As suffers of anxiety one of the best remedies we have to battle the condition with is sleep. Sleep is a wonderful, natural elixir for the soul. Your body, mind, spirit all refreshes after a good nights sleep. For the non pagans who read this blog, this is not meant to be an affront it is rather a part of our ancestors mythic past.
A wise man once said to me “today’s religion, is tomorrows myth” I wonder if the Romans thought that when pontificating about Zeus? For those of us with European heritage it is likely some of your beliefs or family traditions are derived or harken back to old Norse pagan practices.
The Svefnthorn (Old Norse svefnþorn, “sleep thorn,” ) is a symbol that features in several of the Norse sagas and in folkloric magical formulas recorded long after the Viking Age. During the viking age, many people still held pagan beliefs as Christianity had not yet taken a firm hold. The sleep thorn was a prominent rune stone that nearly everyone had, you placed it under your head to ensure you would sleep well. They believed that a good sleep was the key to a successful day.
The point? Not much has changed. A great nights sleep is paramount to a successful day. More over, as someone with anxiety we need the best sleep we can get and if that means reaching back to our ancestors to achieve it why not?
The next time you are riddled with anxiety, remember throughout history sleep has been a remedy for so many ails. Some of your pagan friends still practice this “trick to better sleep”
You are doing great, one day at a time.
Kemst þó hægt fari.
(You will reach your destination even though you travel
slowly.)
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