NorsePlay.

The band Heilung is a Nordic occult fantasy come to life with shamanic costumery, droning trance-inducing vocals, onstage runecasting, and ritual . Maria Franz in wondrous antler crowned eye-fringed headress & trollwise paint , Christopher Juul on drum at left, and Kai Uwe Faust in an equally intimidating masked costume using alot of animal teeth out of frame. (Aesthetic comparison: If you love Wardruna , you'll enjoy Heilung.) [photo credit to Kees Stravers from the 2017 Castlefest.] #    #    # Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in  the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires'  Norse Gods and Giants  at age seven. Since t hen he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the  Map of Midgard  project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay.   If you have e mployment/ opportunities in  inve...

Watching the processional Bear Dance in Comănești, Bacău County, Romania, doesn't strike one as just a winter parade to drive out evil spirits. The men & women dressed in actual bear pelts adorned with oversized red tassels dance to shamanistic skin drums, wood flutes & whistles, pausing at certain intervals to make a mysterious trilling noise , lead by a masked old man, and subject to a call/response chant, has all the earmarks of a ritual. With the Indo-European lingual taboo on the actual word for bear, the migrant Roma who inspired this tradition first using real bears, and the serious to fierce demeanor of the dancers, recalls the idea that the Berserker may have been a formal entranced dance that lead to a legendary invulnerability in battle , and that perhaps this dance could be a remnant of the Berserkergang state at work. #    #    # Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in  the Norse Lore when he picked up a co...