vé gifted them La, which means goodly color and a healthy hue. This gave them their bodies.

Vili gifted them Othr, which granted them consciousness. This gave them their minds.

Odin gifted them Ond, which is the Breath of Life. This gave them their very souls, this gave them life!

With the three gifts of Ond, Othr, and La, Ash and Elm were given Body, Mind, and Soul. We will be touching on the Ond here, the soul… Ansuz!

As mentioned above, Ond is the Breath of Life. When we breath, or speak, or galdr, we are exercising that Ond, we are deliberately putting our soul into what we are doing. This is why it is so important in many endeavors to control your breathing, because you are USING your Ond to accomplish something. Ond is not only breath, it is also communication, it is speech itself.

When we galdr, we do it with our souls. When we tell our family good morning, we do it with our souls. When we hail our Holy Powers, we do it with our very souls!

Every word spoken, every deed enacted, everything we do, is done with that Breath of Life given to us by the All-Father himself! We should endeavor to always speak and act with purpose, as we do so with Ond, with soul!

Gothi Trent East

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