The Stars of Vengeance: Vidar and Váli
Vidar is a son of Odin by the giantess Grid, one of two deities of vengeance, as apparently one was not enough in Nordic/Germanic thought. He is known as “The Silent God”, as he is not much for speaking, and also “The God of the Thick Shoe”. This is because he is constantly building up his shoes so that if Ragnarok comes, he will be able to fight Fenrir and place his foot on the Wolf’s jaw without getting it bitten off. Traditionally, shoemakers (and before that, people who made their own shoes) were encouraged to dedicate the little scraps of leather they trimmed off of their new shoe soles to Vidarr, who would collect them and add them slowly to his own soles. Vidar is generally seen as the strong silent type, a fighter nearly as strong as Thor, but quiet and dependable rather than loud and gregarious.
This beautifully reflects the nature of Rukbat, the star which is the Foot of the Archer in the constellation of Sagittarius. Rukbat is said to give steadiness and consistency—it is the foot that the archer leans on in order to aim properly, and thus it is Vidar’s Shoe. Any planet in connection with Vidar’s Shoe is given solidity of the sort that can be the jumping-off point for a great deal of energy.
On the other hand, Vidar’s half brother Váli was specifically bred by Odin (via the rape of the giantess Rind) to be a force of vengeance to seek out and kill the real murderer of Odin’s other son Baldur. He has been characterized as hotheaded, and he promptly slew Hoder, Baldur’s blind brother who was tricked into throwing the mistletoe dart, rather than Loki who had set up the whole thing. Váli is the gun that is aimed to fire and has a dangerously light trigger. He stood forth for another star in the Sagittarius constellation—Facies, the Eye of the Archer, which is Váli’s Blade.
This star is one of the most violent, as well as one of the most focused—both useful qualities of a deity of vengeance. At its most positive it is a driven will, often seeing the obstacles in its path as enemies to be destroyed. If Váli’s Blade can be pointed at useful targets like a disease or a pile of garbage, it can be wonderfully productive, but the danger is always that it will end up pointed ruthlessly at a human being. Having this star connecting with one’s planets or chart angles is to have ruthless and unerring aim and focus to destroy, which must be used with care.