I, separate now from my brothers, walked the world and joined with the jotun of earth, Jordh, a great and mighty power. She has a more human face that she shows as Erde, but it was in her aspect as Jordh that I came to her, and together we made a son to ride the skies. When he was grown, I became, not less, but more defined, for to him I gave a portion of my powers, and from his mother he drew primal energies. Thus also was my joi ning with the nine waves, and other powers, to produce Heimdall. Those gods whose father I am called were created after I became defined, separated into the consciousness you call Odin. The others emerged before. In that sense they are not my children, but in another sense they are all my children, for they are all the product of the ordering of primal forces by consicousness. The Vanir come from that earlier stage of being, and are closer to the Jotnar. But in their second generation they are like the other gods.
Loki:
Pure elemental power has no sense of humor, no margin for adjustment, no ability to play. Loki, or Coyote, if you wish to see him so, brought laughter into the world. I wonder now if in the North we restrained him, lost patience with him, too soon, He is a dangerous power when he is not balanced, and yet perhaps the world is endangered without him. He is needed to make things change.
But it is true as you think, that I learned much from him. I think that perhaps he learned all the wrong things from me. Loki is bound, but the world is still full of tricks and stratagems, I have learned well the art of double meanings, of verbal gymnastics, of manipulation. Thor lives in a simpler world. Closer to the Jotnar. But I have moved far along the human path, following your philosophers and scientists through all their myriad ways of thinking about the world.
It was because Loki betrayed Baldr that we condemned him, and yet even I recognize that necessity of his loss. Baldr is the final transformation, When he returns it will be because you have learned to experience the world in an entirely new way. Some say that it is I who will return, reborn as Baldr. The question is not relevant. After such a transformation, I will not be myself as you remember me. I will not remember myself. Do not seek to hurry that transformation. It will be as agonizing as birth or death, It will be a birth beyond death.
Your task and goal is to work out the consequences of all that Loki showed me. Death, love, all the ridiculous and undignified processes of the body — all of these Loki enjoyed without shame.
It is true that with “Q” and Picard, and Data and his raven (in Star Trek), I am speaking to those who can hear. At present, Space is a metaphor you use for an expanded world. The worlds to which the Enterprise travels are like the nine worlds on the Tree. The starfarers experience all possibilities as they travel, and yet everything in the space through which they travel is contained in the human mind; they travel through consciousness, so of course I am there. Each act of world creation, whether it be fantasy or science fiction, is an expansion of consciousness. But while Q or Loki play games with your heads, you must not forget the physical world. There is no farting in television. Loki is very good at that, and sometimes folk need to be reminded.
I have wandered for many years in the realm of human reason, but I am at home in all the worlds. Yes, perhaps it is time to resume my old companionship with the trickster. Even Wagner, so serious a German, understood his necessity. But Wagner thought that my reality was ended. He did not understand that I continue to wander the worlds.
He (Loki) is necessary, but sometimes rather shortsighted, and he would rather distract me than face his own decisions. Because I love him, I have patience with all of you. Most of the time. There is more of him in you than you would like to admit. Loki’s sins are the sins of humanity. You think that by binding him you can eliminate his temptations. That binding is an illusion until you bind him within. I did not say to eliminate him — that too would be a mistake, a danger. When you bind him too tightly he shakes the ground of your being. I give him a drink from every horn that is poured to me so that he will be eased. Do you find this too much a paradox? The world is not a simple place, and neither are you. Learn to laugh at, and with him. Even Skadhi laughed.
He is dangerous, of course. But some dangerous things must be given room and watched, not denied or destroyed. The same might be said for those who speak with Loki’s tongue, seeking to light the fires of spite and slander. Invoke Thor to stop them. When Loki began his flyting in Aegir’s hall, no arguments or excuses stopped him. Thor has the singleness of mind to hold him.
He must be balanced. But if he is not balanced the writings do not misrepresent his danger. But his balance is so precarious. . . He is half of the gods and half of chaos. When he falls to the side of Chaos he will fight against me. And yet I need him. That will be an evil day . . .
But he can laugh– if you can make him laugh that day will be put off.
Thor:
When the whetstone lodged in Thor’s skull, his mind was split. Now he shows many faces — not so many as mine, but more than one. Or maybe he was always a bear, changing from moment to moment from benign to enraged. Do not reject one of his faces because it seems dangerous. Thor is dangerous — did you think he was Santa Claus? He can be as sour and brooding a berserker as ever feasted in my hall. I suppose you must take precautions to avoid damaging your people, but you cannot reject the dangerous paths of a god which come to those whose minds are tuned to them just because they are uncomfortable or frightening for you to deal with. If you think Thor is always cheery, you don’t know bears, or warriors.
Baldr:
With his passing, the innocence, the light, went out of our world. If you think the world you live in has lost the sheen of the time of legends that is why. It died with him.
He speaks to men now in the underworld of Hella’s mind. … But he is dead. Dead to this age of the world. He speaks from that place which is beyond the timeline you live in, and foretells what shall be when he comes again. It is a foretaste of the New Age! But at this time you can only prepare for it. He cannot come fully into your world now, only speak through those who can hear him.
That is what I see. Only the Norns know if it is truth. When I pass, you will pass with me, and not return into the world.
Christian theology makes one persona into three, a virtual pantheon, with many aspects to meet all needs. A polytheistic system recognizes the necessity for different personae, so that deity is not confined or limited. That does mean, however, that you cannot confine your experience only to one of us, even me (laughter)