Calling the World Serpent Jormungandr is an operation for extreme cases when we need to save someone from danger. There is something profoundly different about approaching Jörmungandr.
You call Jormungandr at your own risk, because this spirit is huge and he is a snake that can fly in the air. But this spirit can protect us from the most vicious enemies.
He is not simply a monster from an old myth. He is the Miðgarðsormr—the Serpent of Midgard, the immense being who lies in the world-sea and encircles the human world, holding his own tail in his mouth.
In the Prose Edda, Odin casts him into the sea, where he grows until he surrounds Midgard. Historically, we have no evidence that Jörmungandr was worshipped or summoned as a deity.
What follows is therefore my own contemporary magickal practice, inspired by the old mythology rather than a reconstruction of an ancient Norse rite.
And yet, for the Witch, mythology can become a living language.
The drum and the descent
I like to begin with the drum. The steady rhythm becomes the movement of the sea. Jormungandr told me that he loves the sound of the shamanic drum when we want to summon this spirit.
Do not drum as though you are trying to force something to appear. Instead, let the rhythm carry your awareness downward—beneath the ordinary world, beneath the surface of the water, toward the enormous silence where the World Serpent rests.
Look at the sigil of Jormungandr during 5 minutes and drum loudly to summon this spirit. The question here is: “What if you cannot handle the snake?”
I summoned Jormungandr and I was thrilled by his sharp intellect. His IQ is most probably non human and equal to a high number. The spirit speaks about ancient times, myths, different types of magick that he does and many other interesting subjects.
If you are unsure, if you feel that perhaps it is dangerous for you to summon Jormungandr, then don’t summon this spirit. I will not be held responsible if you cannot handle the serpent, because he is enormous in size.
Jormungandr did not bite me or eat me. He flew me from Sweden to Iceland and precisely to his lake. He lives in the lake.
As the rhythm deepens, call him by his name and tell him why you are calling him:
“Jörmungandr please come to me, because I am in a difficult situation and I need your protection.”
“Jörmungandr, Serpent of Midgard,
great one who encircles the world,
I call to you with respect.
If you are willing, come into my presence.
Let me meet you without hostility,
and let there be peace between us.”
Then listen. The most important part of this kind of work is not the calling. It is the listening afterward. The serpent will say:
” I have come. Do you see me?”
Perhaps you can only hear Jormungandr. Tell him politely: “Please take on a human shape so that I don’t get scared if I suddenly begin to see you.”
The image of Jörmungandr can be overwhelming. The myth describes a being so enormous that he encircles the entire human world.
So I would never approach the ritual with the assumption that the Witch must see him in his full serpent form. Instead, ask:
Jörmungandr, great Serpent,
I honour your true nature and your great form.
Yet I am human, and my senses are small.
If you choose to come before me,
please take a form that I can safely behold.
Let me recognize your presence
without fear overwhelming understanding.
Come in peace, and let us meet in peace.
What might one offer
to Jörmungandr?
There is no historical list of offerings specifically prescribed for Jörmungandr. So I prefer to choose an offering according to his nature rather than inventing an ancient custom and presenting it as fact.
Water is an obvious symbolic offering. A bowl of clean water can represent the world-sea in which the serpent dwells. Jormungandr is here now and he told me: “I like fish”.
Jormungandr prefers a fresh living fish, but he knows that you cannot arrange this kind of fish for him. You can purchase frozen fish, melt it and give it to the spirit. This spirit does not want salt in his food or water.
Dark bread, fish, or another simple food can also be offered symbolically. And perhaps most importantly: a promise of respect. The offering does not need to be extravagant. A gift is meaningful because it is given deliberately.
The intelligence of Jörmungandr
When I have worked with Jörmungandr, one of the things that has struck me most strongly is his intellect. People often approach him through the image of the monster: enormous, dangerous, venomous, apocalyptic.
There was something almost unnerving about the feeling of communicating with a mind that seemed vast, ancient and completely unlike a human mind.
That is one reason I would approach Jörmungandr with courtesy rather than attempting to dominate the encounter. You can talk to Jormungandr almost about anything: he even knows about DNA.
Asking Jörmungandr
for protection
That makes the image of the World Serpent particularly powerful for a modern protection working—not because the surviving sources tell us that Jörmungandr was historically invoked as a personal protector, but because his mythic image naturally lends itself to the symbolism of enclosure, boundaries and containment.
This is where knot magick can enter the ritual. Take a cord. Hold your intention clearly in your mind. You can place or draw your personal Jörmungandr sigil on the cord or on a small piece of paper beside it.
As each knot is tied, speak a short formula.
First knot: the boundary is drawn.
Second knot: the boundary is strengthened.
Third knot: danger is kept outside.
Fourth knot: wisdom watches within.
Fifth knot: courage stands beside me.
Sixth knot: what seeks to harm me turns away.
Seventh knot: the protection is sealed.
And what of Óðinn?
If Jörmungandr represents the immense boundary of the world, Óðinn represents seeking, knowledge, sacrifice, poetry, magic and the relentless pursuit of wisdom.
You might therefore offer a small cup of mead or ale, or beer and of course some food.
The closing
When the ritual is finished, thank both Jormungandr and Odinn. Do not leave the ritual open indefinitely. You might drum slowly again, allowing the rhythm to bring your awareness back from the depths.
Then say:
Jörmungandr, great Serpent,
I thank you for your presence.
Return now to the deep waters
and your great encircling path.
Óðinn, wise Wanderer,
I thank you for your presence and your wisdom.
Go in peace, and let our relationship remain in good order.
The working is complete.
The circle is closed.
And the spirits will depart or they might stay with you to protect you and then you will hear the serpent talking to you. This spirit is very clever and he can tell you many entertaining stories from his life.
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