The Order of Spiritual Initiations & the Path of Berserkers

Spiritual Initiation has been brought through in many of my personal sessions recently- so I felt it time to do a brush up on the concepts, processes, and paths of initiation. Including the Berserker.

Dec 07, 2024

I just got off of a call, and we were talking about the Berserker. I’ve written about Berserkers before, but I want to bring us into a space to lift up the Berserker, Honor the Berserker, and talk also about the initiation of a Berserker. If you’re a fighter, then you’re probably familiar with the Berserker. It is a spirit of Frenzy, a spirit of Warrior- and oh, what an intimate, beautiful, and incredible thing it is to become a warrior. Every person has their own warrior spirit, and named the Berserker are few. It is an initiation, in my experience, that trained warriors have to go through. I’ve attached a video about initiation, and about consecration of initiation- so discern for yourself how you need to.

In my experience, the Berserker spirit is one that finds you. For me, I was living at my mom’s house as a teenager, and had no one to advocate for them other than me, myself, and. I. I had to fight to protect myself, and I had to become a warrior for the survival of my Love, of my Spirit, and of my Person. It is not an initiation I would wish on you, the Berserker (or, any initiation, they are hard work). It is an initiation, however, that some of us need. If you’ve ever had to fight for yourself, fight for what’s right. Some are born in this energy, and it is a natural gift. Some may have the activations later on in life, as I did. Once activated though, it is something you’ll carry with you (probably) for the rest of your life.

When I was young, and fighting for myself while living in an abusive situation, I started to harness the power of my body and mind together. To be a fighter, the wit of the mind must also be trained. There are many ways to do this. The practice of breath, to connect the head and body. The mental initiation and consecration of Berserker is one that is much different than the physical. I would consider some debaters or lawyers to have activated their Berserker Spirit too. It is the Mental frenzy and craze, whereas we “normally” would think of a warrior (in olden times) as someone who fights physically. Although, one who fights physically knows that their mental must also fight alongside with them, even if it is not always leading the way.

A Mental Berserker takes years to train. To understand Order, how it is kept, how it is created- It takes a disciplined and dedicated mind to understand these concepts, and be able to put them into application. For myself, through initiation of the Berserker (and other initiations, True- but since we’re focusing on the Berserker I’ll explain it in those terms here) it takes much time to learn and understand. Frenzy is fast, it is quick, and it is uninterrupted. That’s Crazy, the Spirit. I love Crazy, it’s one of my favorite Beings. Being Crazy is a way that we honor the Spirit we are Crazy in.

If you are Crazy in Love, then it is that you Honor Love. If you’re Crazy in Fear, then it is you Honor Fear. If you are Crazy in Grief, then it is you Honor Grief. If you are Crazy in a specific Spirit, you are a frenzy, a quickness, an un-interrupted Order of that Spirit. To do this is to Honor, although- Honor is not always Honored in every Spirit. There are Spirits that require Honor is ended, or is brought to an end. A True Berserker understands that to Honor themselves, they must also honor when Honor is killed by a Being and Spirit.

Here is an example. The Spirit of Insane. Now, Crazy and Insane are very similar. Insanity though is the form of Crazy that Kills Honor. If one is Insane, they have not honored something, someone, somewhere, and some why. Crazy is the fundamental of that uninterrupted Frenzy. Insanity is the spirit that comes through to offer an end to Honor in Crazy, it stops the perpetual motion- and, to be Crazy and True, it must be uninterrupted. If it honor comes to an End, then no longer can this fighting and frenzy be Honored. So, that which is in Insanity must also come to an End- that is how one Honors Crazy, and honors Honor. For Honor will always Honor itself.

Creating Honor is how we receive Glory. Reverence is the exchange of Honor. And, Reverence is how Glory is Earned. The similarity between Glory, Honor, and Reverence is that they cannot be taken. They cannot be forced, they cannot be stolen- they must be offered. We must offer Honor to ourselves and the fights we are going through. We must offer Honor to those who have no Honor, and by doing so it is that we offer them Death (how Death greets those with no honor, however, is not of our decision- it is Death’s decision). To offer Honor is an Honor, and a large responsibility- it may ask more of you than you realize. Honor cannot be taken. Glory cannot be taken. Reverence cannot be taken. If we are going to receive Glory, Reverence, and Honor from our fellow Humans, from the Gods, from the Spirits- it cannot be taken from them. We earn the offerings of Glory, Honor, and Reverence by creating them ourselves. When we create a Spirit, we also invite that Spirit to visit us. If you create Love, you have invited that Spirit to return to you. The same is true for Glory, Honor, and Reverence.

If you earn the Glory, Honor, and Reverence from the Gods- then your initiation of Berserker is through. In my practice of Norse Heathenry, this Spirit is specifically Odin- that is the Being who initiates the Berserker. If you are fighting and fighting, and learn the spiritual tools of those fights- Glory, Honor, and Reverence are the paths that must be followed, and it is what consecrates an Honorable warrior, an Honored Berserker. That is the end of that specific Initiation. And, again in my experience, this initiation takes 9 years to consecrate (if it not one that is activated at Birth, as this story has the possibility of looking different depending on the person, and their relationship with Odin as well).

If this story of Berserker is something you were born into, and it is a natural gift- then consecrating this natural gift and story of Berserker may not be necessary. As a consecration it is a finalization, something that unifies what the Spirit is doing, and what the Physical is doing. To consecrate an initiation, whether it is the Berserker or another initiation, is to then walk in that responsibility in your every day life. It is to wake up, go to sleep, and walk that story of (insert title here) every single day. There are no off days, even if you stray from the path, you must find your way back. And that goes for any initiation, and consecration thereof.

In my experience, at any point in the initiation, you can stop walking. You could stop asking for that responsibility. However, the gifts that come with that responsibility are also taken from you. There was a period of my life where I stopped practicing. There were huge blowouts in my life from the magick I’d been practicing. Death was nearer to me than it had ever been before. Life was falling apart, again and again. It was the great depths of transformation, and I was swimming in currents larger than ever before. I was grieving, and I was fighting- I had to keep reigniting my light, and for many reasons, no matter how many times I lit my spark it always went dark. It was at the end of some major curses in my family. It was the hardest years of my life thus far, and I’ve seen a lot of mental war. During that time, when I stopped practicing- The Norse Spirits had to remind me that what I do could be taken from me. It didn’t matter how long I’d been practicing, or the years under my belt- they could kick me out if they wanted to. That was a hard wake up call, and I got really serious and started the work up again after that. It’s been a climb up hill ever since, and I’m grateful for every step- no matter how bruised my feet may sometimes be.

Now, I don’t recommend giving up. It’s harder to get back up. However, sometimes we must allow ourselves to be defeated to figure out how to have victory. And, I’m grateful for my years of walking through those shadows, so that no matter the defeat, there is always a victory. It is an incredible lesson, tool, and gift I have been offered.

The path of the Berserker is meant to forge you. It is meant to sharpen you, as any initiation will do. It is the transformative magick powers of when Odin uses his abilities to shape-shift, Will, create, and destroy. The bending of time, the creating of Order, and understanding what boundaries and binds need to be kept, need to change, and need to be seen- or become not visible. It is a path that requires you to be hard, and to be firm, and to figure out how to wriggle like a worm. It is a path that will take you to the limit just so you can break through it. And, it will do that over, and over again. It is a very militaristic, disciplined, precise way of practicing magick. And, it is one of the most beneficial, protective, and directive forms of magick I know and have come to understand. It helps you navigate the shadow, and it ensure that no matter where you are- you are not ever lost.

There are many other tools and aspects of what being a Berserker really means. However, if I’m talking to one person in session about it- then other people are on that path too, and may need to hear/read some information about the path of the Berserker. There is no way for me to explain what the transformation of a Berserker will require of you, or what you’ll turn into on the other-side of that initiation being through- as this form of initiation specifically will ask that you hone, refine, and divine the Will. It is a hard path, and it is one that offers you Glory, Honor, and Reverence if you keep walking.

There is no “wrong” or “right” way to be initiated. There are rules, there is structure, and certain paths require certain rules, structures, or orders. But, on a general level, spiritual initiations come in all different shapes and sizes. Without my initiation of Berserker there’s absolutely no way I’d be able to commune with the Valkyrie or the Vörðr as I now do. And, while these paths I walk have asked me to give up more than I ever could have fathomed, and create discipline in areas I didn’t even think possible- the responsibility and weight is an honor to carry. It allows me to fly (quite ironically I might add, as weight normally holds us down- although in my experience, as a human, we must be rooted to be able to fly up in the sky).

If you feel you’re going through some form of initiation at this current moment- may the path, the walking, the talking, the learning, the skills, and the consecration of that initiations be exactly what you need in Love, Truth, and Free. And, may there be Glory, Honor, and Reverence for you if you’re going through a Berserker path True. With all the discipline and serious energy that’s coming through the spiritual spaces, realms, and lessons recently- I wanted to reintroduce the Berserker, and start the Youtube Series on Spiritual Initiations. It’s time we keep walking, into the new. Thank you for the work you do! It takes more than one of us to carry these weights that the spirits give to us. And, it’s not always easy to be a human on this earth, let alone be a human who is called to be a spiritual practitioner or worker. So, I give my gratitude, reverence, and love to you- thank you for you and your work. And, if you’re in the Berserk- keep up the Berserk work! A tall tale you’ll be able to tell when it’s all said and done.

And, that’s the lesson/message/blog I have for you today. Stay in your work as needed, and remember that sometimes the work means resting too. Grateful for you, and I’ll talk to you soon! 🕯🥰💖🌱

-Valkyrja Vörðr Raina

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