The Trickster's Call: Recognizing the Signs Loki Is Calling You

Spiders and webs.

Yeah, this one definitely doesn’t always go down too well with people. But it’s become clear now that Loki is a fan of sending spiders your way if they’re trying to connect with you – but it’s not uncommon for you to have recurring dreams about spiders if you aren’t necessarily coming across them when you’re conscious.

Loki is linked to spiders, and their webs, as some of their symbols are the likes of webs and knots, as well as tangles. But whether this is strictly to do with Loki crafting fishing nets in some early Norse stories, or due to their ‘web’ of stories and wit that they would ‘spin’ to get out of situations, or simply because they had their mouth sewn shut (we’ll discuss this later), or perhaps all of those reasons, but it’s up for debate. 

If you start to come across these more so in your daily life, or if they are a recurring element in your dreams, that could be Loki reaching out to you. So, apologies if you’re not a fan of spiders especially! The God of mischief won’t shy away from sending an 8-legged critter your way.

Fire

There was once a time when Loki was thought to have originally been a fire god before becoming more heavily associated with all things mischief, this has been linked back to their origins with regards to the literal translations of Loki’s parent’s names, and how Loki themselves came to be, but there is still the debate of whether this is accurate or whether Loki was being confused with Logi (literally meaning ‘fire’). There are arguments for both sides of the story so it can still be considered one of Loki’s signs. 

Perhaps one that isn’t the most considered in modern times. It’s really up to you if you want to explore this option more (it makes for some good reading, I won’t lie), but others that have worked/do work with Loki have recounted fire being a part of their practice and worship with him. But this could mean noticing flames/fire in places you wouldn’t have really paid attention to before, perhaps candles now stand out a lot more than they ever used to? Perhaps fire could be coming up as a recurring theme in your dreams, or even your daydreaming, or are you noticing things outside in nature? 

This could be anything from campfires to, unfortunately, more natural fires in the area. But if a fire is a theme that keeps cropping up more so than normal, this is still thought to be one of Loki’s signs. 

Serpents

Loki’s symbol consists of 2 snakes that have twisted around each other to create an S shape and are biting one another’s tails, so it isn’t a surprise that serpents in general are one of their symbols. It’s also common knowledge that one of Loki’s children, birthed by the mother of monsters herself Angrboða, was Jörmungandr. Jörmungandr is known as the world serpent, or Midgard serpent, and is said to be large enough that it encircles the Earth entirely and keeps a hold of its own tail, it was said that the day it stopped biting its tail, it would be catastrophic with that bringing on the start of Ragnarok. 

Transformational Changes

Loki is known for being the god to change and adapt as necessary if the circumstance called for it, they are quite literally known to be a shapeshifter! With Loki’s identity also being gender-fluid in Norse mythology, Loki is not fixed to one identity, they change throughout many Norse stories from male to female, to even horse (oh yes, I’m serious) and various other animals. 

If you find yourself to be going through some big transformations in your own personal life, no matter how big or small, this could be a sign of Loki’s impact in your life. But Loki can make us face harsh truths, so the changes might not always come easy – just as a heads up!

Sudden draw or obsession with Loki and Norse mythology.

It probably goes without saying that if you’ve felt tugged towards Loki and/or Norse mythology, there could absolutely be a reason for that! Especially if the interest either arises out of nowhere, or you perhaps had the interest before but you finding yourself deep diving a lot more all of a sudden, feeling more gripped and wanting to learn and gain more knowledge. The sudden desire to jump into it all could signify Loki’s presence and influence! 

Hel, Goddess of the underworld, and Fenrir.

Another of Loki’s children, birthed by Angrboða, is said to be Hel (from the Prose Edda, Poetic Edda and Heimskrilinga), but she is most commonly known as the ruler of the underworld, mostly known as Niflheim, appointed by Odin himself. 

Hel’s symbolism can not only tie in with Loki based on her being a child of theirs, but her own personal symbolism is that of accepting death as a natural part of cycles throughout life. Everything comes to an end eventually. And this perfectly ties in with Loki’s transformational aspects so don’t be surprised if you find the two going hand in hand, or there perhaps being a focus on more of the necessary endings of cycles in your life – ‘death’ doesn’t always mean physically, after all. 

Fenrir who also was birthed by Angrboða is depicted as an incredibly large wolf, one that is actually recounted as growing so large it eventually managed to break free from its bonds and was the one to kill Odin; but that can be a story for another time. So, depictions of wolves could be a link back to Fenrir, and thus back to Loki, especially if they’re going hand in hand with other signs and synchronicities. 

Whether this means crossing paths with wolves randomly out and about, especially if you live in an area with a wolf population, but it could also mean coming across images, sounds, discussions, etc, about wolves on TV, the radio, social media, etc. 

Sleipnir.

Soooooo if you’re unfamiliar with the story of Loki giving birth to a horse, this one will probably give you a chuckle! So yeah, fun fact: Loki slept with a horse and gave birth to the steed Sleipnir and then proceeded to gift the horse to Odin. Loki essentially needed to lure the horse Svaðilfari away from helping build the walls around Asgard, so Loki shapeshifted into a horse, proceeded to trick Svaðilfari into moving, and then the two of them mated. 

Low and behold Loki’s horse child. So, yes! The famous Sleipnir is something we can absolutely consider to be a sign of Loki seeing as they quite literally gave birth to the creature. Norse mythology, eh; it’s a whirlwind but we love it! 

The Snaptun Stone.

This makes an interesting read if you’ve never looked into it! The Snaptun Stone was carved roughly around 1000 CE and is believed to be one of the rare depictions we have of Loki. This is due to the carving portraying stitched-together lips – which is a fate Loki faces at some stage due to losing a bet with a dwarf.

Loki had wagered his head under the condition that the dwarf cannot do anything to his neck, and basic biology dictates that it’s impossible to decapitate someone without affecting their neck, so said dwarf stitched Loki’s lips together in annoyance.