Slow Havamal: 153

In verse 153, Odin says he knows an eighth spell, and that anyone can learn it and make use of it. When hatred or enmity arises between two people, he can calm their tempers.

While some of the abilities Odin claims seem inaccessible to mere mortals, the eighth spell recounted in Havamal is explicitly available to all people, and in fact Odin encourages us to learn it. We may not normally think of him as a god who placates rage or mends relations between people, but there it is in plain writing. Odin not only has that ability, he promotes it in others. Hatred is bound to stir at some point in our lives. It’s fashionable to deny the emotion and to vilify it. Usually the ones doing this have simply chosen to hate a different target and to deny or excuse it. Instead, we can acknowledge that it will happen to us, at least in passing, and work to quench that fire.( Read more... )