About the Course
The purpose of this course is to explore the interior shores of the Norse imagination and its relationship to the runic symbols. The runes will be examined, not as linguistic letters of an extinct language, but as symbols which are alive to different forces and principles in the Universe and in our psyche, similar to the notion of primordial images such as archetypes.
Through various practices, both traditional and modern, we will learn about these forces as an attempt to deepen the understanding of ourselves. This course will be an immersion into a rich living tradition in Scandinavia, both ancient and modern. We will explore together with the myths the rune symbols which are said to originate from within the branches of the Northern Anima Universalis: the Tree of Life, named Yggdrasil.
About the Instructor
Andreas Kornevall is an author, storyteller and ecological activist. He grew up in South America, Sweden, and Switzerland, and now directs the Earth Restoration Service charity. In response to the sixth mass extinction, he was the catalyst behind the Life Cairn movement: memorials for species rendered extinct at human hands. As a storyteller, he works with old myths and fairytales which shine a torch light on life’s journey; his stories tend to gravitate around the Norse material which have led him to lecture and perform in universities and other educational centres.
He is also a prize-winning author whose work has been published in magazines such as Resurgence, The Ecologist, Permaculture magazine and in the Dark Mountain series. He is a member of the 'Forn Sed' (Old Customs Association) in Sweden which works closely with ancient Norse culture, traditions and spirituality, unearthing old legends, forgotten folklore and endangered Norse languages.
Through his charity he has planted over 200 woodlands in the United Kingdom and he has recently been voted by the University of Southern California as one of their 100 spiritual exemplars.