Minni, The Storehouse of Wisdom and Experience
Last month, we discussed the Hugr, or the logical mind, as part of the many components that make up the Aryan soul. This month, the theme continues as we discuss the Minní, memory.
First, let’s define memory. Oxford defines memory as the "faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information, something remembered from the past, a recollection."
As you may recall, last month we discussed the two ravens Huginn and Muninn, who fly over Miðgarðr, relaying the affairs of men back to Lord Óðinn. Huginn (Thought, Logical Mind) and Muninn (Memory).
O'er Mithgarth Hugin | and Munin both
Each day set forth to fly;
For Hugin I fear | lest he come not home,
But for Munin my care is more.
— Grímnismál, stanza 20
The Minní, or memory center, of the soul plays hand in hand with the Hugr, our logical mind. When presented with a situation, we often recall previous experiences to help us take appropriate action. Sometimes it is the recollection of a past situation that ended badly or didn’t work out and we alter our course.
There are good and bad memories; some we remember for victories, and others, failures. If you ask yourself which you recall the most vividly, I’d wager that you recall failure much more vividly. Why is this? In my opinion, it is so we don’t fall into the same traps that have snared our progress in the past. I sometimes use memories of previous failures or of people who told me I couldn’t do something better, and I put it in my fuel tank. To propel me forward. And once I accomplish something special, I’ll reflect on those memories and have a feeling that I conquered something; I overcame a negative memory and added a new, better one.
Then, there is ancestral memory. There’s déjà vu, the felling you have been here before, seen this before. This is ancestral memory. As we are the most recent representation of our Blood, we feel what they felt, see what they saw, experience what they did. How do we explain this? I think Stephen McNallen explains it best in his book, The Philosophy of Metagenetics. I encourage you to read it.
The collective unconscious is a reservoir of primordial images called archetypes. They are not exactly memories but are rather predispositions and potentialities.
What are these “primordial images,” these recollections of a past you were not present for? They are the memory wells that we are connected to through our bloodlines, the experiences of our forebears echoing in our minds, in our souls, in our Minní.
Just as Odin left one of his eyes in Mimir's Well so that he could know the secrets contained in its watery depths we, too, must explore the personal and collective memory. We must come to know those parts of ourselves that are hidden from our sight, including those parts we would prefer not to face!
When done in a psychoanalytical context, this work of self-exploration is best accomplished through Jungian analysis. This is a highly specialized process and most of us are not able to undertake this work for ourselves.
Nevertheless, any of us can gain by becoming familiar with Jung's writings on archetypes, symbols, and dream analysis. You can take this work farther by keeping a dream journal and working with the unconscious content revealed while you sleep.
— Stephen McNallen, Asatru, A Native European Spirituality
While Witan Dan is not an expert on Jungian analysis, I do suggest that we keep a dream journal, as sometimes secrets are revealed in this state. Some may feel prophetic, others are a recall of a forgotten memory, maybe your own, but maybe that of your ancestors.
Our memories are the storehouse of Wisdom. Wisdom is gained through experience, and we store that experience to better inform our present and future.
Some memories are painful, but we must face them with courage and determination in order to drown them out by creating more and better memories. Memories are your history; by creating new memories, we create history. Go out and create history, my Folk.
Hail The Æsir!
Hail The Folk!
Hail The Asatru Folk Assembly!
Hail the memory makers….
Witan Daniel Young
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