Sudden, unpredictable change. Why do these words sound ominous? Why do we automatically assume, "change for the worse?" Change means birth, life, sudden joy, as well as death, illness, and destruction. Without change, life becomes death, movement is frozen into immobility, joy turns complacent. Loki is the god of change (and yes, He is a god). He is the unpredictable one, ever-changing, ever-shimmering, the joker in the pack. He is the god of laughter, and the god of miracles. He is wildfire, and beauty; he is also danger and destruction from which - always - new life will emerge. He is the god of hope. In seemingly desperate situations, when we see no way out, it is Loki we seek, whether we know it or not. It is Loki who will shift the situation and change it so that a solution pops out from the new situation like a seed from a pod. Without Loki, the gods are static, frozen into immobility. Their ways become set. Try to imagine the gods= life without Loki. Omit him from all the stories. Watch these stories shrivel and lose life.

It is amazing that we, as heathens, should confuse danger with evil. It is amazing that we should pay lip service to bold Northern folk, and be ourselves afraid of danger. It is amazing that we negate the qualities that make our religions strong. If we want flawless gods, we have come to the wrong place. If we want perfection, we need to look toward Christianity (and incidentally live with the problem of why one perfect god would choose to create the shit we live in). Our gods are not all-powerful, nor are they perfect. They are like us, only more so. We have been told by vague post-Christian sources to mistrust Loki as a devil figure, and we have obligingly complied. Why? Because Loki is a Trickster, and could trick us? So could Odin. So could Freya. It is easier to dump all our fears on one scapegoat god, but all gods are dangerous, whether we want it or not. No god should be lightly invoked.

Loki=s role in Ragnarok? Who is to tell? Freya Aswynn, to whose book I owe much of my spiritual life, says of the gods that they evolve along with their worshippers. Who can tell what Loki is like today? Unlike Christianity, in which the main figure is static - and for good reason, being dead - the Heathen gods are alive. They have had many adventures since they were last written about and of those adventures, we know nothing. We insist on safely relegating them to the past, but they have a life in the present. The Gods have changed. Within our Wyrd, we have a certain range of free will. Within orlog, the world too, has a certain range of free will: "as above, so below, as without, so within, as the universe, so the soul." And the outcome of the gods is as uncertain as our own.

Guidelines for invoking Loki are useless: Loki does not take kindly to guidelines - maybe not even to this one! The most I can do is describe my own connection with him. In a situation in which six people were involved, all with conflicting interests, one particular evening when I was tired of hurting, I lit a fire, put a cluster of zinkite opposite the fire, and the Dagaz rune between the two, and said to Loki, "Any trickster can solve a situation so someone wins and someone loses. If you are indeed the god of surprises, surprise everyone by proving them wrong. Fix it so everyone wins. This I will do in return: I shall wear the Dagaz rune, your rune, always. I shall honor you every time I light a flame, candle or fire. I shall bear witness to your kindness. This is my need-fire. In my need, I challenge you, and I know you can help. Now prove it."

That night, I suddenly woke up, because my covers were thrown off my body, and I was being pulled briskly downward by my ankles. I felt a huge, fierce joy had swept into the room. Essentially, the presence was emanating two things: it was glad to be called, to be freed from constraint - and it was testing me. The only thing I could do was repeat firmly, "the good of all and the free will of all." The tugging did not cease until I added "or not at all." The experience was both terrifying and wonderful: it was extremely dangerous, yet I have never felt so safe. The situation was solved, in true Loki fashion. The joke was on everyone and nobody got hurt; all fell into place.

I invoke Loki often, now. I never forget he can be dangerous. I accept the danger. I do not expect him to solve situations my way. Loki will solve them his way. At first I would invoke him as the catalyst, only reminding him that any bungler can harm, but only a true artist can heal. Now, I am no longer stupidly arrogant enough to remind him of anything. His will be done.

Four sentences bring a direct connection to Loki as to any other god: "Please." "Thank you." "Oops, sorry!" and the most important one of all, "I love you." I also call on his wife Sigyn, She of the staying power. Ever wondered what she saw in him to marry him? Constancy needs change. In that union, in that apparent contradiction, all of living is contained. In between the worlds Loki moves, god of paradox, guardian of the fragile balance between life and death, night and day, light and dark, creation and destruction.

Artwork by Thalia Took.