-Weyland's Calling-

I was born in New Mexico, to parents who were both anthropologist / archeologists specializing in Southwestern American Indian studies. As a result of being taken on digs from an early age, I acquired a deep respect for the Native Americans; I was fascinated with their relationship to nature, their ancestors, and the expressions of their material culture. At a fairly young age I realized that Western civilization's relationship with these things is dysfunctional, to say the least. Yet I realized that it was inappropriate for me to adopt the culture of another people... that is the kind of colonialism that destroys the true beauty of cultures the world over.

As a result I developed a fascination with a culture largely vilified these days; that of the Heathen Scandinavians. The common image of the Viking raider destroying Christian churches gives many pause to examine their own roots. There is an argument to be made that forcible conversions and destruction of holy sites were provocation for these raids, but that is not the point. The 'Vikings,' were by far traders, settlers and explorers rather than raiders.

At its root this culture had a religion that speaks to me. The Gods, Goddesses, Jotuns and Land-Spirits made intuitive sense to me from the very first time I read these stories in Kevin Crossley-Hollands 'The Norse Myths'. This religion is deeply psychological; much in the same manner as that of the ancient Greeks. It is incredibly multi-faceted. The notion of 'Valhalla,' as 'Heaven,' for these people is at once a vast over-simplification and a patent attempt by popular culture to deride our pre-Christian heritage. There are Gods of Love and Frith; Goddesses of Magic and War; personifications of the natural world and yes, there is the Dark God Odin who takes half of the Chosen who fall in battle. Few know that the other half goes to the Goddess of Love- Freya... or that Odin takes these warriors in their prime that they might fight against the forces of the destructive un-conscious and thus save humanity...

...But there is one figure in these myths that stands out as different: the Smith. The Gods themselves could not hold the destructive forces of the Jotuns at bay were it not for Thor's Hammer MjollniR, forged by Smithcraft! The Smith works Magic in the physical world... read a standard heat-treating manual and you will understand what I say. The Smith has a hand in Life and in Death. The Smith can sing your praise or work your undoing.

There is a Legendary Smith named Volund in Scandinavia and Weyland in the British Isles. Volund was a Smith of such wonder that he was abducted by an evil King Nithod, who hamstrung him and forced him to produce for the King's own gain. Slowly... for you cannot truly conquer the creative spark, he wrought his revenge. He tricked the King's two sons and killed them; creating jeweled cups from their skulls and beautiful beads from their eyes and teeth. These he presented as well-received gifts to the King and Queen. As a last revenge he seduced the King's daughter! When the King's men finally came for him he flew away on wings he had created in the King's prison smithy... to seek for his Swan-Maiden bride. Volund has been transformed by his trials and by his Craft to become something more than mere mortal.

I think the first connection I made with this myth came when I broke my back in a car accident in my early teens. Although I was spared the loss of my legs, from time to time my back is thrown and I have been bed-ridden for weeks. I know what it is to face imprisonment in the body. The crippled smith is a consistent theme in Indo-European mythology and I believe it is firmly embedded in our collective unconscious. Call it a vision; call it a state of shock; call it what you will- I was tapped on the shoulder in the aftermath of that accident and I have no doubts that my work was laid out for me. There was an interesting article I once read on the late development of the brain and the traditional shamanic initiation rites all over the world. Every culture with a shamanic function does the same thing... they bring the initiate as close to death as they can during this later stage of the brain's physical development. It tweaks 'em a little. And I have been tweaked.

There is a little piece of that collective unconsciousness trying to worm its way out through me. A piece that prizes the wonder of creating, transforming and destroying. I can create wedding rings that are treasured far more than any material value they hold; I can create knives that -will- be used to master life and death. To bring these things into existence is to achieve near-immortality and to become a fulcrum of Fate... I have held a thousand year old sword in my hands and known that I am the same as he who wrought it. It was a Faustian bargain I made with my Gods, for I am consumed to know more and driven to work on the fringes of the social and economic fabric...

...And I will forever oppose vile Nithod- that King and Tyrant of Industrial Despotism!