In the summer and fall of 2025, I began working with the Norse god Odin as a shamanic guide and initiator when he connected with me through my spirit partner. This article is about my direct experiences as a shaman working with him over this time, and how he asked me to marry him. It is not a Heathen-specific perspective of Odin, nor a review of his mythology.
At the time he showed up in my life, I was undergoing a serious health crisis. I was diagnosed with a second occurrence of breast cancer within 12 years, requiring a mastectomy. Given my decent chances of cancer appearing in the other breast, I had a double mastectomy to eliminate dealing with breast cancer a third time in the future.
In our first contact, the only identity I had for him was as the higher aspect of my shamanic spirit partner. And for months, that’s all I would know of him. Although frustrating to not have an identity for the being I was being contacted by, it enabled me to understand his energy before dealing with his more difficult aspects.
This also enabled me to understand that the entity I am working with is larger than just the well-known Viking Norse concept of Odin (which is helpful, as he’s a complicated being). Meaning that there are older and different aspects of Odin, and, possibly, that I’m working with a being who encompasses more than just Odin.
Spirit Marriage Proposal
Early in the summer of 2025, before meeting Odin in any form, a friend of mine lent me a book on spirit marriage to help with some of the experiences I was having with John (my shamanic spirit partner). Although I wasn’t in a spirit marriage with him, it offered perspective on living with spirits.
I was already familiar with the concept of spirit marriage. It’s an indigenous shamanic practice (though not exclusive to shamanism) explored in several of my shamanic resources, including The Woman in the Shaman’s Body (which was instrumental in understanding my work with John). After everything I’ve been through, you’d think I’d have clued in to the fact that that book was my warning of what was coming. Not so much.
My work with Odin began in full right after John was taken to pass on (a week and a half before my mastectomy, making his parting doubly painful), and I was trying to learn how to live without him again. At a sound healing run by a medium several days into John’s absence, I experienced working with Odin deeply in his lord of the Hunt aspect – the energy I’d met him through months ago. We were in an ancient forest, and he was offering me healing in tandem with the sound healing. It’s hard to tell if he’s fully human in this aspect; sometimes he has antlers, and other times a crown of branches. He was dressed in fur and deerskin and adorned with reindeer lichen and mosses. His energy is earthy, beautiful, and powerful. It was an amazing healing experience.
After the session, I asked the healer if she could help me identify the being working with me. And Odin came forward to give me his name. The energy I had experienced with him so far was different from the rough association I had with the Norse god, and it took a few days to assimilate the connection.
When I got home that evening, I was pulled to stand in the light of the almost full moon. The urge was very strong and had male energy to it, which I’ve never experienced in the decades of my lunar work. When I did, I felt Odin, and he asked me to return the following night and connect with him in the light of the full moon.
The following night, I returned to the same spot and easily connected with Odin again. Not in the deep, emotional way I first experienced him, however, which made things more difficult. After working so much with the human spirits of my shamanic lineage and my spirit partner, this experience with Odin’s energy was nearly overwhelming. It was more like Reindeer’s, but much more directed and intense.
I don’t remember much beyond him asking me to marry him. That pretty much wiped everything else from my mind. Stunned, I couldn’t respond right away, although some small part of me was unsurprised and made the connection with the book that I hadn’t made earlier. This was beyond overwhelming; I was nearly frozen. I couldn’t manage a sound, so just mentally stammered and muttered my acceptance. I could feel his amusement when he asked me to repeat myself with some authority. Unable to manage any authority, just a little less terror, I twice (at his insistence) repeated my acceptance of his proposal. He let me know that he wanted this to take place on the winter solstice this year. And if he told me anything else, I have no recollection of it.
Why did I accept this so quickly? Firstly, I had already experienced the deep love and lifetimes of connection I have with him, and was able to trust that, even when I couldn’t feel it in the moment. And secondly, if a god asks you to marry them, I promise you, you’d have a hard time saying no as well.
Initiation and Co-Creation
Odin guided me through the horrendous process of my mastectomy (which took place in mid-August of 2025), offering me regular healing and connection, and helping me understand the larger picture of what was happening to me. Later, I understood that my physical transformation was happening in tandem with my work with him, culminating in our spirit marriage for a very specific reason. In fact, the whole experience of gaining, losing, and re-gaining my spirit partner, John, having cancer and the mastectomy, and working with and marrying Odin is one long shamanic initiation.
Odin is not just my future spirit husband, or god-spouse, to use the Pagan term, but also my third shamanic initiator. Marrying him next month will complete this initiation process and begin my journey as a different kind of shaman. What that will look like is completely unknown to me at this time. What I do know is that he will be actively working with me to build the future of my Reindeer Shaman lineage.
From my journal 8/11/25 (4 days pre-mastectomy)
Today, I journeyed and didn’t get far before connecting with Odin, which was (I suppose) the intent. And I got what I asked for – an understanding of what he wants in a partnership with me. This was the first time I felt close to him, emotionally and energetically, since first connecting with him via John. It felt really lovely – like how I feel when I connect with John. I’m still a little overwhelmed by him, but I knew this would take time.
The biggest thing I learned, is that Odin wants to be a part of my shamanic practice. As in, he wants to co-lead my new lineage with me. He wants to merge the ancient, indigenous shamanic practices of Scandinavia, with the later pagan and Viking era practices which evolved him and his pantheon. He said he was always aware of my lineage – that the ancient shamanic practices of far northern Scandinavia resonated through the land, even though they were somewhat separated. He feels that just as much as he is a creation of the people who brought his practice into being, he is also shaped by the shamanic energy of the land.
He wants, as my partner and spirit husband, to co-create with me. He will give me the gifts and energy to bring this shamanic practice fully into being. As I understood this from him, a feeling of joy and peace filled me. This was correct, I could feel it. Not just that, but the idea of having someone actively leading with me is…. a relief. It isn’t that my shamanic family isn’t helping me lead, but this is different. This is someone who I will be aware of leading with me. I don’t know how to describe the difference, except that I am already closer to Odin than to any of my other spirit guides. He is easy to reach and communicate with, and that will continue to grow.
He talked about John and what John means for me and for my practice. John is dedicated to helping me heal and do my shamanic work. And he is an example of one of Odin’s berserker warriors. And he (Odin) reminded me that I now know a bit of what that berserker state feels like after being joined with John.
Early Rune Work
If you’re not familiar with Odin, one of his base associations is the Futhark – the Norse runic alphabet, which I started studying in earnest after he contacted me. I’ve had a lot of interesting runic experiences since, including directed and spontaneous meditative, physical, and energetic interactions. All of which began two nights before my surgery.
That night I had the sensation and visualization of certain rune staves being ‘installed’ in several of my energy centers. Ansuz was put in my heart center, and Inguz in my sacral center. About a half dozen others, including Sowilo, were put in my solar plexus. It was an interesting sensation – a little warm and buzzy in each place as the runes entered and adjusted my energy. My lower rib cage felt like it was being strengthened. Girded was the word that came to me. I thanked Odin for the gifts that came with this energy healing.
Two nights later, I had a direct and literal interaction with the rune stave Isa while in the hospital. Isa means ‘ice’, and some of its basic energy and interpretation revolve around difficult situations that can leave someone feeling (or being) stuck/frozen (its esoteric meanings are a bit different). That night, after my husband left, through the nausea, pain, and medicated haze I was in, I found myself contemplating my situation. I recall feeling like I was resting in the digestive system of modern medicine, partially processed and waiting to be released.
Despite my contemplation, it wasn’t until the night nurse showed up for the first time that I thought about stave Isa, because that was my nurse’s name. For real – right on her name tag: Isa (and she introduced herself, just in case I wasn’t paying attention). I might have laughed if I were feeling better.
Odin was working right alongside her, although I wouldn’t be aware of this until a few days later when he helped clear some of the effects of the anesthesia from my system. I got a visual of him moving between the machines, staying close and monitoring my condition. At one point, I clearly felt healing energy sweep across my torso from left to right. For as awful a night as that was, I was still aware of how loved and cared for I was.
Further Experiences
Red-Tailed Hawk is one of John’s spirit animals, and in the spring, a specific bird (nesting right by our house) helped me understand that it was there for John. A few months later, John did some culminating healing with Red-Tailed Hawk, which was beautiful to witness. After John was gone, the hawk stayed.
From my journal, 8/17/25 (2 days post-mastectomy)
Last night, sitting on the patio with Obo, a red-tailed hawk came by, calling incessantly. It landed (awkwardly) in a tree in the yard and sat there calling for a while. Eventually it’s calls decreased but it stayed in the tree. It must have been there for 10 – 15 minutes before calling and finally flying off. Today, the hawk came back, flew over the yard calling and continued to circle and call for a minute before flying off, landing on a tree on the power lines and calling some more. Eventually it flew off.
I wasn’t fully certain last night (perhaps that’s why it came back), but I am today. That was (to some extent) John, letting me know he’s here and watching over me. As if to underscore this understanding, a raven came by a few minutes later, also calling more than usual. Like the hawk, it flew directly over the yard, calling, then flew up the power lines and headed off. Obo looked at me and said, “You’ve been visited by a raven!” I certainly was. Which was Odin (or at least one of his ravens), letting me know that he and John are both with me.
Later, Odin came by while I was lying down to offer me healing and help me reconnect with him. His presence is wonderfully comforting.
8/18/25
The hawk and raven returned with their calls and flyovers while the visiting nurse was here this morning. I couldn’t go out to say hi, but I silently gave them my love and thanks. I think I got visits from each of Odin’s ravens.
I had a powerful experience with Odin at the beginning of October, which taught me several lessons and became my first experience with remote viewing. I started out seeing from the perspective of an individual in a mundane setting, before things got interesting.
From my journal, 10/4/25:
Eventually, I realized that I was no longer the theater employee, but standing [on the loading dock] myself. A moment later, Odin was standing next to me, looking up the same street, not looking at me. I knew what I was seeing was relatively current – the world I know now(ish). And he was just sort of surveying it, standing next to me.
Then things changed, and we were standing on a cliff above an army (not modern), ready to go to war. The battle was being dedicated to Odin, and there was a tremendous amount of noise and movement. As we stood there, different armies over different time periods came and went – various battles conducted by, or dedicated to Odin, in an increasing amount of noise and action. I started feeling overwhelmed, and things shifted one more time, and I was walking with him on a wooden Viking ship, people moving around us and a sense of constant physical motion. The people on the ship knew, or trusted that he was there. As the armies had.
The movie theater person I had been seeing through felt like an exercise, and not about the individual. I was being shown that he could put me anywhere I needed to be through a type of remote viewing. Hence, I felt like I wasn’t on a journey. There was little emotional connection to what I was seeing, or even just in being near Odin.
Wrapping Up – Observations on Spirit Contact
Although I listed wisdom and transformation in my title, Odin, as a Norse god, is considered the god of many things, including war, poetry, oratory, kingship, and magic. He is a remarkably complex deity encompassing creation, destruction, and both male and (to some extent) female mysteries. Some of his attributes and associations are less than pleasant, and many people find him off-putting and even downright unlikable and untrustworthy.
My indirect work with Odin has taught me that we get from him what we give. If you go into working with him with the assumption that he will be patriarchal, manipulative, and overbearing, that’s likely what you’ll get. He represents us. Both our best and worst human aspects.
My direct work with Odin has taught me that he is kind, loving, wise, and generous. Yes, he can be insistent, intense, and pointed (and very, very, masculine), but he also listens and treats me with love and respect.
If you have qualms about working with any higher spirit entity because of others’ perceptions and assumptions (where mythology can both hinder and help), try creating new ones based on love and trust. The gods (and angels, and fairies, and other spirit beings) love us and want to see us, humans, evolve, not perish. They are coming forward to work with us in increasingly intense ways to help us through this difficult time of growth and change, so we can become the beings of light they know we can be. Embrace their outreach with love, in whatever form it comes to you.
This article is part of an ongoing series that follows my journey of Reindeer Shamanism. If you’d like to read more articles in the series or follow along from the beginning, they are collected under the blog category of ‘My Shamanic Path‘.
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