The giant Ymir is one of my favorite beings in mythology. From Nordic myth, the giant Ymir was the first being in the world, born out of the meeting between fire (Muspelheim) and ice (Niflheim). They converged out of a dark void, and as the force of fire and ice met, there was a great hissing and cracking and snapping as shapes and mass began to form. From this, the giant Ymir was formed.

Drawing of the giant Ymir, from my personal sketchbook

Ymir fed on the breasts of a cow (who says mythology has to make sense?), and following this, the god Odin and his brothers appeared. True to most Nordic myths and stories, there is a battle and Odin slays the giant. From his remains, Odin forms the earth, the mountains, the soil, and the sky.

In this story, destruction creates life. I also think of the shamanic journey, which requires initiates to enter isolation, retreating to the woods or another sacred encampment. In this void, they shed their identity, sometimes painfully, in order to align with their cosmic essence. The story of Ymir being broken into pieces is a metaphor for ego dismemberment; the spirit reigns highest.  

We can learn from destruction. Endings in our lives can provide fertile ground. Dead end jobs, friendships, and circumstances can change and give is the chance to reinvent ourselves, to see our lives in a whole new light. On a personal level, like the Shamanic journey, destruction is the death of ego, which is constantly trying to bridge the true self with the expectations of the world (and the way we feel we should behave in it).

Destruction is the opportunity to reconstruct, and reform parts of ourselves and our lives very deliberately. This is something I explore in Shadowspeak, specifically in the cards “Destruction” and “Reconfiguration.”

The Destruction card ~ from the Shadowspeak Oracle:

“You might be at a moment of reckoning. Things could be breaking apart. As the hair being cut off suggests, you’ve outgrown parts of yourself and can sever off what’s no longer useful. Destruction is the release of dead ends. What weighs you down is dismantled and shed. Aspects of your life may be undergoing significant changes.”

The Reconfiguration card ~ from the Shadowspeak Oracle:

“Reconfiguration is the recognition that what’s shattered can be rebuilt. What emerges from the wreckage is more reflective of your present energies.”

The Shadowspeak Oracle

The Shadowspeak Oracle deck and book is full of lore (like tales of the great Ymir!), psychology, stories, and practical how-to-deal-with-life stuff.