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~ By Courtesy of Others ~

Are You Strong Enough

Are you strong enough to walk with Me?
To learn what I know, would you hang on the Tree?
Would you hang bleeding for nine days and nights,
Taking no food or drink to help ease your plight,
Between heaven and earth, the outcome unknown—
Either death or madness, or wisdom´s spiked throne?
Would you suffer as I have, as each drop of blood
Drips into the Well in a cloudy red flood,
And awareness dims to one small bright spot;
Will the mysteries come, or defeat be your lot?
For be warned, My seeker, if Me you choose
Only sacrifice is certain; all else you may lose.

Would you peer with Me into Mimir´s Well
To see all the secrets that Wyrd can tell?
To share My vision, would you give an eye
And watch as the end of the worlds draw nigh?
Would you tear your eye bleeding from your own head,
Cast it into those waters from the land of the dead,
To drink the brew so black and so clear?
Is wisdom worth that to you? Is it so dear?
For be warned, My seeker, if Me you choose
Only sacrifice is certain; all else you may lose.

Would you drink with Me the holy Mead
Won by My trials, and trickery at need?
For sweet inspiration, who would you betray?
To win poetry and song, what price would you pay?
Would you abandon the love dearest to your own heart,
And leave her in tears while with your prize you depart?
Will you give up the other half of your soul
If that brings you closer to achieving your goal?
And will you return with Suttung´s sweet drink
Or emptyhanded and loveless, into loneliness sink?
For be warned, My seeker, if Me you choose
Only sacrifice is certain; all else you may lose.

Would you stand by My side on the very last day
And share loss or victory, come whatever may?
To secure your triumph, what would you give?
Would you slay your children that the worlds might live?
To delay the end that all the Gods fear,
Would you place your own son on the funeral bier?
Will you kill your own favorites, while they curse your name
In order to add to the hosts of the slain?
And will you win victory, and the world´s life preserve,
Or die in the wolf´s jaws, as many say you deserve?
For be warned, My seeker, if Me you choose
Only sacrifice is certain; all else you may lose.

So reflect on these words, My lad or My lass,
Before you commit yourself to following My path.
Think well before donning the Knot of the Slain:
In return for My wisdom, will you share My pain?
Once you´ve promised your life to me, once you have sworn,
Will you rejoice, or your sacrifice mourn?
Will you embrace every hardship I bring to your life
And know that they temper you as fire does a knife?
Will you grow to be my Seer, My warrior, My mage,
Or will the love you once bore me turn to hatred and rage?
For be warned, My seeker, if Me you choose
Only sacrifice is certain; all else you may lose.

© Laure Lynch     Gate of the Slain     Odhroerir Fellowship

Author of Odhroerir: Nine Devotional Tales of Odin's Journeys
and Water from the Well And Other Wyrd Tales of Odin
 

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