Have you ever wondered what the root meaning is of my weird username and where it comes from?
Let’s dive in!
My Background in Paganism, Becoming A Norse Pagan
To give context to WHY I choose this sort of name for my artist self, I want to give some background on my life as a Norse Pagan who lived in the “broom closet” for most of my life until adulthood. I started upon my Pagan path at the age of 15 after borrowing a book on Wicca from a childhood friend. I think I was still going to the local Methodist church I grew up in, but I started to get busier with band and highschool. I stopped attending as I had decided to pursue Paganism in the dark of night when everyone was asleep. I stayed in the broomcloset for most of my teendom and approached being out about being Pagan once it started becoming more normalized and accepted in my area. I would write memos about the seasonal shifts on Facebook, and share my tarot readings, or read tarot for friends privately, etc. It became a big part of my life. I took it seriously since the start, and devoted myself to the path by the age of 19 with a D.J. Conway book along with a Scott Cunningham book on Wicca originally I started at. My chosen deity to worship was Freyja, I felt called to her due to her connection to cats.
After aging more, and growing up in the witch community on Tumblr during it’s prime I learned a lot from queer witches of colour and people of various walks of life. I started to come out as a transgender non-binary man, and come into my understanding of myself more. I started to see how I didn’t fit in with the cisheteronormativity of Wicca, with “lord and lady” junk. The practices of appropriation with eclectic “borrowing” of pieces of other religions that had history and weight also stuck out to me as something I did not want to represent me as a person. I abandoned traditional Wicca in the 2010’s and became a “Gorgonic Wiccan,” eventually taking the “wicca” out entirely and becoming a “Gorgonic Pagan.” This path was from my 20’s and I named it after my blooming religious view of Medusa, the Gorgon, as a deity of monster-kind and those wronged by Patriarchal and misogynistic society. In the myth of Medusa, when Perseus beheads her, the blood from her neck bores all of the sea monsters living within the Red Sea in Greek Mythology. Mother of Monsters is her title to me. I still worship Medusa and her story is something that is so important to me that I dedicated a large portion of my AP Art Portfolio to a “focus” of 12 art pieces on Medusa’s story in highschool, viewable on my deviantART page. I have always been drawn to her story as I was to Freyja’s. Powerful women who fight back against patriarchy is a running themed with the goddesses I chose to worship.
I felt like I needed something with traditions though, so Freyja inspired me and introduced me to her family so-to-say and I learned and read all about the Vanir gods of the Norse Pantheon, and their difference from the Aesir gods like Thor, Loki, and Odin. To put it simply, Aesir are symbolized by the manmade miracles like modern cities, temples built to gods, tools used, farming, agricultural, inventiveness of humanity, etc. The Vanir are symbolized by the natural miracles of the world, like forests and their ways of functioning like supercities hosting thousands of species living off of one tree, or the turning of the seasons, etc. I have always felt more of a kinship with the forest and natural world, as a Green Witch, and chose to worship Vanir gods like Freyja and Freyr as sibling-gods. I found kinship in positive masculine images and stories of Freyr and Thor’s friendships, of Thor’s and Freyja’s friendship, of Thor and Loki’s bending of gender to the point of Loki birthing children, of Odin’s learning of seiðr magic only known by Freyja and women traditionally…I found a lot of myself and my community in Norse stories. I really loved the Pantheon and read a lot in the Norse Mythology book by Neil Gaiman. I do not support Gaiman anymore however, because he is a sexual predator and monster. So, please do not buy his book, I simply mention it because it was an entry-point for me into Norse stories. Not worth buying though. You can find Norse stories in The Poetic Edda itself or the Prose Edda. That is the actual source text.
Long story short, I eventually found myself as a Heathen worshiping and personally working with Freyja, Freyr, and Medusa as my sources of power and kinship with mythological figures and goddesses / gods. Reading lots of different books helped me figure out the kind of Pagan that suited me. I felt at home in Heathenry and continue to feel that way as I grow and connect with other Pagans of all kinds of paths at the Covenant of the Universalist Unitarian Pagans in Denton, TX as well as The Cauldron of the Growing Vine based out of California and running things virtually that I attend. There is so much joy in the Pagan community to be had.
My Original Username: oreobytes
For anyone who has known me since the early days of the internet (shout out to Eevzy’s Place Oekaki boards back in the 2000s!) I used to go by ‘oreobytes’ – I tell you this because it is what led me to looking for words in Old Norse that started with ‘o’ – I still identified with the letter ‘o’ long before I chose the name Orion as a non-binary transgender man. Funnily enough, the ‘o’ chose me from early on. The meaning of ‘oreobytes’ was from an old Neopets username, oreobites247 for my second account on there (oops, sorry Neopets I was breaking the rules as a wee lad lol.) The phrase “Oreo bites 24/7” was due to my old fluffy cat Oreo that was young no older than a year going through a major play-biting phase. Since I couldn’t have my username be something similar to my original account, I made ‘oreobites247’ as a side account I thought nothing of originally. Little did I know it would eventually lead to my main username, business name, and personal actual name post-transition years later…
So, I looked on a website of Old Norse words for an ‘o’ sounding name when I was coming out as a trans person and dealing with some pretty crappy old roommates back in college that would stalk my ‘oreobytes’ pages online. I changed the username and came back from a hiatus on Twitter and hoped for the best a year after escaping their hold on my life. It confused most of my mutuals who had no idea who I was, but ‘ovaettr’ was born sometime around 2012 or 2013. Everyone I knew online was happy to see me return. I was healing finally, in a new home, with a partner at the time who is just a friend now. But I was reborn in that time of struggle. I came out as trans a year later and then got on hormones 3 years after that in 2017. Things have been great since starting my transition 12+ years ago.
‘ovaettr’ was now my full-time username everywhere as I revamped myself post-escape.
Let’s see what it means:
óvættr – The Source of Power for a Queer Monster
óvættr (noun) ‘evil creature’ – ‘monster’ – ‘evil spirit’
Adapting a “if you make me out to be a monster, I will become a monster and be proud of my power” moment of my life into an identity online, I donned the name ‘ovaettr’ as an English simplification of óvættr the root word of my identity. Monsters. Monster. The site I originally saw it on deemed it “monster” or “evil spirit” but most sites now come up with “evil creature” so, I consider it all of these things. Why “evil” and why stick with that identity?
Mostly, because queer and trans people often experience – at least I did – people in their family vilifying them for sticking up for themselves and their identities, their communities, and their friends and/or chosen family against queerphobes who refuse to change pronouns in reference to you or other people or even worse things like referring to an entire demographic as a slur to my face. There has been many times I wished people could have been better, and when I called them out on it, they’d deem me a “problem causer” and the actual real offensive thing was me pointing out it was wrong of them to act that way. No, the actual problem is harming trans people by deadnaming us, misgendering us, calling us the wrong thing, spreading rumors that we are a “liars” when we speak out about abuse and proclaiming we “can’t live truthful lives” due to being trans like most of the media says too.
“A monster is a creature made of
the truth no one else dares to speak.
A monster is a being beyond fear.”
– Kai Cheng Thom, excerpt from
‘Falling Back in Love With Being Human’
So, I’m a type of queer that embraces the “queer villain” archetype. I like being an evil little creature they cannot get rid of, who will defend the rights of all trans and queer people always – I’m a pest and menace to those in power who work for us as a society but deem us not worthy of having rights.
I heavily relate to this excerpt from Devon Price’s ‘I’m a Villain-Coded Queer’ article:
“Villain-coded queer people cover ourselves in black and adorn our clothes with spikes; we cover our eyes and lips in dark shades and glare at everyone we presume to be straight on the bus. We long for capes, vampire teeth, and red contacts that suggest demonic possession. We admire the glamorous, comfortable lives of fictional gay supervillains, who live on the fringes of society but look damn good doing it. We want to be scary. We want to put people off. We are done seeking mainstream approval. We want what Hannibal Lecter and Villanelle have.”
I am a monster, to them, and therefore, I share kinship with monsters, because like the Beast in ‘Beauty and the Beast’, Tony Tony Chopper from ‘One Piece’, and The Monster from Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’, sometimes the real monster is society itself – not the “evil beast”
Also, related to this kinship with monsters is my identification with this quote from a protester that wore a minotaur costume to a protest against anti-trans legislation:
“You call us the monsters but it’s you who keeps killing us.”
Being trans never killed anybody. Anti-trans legislation and laws built to harm us and strip us of our necessary healthcare kills us. Hate crimes empowered by these laws and attitudes towards our community kills us. We have an entire day of remembrance for transgender people who are lost, Trans Day of Remembrance on November 20th yearly that started in 1999 commemorating Rita Hester, a 34-year-old Black trans woman murdered in Boston the previous year. These days exist due to this kind of hatred that leads to our deaths, especially of those most vulnerable like Rita was. Like Gurley was on July 23rd, 2024 the day of her murder, years later we still fight the same problems and it is only escalating in this current administration. When will it end? And thus, I align with the “monsters” of society.
“I assert my worth as a monster in spite of the conditions my monstrosity requires me to face, and redefine a life worth living”
– Susan Stryker, excerpt from
‘My Words to Victor Frankenstein’
Landvættir and Heathen Beliefs Around Spirits – (ættr or ættir)
The suffix of the ‘ættr’ always traditionally means ‘spirit(s)’ in Old Norse.
So, when put together with other prefixes, it can denote what type of spirit it is. As an example of something different than an óvættr are landvættir – spirits of the land. These spirits of the land are believed to exist from the perspective of Old Nordic religious peoples long ago and of persisting folk belief; Nowadays being modern Heathenry.
There is a process of leaving offerings for the landvættir, like food left out in nature. This practice was later banned after the establishment of the church. Today, however, it lives on in the practices of modern Heathens who serve as revivalists of the Old Nordic ways.
The landvættir are also connected to Earthly beings we know of such as elves, dwarfs, and landdisir. Like in the Icelandic coat of arms, sometimes landvættir are depicted as animals or otherworldly beings like dragons and giants. There are a lot of ways they can be interpreted. I personally work with tree landvættir everywhere I live throughout my years of moving. I always try to foster a deep relationship with the local trees and leave offerings to them in forms of hugs, water, and food offerings left on them for the wildlife like a dab of peanut butter upon the bark or some nuts left in the nook of two trunks meeting.
Merging the Spiritual With The Professional – A Sense of Purpose
Using the name ‘Ovaettr’ brings my background into my craft, and my public image. It is something that benefits me greatly mentally and spiritually. I feel fulfilled in putting all of myself forward. It’s great that nowadays in 2025 it’s much more acceptable to be a witch, be into witchcraft, or be a Pagan or all three. It surprises me, but it’s a welcome surprise. I love going to places like The Hemlock Fox in Denton, TX to be in community with my fellow witches. I love Bewitched Denton, a sacred temple and store I love to visit as much as possible.
But something I also wanted to do was build my own “temple” of sorts, and that is what I’ve done with cultivating my online-space such as ovaettr.gay. As a site it is emblematic of my personal philosophy and mission while also serving as a cool resource spot for queer community. I want to give back in kind to a community that saved me and gave me the words for the ways I experienced the world. I do a lot of work with zines for that reason, just wanting to get your voice out there is enough to want to make a zine. Especially ones of LGBTQ+ education in a world that needs more texts about our experiences.
Nowadays I find myself lighting incense and three candles a day, one to Freyja and Medusa, one to Trans Youth and the Spirit of Queerness across the world, and one to Myself in Affirmation of my goals and tasks for the day and for my mission’s purpose. I seek to better the world and leave it a more accepting place than it was when I found myself within it. I hope to do that for queer and trans youth of today. Now and forever, we demand queer and trans liberation! Us monsters do not deserve the hate we receive. And I will fight for that future where we get to all thrive.
Thanks for reading all about my username.
OVAETTR MEANS MONSTER,
A MONSTER IS WHAT YOU CALLED ME, WHEN I BEGGED FOR MY RIGHT TO EXIST BESIDE YOU AS EQUALS. IF I AM A MONSTER I WILL CLAW OUT A PLACE FOR MYSELF IN THIS CRUEL WORLD AND MAKE A HOME FOR ALL OF US MONSTER-KIND TO INHABIT. 👹
