TEUTONIC MAGIC - Awaken Video

18: WIGHTS OF HELP
The term disir means "goddesses"; it is applied to goddesses of a Vanic character, as distinct from the
Asynjur who are the Aesic goddesses (though Freyja is sometimes classed among these). These goddesses
are generally tied to a family. They rule the fertility of the land and the prosperity and success of
individual houses. They often seem to be the spirits of particularly powerful female ancestors who, rather
than going to their appointed halls, have chosen to stay among the beings of the earth and continue to
either work weal towards their descendants or call them to death when their weirds are dreed. They are, as
it were, handmaidens of Nerthus who hold the powers of fertility, prosperity, and death.
The disir are not only ancestral spirits, however; Freyja is called "Vanadis," dis of the Vanir, and
Hel is referred to as "jodis", dis of the horse-that animal being of course used in funeral rites a great deal.
It may be that the female ancestral spirits become blended with the Vanic goddesses in the same way that
some male spirits blend with the Alfar. They are also associated with the Norns that come to every child
that is born in order to shape its life. It is said that the good Norns that come from good stock shape good
lives, but those that meet with misfortune owe it to the evil Norns.1 These Norns are associated with the
Vanic powers of the elves and dwarves, or Alfar and Svartalfar, to which the disir are closely related.
There was an active cult of the disir: they were especially worshipped at the Winternights festival.
Their worship was mostly presided over by women, although men also made sacrifices to them.
Sometimes a disarsalar (hall of the dis) was built for this purpose, but the worship of the disir was usually
carried out in the individual home, since they were the goddesses of the family. In later pagan times the
sacrifice was that of a bull or ox, and mead or ale are currently used; however, in earlier times, they may
have received human sacrifice. The Ynglinga Saga states that during one disablot, Adhils, king of the
Swedes was thrown and killed while riding his horse around the hall of the goddess. The horse's stumble
was blamed on a witch,2 but there is no way to tell whether this was arranged as a royal sacrifice or
whether the attendant dis took her sacrifice by force. There is a later story in which the eldest son
Thidhrandi heard a knock at the door on the Winternights festival and went out, although everyone had
been warned to stay inside. He was set upon and mortally wounded by nine black-clad women on horses,
while nine dressed in white stood by. The prophet (spamadhr) who was present at the feast told the family
that the women were the disk of the family, the black being those who clung to the old religion and were
not willing to be defrauded of their sacrifice in years to come, and the white, those who awaited the new
religion.3
The Christian influence in the tale of Thidhrandi is obvious; however, the disir are
characteristically divided into those who aid in life and those who call one to the grave, the former being
dressed in shining garments and the latter in black. If the disir are provoked to turn against members of
their household, the result is death.
The disir are closely associated with the kinfylgja and at times confused with her, as is the
hamingja. The difference is that the kinfylgja is a single being who usually is attached to one member of
the household for the duration of his (always male; women are more directly connected to the disirpower)
life, while the disir are plural and look over the welfare of the entire family. The kinfylgja is
sometimes called the hamingja, but she is the collective haming ia-power of the ancestors embodied in a
self-aware form, rather than the "luck" or mana of the individual hamingja.
The disir often appear as women in dreams; they are also called draumkonur (dream-women). They
are more likely to appear to a man's wife than to the man himself. They prophesy victory or death, and
among the Germanic tribes they were also said to aid in battle in the same manner as valkyrjur,
strengthening their charges and laymg fetters on their enemies. The disir Thorgerd Horgabrudhr ("bride of
the altar") and Yrp, ancestral spirits of the Haleygir, were called forth by sacrifice made by the Jarl
Haakon Sigurdsson during a battle and appeared in a raging hailstorm from the north, arrows flying from
their fingertips. [4]
The disir may be called upon for wisdom or help at need, although the same cautions should be
observed in their case as when making sacrifice to the gods. The Rite of Disir-Redes may be found in
Chapter 21.
144