Three Flames Mystery Tradition: The Way of The Wilderness

12/27/2025

The Eaters 2
As was promised in a prior post, we shall now turn to specific Jotnar to explain how we in 3FMT conceive of and interact with some of the other Etins besides Iormungandr. This section has been a long time coming. The Eaters are not an easy subject, and there is much that is very fuzzy about this topic.They are primordial and mysterious, and have been described as ‘at once oafish and wise’. To try to explain our relationship, as followers of The Wild Gods, to these beings is a task that is much more than intellectual delving (though there has been some of that too), it requires us to continually and actually interact with these beings in ceremony, which is difficult and taxing. Thus these discussions could not be written quickly or without care. We apologise for the wait of covering this subject, and also its incompleteness and possible unclarity, but it is a subject full of pitfalls and is hard to navigate for the human mind (and indeed invites insanity, as H.P. Lovecraft explored), so please forgive us, though perhaps even more will be revealed in time.

Loki - His name means both ‘fire’ and ‘lock’ as in the interlocking of knots and tangled rope. In ritual, when it is necessary to speak of him (which it rarely is except in sharing stories about Gods and Aelves), we translate his name as ‘The Tangler’. He is the force that is at play, and play he does, when you put your ear buds in your pocket all nice and neat, and then later when you pull them out of your pocket, they are all tangled up. We might use the word ‘chaos’ for the type of spirit he is, but he is a very specific kind of chaos really, the senseless kind. Some things are complex, and thus seem chaotic to us, such as fractal geometry and whatnot, but these are not the domain of Loki, there is a pattern in them, it is just hard to see. Loki specifically is the operable spirit of pointlessness. Now, that is not to say that we can’t turn pointless chaos into fruits, and that is what’s going on in the story about Loki stealing Sif’s hair, and then from that various valuable implements of the Gods are gained (by Sif’s scheming). It is from this angle that we can also understand Loki as fire, but also a certain kind, wild fire. He is not the ritual fire, nor the hearth fire, which are made on purpose and are sacred beings in themsELVEs. He is the spirit operating behind pointless, ravaging wild fire. Now, though wild fire itsELF is chaotic in a very real sense, it can be controlled to re-fertilize fields and make new growth in its wake. We can magically wield Loki in this same kind of way, but such a practice is ill advised except to only the most adept sorcerers. No more shall be said at this point.

Fenrir - This name simply means ‘fen dweller’ or more modernly, ‘swamp dweller’. At base there is no reference here to a wolf, though he is conceived of as such normally, and this conception is lore based as he is also called ‘Fenris Wolf’, which just means ‘swamp dwelling wolf’. Strangely, wolves very rarely occupy swamps in actuality, thus we know here that this spirit is not actually a wolf, but this is symbolism, as wolves often function in the lore, is of senseless consumption. From this angle we can understand Fenrir as the spirit of entropy in a general sense. Swamps are the places of rot and putrefaction, and thus Fenrir, as the spirit of entropy, certainly dwells there. And wolves may be said to be possessed by Fenrir when they blindly eat, as they are want to do at times, even though Fenrir is not himself literally a wolf. Indeed humans may be said to be possessed by Fenrir when they battle with certain addictions, which are also a type of pointless consumption. But entropy is not all bad. It is also the process at the basis of compost, which is necessary to have the fruits of the land. Indeed we consider Fenrir the uncaring force of entropy generally, but Nerthus is the power that wields this force for our benefit. We may oursELVEs tap into Fenrir as a power when we garden or farm and make our own fertilizer. But understand it is only through the blessings of the Earth Grandmother that we are able to do so. Otherwise, rot is just rot.

Hel - Her name simply means ‘the Hidden’, which as a place, as was covered in the Vanic Cosmology section, we do consider to be the literal grave. As a spirit with personhood, Hel is considered an Etin, not a goddess, who does not rule the ‘land of the dead’ per se, but rather is the operant force behind putrefaction as it specifically relates to human bodies. The Dead, as revered ancestors that we can access and have relationships with, are variously stewarded (not ‘ruled’) by Ingvi Freyr, other Aelves, and Nerthus. The dynamics of this are explored by Adepts of The Meadowfolk, suffice it to say here, Hel is not considered a deity, much less a deity to relate with for ancestral work. She is simply the spirit behind what happens to our bodies when we die, rot.

Angrboda - Her name straightforwardly means ‘Sadness Bringer’, and that is simply what she is, the spirit behind the emotion of sadness (just as Odin is simply the spirit behind the emotion of battle fury, which can consume or be harnessed to reach greater heights). It is fitting that she is Loki’s wife, with whom they parent the forces of entropy, human body rot, and the Great Dragon Spirit (which can also consume or be harnessed for power). Often in lore spirits are considered the parents of more primordial forces than they are themselves (this also occurs with the Protogenoi and the Titans in Greek myth). This is a reversal of the causal relationship that is metaphysically occurring in nature, because the effect is closer to us in our experience. We experience sadness (Angrboda) and frustration and meaninglessness (Loki) because of the force of entropy, human death, and even the vast force of undulation permeating all things (because it is so sublime), not the other way around. Angrboda, understood as sadness, can be harnessed as an emotional power to inspire us to change our situation, or else we can simply wallow in her consumption of us. The choice is ours.

Beli and Surtr - These two Eaters are important because they are mentioned in relation to Freyr, one of our most important deities of course. He fights both of them, with a stag’s antler at Ragnarok, indeed he is the only strictly speaking Vanic deity involved with Ragnarok, and this is a mystery explored in our traditions. In any case, no account of The Eaters generally, from a Vanic perspective, would be complete without covering these two fire giants. To begin this topic, and at its simplest, Beli means ‘the roarer’, most likely, and Surtr means ‘black’ or ‘dark’ (connected to the Old Norse word ‘svart’ with the same meaning), but in this sense, since we know Surtr is associated with fire, we may poetically take his name to mean ‘soot’, a Modern English word possibly cognate from his name. It is the speculative understanding of 3FMT that these two entities were likely linked to volcanoes in the Old Norse mind, Beli being the spirit of the sound that volcanoes make when they erupt, and Surtr being the spirit of their aftermath and the destruction left in their wake. However, as these myths are living, and not only understood at particular moments in time, we have a new understanding of these Eaters, and Eaters they indeed are. Beli and Surtr are the spirits now overseeing the destruction of modern civilization upon our Splendid Grandmother Nerthus. To quote a Sisters of Mercy song, ‘I hear the roar of the big machine’, and this song (Lucretia My Reflection) perfectly captures our understanding of Beli as the driving force behind ecological destruction brought about by Empire, and Surtr is the destruction that is left when these unsustainable systems have run their course. This mystery is further explored in the rites and stories of 3FMT, suffice it to say for now, there is hope, as it is prophesied, The Steward does defeat The Roarer by holding to the ways of nature rather than the destructiveness of imperialism (the antler, instead of the sword), and though he is still covered in The Soot that overtakes him, we know that, like the phoenix, and like his sister, our sELF-sacrificING God shall rise from the ashes, ever loving, ever Wild, again and again, in the Flaming Field.

11/07/2025

Levels or "Grades" of the 3 Flames Mystery Tradition and terms of membership

It has become prudent to discuss publicly the levels or "grades" of 3FMT. Indeed, 3FMT is an initiatory mystery school cultus, and like other groups of that nature, it has levels of ability in practice with ordeals to be recognized at higher levels. The three levels of practice in 3FMT are:

Flame Builder
Flame Bearer
The Adorned of The Flaming Field Foundation

Now, there is a level below all of these, but it is a 0th grade, like the 'Probationer' grade of some more occult oriented orders. This level is called 'The Wanderer In The Woods'. A person at this level has shown interest in exploring the Mystery Tradition of the 3 Flames, but they have not begun their practice yet. At the time one becomes a Wanderer In The Woods (which only involves saying to someone within 3FMT of at least Flame Bearer status that they are interested in undertaking the work of 3FMT) they will be appointed a Wilderness Mystery Guide, which can be anyone of higher than Flame Builder level. At the Wanderer In The Woods level their Guide may give them some reading material and perhaps even some exercises to get them prepared to undertake their 3FMT work. The Wanderer In The Woods will also receive all necessary guide material to become a Flame Builder.

At the time that a Wanderer In The Woods begins their practice, performing the first ritual, they automatically become a Flame Builder. A Flame Builder is anyone who has begun their practical work in 3FMT in earnest. This level is meant to imbue one with Divine Wildness by performing the 3FMT General ritual often, but certainly for all seasonal observances for a full year, beginning at Yule, which we call Boarblot in 3FMT. At this time the Flame Builder will declare their intention to explore The Way of The Wilderness liturgically as set out by 3FMT and ask The Great Golden Bristled Boar for guidance on this way.

At the time one begins their practice, and thus becomes a Flame Builder in 3FMT, they also become among the Meadowfolk (singular term: Meadowwalker). The term 'Meadowfolk' refers to all full members of 3FMT at any level beyond Wanderer In The Woods. Those who achieve beyond Flame Builder levels are called The Most Adept Meadowfolk, which is the 3FMT translation of the term 'Heardinga', from the Ing line of the Old English Rune poem. Meadowfolk is also the 3FMT translation of the tribal name of 'Ingvaeones'.

Upon completion of a full year cycle of seasonal observances, the Flame Builder is initiated as a Flame Bearer at Ælfablot time (sometime in November). The Flame Bearer will then perform the 3FMT General Ritual for a year cycle of seasonal observances again, but now with an emphasis on personalizing the ritual as they see fit to their own needs and goals. It is also at this level that one can become a Wilderness Mystery Guide and all Flame Bearers are encouraged to become mentors to at least one Flame Builder, if there is anyone available that is interested in seeking mentorship at that level within 3FMT.

Upon completion of a second year of seasonal observances and successful mentorship of one or more Flame Builders, a Flame Bearer may, if they wish, become initiated as among The Adorned of The Flaming Field Foundation. Not much can be said about this level publicly other than that it is at that time The Most Adept Meadowwalker will be expected to pursue interest lead advancement in magical and divinitory arts as they are inspired and they must report to another among The Adorned with more seniority than they with regard to their progress.

These levels of practice within 3FMT match the 3 core values of 3FMT, which are themsELVEs the 3 Flames, as revealed by The Lady in the lore of The Voluspa and directly to The Founding Meadowfolk of 3FMT:

Self Development (Gleaming Vigour, Gulveig)
Community Service (Most Honorable Shining One, Heithr)
Deep Training in Well Seeing and Serpent Wielding, i.e. Seership and Sorcery [Spa and Gandr] (The Lady Lover of Passion, Odrs Mey, i.e. Freya)

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10/18/2025

The Eaters

Because it was mentioned in the last post about Vanic Cosmology from the context of the 3 Flames Mystery Tradition, perhaps a word about the Jotnar or Etins or Thurses is in order. To begin, the words 'Jotunn' (Old Norse) and Etin (Old English) are often translated as 'giants', but really are cognate with each other and basically are versions of the word *etanan (Proto Germanic) meaning 'to eat'. Thus we may take both words to simply mean 'The Eaters', since they specifically refer to beings. Certainly in Nordic cosmology these beings are considered adversaries. However, in the Vanic approach, things are not so simple. Recall from previous posts, but it is always important to keep in mind, we are coming from an animist standpoint, which means everything, at least potentially, can and should be treated as having an experience of the world and agency to act within it. This is the meaning of the word 'person', which in an animist view can be anything, not just humans. Further, we understand oursELVES as existing in relation to the other persons around us; the sun, the sky, trees, rocks, etc. In general we also ascribe to what is called 'the gift cycle'. This means that the best way to exist in relation with other persons is votive ritual, i.e. the giving of offerings to said persons. We, in a specific Vanic context, give offerings to Deities, Land Spirits, and Ancestors primarily (though there are certain subdivisions of each of these groups, these are the primary classes of beings, in a general sense, that we make offerings to). We think that these beings are real, and they actually do desire and benefit from the offerings we give. It is virtuous, pious, and even practical to make offerings to these beings, as virtuous and pious and practical as it is to give gifts and share with your human friends and family. And we think that there is an implied reciprocity to making offerings to Deities, Land Spirits, and Ancestors, which is to say what when we make offerings to them, they give good things back to us, e.g. wisdom insights, lessons, good weather, abundant crops, circumstances nudged in our favor, etc.

Now back to the Etins. As 'The Eaters', the 3 Flames Mystery Tradition understanding of these beings is that they are primordial forces with experiences and agency of their own, so they are still persons, however, they are uncaring toward the existence or well being of other persons, and thus it is not possible to exist relationally with them. Essentially the Etins are persons that don't participate reciprocally in the gift cycle. They are uncaring natural forces. A source for thinking this way comes from the Skirnismal whereby Freyr sends his assistant, Skirnir, to go woo this Jotun maiden, Gerth, for him because he has fallen in love with her. Skirnir, when he reaches her in Jotunheim, begins this process by offering her several wonderful gifts, to each offer she scoffs at it and rejects them. Then he turns to magic to force her to submit, to which she finally does. This sounds kind of horrible, what love could be based on threats of curses? And indeed, were this a story about two humans trying to build a relationship, such coercive behaviour indeed would not be okay at all. But in this case we are talking about a deity and an aelf trying to come to terms with a Jotunn, and this teaches us that Jotnar are a very different type of person entirely than the other types we are used to dealing with. The lesson here, and it is the foundation of the 3 Flames Mystery Tradition approach to Jotnar/Etins, is that they are forces to be wielded by magic, not by votive offerings. Now, in the Skirnismal, Gerth eventually turns out to be the most unique being of all. She is the only person in lore who was a Jotunn, but becomes a Goddess. That is to say that she goes from not caring about offerings to later being amenable to them. There are deep and fundamental mysteries here, some of them only revealed to the highest levels of adepthood within the 3 Flames Mystery Tradition, such as why this transformation was possible for her and her only (suffice it to say here, it is related to why our members are called 'The Meadow Folk'). But the point is, we do make offerings to her, and in fact we have an entire Holy Day dedicated to her, she is the wife of our main God, Inqvi-Freyr, and we honour and worship her as an equal to him and his sister.

But back to the Jotnar/Etins in general, as for the rest of them, we do not make offerings to them as we know it would do no good. However, this is not to say that we consider the Jotnar adversaries or enemies. They simply are the types of spirits/persons that they are, and though we cannot relate with them in terms of the gift cycle, we can still understand them as forces to be wielded. Understood as 'The Eaters', they are beings that simply consume without care, that is to say forces of various kinds of entropy. In the previous post, and another earlier one on magic as manipulating the serpent, Iormungandr, translated as 'The Great Dragon Spirit', is our version of a similar concept to mana or qi, similar but not the same. He is considered the most foundational and primordial spirit we may wield, and indeed whenever we do magic, we are wielding him. We love him, we appreciate him, as the force that undulates and moves all of the worlds, we respect him. But we do not ask him nicely to do our bidding, we do not worship him, and we do not offer him anything. He wouldn't care about any of that even if we did. He is simply a force operating in the world that we can tap into. He is even a person, with his own experiences and plans and desires, but he does not care about us, if he even is able to comprhend our existence. We move with him and we move him, but we do not appeal to him.

Though Jormungandr is the most foundational Etin we wield, indeed he is the essence of all that we do in magic, the same approach can also be applied to the other Jotnar as well. They are forces uncaring to us, but that we may tap into to utilize to various ends for our own personal growth and goals. Stay tuned for a later post, which will explore the 3FMT understanding of the list of other Etin characters in Norse lore.

10/04/2025

Vanic Cosmology Within The 3 Flames Mystery Tradition

Standard Heathen, Aesiric, cosmology proposes 9 worlds: Asgard (Gods Yard), Vanaheim (Home of the Vanir), Muspelheim (Home of Destruction [presumably by fire]), Niflheim (Mist Home), Ljosaelfheim (Light Elf Home), Svartaelfheim (Dark Elf Home), Jotunheim (Giant Home), Hel (The Underworld), and Midgard (Middle Yard). This is not per se laid out systematically in the lore, but has become standard in modern Heathenry, and is a sensible extrapolation from the Eddas. Vanic cosmology only recognizes 4 worlds: Wilderness, Day Light Sky, Dark Light Sky (i.e. the star filled night sky), and The Hidden (i.e. graves/mounds). These are meant to be accurate translations into Modern English of Vanaheim, Ljosaelfheim, Svartaelfheim, and Hel, respectively. There is also, not a separate world or land, but a force permeating all things called ‘The Great Dragon Spirit’. These will all be explained herein.

Vanir means both Love/Respect (think of the cognate ‘veneration’) and ‘wildness’ (think of the cognate ‘venison’). As Vanic devotees we are trying to reach back to a time before civilization, i.e. before the Indo European speaking peoples spread out, and try to at least mentally and spiritually transform oursELVES into radical animists. From this perspective what is now considered ‘wild’ nature would have just been the whole world, and understood animistically, which is to say in terms of relationality, the entire world would be lived in as a communal exchange of love. This has two implications: 1. There would have been no understanding of Asgard (or any ‘gard’, which implies walls) because civilization would not have come about yet, and 2. There would be no understanding of a middle land separate from the home of the Vanir, for the loving wilderness would have been all around, thus prehistoric peoples would have essentially lived in Vanaheim, in direct relation with the Vanic Gods and spirits.

The only ‘lands’ that would have seemed distant would be the sky and underground. It is clear from the story of Night Sky Mother, particularly the fact that she gives birth to her son, The Day, that Day and Night are considered as separate beings. They may also be considered separate places. A literal translation of ‘Ljosaelfheim’, given that ‘aelf’ means ‘light’ or ‘brightness’, would be ‘bright light home’. The brightest time that is apparent to our earthly experience would be the sun filled day time, so ‘Ljosaelfheim’ is rendered as ‘Day Light Home’, which is the day light sky. A literal translation of ‘Svartaelfheim’ would be ‘dark light home’, which we may render as ‘lights in the darkness home’. What are the lights in the darkness? Well, the stars of course. So Svartaelfheim is the dark night sky, filled with the tiny lights we call stars. Aelves are considered ancestors, and it is not a stretch to think that some of our ancestors would go to the sky, either absorbed into the solar light or born as stars, or both! In The Three Flame Kindred Mystery Tradition, we consider aelves the ancestors who have ‘ascended’ toward the celestial realms, and become spirits who may journey, at will and with ease, between the sky and our world living with nature.

The Norse word ‘Hel’ translates simply and directly as ‘hidden’ or ‘covered’ and is meant to just literally mean graves covered up by dirt. Where do the dead go when they die? Well, it’s quite obvious that they just go into the earth to become a part of the process of compost, nourishment, and regrowth. But remember we are animists, and we don’t just think in terms of matter, but spirits as well. All things that die become nature spirits all around us. This is true of plants, minerals, animals, and human ancestors. They don’t go away, they just continue being a part of the cycle of life as they always were, before life, during life, and after life. They just had a time in a body, and likely they will again, this is all reincarnation is. In any case, the landwights may be considered these spirits who live all around us, but normally hidden (except to those with eyes to see, at least sometimes) within the ground. We do not consider ‘Hel’ a being, but rather the hidden realm, that would have been called Hel in Old Norse, is the domain of Nerthus, as she is the earth goddess who oversees death and compost and thus rejuvenation as well.

At this point something must be explained about ‘Dark Light Sky’, Svartaelfheim, and the Svartaelfar, aka dwarves. One might ask, ‘how are the Svartaelfar here being likened to the stars in the sky, when in the lore they live in the ground.’ Short answer: As above, so below. Remember ‘Svartaelf’ means ‘dark light’ or ‘lights in the darkness’, which is how they are taken to refer to the stars. However, these spirits are also the lights in the darkness of underground caverns and veins, gems and metallic ore! The spirits of crystals are star spirits, but in the ground. And this is how the dwarves, in later Norse lore, get relegated to little dudes in the ground. They are both crystal/mineral spirits and star spirits, for crystal spirits are star spirits manifest on earth. The later Norse only remembered the in the earth part, and forgot their celestial nature. We remember, we remember!

So far the four worlds present in Vanic Cosmology have been explained, and the omission of the more common Asgard and Midgard have been justified, but what of Muspelheim, Niflheim, and Jotunheim? Recall that we are not limited by Old Norse or other Germanic language lore, we simply use this lore to listen for the whispers that have survived of what was at least the lore of Old Europe, but also perhaps the Ur religion, uniform, constant and enduring for thousands of years, of the entire world before Indo European dispersal. It is known from folkloric studies that dragon myths are pervasive around the world. Jormungandr translates as ‘Great Dragon Spirit’ or ‘Huge Wand’ (which is itself suggestive of a serpent). Given that dragon lore is pervasive around the world, we may consider Jormungandr as the one named Jotun that is a primordial, universal being, particularly as his lore from Old Norse sources is similar to lore around the world. And we may consider the other Jotnar (e.g. Loki, Fenrir, Hel, etc.) conceptually later and unique to a post Aesiric Norse way of thinking. That doesn’t mean we think these concepts don’t refer to anything at all, but they do not refer to anything primordial enough to be considered a part of Vanic cosmology. We also know from stories around the world that dragon lore changed over time. The prevalent lore of heroes needing to fight dragons comes later than stories about dragons as benevolent providers, particularly of rain and bodies of water, though possibly, and paradoxically, they have always been considered to breath fire. Thus, metaphysically, fire, ice, mist, and water, all permeate from Great Dragon Spirit, and thus there is no need to postulate separate lands for these things. Jormungandr is also referred to as Miðgarðsormr, ‘Midgard’s worm’ or more commonly translated as ‘world serpent’. Though the Vanic cosmology does not recognise Midgard as a place, we may take this to be a hint of a memory from a time when Dragons were considered pervasive within all things. In this way Vanic cosmology considers Great Dragon Spirit as an animating force within everything, and very much may be considered like the concepts of mana or qi. Indeed Great Dragon Spirit is the Vanic way of talking about the same kind of thing, and they (singular ‘they’, meant to refer to Great Dragon Spirit in a non-gendered way) replace the need for a land of ‘Giants’ (whatever those are anyway) or separate lands for fire and ice/mist/water.

But, you may ask, what of the world tree, Yggdrasil? Vanic cosmology does not per se acknowledge Yggdrasil. For one, it is named after a name of Odin, and our religion would have predated this very very young God, and so any reference to him would not be present in our cosmology (this doesn’t mean Odin is nothing to us, he was himself devoted to the Vanir as he saw what they could teach him, whether he learned much or not is another matter). Second, as the notion of Yggdrasil is intimately connected with the Aesiric nine worlds cosmology, and this whole section has been providing the Vanic alternative cosmology to that, then we may also reject Yggdrasil on those grounds. However, the broad notion of a world tree is a part of Vanic cosmology, but it is closer to other, older, lore, particularly Siberian. In this cosmology the world tree is tripartite and simply includes the sky world (the branches), the earth (the trunk), and the underworld (the roots). Vanic cosmology, as has already been discussed, may present two distinct sky realms, day and night, but it is still the same sky. Therefore, the Vanic world tree, also reduces to sky, land, and underworld. This, by the way, also connects to the Irish emphasis on land, sea, and sky. Vanic cosmology would also consider this world tree an Oak, rather than an ash or a Yew tree. There may be many reasons for this, but the primary one is that in the Old English Rune Poem, the rune Ac (which means oak) refers to acorns being the food for pigs, the boar being of course sacred to the Vanir.

09/26/2025

Who are The Wild Gods?

In the time before time people lived in deep connection with the land and also the cosmos. They also lived in direct connection with the spirits inhabiting the land and the cosmos, a connection clear and tangible. This was true all over the world, and continues to be true in some parts of the world, but is now less so in what we now call 'The West'. But even there, in what is often termed 'Old Europe', the people there were as connected to deep animism as anywhere in the world, when The Wild Gods reigned, and our myths carry the memory of this time.

You will sometimes see the Vanir referred to in connection with 3 Flames Mystery Tradition, and indeed the Vanir are our central focus. However, it must be understood that using this Old Norse term (which just translates to 'The Wild and Loving Friends') is somewhat a matter of convenience and does not place us within the context of 'Heathenry' or 'Asatru' or 'Nordic Paganism' per se because what we are tapping into is more far reaching, temporally, spatially, and even dimensionally, than that. Let us sum up what is meant here.

Before the arrival of the Indo Europeans into Europe, there was a unified spiritual-religious conceptual technology that was present all over Europe (and really beyond). This spiritual glue was animistic, it was enchanted, it was magical, yet also practical. The people of Europe's connection to the land and the spirits there was what allowed them to survive and thrive, communally (understood broadly, not just to include humans) and harmoniously. The stories of the Vanir, from Norse sources, are simply the clearest surviving echoes of the memory of these Gods of the time before time. But the Norse do not have a monopoly on The Wild Gods. Oh no, the myths and legends of all European peoples from the time after time (i.e. when time became the primary method of oppression) from the Celts to the Greeks and Romans to the Baltic and Slavic and Basque peoples, they all remembered who they truly are and from whence they came. The Wilderness is in all of our hearts, no matter our particular cultural context, and tapping into the wildness within and without is the core of what we do, and is an available option to all.

Any mythopoetic framework, any one that truly taps us into The Wilderness as a spiritual force anyway, is available to us. We do use Germanic themes often, (e.g. Ing and Freya, Nerthus and Njord, wyrd, gandr, spá, etc.), but again this is simply because the memory of The Wild Gods was preserved most coherently in the later writings of that Indo European invaded culture. We must find a pre-Indo European, primordial, religion from within a post Indo European context, unfortunately. However, we are syncretic in the sense that whatever sources of inspiration we may draw from are not limited to one culture, and cross cultural, comparative digging must be done to connect with the oldest of Gods.

Among those who pursue the wild mysteries within the 3 Flames Mystery Tradition all of the post invasion, European, cultures are represented. Our Meadowfolk, 3 Flames Mystery Tradition adepts, are not only those who come from a Germanic Heathenry context, indeed not even primarily so, but those whose primary paths are Irish-Druidic, Slavic, and Greek and Roman. This is encouraged and expected of those who would seek adepthood in our Tradition as well. Please do not feel limited by the Germanic language we often use to feel like you must be on a Nordic, or whatever, path, to work with us.

What unites us is the literal "call of the wild," a deep desire to connect with our animistic roots that have been stolen from us, and an earnest seeking to live our lives in accordance with these ways that are the true ways of all people. We strive for nothing short of a mystical melding with The Wilderness, thereby achieving eternal life flowing in accord with the cycles of our world, the cosmos, and in all worlds. The oldest Gods, The Vanir, The Protogenoi, The Devas, perhaps The Fomoroians/Fir Bolg, as well the Ælves, the sidhe, the Nymphs, the fæ, these are our guides, whatever you choose to call them, those who are already tapped into The Wilderness as a multi-planar, hierophanous, numinous, and noumenous power, having ascended to that deep connection long long ago. They are not limited by culture or language, therefore neither should we be.