Fireworks for Loki
by Galina Krasskova
I love fireworks (something I
share with my young god-daughter who can’t get enough of them). It was actually
my god-daughter who first got me to associate fireworks and sparklers with
Loki. I’ve since found that I’m not the only Lokean to ascribe to Him this
particular attribution.
It sounds corny, I know, but there’s an element of the unexpected with the
juxtaposition of sound and brilliant colors, fire, (explosives hah!), and
illumination inherent in fireworks that somehow does call Loki to mind for some
of us. Also, on day two of this project, I talked about the concept of pied
beauty (or actually shared a poem of that name) with respect to Loki. I see
that: a quixotic beauty, a shimmering, ephemeral blaze of light, explosions
like synapses firing too many and too quickly to count….and the colors, and
childlike joy that the experience can evoke, the jump of the heart at the noise
all of that is something that calls Him to mind, that becomes a visual metaphor
for a very specific aspect of His nature…you see how easy it is to find simple
connections, reminders, touchstones of and to our Gods in the everyday?
Once a connection is well and truly made with one of our Holy Powers, once
veneration, adoration, honoring, and love become ingrained habits as
automatically satisfying and sought out as breathing, it changes the way one
looks at the entire world. Every micron, every scrap of fabric, every flower,
every plant, every tree, every building, toy, song, billboard, the flashing
panoply of words and rhythms that make up our everyday world…all become
potential conduits for the Gods. That is, I think, a magnificent thing, a
blessing, and perhaps the most awesome mystery of all.
Me? I see Loki in fireworks, and share such celebrations with Him, and
occasionally on hot summer nights, hold rituals to honor Loki in which we light
sparklers and other types of fireworks, and set the inky darkness on fire in
honor of Him. It’s informal. It’s fun; and once in awhile it doesn’t hurt to
call the Gods with laughter and joy.
Hail Loki,
God of unexpected joy,
of innocent and not so innocent pleasures,
Who brings delight to the heart,
laughter to the lips,
and freedom to the often tight fetters
of our minds.
Ever and always will I praise You.
Like a whirlwind adoration shall flow
from every hidden cavern of my heart
for You.
I shall revel in it,
and give myself to its dance.
Like wildfire,
I yearn for You,
as the dry and brittle tinder
of an overgrown wood
yearns for the cleansing kiss
of flame.
Like the pounding roar of the ocean’s waters,
ever shall I batter away
at the rocky shoals of my fears
that keep me from racing with You
boldly, like hungry falcons on the wing,
into the upward swell of joy
that only You, know so well how to tease
out of the untilled soil of our hearts.
For You, Loki,
I will set my world on fire,
and take delight
in the beauty of its colors.