Ginnungagap by Micha F. Lindemans Encyclopedia Mythica

"Ginnungagap - 'seeming emptiness' [I like this definition! Only seemingly empty. Very interesting!], in the cosmology of Norse mythology, is the primordial void separating Niflheim and Muspell, the land of eternal ice and snow and the land of eternal heat and flame.

In the beginning, before the world of men and gods existed, the spring Hvergelmir, deep in the frozen wastes of Niflheim, gave rise to eleven rivers known as the Elivagar. Over a long period of time, water of the Elivagar ran across Niflheim and poured into the northern part of Ginnungagap. The water froze, forming vast sheets of ice in the void. Hot air from Muspell melted some of the ice, creating a zone of meltwater amid the ice and snow. Here life began, and the first living thing was a frost giant (Ymir)."

I've been researching deeper into Nordic myths. I want my personal archetype Goddess to come from the same people as I do. Not just a symbol of the greater truth, but a symbol of MY greater truth, ethics, values.

So first comes conception and birth.

I'm attracted to Ginnungagap - 'wide open gap' - the huge void before the world began. It was located between Nifilheim (the world of mist, ice, fog) and Muspelheim (a place of fire, flame, sparks).

I'm seeing the great birthing cunt of Mother Earth, from which all life springs. She is the gap. She is the void, the nothing before something.

I'll be thinking on it all and researching Ginnungagap.

Beltane ~ A good day for fertile creativity.

I've been thinking about this for a long time, decided to create an online journal to explore my ideas further.

In my experience, religious systems are taught from the outside in. I don't want to follow the ethics, rites and symbolism of any spiritual tenet other than my own - I want religion from the inside out.

I'm going to create a personal Goddess archetype from things that just naturally feel right. If I'm a microcosm of the microcosm that is God/dess, then I imagine the spiritual framework right for me is self-installed.

Let's see what I discover.