Ash’s talk is called “The Völuspá and the Nature of Wyrd Consciousness: A Presentation on the Prophetic and Magical Potential of Ecological Consciousness”
I invite you to join me on an extra-ordinary exploration of a form of ecological consciousness that has been around for more than 1500 years, called wyrd consciousness. Wyrd—the progenitor of the word weird—was an ancient Northern European concept used to point to the mysterious happenings of fate, destiny, nature, magic, soul, and becoming. Wyrd consciousness, as well as being other things, is the experiential awareness of the interweaving of these threads. It is the consciousness represented and embodied by the Norns (the Norse Fates), by Nature, and by both ancient and modern practitioners of the divinatory and mystic nature-magic known as seiðr (pronounced say-thr).
Using as a touchstone the 10th century Norse poem, Völuspá—in which an unnamed “seiðr-woman” reveals the creation, destruction and rebirth of the cosmos to the “seiðr-man” and ecstatic god, Odin—I will facilitate an inquiry into the nature of seiðr, wyrd, and wyrd consciousness, and discuss how wyrd consciousness—as well as every form of eco-consciousness—is not only naturally revelatory, healing and transformative, but also inherently prophetic and magical. Considering the ecological-soul-crisis of our zeitgeist, this makes the mythos of Völuspá, the concept of wyrd, and the phenomenon of wyrd consciousness profoundly relevant. After all, one must see the strings of fate before one may pull the strings of fate. Wyrd consciousness can help us do both.
*This presentation will be based on material from my forthcoming book, Wyrdcraft: Healing Self and Nature through the Mysteries of the Fates, to be published by Llewellyn Publications, January 2023.
About Ash
Ash McKernan is a psychotherapist (MFT), ecotherapist, bard, pagan, and life-long explorer of wyrd. He earned his BA in anthropology from the Ohio State University with a focus on the evolution of consciousness, and his MA in Integral Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies with a focus on transpersonal therapy, Gestalt therapy, and ecotherapy. Before this, Ash worked for many years at the Arc of San Francisco as a direct-support professional for and with people with developmental differences/disabilities. He loves to spend time at the crossroads where psyche, magic, and healing intersect. You can visit his website at www.wyrdwildweb.com.
To hear Ash’s talk and many others, join us at the Mythologium!
The Mythologium is a conference and retreat for mythologists and friends of myth, held July 29 – 31 via Zoom in the Pacific time zone. Join us to rekindle your mythic spark!
