Looking for any recommendations for Northern/Norse/Germanic paganism starter books?

[itsnathanm7]

Their performances are rituals of you listen to their interviews same as Wardruna too. Love ‘em.

[Heathen_Hermit]

Oh yeah! Definitely…

[Dankquanicus]

@Mythopoeia

@Dankquanicus may have some insight in connecting with Thor.

@Kish this is a bit late, but I want to say, don’t disregard prayers as weak, they can be as strong as a lot of magick rituals.

If you can, set up a temporary altar with a bookshelf or any appropriate flat surface (The floor works too), and set up an appropriate tablecloth there, burn some candles, an appropriate incense, and give an alcoholic drink.

For Thor, I recommend laying out a white tablecloth. I like white, as initially I linked it to Thor because it is a colour of purification as well as being generally good for benevolent works, but I realize now it is doubly appropriate because it is the colour of lightning as well. Green may also be appropriate, as Thor has relation to fertility. Purple can also be appropriate, as it often surrounds lightning and is a colour of royalty and exaltation. Generally, I like white, however.

Burn a few candles. 1 is fine, or 3, or 4.

Burn some appropriate incense. Frankincense is a good general incense. Otherwise, an incense of a plant traditionally related to strength and honor would be appropriate, or one traditionally related to lightning (I’m unaware if there are herbs the Medieval Norse associated with Thor).

Have a drink ready. I think any alcoholic drink is fine. Otherwise, even water is fine if that’s all you have.

Then, say your prayer to Thor. I wrote one and posted it here:

Invocation of Thor for Protection

Here is a prayer/invocation of Thor that I have written for protection from harm, enemies, curses, and evil spirits. I recommend lighting at least one Candle before you for Thor. 4 or 5 Candles seem appropriate to me, since 4 is a number of Jupiter and 5 a number of Mars. A temporary altar can be set up for this, which can be a bookshelf or table or another appropriate surface. But an altar isn’t necessary, in which case it can be good to stand outside, and pour out a drink. If you would like …

You can say the prayer once, or multiple times.

Then, tell Thor that you are burning the candles, incense, and giving the drink as a gift to them. Then, pour out the drink, preferrably onto soil.

Afterwards, thank them and conclude the ritual. You may say “Thank you, Thor, it is done”, and the ritual is concluded.

If you prefer, you may leave the drink on the altar or such for a while, and then pour it out later, or pour it out after the conclusion.

Don’t disregard the power of prayers like these, they can be wonderfully powerful.

If you can’t set up an altar like that, you can also simply go outside with your drink and pray like that.

On “gifts”, I’d like to say this: Long ago, I used to word giving these as “I give you this offering”. However, I once prayed to a certain Norse God like this, and I got a distinct sense during the ritual to “Change the wording to ‘gift’”. I did not understand this at the time, because I still saw the Gods as taking the essence of the offering, seeing them as somewhat anthropomorphic. So, I didn’t understand it until I looked into Platonism.

Now I believe the Gods constantly create and maintain all things in the World (I believe Thor creates all Lightning and all Lightning is part of him, and Thor is within all Strength, and Honorable and Upright behavior, and is part of the Life of the crops and plants and such), and they do not need any of these things we give them in ritual, they do not need the World (Rather, it is the other way around). They give their blessings because that is their nature, like how a fountain overflows because it is so abundant with water. So, these are gifts given to them in gratitude.

That’s just my view!