Browsed by
Category: gods

The Gods and Goddesses of Autumn

The Gods and Goddesses of Autumn

Comments 0 Comment

Now that the Equinox has passed, you can feel the changing of the guard, especially if you live in the northern states. This year, it’s almost as if the gods and goddesses have had enough of the fires out here.  It is as though we’ve gone from summer to winter in one day and then the actual fall settles in.

A Time of Change

Autumn is a time of change.  It heralds the coming of winter and the urgent need to prepare for it. For those of you who buy foods from the grocery stores, chances are the changes you’ll see is more pumpkin spice lattes and Halloween candy.  For me, it’s a time to search for upland birds, can my harvest, and run my dehydrator 24/7. I’m looking at my livestock and wondering who I’ll be slaughtering so I can have more meat in my freezer.  I’m considering how I’m going to keep the fresh stuff preserved so that I can enjoy it when it is cold and snowy.  And I’m waiting for general hunting season where I can hunt deer and elk.

I truly feel that our gods and goddesses are linked to the seasons. This makes a lot of sense because our planet is governed by the laws of physics — even at the tiniest level. This makes a lot of sense if you’ve ever contemplated the overall nature of the universe.

The Gods and Goddesses of Autumn

I did some basic research, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there isn’t a lot written about what Northern gods go with what season. We can make obvious guesses for winter and spring, but fall may be a little bit questionable simply because it is a time of transition. Even so, I’m going to share with you my insights, and hopefully you have some insights as well.

Skadi

Probably the biggest goddess of autumn (and also of winter) is Skadi, the Norse goddess of the hunt and of winter. She’s the one I pretty much go to when it comes to hunting, and I feel more in tuned with her every year. She is not an easy goddess to deal with, but she is honorable and very powerful. The story about Skadi seeking retribution for her father’s death is a story which shows how far she is willing to go if you fail to heed her.

Ullr

 

Ullr is the god of hunting, of snow and skiing, and of snowshoes. Ullr was considered an important god among the Scandinavians, no doubt since snow plays a major part in their weather. I’ve read various claims that Ullr is Skadi’s second husband after Njord. The story goes that Skadi could not abide Njord’s home near the sea, and he could not accept the high

mountain tops and snow, so they divorced and Skadi married Ullr.

Tyr

 

Tyr is the god of laws, justice, and the sky. While it seems odd to associate Tyr with a season, I believe he has power over the solstices and equinoxes, given his role as the sky god and lawmaker. It has been my experience (and you can take this as an unverified personal gnosis) that Tyr governs the laws of physics. When we deal with the movements of our planet in relation to the sun, it is really all physics.

I also ran across an interesting point that in some heathen segments Ullr may be an aspect of Tyr. It seems far-fetched, but apparently Ullr was invoked during duels, which was often used to determine who was right and who was wrong. Furthermore, there is an episode in the Atlakviða which has the swearing of an oath on Ullr’s ring. I can sort of see how this might fit together, but unless I have another UPG, it’s unlikely, at least in my own mind that Ullr is Tyr.

Freyr

 

Although it seems somewhat out of place, I’m putting Freyr as one of the autumn gods. The reason I am putting him in the autumn gods is quite obvious: he is the god of the harvest. The final harvest usually occurs sometime around the equinox, or maybe just a little later. Sometime in the fall farmers tended to slaughter livestock that they were not keeping over the winter, and preserving them. It makes sense that Freyr would preside over all of this.

 

Frigg

 

It may seem to be another stretch to put Frigg as a goddess of autumn, but I don’t think so. Frigg is a goddess of the hearth and home, of the distaff, and the wife of Odin. She has ties to Frau Holle and appears to be important in all manners of the home. To me, it makes sense that as the weather gets cooler, people are more inclined to stay indoors. So, I’m likely to think that preserving food and caring for the home falls right into Frigg’s domain.

I hope you enjoyed this piece. No doubt, you can think of some other gods and goddesses of autumn. I’d be interested to hear what you have to say and who you would recommend.

Share
Heaven, Hel, and Valhalla, or Going to Hel in a Handbasket (Part 1)

Heaven, Hel, and Valhalla, or Going to Hel in a Handbasket (Part 1)

Comments 0 Comment

One of the things that keeps cropping up from time to time is the question of death and what comes afterwards. As a person who is past middle age (unless I get to live more than 100), it’s a question that preoccupies me a bit more. Once we shrug off the mortal coil, our very short lives seem pointless if there’s nothing afterward.  So, I’m going to tackle this in a scientific and possibly philosophic view.  Stay with me on this. It may be a bit on the ugly side.  And, it’s probably going to be several posts.

What Science Has to Say About an Afterlife

I was pretty sure what science had to say about the afterlife, but I wanted to make sure before I gave you some antiquated information. So, I decided to check the Interwebs for anything new on the subject, and apparently, there is. Seems there was a study finished in 2014 that looked at out of body and near-death experiences. As a scientist, I look at the conclusions people have drawn with full skepticism and will try to couch it in terms of logic.

“Q: I told you. You’re dead, this is the afterlife, and I’m God.
Capt. Picard: [laughs scornfully] You are not God!
Q: Blasphemy! You’re lucky I don’t cast you out, or smite you, or something. The bottom line is, your life ended about five minutes ago under the inept ministrations of Dr. Beverly Crusher.
Capt. Picard: No, I am not dead. Because I refuse to believe that the afterlife is run by you. The universe is not so badly designed.” — Tapestry, Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Scientists and God

First, let’s look at what scientists believe in terms of a god.  In 2005, about two-thirds of the scientists surveyed admitted they believed in a god, and presumably, an afterlife. This surprised me, because a large portion of what we see in the news suggests that most scientists are atheists, when they are in fact not.  You end up seeing more atheists (about 38 percent) in the natural sciences such as physics, biology, and chemistry and fewer atheists in social sciences (about 31 percent).  So, even in the disciplines such as physics, brilliant people such as Stephen Hawking who claim their is no god or afterlife are in the minority. In another study, some 76 percent of doctors believed in a god and 59 percent believe that we have an afterlife waiting for us.

Now, whether there truly is an afterlife isn’t a matter of opinion.  There either is an afterlife or there isn’t — it’s not a popularity contest where the most believers choose their fate after death. You may be the only person who believes that we all become weevils on the great celestial potato in another dimension, but if you’re right, you’re right, and the rest of us wankers are clearly wrong. The reality is that with our current technology, we won’t know until we die.

Studies Suggest Something Else — Maybe

In 2014, a study concluded that actually searched for an afterlife.  About 40 percent of people who were clinically dead and resuscitated had a near-death experience. One man who was clinically dead for three minutes could recall accurately the work being done to resuscitate him even though technically the brain stops working about 30 seconds after the heart stops. His experience was the “out of body” kind, where he was hanging out in the room “watching” everything.

So, this may be proof that when you’re “mostly dead,” you’re still a little bit alive and aware.  Or it might simply be a delusion that our minds put together when we get jumpstarted.  Who knows?

Mostly Dead, or When are We Actually Dead?

To confuse matters, after you die, you aren’t totally dead for days, if not weeks. The body goes through a type of rally where stem cells reactivate and try to get you living again, even if it’s a lost cause. Some researches found live stem cells in cadavers that were 17 days old.

This, of course, gives us a gigantic problem.  Science isn’t really sure when we’re all dead.  When we die, we’re mostly dead.  To quote Miracle Max, “Mostly dead is still slightly alive.”

“Miracle Max: He’s only mostly dead. If he were all dead, there’s only one thing you can do.

Inigo Montoya: And what’s that?

Miracle Max: Go through his pockets and look for loose change.” — The Princess Bride

I bring this up because it begs the question of when our spirit/soul/souls actually leave. Do they leave with the loss of our conscious selves, or does it leave with our bodies once they’re actually “all dead?”  Or do they hang around in the grave?

 Lost Souls

I haven’t even touched on the quantum theory that information cannot be destroyed. Or the fact that our linear view of time is simply our way of dealing with reality, but in quantum theory, time is mostly irrelevant.  In some part of the universe, everyone is alive.  The fixed points are causes and results.

After all this much ado about souls and afterlife, scientists can’t seem to agree on whether there is an afterlife or not. It pretty much falls under the “we have no credible evidence of souls, afterlife, or gods.” Perhaps that is the place where religion fits in — where science can’t answer.  If, at some time science provides us with an answer, either yea or nay, we’ll probably have to look at our ancestors’ views as a way they explained the world around them — just like we do today.
—

If you enjoyed this post, consider becoming a patron of The Rational Heathen.  For about the cost of a Starbucks’ coffee a month, you can get information not on the blog as well as early releases of the post such as this one.  There are other levels of support as well, so feel free to check it out.  What’s more, you only pay for the posts you get.  So, if I don’t produce anything, you don’t owe anything.  It’s a great way to encourage me to write, and to produce really cool things.  Join up at Patreon and become The Rational Heathen’s patron! 

Share
Blots: Are We Doing Them Wrong?

Blots: Are We Doing Them Wrong?

Comments 0 Comment

I’ve been racking my brain about what to write this week.  So, naturally, the idea comes to me while I’m feeding my goats and other sundry critters.  Heathens do a lot of offerings and blots, but are they the right ones? And can we scientifically talk about “offerings” in the context of a more enlightened age?  Actually, I think we can, and I know I’m going to ruffle a few feathers with this, so hang on.

Let’s Talk About Wights

One of the critters we give offerings to are the wights.  Wikipedia states:

Wight is an English word, from Old English wiht, and used to describe a creature or living sentient being. It is akin to Old High German wiht, meaning a creature or thing.

Now, granted, the concept of Wights in our beliefs tend to touch on those magical spirits that inhabit homes, land, and other places.  Technically, our gods could be considered wights, as well as humans, as the Anglo-Saxon term actually suggested a human being.

I’m rather agnostic when it comes to wights, although I seem to have had what could be construed as possible encounters with them.  But for the sake of argument, I’ll talk wights like I believe in them.

Your Car Wight

Okay, with me so far?  So,  let’s say the wights are the essence of some sort of “thing,” whether it is a tree, stone, a piece of land, or whatever is around us.  We can consider animals as part of the “wights,” in my not so humble opinion, and we may be able to consider everyday objects as wights as well.

“Wait a second,” you say.  “There aren’t wights when it comes to computers, dishes, or cars.”  Oh, I would heartily disagree.  If you’ve ever worked on cars, airplanes, computers, or some other mechanical device, or operated them for any length of time, you damn well know each of them have their own distinct personality. You can drive five of the very same model and same year of vehicle and get a different impression of each.  Even from the factory.

Now, you may argue that cars obtain their “personality” from the persons who assembled it on a particular day, the flaws in the parts they might have, and the owners they have.  Okay, so how is this different from something living?  We obtain our basic genetic code and personality from our parents (Mom had something to do with our assembly), the flaws we have (you have arthritis or maybe a healed broken bone?), and the experience and care we receive growing up.  Hmmm.  That sounds like there are correlations here.

“But my car isn’t sentient!” you say.  “It’s a man made construct!” I’d agree with you, only to a point. Everything we see and use has been created from the same natural materials that came from stars. The metal that makes up the car was mined.  The fuel it uses is from plants and animals that rotted millions of years ago.  Everything in a car — every molecule — came from nature.  We did not create the mass, although we can rearrange molecules and change them into different compounds.  So, if you subscribe to wights at all, you have to consider your car is a wight.

Does My Car Need Offerings?

This is a silly question, but one that you’ll have to look at seriously.  We certainly do make “blots” to our cars. We even have some very prescribed rituals for making sure they are satisfied and will give us a gift in return for our gifts.

Our frequent blots to our cars: we go to the gas station for fuel.  We offer our hard-earned tokens that symbolize our energy equation (money) in exchange for other energy (fuel), and we have a special requirement for how to provide the offering (open the fuel cap, prepay at the pump, insert the nozzle, etc.)  Less frequent blots: changing the oil, rotating the tires, getting a tune up, etc.  Often, these blots occur at a particular seasonal time: change summer tires to winter tires in the fall, change winter tires to summer tires in the spring, tune up the car late spring for summer trips, etc.

We offer these “gifts” in exchange for our car’s gift: transportation.  Still don’t believe the car is a wight?  People talk to them all the time.  They name their cars.  They grow attachments to them. Some people trust their cars better than they trust their spouses.   I remember back in college friends comparing the top end speed of their Volkswagen Beetles. Same era and virtually the same cars, yet they were very different.

Now, did these wights talk back or go rescue your ass when you got stuck with a bad date?  Of course not. That’s not within their operating parameters.  But they have quirks and behaviors you can’t ignore (especially when they hate cold weather).

Let’s Take This One Step Further

So, if you’re with me that cars and computers and airplanes can be wights, then it’s not a farfetched conclusion to look at what we give them in return for gifts. We give them something they need in order to perform properly.  When I look at my goats, I know I need to feed them hay and minerals plus give them water, and assuming the goat kidded, I will get milk in return.  Gift for a gift.  Now, let’s look at our nature wights and our gods.  This now brings me to the question: if we give offerings, what are we giving the gods and nature Wights that they need?

In other words:

What the fuck does a god or land wight need with mead?

See my problem?  We could make up some woo-woo stuff about the essence strengthening the land wight or the god appreciating the sacrifice. But I’m not sure that really works. In fact, I would argue that it may not do anything for the land wight. And a god? If a god is the essence of what he or she represents, I’m wondering if sacrificing things that have no bearing on what the god is would even be appreciated.

Now I may be full of shit here. But I notice that more often than not the gods favor those in particular areas who have made a fair amount of effort toward whatever they look to gain. Sure, there is blind, dumb luck like those who win who play the lottery, but with the exception of maybe the Lokeans, most of us don’t depend on randomness in our lives.

So What Would Be an Appropriate Offering to the Gods and

Wights? (Or would Thor like a Tesla Coil?)

If we take the gods as personified metaphors, then we need to look at their function and see what strengthens their role.  Wisdom and creativity are two things that Odin would like.  Tyr is obviously the god of laws, so doing something toward upholding law and order is appropriate.  But then I start getting silly and seeing within my mind’s eye Thor’s glee at a Tesla coil.  Yes, somehow, I think he likes those.

When it comes to wights, the offering should be appropriate to the wight. If we can, we need to understand what makes that wight and that particular environment thrive.  That might mean clearing out noxious weeds on a piece of land, or maybe providing water during a drought, but in all honesty, I believe that if there are wights, wights are limited by the physical constructs they cling to. That means that they can only do what is prescribed by their form. A tree wight, for example, can only do things that trees do — in the relation of gifts and giving. It can accept things that the tree can use, and it can provide what the tree can provide.  Anything else is asking something beyond it’s reasoning.  It’s like asking a dog to explain particle physics to you.  Assuming the dog knows particle physics (which, with the exception of a couple I know, don’t), the dog can’t tell us that he knows because he can’t speak our language due to lack of a soft palate, shape of the tongue, and possibly the inability to understand English. (Although most dogs I know have a limited human vocabulary.)  So, I suspect is the problem with asking the wrong thing from the wights.

So, Where am I Going with this?

So, am I telling you to stop laying out offerings?  No. Am I telling you that my way is the only way? No. Am I thinking that we’re doing blots wrong?  Maybe.  We got the concept of offerings from our ancestors, who may or may not have had an understanding of what the gods and wights wanted/needed.  After all, while there are many good things we learned from our ancestors, our ancestors got shit wrong all the time, especially when it came to science.  So they could’ve just anthropomorphized the gods and wights and assumed they wanted things that people want. But do the gods have needs that we as mortals can satisfy?

And then the question remains is, are they at all interested in what we give them?  I mean, Odin doesn’t need Twinkies.  (Neither do I, but no one sends a package my direction, either.)  It may simply be the act of giving the gods something we value that works, and not necessarily the item. I can accept that.  But I do ponder the implications of today’s musings and wonder if we’re going down the wrong path with our blots.

Then again, the whole idea is the goats’ fault, since I was feeding them. You can blame them.
—

If you enjoyed this post, consider becoming a patron of The Rational Heathen.  For about the cost of a Starbucks’ coffee a month, you can get information not on the blog as well as early releases of the post such as this one.  There are other levels of support as well, so feel free to check it out.  What’s more, you only pay for the posts you get.  So, if I don’t produce anything, you don’t owe anything.  It’s a great way to encourage me to write, and to produce really cool things.  Join up at Patreon and become The Rational Heathen’s patron! 

Share
Are the Gods People?

Are the Gods People?

Comments 2 comments

Heh.  This one is sure to get me in trouble with some folk.

A lot of people are pretty convinced that the gods look like something out of Marvel, Wagner’s Opera, or <name your preference here>.  Some followers of northern paganism, including Asatru, Heathenry, and even Odinism, are constantly insisting that the gods are at least human looking and have physical forms that look like…well, like white people.  I’m going to drive a truck right over that belief.

Why the Gods Appear Human — Warning UPG Ahead!

It’s laughable to think that the gods are human.  They can take human-like forms, but they certainly aren’t human any more than the natural elements being human.  Because they’re Norse and Germanic gods, it’s not surprising that to most people they look, well…, like something out of Lord of the Rings. This, I suspect, is more because of cultural biases rather than actually what the gods look like or are.  They relate to us in ways we can easily accept.  If that means looking like an old guy like Gandalf the Grey with an eyepatch and two ravens on his shoulders, then that’s what Odin will look like. We have a cultural understanding what Odin is going to look like through our stories. Odin may look differently to another culture.  In fact, unless he had a specific reason to look like Gandalf, he would look like whatever was appropriate to the culture of whom he spoke to. If that means that he needs to show up as Christ, an African American, or a fruit cake to tell us something, that’s probably what he’d do.  At least, that has been my experience with Odin. As usual, Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV), and if you actually deal with the gods, you may have different experiences.

What are the Gods, Exactly?

I tend to think of the gods as natural entities and metaphors for what we see in nature. Their power is over certain natural phenomena. I’m not quite pantheistic, but I think I can make a case for it. But that’s another subject for another time. When we look at all the gods, they all have natural phenomena associated with them. Thor with thunder springs to mind, but there are certainly others. Sif with the earth and harvest. Freyr with male sexuality, fertility, and agriculture. Tyr with laws and the heavens. Odin with creation.  Some, like Frigg, goddess of marriage and the household, are aimed more toward human constructs, but given they are universal, we can think of them as natural.

So, are the gods their elements?  I suspect they are, or at least strongly linked. I know they’re not human or in human form, but I suspect they can manifest themselves in whatever manner they need to be.

Where are the Gods?

There’s been some debate as to whether a particular god is only in Northern Europe, or whether Northern Paganism extends beyond the lands whence they came.  If we look at the actual roots of Norse Paganism, we can see it actually evolved from Proto-Indo-European Paganism.  And that evolved from nostratic paganism.

I’ve shown this evolutionary tree of religion before, but I want to talk about nostratic paganism for a moment. As far as I know — and people can certainly point me in better directions — there isn’t really a lot of evidence concerning what people actually believed some 17,000 years ago. We know people believed in an afterlife and certainly gods to worship and sacrifice to, but given our ancestors didn’t have a written language then, we really don’t know exactly what tribe worshiped what. And while we know that our ancestors made the jump from animism to paganism, we don’t really know when exactly or how. We do know that our ancestors probably worshiped a set of gods because later iterations seem to suggest they came from one root.  So, we’re looking at the same gods being worshiped (or similar gods being worshiped) across various cultures. Yes, the names change, and some of the roles change, but we see similarity between gods of various pantheons.

It seems unlikely that if we discovered our gods during the nostratic paganism times that our gods would be rooted in just one geographic location. And if they were in one location, we’d probably be looking more south than north. But this doesn’t make sense.  Natural phenomena doesn’t change simply because it’s in another region.  Hence, I think it’s unlikely we’re dealing with different gods.

Making the Case with Thor

Let’s take Thor and lightning (and thunder).  I use Thor as an example because he’s easily understood and thunder gods exist damn near everywhere.  Thor as a thunder god is one of our most powerful and revered gods, and yet, he has names throughout different cultures. But lightning is lightning, and thunder is thunder. While lightning may come in various shapes, it’s pretty much the same thing. I suppose you could argue that there is ball lightning, volcanic lightning, more violent thunderstorms with lightning, and even sprites, but I’d argue that it’s the same thing, just behaving differently according to its environments. Look at lightning and you’ll see pretty much the same phenomena.

If we argue that the thunder gods are different in the Western hemisphere than the Eastern hemisphere, then we should see marked differences in the thunder and lightning in the United States than in Asia or Europe or Africa. But we don’t.  We see that the behavior is the same.  The thunder and lightning follow the same behaviors as put forth by natural laws (physics aka Tyr).  So, Thor is Thor, whether he is called Perun, Zeus, or the Thunderbird.  It does, however, make me wonder if Thor is an Earth phenomena or whether he governs all lightning.  No, I haven’t a UPG on that yet, but I suspect Thor isn’t tied to just our little rock.

Physics, Ethics of Reciprocity, and Tyr

We also see that the natural laws extend well past the borders of northern Europe. If Tyr’s laws didn’t

exist everywhere in our Universe, we’d be in a terrible mess. Imagine if gravity existed only in some parts of the world and not in others. That alone would be a scary thought because there wouldn’t be attraction between masses that would hold them together. Or energy isn’t what we understand it is. Or anything that we have come to learn about the universe suddenly disappears.  There would be places on Earth where everything and anything goes. Or maybe gigantic rifts in space time because there are pockets of things that don’t follow Tyr’s laws.

On the human side, I suppose one could argue that Tyr doesn’t exist in all places as the embodiment of humankind’s laws.  And you might have a case.  And yet, we see at a basic level other religions point to codes of conduct that they approve of. “Golden Rules” if you want to take the Christian term, or Ethics of Reciprocity.

Do all cultures have Ethics of Reciprocity?  I suspect so in some form.  Whether they’re followed is iffy — humans aren’t exactly the best when it comes to doing the right thing.

So, there you have it, my take on the gods. 

Share
Intelligent Design and the Heathen

Intelligent Design and the Heathen

Comments 0 Comment
Now it’s time to me go after the Intelligent Design folk.  Because basically, it annoys me.

The Set Up — Or Why I’ve Gone Off on a Rant Today…

A friend of mine on Facebook actually posted the gravity waves from two black holes swallowing each other up some billion years ago were translated into sound as C major was proof of the Christian god and also proof of intelligent design.  I almost made some sort of snide comment such as “Odin did an okay job, but if he really wanted to get our attention it should’ve belted out Beethoven’s 5th…”  But I didn’t, mainly because I still value the friendship enough to not be my normally snide self.   But I probably dinged the relationship a bit by calling bullshit.  Yeah, that just happens if you know me.

Proof of Intelligent Design?  Seriously?

Uh, does anyone really think that gravity waves making a “sound” is proof of a god, let alone the Christian god?  I guess being an engineer too long has jaded me to the thought that there is some intelligent design going on here.
Apart from the great scientific discovery of gravity waves that were theorized by Albert Einstein, which lends credence to a whole bunch of scientific theories, it doesn’t do anything to prove or disprove a god. You and I could argue the case of who created the cosmos and what portion at what time, but the simple translation of gravity waves to sound waves isn’t really much proof.  It proves that some electrical engineer, rightly or wrongly, when they hooked their machines up to the detector and decided to have it make a noise, came up with a scale for it to blip at.  C major was just the note it was programmed to chirp.  If it came up with a D or an A major, would it have been any less than a miracle?

This is what happens when you throw an engineer to look at what actually happened. I don’t pretend to be a physics geek (I have plenty of friends who are), but I do know that gravity waves and sound waves are different animals.  And you can’t hear sound in space because it’s a vacuum. At some point, somebody has to map what the gravity wave means in a way that people can understand them.  That would be like having a human look at the sun and call it “sun,” and then claim because the word “sun” means the bright thing up in the sky it means that a god created it.  Yes, you can believe Sunna is the sun, but to state that something humans used to define it means that there is a god is ludicrous at best.  Incidentally, my friend changed her post when I called her on it.

Faith Isn’t Facts

Sorry, kids, but just because you believe something that someone wrote down some umpty-ump years ago doesn’t make it fact. If we had long ago figured out that our sun was actually a star, we might have named her Stella.  But the name is a human construct. Sunna, Sol, or Stella or whatever you want to call our closest star doesn’t matter–because it’s a human construct designed for us to have a reference for that big bright thing up in the sky that causes it to be daytime here.  We needed a name so that we didn’t keep calling it “that big bright thing up in the sky that causes it to be daytime here.” Now, if you actually had a meeting with Sunna (and didn’t get burnt to a crisp) and had a UPG, assuming I didn’t think you’re psychotic, chances are you might actually have something that might be worth believing.  But it still isn’t facts.  You can choose to accept that the sun is a goddess (lots of people worship her, so why not?), but that’s faith and not science. Don’t expect me to take your word for it.

Odin Creating the World

So what about the Norse creation stories?  I personally believe that these are metaphors for how our ancestors explained the world. Some people might quibble that our creation stories are more accurate than bible stories.  Okay, they might be.  They might not be.  But I doubt seriously there was a gigantic cow licking the brine off a giant.  I doubt Odin and his brothers slew Ymir and created the world with Ymir’s body.  But I can kind of look at how things get recycled over time and wonder if there’s a metaphor there. We know our sun is at least a second or third generation star because of the heavier elements within it. We also know that the earth coalesced from debris that got pulled in due to the sun’s gravity but didn’t go into making the sun. So, is this Ymir’s “bones?”  Yeah, it has to leave you wondering.  More likely, we’re looking at these stories with the knowledge we have now and we’re trying to fit them all in the paradigm science created. Still, if you’re going to believe ancient writings, the Norse creation myths are certainly much more fun.

Did Odin create the Universe as we know it? We already know that in myth the constructs of the universe, the backbone, if you care to use that term, was already in existence, called the World Tree.  While our own home may have been created by Odin, there’s a big question mark when it comes to nine worlds. Then, there’s the issue of the Norns and the Wyrd. We know according to myth that there is a very cold, cloudy realm and a fire realm, from which Odin and his bros created the world. Who created that?  Why was it always in existence?  Where did the cow come from?

So What Exactly IS the Rational Heathen? 

So, now the fun part: trying to explain my beliefs and how the gods fit in.  I’ve already explained I think that the gods are more metaphors than physical beings. That they are constructs we use to wrap our brains around what the universe is doing. They are part of the universe as much as we are.  I suspect Odin encompasses creative energy, whether it’s the formation of the solar system and the earth, or whether it’s a book you just finished. He’s good and bad creative energy.  Tyr is laws, whether it is physical laws or laws created by humans.  Thor is the god of thunder, but also the protector of humans.  He is the one who keeps the frost giants in check.  Freyr and Freyja are more “personal” yet, with life, growth, and yes, sexuality. Frigga is the goddess of the home. Skadi and Ullr, the goddess and god of winter and the hunt. The frost giants are the embodiment of those things that harm humans. Loki is the god of chaos, including creative chaos.  I look at him as a god that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but often causes trouble, whether intended or not.

My point is that it’s okay to believe in the gods as long as you have a firm understanding what science

is, and that science doesn’t prove faith. Science proves facts. Faith is a belief in something which often cannot be proven. Science cannot prove a negative, although it can point out the probability of the thing not happening. That’s why many scientists are at least agnostic, if not atheists. It’s hard to believe in a god or gods when you just can’t measure them or use the scientific method to study them.  That’s why I often call myself an agnostic heathen, or even a heathen deist, although I’m pretty sure that Tyr and a number of the other gods do indeed exist. But their forms often aren’t forms we normally consider gods, but everyday things. How often have you looked and saw ravens and thought about Odin? How often have you seen lightning and thought about Thor? These are how the gods relate to us day-to-day. And that, my friends, is the magic.

So, when we look at scientific discoveries, no matter what faith we are, it’s great to marvel at the universe and even think about the god or gods that made it happen.  But don’t point at the natural phenomena as proof your god exists.  Or my gods exist.  That’s just silly, and you need to step back and think about what you believe and whether you’re comfortable with your belief, even if you have no scientific proof that your belief is fact.

Share
Rune Casting

Rune Casting

Comments 1 comment

I’m a rune caster.  I’ve given some pretty amazing castings that were spot on, which is why I’m going to talk to you about them.  Everything within my scientific brain says they shouldn’t work.  And yet, everything I’ve experienced seems to point in the direction that the runes do work.  I once asked a friend who was getting his degree in Physics why it seemed to work.  He shrugged and told me that it was probably just the ambiguity of the runes.


He might be right.  What’s more, it’s likely that subconsciously my brain keeps track of the rune stones and how they feel.  So, when I do a reading, I’m actually tapping into my subconsciousness.

Why I Suspect a (Jedi) Mind Trick

The runes I use are usually made of some semi-precious gemstone.  In most cases, I’ve found myself most comfortable with my hematite set of runes. This set is made up of 25 hematite stones, of which 24 have rune letters engraved on them. Each stone is shaped differently.  Each stone is different in size. I do not use the blank rune as this is not a standard rune.  Nor do I do merkstave readings.  That comes from Tarot cards and I don’t think there is anything within early rune readings to support them.

At this point, I have to look at them and wonder how much my subconscious knows about these stones when I reach into the bag and pull them out.  My mind is preoccupied with the problem, but my subconscious is always there.  It’s been working out the problem by itself while the conscious self frets over it.  So, when I pull out some stones, it’s usually my subconscious talking to me.

I Hate Cards and I’m Not Sure the Tarot is Effective

One of the things I did at one point was purchase some rune cards. I hated them immediately, and after trying to do some readings with them, I tossed them aside. I had no link to them. They were just pieces of paper without life.

I doubt seriously that tarot works. I know a lot of people who swear by them, but I don’t see the link.  Maybe if your mind does recognize little imperfections in the cards, but that would be at a level I couldn’t imagine.

How I Read the Runes

I usually do a three rune reading. Foundation of the problem. obstacles to success, best possible outcome.  Sometimes the obstacles can actually be facilitators.  Go figure.  If I’m stumped, I’ll pull a fourth override rune.  No, there’s nothing about that in reading anywhere.  It’s something I do.

I’ve done the Teiwas Shoat and other readings, but most just get too complex.  There are a gazillion ways to read these runes and you can find them on the Internet, but I’m happy to suggest the books here to add to your library. I also am suggesting you get nice stone or wooden runes and start playing with them.  Who knows?  Maybe you’ll be better at this than I am.

Share