Hamingja/Luck by Uruzz Tyrburr

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

Luck is a complex thing; it is carried by some and shared by others, we all have some, we inherit it, we acquire it by association, we can loose it at a stroke, it is owned by a group or by an individual and is passed usually down the male lineage (or exception women or female rulers). This is luck the "force"; a force that can attract or repel fortune and misfortune.

Luck, the lady that follows each of us is individual to everyone, to the Anglo-Saxon she is one of the Idesa, to the Norse she is Hamingja. In the Norse view each of us have three Nornir grant us two blessings and one curse; these are not the Nornir who tend Yggdrassil, they spin each of our yarns for weaving by the Valkyrjur. For the Anglo-Saxon this is not so distinguished, these unseen beings are members of Idesa best described as Meotod, "measurer". The Norse Nornir at Yggdrassil are Urdr, Skuld and Verdandi for the Anglo-Saxon they are Wyrd, Scyld and Weordende.
 
Luck and our "fate" are different as the first is a "force", the second is a combination of influences; Wyrd (AS)/Urðr (ON) the pattern we weave ourselves, Orlæg (AS)/Orlog (ON) the yarn and pattern we inherit at birth, and Metodsceaft (AS)/Mjotuðr (ON) the unexpected lumps and bumps in the spun yarn created by either "luck" or Meotod (provenance/ cosmic forces/divine intervention) . As far a fate is concerned if you look at the Norn spinning and valkyrja weaving, one's Orlæg/Orlog is the unspun wool on the distaff, its size, quality, colours etc are defined are birth by our parents and where we are born, the Wyrd/Urðr is the yarn that is spun and woven, the quality of the yarn and the pattern of the cloth is defined by our actions but is constantly effected by our Orlæg and the Orlæg and Wyrd of those around us; these are connected to our luck and the luck of the group(s) we are associated with. Anyone who has used a drop spindle (they drive me and my missus mad!) that no matter how carefully you card the wool and perfectly you spin the spindle as the yarn grows there are little lumps or thinner parts (or if you are like me you get a big dread and then a tiny thread and then it snaps!), it is never machine even like we buy in the shops these days, these are Metodsceaft.

The Luck of the people is why the extravagant burial of prominent people, rulers or "luck carriers" in mounds (and later after conversion in churches) and our need to be able to visit these people is so important. It is important to keep people with strong luck within the community even after death; the sleeping person's luck stays with the sleeping body and boosts the luck of those around.