Untitled - Awaken Video

Chapter 7. At the Well of Urð 171
end. Knowledge or wisdom, on the other hand, is an understanding of the Tree/
Waters complex resulting in right action which eventually allows one to enter into
the flow of power/ luck. Intelligence is of some importance, but the fact is that
there are many of great intelligence who are completely incapable of acting out of
knowledge or wisdom. “Cunning” is not synonymous with “knowledge” or “wisdom.”
“Cunning” is the ability to create proper or improper action based on knowledge.
Often the term is given negative connotations as in “cunning as a fox.” For example,
notice the slight change in tone between a “cunning grin” and a “knowing smile.”
However, etymologically, the word is closely related to the word “to know” and has
a cognate in modern German kennen (“to know”). “Cunning” is used throughout
this text in its neutral form rather than its pejorative. “Cunning” is to “knowledge”
as “intelligence” is to “information.”
In such a worldview as is presented here, there are three ways in which one can
access knowledge:
1. through ritual or ritualized behavior,
2. through divination, and
3. through the practice of seið or Whole-making.
These are very broad categories with much overlap, and they are somewhat arbitrary
having no existence in reality other than the simplifying of the presentation of this
material for this book.
The first category can be defined as “acting to access knowledge.” Knowledge is
the internalized understanding of the Tree/ Waters complex and ritual or ritualized
behavior provides the action so to result in access of power/ luck. By acting in
specific ways, utilizing guidelines such as the Hávamál or the spiritual philosophy
as outlined in the preceding chapters, access to the Flow of the Waters is assuredly
increased.
Occasionally, one might recoil at the thought of engaging in ritualized behavior,
but it is common practice and, at some level, instinctive to all animals including
humans. It has evolved simply because it increases the chances of success. The
animalistic behaviors of “grooming” and “mating ritual” are human behaviors the
world over because they increase the chance of perpetuating human life, they improve
the quality of life, and they feel very pleasant to the human nervous system.
Non-instinctive ritualized behaviors also function to improve one’s lot in life. “Being
polite,” for example, is a social lubricant for easing tension between people, is very
ritualized in nature (always say “please” and “thank you”), and increases the possibility
of success, and increasing possibilities is all one can hope for since there are
no guarantees. So, no matter how one may initially respond to the idea of ritualized
behavior, the fact is that it works more often than not.