Transcendence of the Windigo

The Myth

The Windigo is a mythical creature or evil spirit from folklore of the first Nations Algonquin tribes based in the Northern forests of Nova Scotia, east coast of Canada, and the great lakes regions of Canada and the United States. Windigo are described as powerful monsters that have a desire to kill and eat their victims. In most legends humans transform into Windigo because of their greed or weakness. Windigo legends are essentially cautionary tales about isolation, selfishness, and the importance of community. A Windigo is a cannibalistic monster that prays on the weak and socially disconnected. In most versions of the legend a human becomes a Windigo after their spirit is corrupted by greed or weakened by extreme conditions such as hunger or cold. One of the most popular Windigo creation stories is when a man or woman (usually a hunter or traveler) is trapped out in the elements. Lost in the frozen wastelands of the Canadian forests with no food or shelter and desperate they succumb to their hunger and feast upon human flesh.

Appearance

There are several appearances of the Windigo. Sometimes Windigos are described as exceptionally thin with the skull and skeleton visibly pushing through its ash colored skin. Other stories describe the Windigo as a gigantic beast that grows with every meal it eats. Windigos are also mentioned to have pointed animal ears with antlers or horns sprouting from its head. A Windigos eyes can be sunken and empty or glowing like hot coals. A Windigo is usually endowed with supernatural powers such as superhuman strength and stamina. They're also known to have exceptional eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell.  Windigos can mimic human voices and are able to move at the speed of wind and also possess the ability to walk across deep snow or even open water without sinking.  (This could be an inversion of the tale of Jesus walking on water. During this time was the colonization of Canada by France and the British empire. It is possible that they were spreading Christianity to the aboriginals of the region and this could be a demonization of Christianity as the Aboriginals already had a deeply spiritual religion. But this is just speculation on my part.) 

Destroying a Windigo and How it's Related to Thursatru tradition

To kill a Windigo you must cut out its ice covered heart and melt it over an open flame. This definitely has parallels to Thursatru tradition. In Thursatru tradition the Heart of Gullveig is held to be the seed of chaos, black, rime cold, glacier made from the primordial black ice. 

"She's the feminine representation of the acosmic chaos. She is the wrath beyond wrath's, the all devourer beyond all the devourers." 

-Gullveigarbok

Perhaps the frozen heart of the Windigo holds a piece of this primordial black ice hence their need to devour. 

"In the form of Angrboda she took up the Eastern parts of Jotunheim called the Ironwood as her province. The the sega's depict the Ironwood as very dark, atrocious, and as an impenetrable Forest where spawned monsters and demon hordes the kin of Fenrir"

-Gullveigarbok

The kin of Fenrir here is referencing werewolves or men and women that were once human that have transformed into beasts to feed on the flesh of humans.  Very similar to the Windigo. The ironwood could also reflect the dark forests of Canada during the winter. Dark, wet, cold, and filled with wild animals of all shapes and forms. Alone in the forest at night even the smallest movement can sound like a beast crashing through the trees. if anyone has camped out in an Ontario Forest overnight you understand what I mean it's quite unnerving. 

Gullveig was attacked and burned alive by the Aesir. Too impure to incinerate Gullveigs heart  was not melted but merely half singed. Loki went to her ashes and found her half-burned heart and devoured it. (cannibalism) after a time he gave birth to three infamous children Fenrir, Jormungandr, and Hel. Beasthood, Frozen heart, and cannibalism is what makes up the Windigo. is it possible that Gullveig or Loki traveled to foreign lands to spread their chaotic children? Did Gullveig perhaps travel and teach the dark arts to Black magicians in other lands? Perhaps or perhaps not….

The Windigo is seen as a creature of greed and is therefore a curse, however I like to look at things from a different angle. Would we not want to become a Windigo at least in some degree? Is it greed to want to suck out the very last drops out of life? To truly experience life in all of its chaotic glory? For life is by nature chaotic but within that chaos is joy, hope, creativity, playfulness, community, and brotherhood. Do we not wish to become wild once again? The human race has become sick and twisted. we have forgotten our place in the world. nature is no longer sacred and we no longer treat it with the religious zeal that our ancestors once did. Us chosen few who have chosen the path of the old gods aim to transcend. To throw away the shackles and to find Rapture in the world around us that is not yet poisoned and rotten. We chosen few wish to grow fangs, claws, and antlers. We wish to run with the deer and the wolves under a black star speckled sky with wind in our hair and desire in our hearts. This is our transcendence. This is the transcendence of the Windigo