ile's lokean sideblog! 🐍

July for Loki is a concept/idea of taking the month of July to honor Loki originally presented by Galina Krasskova. While I do not support Krasskova and in fact actively avoid her writing as she is a well known bigot and folkish (see here for more on this), I do like the idea of July for Loki and the celebration of the helical rising of Sirius.

Why July?

Loki is a deity of fire and flame and I have always felt his presence closest at the height of summer when the sun blazes like fire in the sky and as someone who lives in the Norther Hemisphere, July and August are when I would consider summer to be at it's hottest. In these months I can feel Loki's excitement and energy, so what better time is there to honor him?

What is Lokabrenna?

Lokabrenna is the Scandinavian name for the star Sirius. It translates to something close to "Loki's Brand" or "Loki's Tourch." Lokebrenna can also be referring to the helical rising of Sirius and is often considered to be the marker of the height of summer's heat.

How to Celebrate

There is no set way to celebrate July for Loki or Lokabrenna. The idea is simply to honor him in someway during this time. Weather that is every day of the month of July or once a week. You can also opt to do just one thing at some point in July to honor and recognize Loki. These things don't need to be huge blots and can be a simple as lighting a tealight candle in his honor or sharing some of your morning coffee with Loki. July for Loki isn't about following some big dramatic tradition. It's only really been around since 2012. It's more about being mindful and taking the time to recognize, spend time with, and honor Loki! That being said, one way you can celebrate is by dedicating Lokabrenna to him.

When is Lokabrenna?

Lokabrenna is a celestial event and therefore doesn't have a set date. In addition the date and time will be different for everyone based on their location on Earth. It generally takes place during in late July/early August.

How to Calculate Your Personal Lokabrenna

I posted about this a few years ago here, but I wanted to share again. For anyone who's interested in finding their personal date for Lokabrenna, I used the info from this post from the Lokean reddit thread, but here are the important instructions: https://in-the-sky.org/ephemeris.php - set type to Any and Object to Sirius and make sure it has your area or a town/city within 50miles/80km of where you live, then find when it changes from "Not observable" -> a time, meaning its observable, e.g. for me it says "05:48 until 05:49", since the heliacal rising is when the star is finally visible after being hidden by the sun for a season, we want the first day it is visible. i set the date for somewhere in July and then selected 100 rows of days and scrolled until i found a time in the "observable" column as mentioned above. (via. r/lokean)

Referances:

"Month for Loki, Second: Why July?" by beanalreasa

Both free to download here:

Sigyn, adored by Loki. 😍

A lot of cultures are "open". A lot of traditions are "open". But that does not mean you are welcome there. Your actions and how you conduct yourself are what make you "welcome" in a tradition. Acting like you can do whatever you want to someone else's home is not what makes you welcome. That makes you an appropriator. A coloniser.

And this is a mistake that many people who are "pagan" make. They just take and they do not ask.

They walk into someone else's open door without asking "What are the rules? Would you like for me to take off my shoes here? What is sacred so I do not disturb it?"

I'm Aya from Gaza 🇵🇸… I’m writing this with a heart that feels broken 💔. Last night, the storm hit us so hard that the rain 🌧️ and wind 💨 collapsed our tent on top of my children 😔. They woke up crying, soaked, and terrified… and we stood in the cold with no shelter at all 🥶.

I try every day to stay strong 💔‍🩹 but life has become heavier than I can carry alone. Prices are unbearable, and I can’t even provide the simplest things anymore—food 🍞, clothes 👕, warmth 🧣… nothing.

I’m reaching out with so much shame 😞 but with a mother’s hope that someone out there might feel our pain. If you can help us with anything—even a small amount—it could bring a little safety and comfort to my children 🤲😭.