Odin the All Father

**All the Gods and Goddesses represented should be taken as gender neutral. There is no inherent male or female separation between them as the energies, characteristics and wisdoms discussed are available to all regardless of gender.**

Odin is the central god figure of Norse mythology - a warrior, a wise old man, a seer, the All Father, the apex god in a pantheon of powerful characters, Odin is the god upon the throne, sitting at the head of Valhalla. 

Odin is very similar to Jesus in a lot of ways. He was hung from a tree, “crucified” - but not to death, not for our sins, but for wisdom, for knowledge.

He was hung upside down like a grain god, hung as a blood sacrifice to ensure a bountiful crop. He hung on the tree of life for 9 days until finally gifted with the wisdom of the runes. Odin is like Prometheus. He sacrificed himself for wisdom that he gave back to his people.  

Odin is the keeper of 2 ravens - Huginn and Muninn; Thought and Memory. They fly about the world and bring back to Odin the knowledge of everything that is happening everywhere.

Odin is “All Seeing”. Odin is the keeper of the memories and knowledge. He knows from where we came, he knows to where we’re going. Odin gave his eye to drink from the well of knowledge amongst the roots of Yggdrasil, the tree of life. 

If Odin has entered your life, you have begun a life-long quest for knowledge and understanding. No sacrifice is too great on your path of discovery. You want to know as much as you can about the universe and you will go to great lengths to obtain the knowledge you seek. 

Odin is associated with the Hanged Man card in the Tarot. It is the card of the crossroads, where decisions are made but you have to wait for them.

Odin hung on the World Tree for wisdom. The Hanged Man too hangs for wisdom and the clarity that waiting can bring. You may need to hone your ability to be patient when deciding on direction in your life.

You need to trust in your intuition and all your other senses for wisdom and direction. Your brain and book-learning aren’t the only paths to wisdom. You will have the clarity you need if you can sit in the discomfort of not knowing.

You and Odin like to know. You like to be right and be decisive and be able to see far in the future and know what’s coming. 

To be truly wise, you must also be able to sit in the discomfort of not knowing. Like all things - it takes time to learn what you do not know and in deciding what to do, or which way to go, or what is the right decision for you, you must learn to sit quietly in the not knowing time of ‘no sure answers.’

In this way Odin is associated with The Hermit card in the tarot; a full retreat from the physical world to contemplate a question. Odin is often mistaken as the Hermit, with his long grey beard and his grey cloak, but Odin carries a staff/spear instead of a lantern.

But, just like the light of the Hermit’s lantern pierces the darkness, Odin’s spear will strike true any target, regardless of the person’s skill at throwing. Just like truth and wisdom illuminates, it also strikes home for those ready to learn. 

The people in your life don’t always understand your obsession with learning. Maybe you’ve been in school for years and years gaining different degrees or qualifications. For others, education may be a means to an ends of a good-paying job. For you the learning is it’s own reward and you can see yourself remaining in academia, or on a learning path for life. This is a good choice for those connected to Odin. Professors, sages and teachers of all kinds thrive under Odin. 

If you don’t walk the academic path, you may be a lone practitioner wanting to start a small business or entrepreneurship. This is a good choice providing you choose to be an educator. You do not have things or services to sell. You provide education and wisdom. You are a good teacher and have a wealth of wisdom in your field that is valuable.  

Be careful not to become a Hermit and forget the joys and needs of being a social, interactive human being. You will likely spend your life in a teeter-totter balance between retreating from the world to the comfort and joy of books and stories and wisdom and learning, and then taking that knowledge out into the world and sharing it with those that need it most.

The quest for wisdom is honourable and necessary, but so is the balance of being a human being in relationship with the world. 

You will thrive with partners and friends who are independent and can allow you to be independent. You may have relationships that are unique or unusual in their make-up and may not look like traditional relationships - however they work well for you and your friends and loved ones. As long as you are honest about your needs, you will be able to create connections and environments that are mutually satisfying. 

Expressing your emotions and needs may be a long-standing problem. Immersed in learning and reading and absorbing, you have not spent a great deal of time on learning to process your own emotional pathways.

Like Odin, you may find storms and thunder exhilarating and may find expressing anger and frustration easy. You may have difficulty dealing with your more vulnerable emotions and may habitually depress your emotional needs and desires. 

Try to see your emotions as another avenue of wisdom. Your physical body and emotional body hold another modality of learning which can become a rich source of information if you can withstand the momentary discomfort.

Hang yourself on the tree of your emotional vulnerability, like Odin did for knowledge of the runes.