For September


A Repetitive Prayer to Loki,
by Greystonegreys
Hail Loki, Mother of Monsters
Speaker of truths and chaos
Shifter of blame and power
Trickster, World-breaker
Hail!
Defy with me!

Thinking about birds, shapeshifting…and Loki

Loki can shapeshift, but for some reason, He borrows Freyja’s falcon cloak on occasion.
For example, in Þrymskviða, Loki uses it to search for Mjolnir.
Loki also has kennings associating him with
Crows (meinkráka, harm crow)
Hawks (barni öglis, hawk’s child)
and
Vultures (gammleið, vulture’s path.))
Just to be clear
I don’t want to get out
without a broken heart.
I intend to leave this life
so shattered
there’s gonna have to be a thousand
separate heavens
for all of my separate parts.
– Andrea Gibson
Rip 🤍🕊
13 August 1975 – 14 July 2025
If you know me, you may notice that I love poetry.
All sorts of poetry.
But I’d never heard of Andrea Gibson, nor was I familiar with any of their poetry until yesterday.
Gods, I’d wish that I’d had, because my social feeds flooded with the beauty of their words yesterday.
But I suppose that is the way that it is, isn’t it?
And it seems a shame that I did not know of their existence until yesterday.

LOKI’S GIFTS
Hail Loki, honour to Loki
To Sif you gave her golden hair;
You have given me renewal.
Honour to the Son of Laufey.
To Thor you gave Mjolnir;
You have given me strength in the face of my enemies.
Hail Loki, honour to Loki
To Frey you gave Skinbladnir;
You have borne me over mighty gulfs.
Honour to the Son of Laufey.
To Frey you gave Gullinbursti;
You have been a radiance for me through the darkest times
Hail Loki, honour to Loki.
To Odin you gave Draupnir;
You have given me wealth uncounted.
Honour to the Son of Laufey.
To Odin you gave Gungnir;
You have given me victory.
Hail Loki, honour to Loki.
Honour to the fair One,
Honour to the cunning One,
Honour to the generous One,
Hail the Son of Laufey.
-by Mordant Carnival
(poem from ‘Be Thou My Hearth and Shield: Prayers in the Northern Tradition,’ Elizabeth Vongvisith, editor; Asphodel Press, Hubbardstown, MA, 2009; p. 124.)
(Artwork: Loki by irenhorrors)

So.
I was noodling around the internet yesterday, thinking about what I could be write about Loki.
I mean, I have lots that I could write — but it really comes down to making choices
(I know that I have been falling behind with keeping up with the date. Not like it matters to anyone but me, but y’know, I’ve always been a bit OCD.)
Anyway, to get right to it, I wanted to make my traditional Month for Loki artwork post – which I’ve come to refer as the ‘I Love Your Face’ Post – because I *do* love His face as well as having amassed a rather large collection of Loki artwork over these past 14 years.
So in the process of logging into DeviantArt, I looked through my gallery of favorites for artwork that I haven’t shared yet for MfL on this blog.
And here is this year’s collection:

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A note on this particular artwork: I find it very alarming that I came across this artwork and that its title is ‘Hayloft.’
It alarms me mostly because several times – circa 2015 – a family member informed me that they had dreamt of Loki multiple times. Oddly enough, they told me that once, in a dream, they had ‘found’ Loki sleeping in a barn, and when the family member asked Loki why He had been sleeping in a barn, Loki had mentioned to them that a *hayloft* was a good place to sleep off a hangover (and/or avoid one’s responsibilities for a bit, which He explained, is something one might want to do especially if one was suffering from a terrible hangover)
How weirdly specific.
Hmmm.
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Here is a lovely and powerful poem regarding Gammleið – one of my favorite kennings for my sweetest (and likewise oldest) friend and most Beloved, Loki.

The vulture, my oldest friend, my favorite teacher, leans in over my shoulder and says to me, Listen up, kid, god is talking. He’s smoking behind his teeth, boiling pine sap cracking the hearth of His throat. His jacket’s trimmed in the skin of a serpent that, if you ask, you’ll swear He strangled with […]
Stan | Gammleidh
(And thank you to my most patient teacher, as well)
A heartfelt thank you to Patron Saint of Hard Times for sharing this poem with us ❤️
Hail Loki
Hail Gammleið

This meme is reminiscent of Loki for me in many ways.
Fox ✅️
Addressing one as ‘Beloved’ ✅️
‘Agent of Chaos’ ✅️
‘Sent here to destroy you’ ✅️
( OK hear me out…
In my experience, it’s not destruction All of the Time!
BUT
Loki is relentless about pushing folks out of their comfort zone
Loki would also be the first to challenge the status quo
and
Loki can be the Tower Card personified, often on cue
So, while it can definitely feel like Loki is out for destruction — ‘cos I can certainly relate to that concept of ‘gods, this *feels* like my world is ending —
Loki isn’t called a World breaker for nothing
But it’s not meaningless destruction.
I don’t believe that Loki would destroy my comfortable little world for no reason, just for fun.
Loki’s pushing me (and maybe you!) to tear it all down, to allow it all to end, to force the change because what I’m doing isn’t working for me anymore. Things have become stagnant. Things need to change and evolve and grow into something more…
And what better time than now?
It’s difficult, necessary and inevitable)
And so…
Any time works for me ✅️
Anyway…and there you are.
Are you ready?

[The above meme tile reads:
“Hail Loki!
Clever shapeshifter
Curious contradiction
Creator of challenges
Teach me to find solutions
Guide me through the chaos
As I learn to accept myself
And so it is.
-Serendipity Wyrd”]