Uppsa Kulle just before sunrise on Christmas morning 2018
On Christmas Day 2018 in Sweden, my husband and I decided to sit out on Uppsa Kulle grave mound to await and observe the sunrise, to celebrating the turning of (and return) of the Sun and Daylight!
There is a large hollow at the top of this mound. At the moment of sunrise we observed how the first ray of Sunna (the Sun) poured the Elixir of Returning Light into the mound! It also created a ring of golden light on the summit of this grave mound - a spectacular phenomenon indeed (please study the general picture for this blog!)
Mani, (the Moon) was sailing through pink skies on the other side of the mound. In the picture below the text, you can see Mani (the Moon) in the morning sky, on the right hand side (top) of the nearby rune stone at Runnviken.
Uppsa Kulle is 55 yards across and 9 meters high. It is the largest burial mound in the Swedish province of Södermanland and believed to be from the Iron Age. This cannot be established without doubt because this mound has never been excavated. As the legend goes, the legendary king Ingjald lies buried there. He is said to have fallen at nearby Runnviken.
Uppsa Kulle is our local burial mound (it is on the doorstep of our house in Sweden) and an amazing place to celebrate the return of Sunna/Sol. Obviously the snow makes it even more magical. Please note that in the Nordic tradition the sun is perceived as a female giant called Sunna. The moon is male and called Mani!
Mani was sailing in the pink skies behind Uppsa Kulle and it is quite a rare treat to see Sun and Moon up at the same time!
Only one note to self: in the future wear ski clothing to sit out on Uppsa Kulle mid-winter!!
In the Summer of 2019 I will take my Seidr students here to sit out - but it will be summer and ski clothing won't be required (only a raincoat and tick repellent!)
In the picture just below you see Mani (the Moon) in the morning sky, on the right hand side (top) of this nearby rune stone at Runnviken, (where King Ingjald was said to have fallen).
Rune stone and Mani (the moon) at nearby Runnviken
The norns visited each newly born child to allot his or her future, and in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, the hero Helgi Hundingsbane has just been born and norns arrive at the homestead:
2. Nótt varð í bæ,
nornir kómu,
þær er öðlingi
aldr of skópu;
þann báðu fylki
frægstan verða
ok buðlunga
beztan þykkja.
-
3. Sneru þær af afli
örlögþáttu,
þá er borgir braut
í Bráluni;
þær of greiddu
gullin símu
ok und mánasal
miðjan festu.
-
4. Þær austr ok vestr
enda fálu,
þar átti lofðungr
land á milli;
brá nift Nera
á norðrvega
einni festi,
ey bað hon halda.[22]
Translation:
2. 'Twas night in the dwelling,
and Norns there came,
Who shaped the life
of the lofty one;
They bade him most famed
of fighters all
And best of princes
ever to be.
-
3. Mightily wove they
the web of fate,
While Bralund's towns
were trembling all;
And there the golden
threads they wove,
And in the moon's hall
fast they made them.
-
4. East and west
the ends they hid,
In the middle the hero
should have his land;
And Neri's kinswoman
northward cast
A chain, and bade it
firm ever to be.[23]
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norns
Imelda Almqvist
Imelda Almqvist is an international teacher of shamanism and sacred art. Her first book Natural Born Shamans: A Spiritual Toolkit For Life (Using shamanism creatively with young people of all ages) was published by Moon Books in 2016 and her second book Sacred Art: A Hollow Bone for Spirit (Where Art Meets Shamanism) will be published in March 2019. She was a presenter on the Shamanism Global Summit in both 2016 and 2017 and is a presenter on Year of Ceremony with Sounds True. She divides her time between the UK, Sweden and the US. She is currently in the editing stages of her third book “Medicine of the Imagination: Dwelling in Possibility” and has started her fourth book "Evolving Gods: The Sacred Marriage of Tradition and Innovation"
www.shaman-healer-painter.co.uk (website)
https://imeldaalmqvist.wordpress.com/ (blog)
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=imelda+almqvist
(YouTube channel: interviews, presentations and art videos)