Getting Bitch-Slapped by the Gods

October 29, 2016 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

Folks, I’m dreadfully sorry I didn’t put anything up last weekend, but I was busy hunting and filling my freezer. I still have a lot of hunting to do, so the posts may become sporadic. I may ask a few folks for some guest posts, but have no fear, I’m still around, you lucky bastards. Here’s the post I’ve been working on this week.

Getting bitch-slapped by the gods. If that’s happened to you, you’ll know whence I speak. If you haven’t and are a heathen, chances are you won’t. And count yourself lucky. It’s a most disturbing set of circumstances that cause you to go stumbling into heathenry without much of a guidepost.

Let me explain.

You have Tyr and Thor to thank (or curse) for me being a constant pain in your backside. You see, being an agnostic/near atheist was pretty much my calling until that pair made a plan and pretty much grabbed me. Tyr decided I was worth meddling with, so between the both of them, I got dragged into heathenry. Another author talks about it, and I highly recommend the reading, but I figure I’ll give my own take on it.

When a God Grabs You by the Scruff of the Neck

Oddly enough, having a god grab you by the scruff of the neck is actually not that unusual in heathenry. I say this from personal experience, and experience that I hear from others. Most of us (I can’t say all…) are relatively sane human beings who have more or less normal lives, and many of us weren’t looking in the direction we got thrown into. That being said, we’re left in a state of flux. Meeting a deity of any sort is an amazing experience. I would even go so far as to say it is life changing. Some of us — myself, included — get the message in a form that we can accept. Others get the Monty Python and the Holy Grail treatment.

The first thing that usually happens when we have that kind of experience is that we think we’ve lost our minds. I can’t speak for any of you, but I figure that I’m more or less sane. More or less. I believe in science and the scientific method, and I’m pretty convinced that the Christian god does not exist. I don’t believe in magic, but I do think there may be some weird quantum stuff going on that we can’t explain. I question whether the gods exist, but they remind me enough that they’re around. I’m probably the one of the few heathens who is cynical about ghosts and wights. I won’t rule out the possibility, having seen animal ghosts, and having had some weird wight-type issues, but I’d say it’s safer to say that if you tell me about the wights and ghosts, I’ll be open-minded, but I weigh it heavily with cynicism.

When Tyr claimed me, I was stunned. I’m not exactly the most perfect when it comes to accepting rules. If fact, you might just find me a bit of a rebel. But who knows what the gods think when they look at someone? If you’ve had the experience of a god laying claim, you’re likely to feel confused and out of your element. Hels bells, you may not even know Asatru and heathenism well and have stumbled onto this blog. My first recommendation before you claim it’s this god or that goddess is to try to sort out who bitch-slapped you. For this, you may need to talk to someone who has experience with this. Normally a gythia (priestess) or godhi (priest).

Note: a lot of people claim they’re a gythia or godhi without a shred of evidence, so get recommendations before talking to one. There are plenty of Asatru groups online — I like American Asatru Association, but you can talk to other groups.

Who Bitch-Slapped Me?

Now, this may be a surprise, but your experience doesn’t mean you were in contact with the god or goddess you think you may have been in contact with. At some point, you need to find out who it was. Just because the god says he’s Thor, doesn’t mean he’s Thor. It could be Loki, it could be Odin, it could be a god or goddess from another pantheon, or it might be a spirit of some variety. Yep, there are plenty of wights that I’m agnostic about whom I’ve heard others claim muddy the waters when it comes to deities and impersonations. Sometimes it works in your favor; sometimes it doesn’t. For decades, Tyr actually showed himself in my dreams as a Christian saint when I was Catholic. It was easier to deal with them in a Christian sense, than a polytheistic sense.

When I got the wake up call, I recognized the god immediately as the saint I had dreamed about in the past. And I got it. I recognized Tyr. Tyr has a feeling that a gythia I know was able to confirm. She was also able to confirm aspects of the god. So, there I was, still feeling in shock, knowing that I had a god I had to deal with.

Now, not all wake up calls are done positively, nor are the gods involved. I know of one instance with another person where Loki was impersonated. I won’t go through the details, but suffice to say, it was not pretty. I suspect that there are a number of issues still with that spirit, but seeing as I am not a gythia, nor do I have the ability to meddle, I’m just an observer.

That being said, if a god claims you, he or she is unlikely to have you do something against the law or against your principles and morals. If he or she does, then either it is not that god (mental illness, or maybe a malevolent spirit), or it’s a god you don’t want to associate with. Let me explain using the Abraham and Isaac story.

Some Gods You Don’t Want

I use the story of Abraham and Isaac to explain why you don’t want a god that requires you to act
against your principles. If you’ve been raised Christian or Jewish, chances are you know the story. For those who don’t, here’s the story: Yahweh allows Abraham’s wife to become pregnant after she hadn’t had any children. She gives birth to Isaac. Some time later while Isaac is a youngster, Yahweh decides it’s time to test out Abraham’s loyalty by telling Abraham he wants Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham complies right up until Yahweh sends an angel to intervene and tell Abraham not to kill his son. Well, okay then. Talk about mindfuck.

I bring up this story because it’s important to understand the implications. It is a lesson to the Israelites that show that their god doesn’t want human sacrifice, just complete obedience. The fact that Yahweh is supposedly all knowing and all powerful doesn’t seem to matter here. Basically, its a cruel god getting his rocks off at the expense of some old guy and his son. While I think of the stories as a metaphor, and not actually happening, the story shows what kind of blind obedience one can have with gods if you’re not too careful. Any god who insists on “testing” you in this fashion is probably not a god you want.

What Now?

At this point, you’re probably wondering what you should do now that a god or goddess has claimed you. I would suggest getting to know that deity better, and seeing where they are aligned with you and your abilities and principles. Read what you can about them. Talk to the right folks who can help you and who are sympathetic to your experience. Those who have experienced the gods can help you through the range of emotions you’re dealing with. If you think talking to a psychologist helps, then go ahead. He or she may think your crazy, or may help you sort out those feelings and get more in touch with the god. You won’t know until you try.

There are enough of us who have had experiences with our gods who can help you. And once you start feeling comfortable again, perhaps the next experience may not be as traumatic.

What is Your Legacy?

October 18, 2016 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

Cattle die,
kinsmen die
you yourself die;
I know one thing
which never dies:
the judgment of a dead man’s life.

— Havamal, 77

A friend of mine died recently. It wasn’t unexpected, but it was depressing nonetheless. She was concerned with her legacy after her death, which is certainly understandable. But there were several things that happened around this time that made me think about a person’s legacy. I’ll probably be saying something someone who reads this will take umbrage at, so be forewarned.

There’s a lot of conjecture whether someone who is of another faith goes into their god’s afterlife, while we Heathens go to ours, but I truly suspect that if there is an afterlife, that we all go there, regardless of our faiths. This is my belief, and a few of my UPGs (Unverified Personal Gnosis) seem to confirm this. Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV), and given that none of us REALLY know, it’s sort of a moot point, anyway.

Shortly after my friend’s death, I went to a convention that I was committed to going to. There, I ran into some new people whom I haven’t met (I know quite a few peeps in my real life) and the comment one person made after reading my bio and talking to me was that I was vying for the title of the most interesting person.

Mundane versus Interesting

That, of course, got me thinking. It wasn’t my intent to become anything anyone would be interested in. My life seems rather mundane, at least to me. There are plenty of things I have to do so I may eat, such as writing Internet content, hunting, and taking care of the critters. I’ve done <mumble, mumble> racing and have had plenty of outdoor experiences, but I hardly think of myself as interesting or unique.

If anything, I have some of the worst patience when it comes to living. My basic problem is that it’s exceedingly hard to cram in all the experiences I’m looking for in a finite unit of what amounts to a lifetime, that I sort of become frenetic when I do stuff. There are too many books I haven’t read, too many places I haven’t been, and too many things I haven’t tried. So, I get that my life seems on the surface interesting, but in reality I’m racing against time to do stuff I want to do, even if it’s a pain sometimes to make plans for it.

My husband remarked that people think my life is interesting because they don’t deal with the minutia that I do all the time. They hear the stories and see the outcome. Hence, they compare their lives which are relatively comfortable by comparison and look at my life as an adventure. Now, to be honest, there are some interesting stories I have that are even amusing, but it isn’t something I set out to do to impress anyone.

Just Make It a Good One

As I said earlier, my friend before she died was concerned with her legacy, in this case, as a writer. I get that one’s legacy is important, but to quote the Doctor, “We’re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one.” What we leave behind isn’t immortal, by any stretch. But our deeds, our stories that bear repeating are, assuming people find them interesting in some fashion.

Seldom does the person who lives a common life end up remembered for the day-to-day crap. To paraphrase an old adage, boring lives rarely make history. The person must have done something notable to get considered worthy of our attention. But even then, it’s a hit or miss.

You Want a Guarantee? Buy a Toaster

Even if you live an uncommon life or achieve some sort of fame or notoriety, there’s no guarantee you’ll live on by your work or deeds. I’ll make my point with writers, though you can do it with just about anything. There are plenty of prolific writers who aren’t household names. Unless you’re a well read writer, you probably don’t know who Anthony Trollope was. He wrote 47 novels in his lifetime and quite a few shorter works. He was famous in his day. How about Lauran Paine, who wrote more than 900 works? How about Andrew Murray who wrote more than 240 works?

Now, there are authors whom we do recognize such as Isaac Asimov, Barbara Cartland, and Michael Crichton, who were prolific, but it’s no guarantee that will happen just because you write a lot, or even make a bestseller. Doing something well and extraordinary my may continue a legacy, or may not. In fact, some authors do better after they die than while alive. Which is why pursuing fame is difficult.

My friend’s legacy is sadly mixed. Her books didn’t take off the way she hoped and toward the end she was doing things that she hoped would make her books appear better. She was a good writer, but like many writers, she wanted everything perfect. Only there wasn’t any way for them to be perfect. Still, she has a legacy of sorts, and one that will hopefully be remembered.

What the Fuck does this have to do with Heathenry?

If you haven’t read my quote from the Havamal at the beginning, read it again. At some time, despite my insistence that I refuse to die, I suspect we all are going to the grave. What lies beyond is anyone’s guess. Sure, we may end up in Helheim, Valhalla, Folksgangr, or any one of the halls of the gods. Maybe we’ll just be in our graves. Maybe we reincarnate, or maybe we just go into oblivion and our bodies rot.

When we go, we should have lived a life of honor. And at least an interesting life.

Blood Sacrifices and Other Moronic Things

October 1, 2016 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

I’ve been talking to one of my peeps and he asked me my opinion on sacrificing animals to the gods. Now, before anyone gets their panties in a wad, let’s review my background a wee bit. I am a hunter and I raise animals for my food. Yes, that means I have killed animals. So, I am not an animal rights person by any stretch. So, let’s continue:

Blood sacrifices today are simply a stupid idea. Period.

There, I got that out. I’ll explain my rationale (Rational Heathen — get it?) and why I believe that there is no reason people should take an animal’s (or person’s) life as a sacrifice to the gods.

The Gods Don’t Need Your Sacrifice

Assuming our religion and beliefs aren’t just some mass delusion on the part of a number of people, including myself, our gods don’t need a sacrifice in any fashion. They’ve been doing fine without that dead chicken or goat for billions of years, thank you. If they eat, your scrawny attempt at giving them something is laughable. You want favor from a god? Live the way the god or goddess expects you to.

I’ve never heard of someone being an absolute shit in the stories, making a sacrifice, and having the gods say, “Okay, Bro, you gave us a delicious barbecue pig, we’re going to cut you some slack for being a shit all your life and grant you something you wanted.” See: The Gods are Not Your Bitches, if you still don’t get it.

So, they don’t need the blot, whether it’s mead, a box of Twinkies (wink), or a chicken. We offer the blot to show our appreciation to the gods and ask (nicely) if they would do us a favor. The gods don’t necessarily accept the offering, although it’s now gone, so whether it works or not is pretty much immaterial.

Taking a life — any life — is serious business. Our ancestors understood that when they slaughtered or butchered animals. In terms of human sacrifice (and I can’t BELIEVE I have to talk about this), the sacrifices weren’t as clean or as positive as you’d think. More often than not, it was a way to disposed of enemies, or, in the case of the account of sacrificing the slave girl, it was a way to behave barbarically.

Sorry folks, our ancestors weren’t always right.

It Means Nothing to You

It sounds callous, but I truly believe that sacrificing an animal means nothing to you, other than seeing an animal die. Before you get all pissy, hear me out. Nowadays, most people do not make their living in agriculture or raising herds (or flocks). In fact, I’d bet that even if you sacrificed your own animal, it doesn’t really take anything away from you in a serious financial way. Our ancestors sacrificed animals because animals were a form of wealth (Fehu). Sacrificing an animal meant you were showing how serious you were to the gods about your request. You were willing to sacrifice your hard-earned wealth for the favor. Think of it as taking a pile of money and burning it. Yes, that’s what it was like.

Now, you may argue with me that you paid a couple hundred dollars for that goat. Okay, yeah. But you invested NOTHING. You didn’t help kid it. You didn’t raise it and plan on it being a dairy goat. You didn’t spend much (if any) time with it. Look, I raise goats, and I don’t sacrifice them to the gods on a desperate attempt at getting favor from the gods. Yes, I do slaughter them from time to time, largely because I have wethers (castrated males) who basically are being raised for meat. But these guys have a purpose to feed me. And if I dedicate them to my gods, I do it without ceremony.

If you want to sacrifice something that means something to you to the gods, try an iPhone, your Internet connection, or your car. THEN, you have something that means something to you. Not sure what Thor would do with an iPhone, but hey, it’s electric.

Do You Really Know How to Kill an Animal Correctly?

Some of you would know how to slaughter animals humanely, but most of you I’d bet have never killed an animal for food in your life. Sorry, that’s a fact of life and our era. Most people get squeamish in Biology class, let alone seeing a real animal get killed. As a hunter and one who has slaughtered animals, I can truly say that the results are often less than stellar. Goats, for example, are the hardest critters to kill. You get a lot of thrashing, even if you put bullets in their brain. I’ve shot heads off of birds and the body goes through spasms even if there is no input from the brain any longer. The saying “running around like a chicken with its head cut off” is apropos, even if I’ve never seen them “run.”

Gods help you if you fuck up the slaughter and make a total hash out of it. Remember, you’re probably doing it in front of a bunch of folks if this is a ritual. Oh yeah, that would be good.

Is the Animal’s Terror Worth it?

Slaughter should be done humanely. There, I’ve said it. Bringing an animal to a ritual is anything but humane. You have taken it away from its environment and stuck it with a bunch of weird looking people who are chanting and praying. Some animals, like goats, are highly intelligent. Many goats I’ve owned rival dogs in intellect. And you’re going to put them through this? Way to go!

No, this is NOT humane.

You’re Wasting an Animal’s Life

You may argue that you’re eating the animal at a feast. Yeah, how much of the animal are you eating? Who is processing the animal? I’m sorry, but it takes time to properly skin, dress, and butcher an animal. I do it in a few hours, depending on the size of the critter. It’s hard, backbreaking work, by the way, to strip all the meat out, choose the roasts and steaks, and grind the hamburger. Then, there is wrapping and freezing it. Do you have an idea how to butcher it?

On Human Sacrifice

Okay, if you seriously think that human sacrifice is fine, then it is time to check yourself into a mental institution. I don’t want to be anywhere near you. And yes, you are fucking nuts.

Alternatives to Blood Sacrifices

You want to sacrifice to the gods? Okay, then do something worthwhile and dedicate your work to them. I regularly dedicate my hunting to Tyr and Skadi because the work of hunting often exceeds the payout at the end. If I do take game, I thank the animal, the wights, and the gods so I can eat. If we slaughter an animal, we do the same. Killing is serious business. As a hunter, my goal is always a humane kill. Animals die inhumanely in the wild all the time, so if I can give my meal a good death, then I have done my part.

Don’t want to hunt? Try creating a container garden and dedicate the work for that. Maybe you’ve been trying to learn a musical instrument. Dedicate your practice and performance to the gods of your choice. What about your art, your writing, your work? How about helping out in a cause you believe in? All of these things are good, and the gods will be pleased.

Our ancestors sacrificed many things that were of value to them. Given that most of us have so little time, dedicating our time to something that we do not gain from is one way to give to the gods. And yeah, I’m pretty sure they’d be good with that.

The Dreaded Unverified Personal Gnosis

September 24, 2016 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

At some point, if we talk about our experiences in Heathenry, someone inevitably brings up Unverified Personal Gnosis. I’d actually would prefer to ignore the whole UPG side of Northern paganism, but seeing as UPG dragged me into being a heathen, I suppose I should talk about it in some rational manner. (Rational manner, Rational Heathen — get it?) So, I’m tackling the tough questions and looking hard at the section of UPG.

Warning: UPG Ahead!

“Unverified personal gnosis” are code words for interacting with the divine. It can be something as simple as idea that we get that we think is “divinely inspired,” or it can be a full-on visit by a deity. It’s “unverified” because nobody else experienced it, or we can’t hold it up to the light of science and measure it as “real.” In fact, you could take the whole lot of UPG experience and claim we’re just a bunch of crackpots who are off our meds (or smoking way too much shit), and I wouldn’t necessarily argue with you. It could be that, but some of the UPG I’ve experience was when I was stone-cold sober, and talking with gythias seem to confirm what I experienced. So, I have one of two choices to consider: I’m crazy and this is all in my head, or this could have happened and I’m mostly sane.

The problem is how do you know?

Am I Crazy, or was that Thor?

Lots of people have what could be considered UPGs when it comes to their religion. The fact that there are some 5000 religions out there, each with people (alive or deceased) claiming they’ve spoken to gods, suggest that there are plenty of people who are either delusional or who actually have gods who speak to them. And a majority of people out there tend to believe these people, whether it is Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, or any other -ism or -ity you care to name. The simple answer is often the most likely: we’re all fucking crazy and we’re all in some sort of state of self delusion.

But look at the numbers of Christians who believe that the wine and bread becomes Christ’s body and blood through transmogrification, or believe that Christ rose from the dead. Look how many Muslims believe that the archangel Gabriel spoke to Mohammed. Look at the people in other religions who believe in ancestor worship, such as in Shintoism. Then there are plenty of pagans who have spoken with their gods. What gives?

At this point, you’re thinking I’m probably recommending that you stick with atheism and be done with it. That’s really not what I’m thinking, although atheism would probably do some folks a world of good, methinks. At one time, I would’ve told you that it was all in your head, but having experienced UPGs, I have to reconsider them from a rational point.

What Changed My Mind

A few months after Tyr approached me, I nearly died in an accident. I’ll spare you the gruesome details but suffice to say I woke up in the hospital not remembering much except a bunch of convoluted dreams. These dreams were actually reality–they happened. But they were unlike any reality that I experienced. For one thing, it took awhile for me to remember them or what may have happened. To this day, I can’t say with any certainty what did happen precisely. On the flip side, I remember some dreams better than reality — and that left me totally unnerved. It still does, and that brought into sharp focus what reality exactly is: reality is how we perceive it. Our senses and our mind can be tricked at any time, and even at the quantum level, things can get weird and be perceived one way when we observe it and another way when we do not.

What is Reality? — the 64 Million Dollar Question

I realized by this accident that we really don’t know what reality is in the true sense. We can think we imagined things that were true, and think things that are true that we have imagined. The line can get extremely blurry from time to time when people witness something, as any good cop or detective will tell you. Unless you have a camera or a trained observer, people are likely to come up with all sorts of eyewitness accounts. My question is does it make it less true because someone saw it differently? Can the camera “fix” the state like the quantum physics experiment? Probably not, but who really knows?

Our senses tell us whether things are true or not, but our senses can be deceived in all sorts of ways. Our mind can think through things logically and still be wrong because we don’t have all the facts. So, I was left feeling incredibly insecure about what everything really was.

That’s when Loki showed up.

Enter Loki, Stage Right.

Apparently I wasn’t dealing with the entire concept very well, and I wasn’t really taking care of myself. I was out of the hospital and working hard to bring in money again. (You think you’re poor? Get injured when you’re self employed.) Loki showed up at Tyr’s request and nagged me to take care of myself. At first, it was amusing. Then, it got annoying. Loki took great delight in annoying me. Then, he got bored when I started to pay attention.

Loki is truly the ADHD kid of the gods. A lot of people see him as evil, but I don’t see it quite that black and white. He’s capable of great mischief when he wants to do it, but I recognize the times when he can be a great ally. This doesn’t make me a Lokean, but it does make me somewhat more sympathetic to him than some people are.

But Back to UPG…

At one time, our religion had to have some sort of UPG or it would’ve never existed. Humans did have to communicate with our gods somehow (or made up good stories about communicating with our gods) or we wouldn’t have Heathenry or Asatru today. If we truly believe that our gods are living, then perhaps this is the way they communicate with us.

My thoughts on UPG are kind of mixed. I’ve seen some shit others have also seen that I can only attribute to a god or goddess (or weird blind luck). My thoughts are if you get UPGs, and they help you along in this world, and harm no one, then who is to say they are bad? I mean it’s one thing if a god tells you to care for yourself, and it’s another thing if you think that god tells you to harm someone. As long as they are not hurting you or someone else (or don’t tell you to do destructive things), I’m willing to consider that you’ve heard them. And if your UPG matches mine and others, I’m going to think it’s a distinct possibility.

Wights, Goddesses, and Strange Things

September 17, 2016 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

I’m pretty much what most people would consider close to a subsistence hunter. There are several
reasons for this, including the fact that I live in a state where I can hunt nearly year round. Lately, I’ve run into what can only be considered a goddess’s sense of humor.

My Relationship to the Goddess

Most of my life I’ve spent outdoors and in cold weather because, quite frankly, I melt when I have to deal with heat. Any heat. Cold and snow has always been my thing. When I went out in the forests in the past before I became a heathen, I could feel something there. Something powerful and something that could be dangerous. That pretty much describes Skadi. You respect the goddess and she’ll let you live another day. Don’t respect her and you’re dead. Even those who have a healthy respect for her can screw up and end up frozen to death, buried in an avalanche, drowning under the ice, or eaten by a predator.

Yeah, you better respect her.

I’ve had a healthy respect for her for years, but she can sometimes surprise you with unexpected things. For example, our success in hunting is directly related to her graciousness — and the kindness of the wights. We always be sure to thank the animals we kill and apologize that we must do this to eat. I sometimes leave little offerings for the wights in that area as a thank you. I wish I was better at this, so I need to do that more often.

Thanks to Magickal Graphics

Skadi Always Liked You Better

Skadi can be a bit of a capricious goddess when it comes to hunting. For one thing, it’s tough to ask her to send animals your direction. When she does, it’s amazing. The animal will actually wait for you to kill it. Now, you may think I’m bullshitting you on that, (I would), but I’ve seen it now at least four times, and maybe more. Most of the time, she blesses my husband with such animals. (I personally think she likes him better.) But recently, she gave me a turkey which I shouldn’t have been able to shoot, and when I hit him, he could have run off, but instead waited for me to finish him. (When I dressed him, I found that the shotgun load had broken a wing, but didn’t do any other damage.) You see, turkeys are fast runners as well as fliers, so having one wait for me was pretty amazing.

Now, you may say the goddess had nothing to do with that. You may be right. Maybe animals just wait to get killed. But I kind of doubt it. So, I thank the wights and the goddess for the game and feel good about the hunt.

Explaining Hunting Rules to a Norse Goddess

Sometimes even I forget the basic rule: The Gods are Not Your Bitches. But to be honest, hunting isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do. Animals tend to make themselves scarce with people around, which means locating them can be problematic. I’ve looked over the statistics for our state and hunters maybe fill around 8 percent of their tags. That counts all animals with a tag taken, not just deer or elk.

Hunting also means you abide by a set of artificial rules. You can’t hunt on private property without permission, you can’t hunt at night, and you have a certain season you can hunt. The type of game is restricted, such as males or females, age, and how you can harvest your animal. Basically it’s enough to drive anyone who isn’t familiar with it all insane, which is why it can be a bit problematic when you have the goddess’s attention and try to explain what kind of bear you want to hunt, why you can’t bait them or hunt at night, you can’t hunt a sow with cubs, and sure as shooting, you can’t shoot the bear she dropped in your lap in the middle of a public road. (Yes, this did happen to us.) The goddess delivers, just not always where you need it. I suspect it is her sense of humor for having to endure my litany of conditions. (At this moment, I have a vision of Skadi peering over the 2016 hunting guide and frowning perplexed.)

At the end of the season, I should give the goddess the hunting guide as a burnt offering in my woodstove. No doubt she’ll find the reading pretty strange.

The Wights and Hunting

Whenever we go to hunt, I can usually get a feel for the area. I understand that even though I’ve never seen wights, I do get a sense of the “mood” of the land. In most cases here, I can feel the overall mood and decide whether the wights are positive or not. The places we’ve hunted so far have had some amazing feelings. The land is awesome; the animals, if we see them, are usually great. I’ve had deer come up to me within 20 yards regularly while we were looking for elk. As much as I would’ve loved to have shot them, the deer season isn’t upon us, so I have to just admire them. We’ve been lucky and found animals we’ve shot due to either the wights or Skadi, herself, when we pretty much thought the animal was lost.

There have been places where the land felt wrong, no doubt due to the wights there. Luckily where I now live most of the wights feel more welcoming than anything, which amazes me. It may be just me and those who can feel them, or it may be that they are more open to humans. I don’t know. I do know that I offer the local wights eggs and milk to them frequently, and they seem to like that.

Why I Hunt

My husband and I have been hunting a long time. We love nature and we love animals, but importantly, we love the meat we get. We’re not particularly interested in antlers, mainly because you can’t eat those, but we won’t turn down a trophy buck if he walked out in front of us. I think that Skadi approves of that, simply because it is respectful. We try to use most of the animal and give back into nature that we can’t use. Overall, it has served us well.

Hunting, Gathering, and Being Heathen

I think that many people have lost their connection with nature and the natural order of things. Some of being a heathen means that we should keep the connection to the land and nature the way that our ancestors did. As a hunter, I’ve had to learn to read animal signs and tracks, know how to stalk an animal without my scent giving me away, and of course, locating the beast we’re looking for. I’ve been getting better at identifying edible plants as we hunt and learning to gather them for food. It’s a delightful skill, and one that I feel the pleasure from those wights around me when I recognize the bounty they have offered us.

When I look at what we do versus those who sit and analyze the dusty tomes, hoping to glean a bit of truth, I know that my path is more fulfilling in a lot of ways, at least for me. Yes, there are those who cannot do what I do on a daily basis, due to where they live, but there are many ways to get in touch with our world.

Some Suggestions for City Folks

Look, I spent my childhood and adolescence growing up in suburbia. Even so, I spent an inordinate amount of time in the forests near my home back when parents didn’t worry so much about where their kids went. (Somehow, we survived.) Anyway, I’ve been to the big cities like New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, and Chicago, so I get the problems you people have. So, here are my suggestions to help you get a little closer to nature.

Take a class in wildcrafting or foraging. Believe it or not, even in the big cities nature tries to reclaim what humans try to eliminate.
Plan a day trip at least once a month to someplace wild. Go for a hike. Find a place to meditate. Look for wild edibles. (It’s important to have someone who knows what they look like identify them to you first before you take them. Also it’s important to know what the state laws are for gathering wild edibles.)
Learn to hunt. This is a bit of a steep learning curve, but it can be done. Take the Hunter’s Safety course. Don’t want to use a firearm? Bowhunting is certainly a possibility. You will have to learn how to handle your weapons safely and get good at shooting, whether with a rifle or a bow. Find someone to mentor you. You might just discover a new skill that puts you in touch with your ancestors.
Plant a container garden with herbs. You can bring them inside when the weather gets cold and you have terrific herbs to use in your cooking.

These are some ideas off the top of my head. Maybe you have other ideas on how you can become part of the natural order. I certainly don’t have all the answers, but you can always talk to me about it and give me your ideas as well.

Inbred Monkeys, Kindreds, and Lone Wolves. Are Kindreds Antiquated?

September 10, 2016 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

“Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not

accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god. ”– Aristotle

One of the many solitary heathens who follows this blog asked me to say something about solitary heathens, and I thought it’d be a good idea. Whether you belong to a kindred, or whether you are solitary, chances are you’ve had thoughts about whether you can be a heathen with a kindred or not. Seeing as I do not claim a kindred, by Aristotle’s view I am a god or a beast. I know what my detractors would claim I am. But seriously, I have my thoughts about kindreds and about solitary heathens, so you can take this as a mixture of science, history, and opinion.

What Science has to Say

TL;DR: Scientists believe groups are a natural order because it helps defend against predators.

If we look at other primates, we can note that they too require some sort of social group. This isn’t exclusive to primates, per se, it appears to be a natural order among many different species all the way down to insects such as bees and ants. In the higher order lifeforms, we note that most animals are in social orders for protection, mating, and territory.

Thanks to Magickalgraphics.com

Science has determined that the primates’ social order didn’t begin as a couple and increase. Rather, it’s likely that there were many related females and several unrelated males in the social order. (Of course, there are variations to this.) This social structure occurs not only for diversifying the genetics and avoiding inbreeding, but also for protection. Solitary hunters are generally nocturnal, and nocturnal animals are often solitary. They use the night to hunt and to conceal them from larger and more dangerous predators. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, that’s basically how it works. Animals that are mostly diurnal tend to run in groups because solitary animals can be seen and picked off easier by predators in the daytime. Numbers provide a certain amount of safety.

When our ancestors went from nocturnal to diurnal, we stuck with groups for safety. This required a high degree of sociability, because we probably would’ve killed ourselves of with antisocial behavior.

Our Brains are Naturally Programmed for Groups

TL; DR: The biochemicals in our bodies makes us want to be social.

One interesting paper I read was the affect of certain neurotransmitters in our bodies to our behavior to become more social or antisocial. People who had increased serotonin levels tended to behave more social. Heightened levels of oxytocin cause people to form bonds between mates, and between parents and offspring. This also causes a heightened need to protect families.

We as humans have evolved to be social animals, which is why when people have lower doses of serotonin, we can assume that they may have problems such as depression and other conditions that may cause us to become more isolated.

Nature as the Basis for Kindreds

TL; DR: If we look at the history of humans, it’s obvious that in earlier times people arranged themselves in kindreds similar to other primates for protection.

When we look at kindreds, we can kind of see how the older kindreds were arranged, potentially in the fashion I mentioned above with related females and unrelated males. This is a natural construct to protect diurnal primates which humans have inherited. A “lone wolf” human was unlikely to survive without some sort of group. The world was a pretty scary place back then, and people had to band together in order to survive. As hunter/gatherers, and later, as farmers, we needed a group structure to live in. This structure offered us protection from the natural predators, and from other groups of humans.

At this point, I can see the recon heathens applauding my statements. Ah hah! They think I’ve agreed with them. Lone wolves have no place in heathenry, or so they think. Guess what? They do have a place in heathenry. Let me continue.

Thanks to Magickalgraphics.com

Times Change; People Change

TL;DR: The rule of law has reduced the need for protection a kindred affords.

At this point, it’s easy to see why there was an inner-gard/utan-gard. The people within the inner-gard were those family and allies that needed to be cared for or defended. The utan-gard were those who did not belong. Even so, heathenry insists on courtesy to strangers because the world was a difficult place. The ethics of reciprocity is very much part of the heathen belief.

As the rule of law (thanks, Tyr!) took over, the need for kindreds dwindled. Unless you live in a country under complete chaos, the need for having warriors ready to defend the homestead is happily rare. The 20th Century saw the rise of the nuclear family — where a family consisted of parents and children. Sure, there were grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc., but seldom did they live in the same town, let alone the same home as you did.

Nowadays, the family has morphed to whatever the person needs. There are single parent households, there are households with same-sex parents, there are couples without kids, there are children being raised by grandparents, there are temporary marriages, etc. Whether or not you think this is right, that is irrelevant because it is how our society has changed. There are certainly extended families and kindred-like arrangements, but I’d argue that as long as the rule of law continues, there is less need for people to have kindreds for safety sake.

Thanks to Magickalgraphics.com

Inbred Monkeys and Lone Wolves

TL;DR: Your kindred are the people whom you associate with and have relationships with, whether or not they believe in our gods. Joining a heathen kindred may be helpful but not mandatory.

We know from science that human beings have nearly gone extinct twice, thus making us a little more than inbred monkeys. I suspect (and this is my conjecture) that it makes us hang onto certain traits a little longer than we really need to. The need to be social may be one of those traits that has been ingrained for a long time, although whether we need it or not can be debated. I would argue that there are some things you still need from society, even if you manage to become mostly self sufficient. No man is an island, as a teacher of mine once quoted John Donne.

When we look at following the gods and goddesses of our ancestors, do we really need to be in a group to do so? I would argue no, although you may get more out of being with others. There is a certain amount of comfort belonging to a kindred. I would also argue that you have a kindred already. You family and friends are your kindred, even if they are not followers of your path. These are the people you go to when you need help; these are the people whom you help.

What’s more, we have bigger distances than even the Vikings traveled when it comes to finding folks who believe in our religion. And even if we find people who are heathens, there’s no guarantee we’re going to get along. We know that our ancestors didn’t just get along because they believed in the same gods.

The other side of the coin is that technology has made it so that we can have virtual kindreds. I mean, let’s face it, we can meet via chat rooms and even attend conferences real time. So, even if you are a “lone wolf” heathen practitioner, you can still get some of the benefits being in a group.

To Recap

Our social behavior came about as an evolutionary adaptation to protect ourselves from predators. We have found it useful behavior as we cannot do everything we need to survive in most situations. (Self sufficient people still rely on tools purchased or obtained from others.) Nowadays, kindreds are less needed for protection, and are by their nature, a social construct. Your kindred are the people whom you associate with and have relationships with, whether or not they believe in our gods. Joining an Asatru or Heathen kindred is useful in many respects, but not mandatory, especially with the advent of the Internet.

So, solitary practitioners, despair not. Adaptation is one of the great things about us and our ancestors. You don’t need to belong to a heathen kindred to follow our gods. They are helpful, but not necessary to be a heathen.

I Support Declaration 127

September 5, 2016 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

Reprinted with permission. Go to Declaration127.com for more information and for a list of those organizations and individuals who agree with the statement.

Declaration 127

hvars þú böl kannt kveðu þat bölvi at ok gefat þínum fjándum frið

The Asatru Folk Assembly (hereinafter referred to as the AFA) has a long and well documented history of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, sexuality, and gender identity. In a recent statement the AFA declared point blank that non-white and LGBT Heathens were not welcome in their tradition. While the undersigned organizations listed here fully recognize the AFA’s right to govern themselves as they see fit, and with full autonomy, we hereby exercise the same right.

We will not promote, associate, or do business with the AFA as an organization so long as they maintain these discriminatory policies.

The AFA’s views do not represent our communities. We hereby declare that we do not condone hatred or discrimination carried out in the name of our religion, and will no longer associate with those who do. We will not grant the tacit approval of silence in the name of frið, to those who would use our traditions to justify prejudice on the basis of race, nationality, orientation, or gender identity.

The AFA is free to stand for whatever principles it sees fit.

They are free to stand alone.

When Did the AFA Join the Westboro Baptist Church?

September 3, 2016 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

With all the Asatru Folk Assembly crap being flung around, you’re probably wondering what The Rational Heathen has to say. Well, if you haven’t read my posts before, now is the time. But I digress…

Before we get started, I must point out that I didn’t mean to insult the Westboro Baptist Church…Oh fuck, who am I kidding? I most certainly did. In a stunt that could only be pulled by people of that kind of caliber, the Asatru Folk Assembly, has determined that straight whites who uphold what I can only consider “traditional” Christian roles are allowed in their group. That means, my friends, that “blacks need not apply” and that LGBTs and other minorities aren’t allowed to join in their goosestepping sessions. Hel’s bells, I don’t fit the submissive, subservient woman, so you can betcha I am most certainly not welcome. But I may try to get in just for a laugh and to spy on them until they kick me out.

Can you imagine me on their boards?

We hates Nazis, precious. We hates it forever!

Tolerance: We’re Not Asking Them to Get Married to a Minority

Thanks to Huginn’s Heathen Hof for this clip.

In the words of the AFA states:

“…we believe gender is not a social construct, it is a beautiful gift from the holy powers and from our ancestors. The AFA celebrates our feminine ladies, our masculine gentlemen and, above all, our beautiful white children…”[emphasis mine]

Well, okay then. Whether or not you agree with the LGBT lifestyle, whether you believe gender is a social construct or nature, whether or not you choose to marry a person of the color of your skin, whether you prefer powerful or demur women or men, the reality is that we must live honorably. That means living to a moral code that honors our ancestors and our gods. We are not judged like Christians are with their god, but we ARE judged by our actions. Were they honorable? Did they uphold the heathen codes of conduct?

People are many things in this world. They are husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, Christians, Heathens, Jews, Catholics, Muslims, atheists, daughters, sons, soldiers, doctors, dentists, plumbers, scientists, unemployed, teachers, friends, volunteers, firefighters, EMTs…the list goes on and on. But the first thing every person is, is a human being. Judging a person by the color of their skin is a stupid, meaningless exercise since we’re so closely related, we’re basically a bunch of inbred primates. In fact, race is a construct. Judging the person by their sexual orientation is beyond idiotic. If you have cancer, you don’t tell the greatest cancer surgeon that you don’t want him to operate on you because he’s gay. You don’t ask the airlines about the pilots who fly you somewhere if they are your color or if they are straight. You don’t stop depositing money in your bank account because the teller is Muslim. Chances are you don’t even know those facts about those people. You just hope the doctor is good, the pilots will get you where you need to go safely, and the teller inputs the right information. Why is this so hard for some people?

Treat the people with respect that are trying to help you. Treat everyone as the human beings they are and if they prove not worthy of your respect by their actions, you can modify it. It’s that simple.

Thanks to Xan of HHH for this

The Dirty Laundry — or Toleration for Goosesteppers

It’s no secret that Heathenry has its share of dirty laundry. Most is in the form of white supremacists and Nazis who think that by worshiping our Northern gods, we automatically cut out other races and minorities. The truth, however, is far from what the goosestepping crowd wants people to believe. The Northern peoples didn’t care about the color of your skin. They were an inclusive group who married into other cultures and fought beside those who considered them allies, regardless of their perceived orientation. In fact, there were “black” Vikings. No, kids, we aren’t pure. Deal with it.

We have plenty of folks in Heathenry who dismiss the white supremacists as not being true heathens, and because they are not part of their kindred they aren’t a problem, but the reality is that if we have one group who tolerates bigoted behavior, it casts a bad light on all of us. You might as well be called a racist or intolerant bigot, yourself. No matter what you think or believe, if the AFA insists that unless you fit their bigoted criteria, you can’t join, you can bet the public and the media are going to color us all in that light.

It’s not enough to say you are against racism, bigotry, and chauvinism. The fact that AFA promotes those “values” is enough to make you look racist, bigoted, and chauvinistic to the rest of the world. Because our religion has such small numbers, we can’t afford to have these people among us.

Our Stories Do Not Support the AFA Stance

My good friends at the American Asatru Association drew up this little statement that brings our
religion into perspective. Throughout our stories, our gods and goddesses prove time and again that they don’t behave anything like what the AFA wants to see in terms of traditional gender roles. Our gods have had interracial relationships, have changed genders, and have crossdressed. If you need to look for goddesses who are not overly feminine, we can point to Skadi and Freyja. Any women who handle weapons are not “traditional.”

The gods have had children with Frost Giants, Humans, and even a horse. I am not saying that I approve of incest and bestiality (I most certainly do not), but we can’t point to our religion and claim that there is a basis for exclusion when it comes to people of other ethnicities and other sexual orientations.

Heathenry Should Be Open to All, Not Just White, Heterosexual Bigots

The reality is that Heathenry should be open to all except bigots, whether they are of a different ethnic background or have ancestry from Northern peoples, whether they are gay or straight, or whether they are crossdressers or dress according to whatever custom society expects. I have often said that we need to keep our doors open to everyone, and to make Heathenry a big tent, whether or not the person is of a different skin color or ethnicity, whether they are LGBT or heterosexual, and whether they have beliefs that shift toward Wiccan and Recon. There are places for these people within Heathenry. Opening our doors to those who are different, but are not Nazis or white supremacists, means that we allow our religion to thrive and grow. Staying in lock step with those who would exclude them makes absolutely no sense.

At this point, I applaud those groups who have taken a stance against bigotry and chauvinism. While I don’t necessarily agree with all their beliefs, I must say that they are awesome groups who are willing to stand up against what is obviously wrong. To the Asatru Folk Assembly, I would say that if you insist on being bigoted and upholding false, and ultimately Christian, beliefs by insisting on being racist, misogynistic, and homophobic, then I denounce you. You are not Heathens, even if you claim to worship our gods.

Freyr isn’t going to Bless those PopTarts

August 26, 2016 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

Thanks to http://magickalgraphics.com

Well, it’s harvest time. Today I was preserving some peaches I received from a local farmer, and it occurred to me that most people really aren’t in touch with their food. Oh sure, you go to the grocery store and buy stuff. Maybe you plant a small garden, if you have the space, but many people don’t. So, you buy your food from who knows where, and pray to Freyr that maybe he’ll accept your thanks.

Seriously?

Kids, we need to talk.

Freyr isn’t Going to Bless those PopTarts

Let’s get one thing straight: I like PopTarts as much as the next person. They’re great junk food, but they’re not what harvest is about. (Actually I don’t eat PopTarts; I’ll eat the organic “toaster pastries.”) Anything that is over processed really isn’t great for you. I would argue that the more processed the food is, the farther away from you it is, the more chemicals added, the less healthy and the less nutritious it’s likely to be.

I also think that if you don’t pay much attention to where your food comes from and what goes into your body, you need to rethink your commitment to being Heathen. You may argue that where you get your food doesn’t matter, so I guess I’m going to try to reason through this.

Our Ancestors Were Farmers

When we talk about Freyfaxi and Harvest celebrations, we’re celebrating the harvest and thanking the gods, particularly Freyr, for the bounty. Most of our ancestors were farmers at one point, and if you go back far enough, they were hunter-gatherers. In all human history of some 200,000 years when homo sapiens has been in existence, people have been in touch with the land and nature until very recently. You could argue that the first cities emerged in 4000 BCE in Mesopotamia, and while that was very long ago, when you consider humans have been around 200,000 years, we really haven’t been in cities that long. What really started separating people from agrarian life was the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century.

Now, I am not a Luddite against progress, but the Industrial Revolution started moving people

wholesale off the land and toward factory work. As a result, many people lost their ties to the land. They forgot important things such as how to read the weather, track animals, or know how to plant a good crop. There were still farmers, but many ended up being forced into a monoculture type of growing (where you only plant one cash crop.). The Irish learned the hard way with the potato famine that planting one species of one particular crop can be dangerous.

Monoculture and Why You Should Care

After WWII, we started moving away from small farms as corporations bought up farmland that was owned by families for generations. As a kid, I remember seeing my mom distressed to see oil company logos on farms (no doubt due to hedging the bet that ethanol would become an additive to gas.) What we didn’t see were all the farms that went under and got snapped up to plant certain monoculture crops. Monoculture, as it pertains to agriculture, is growing or raising the same type of species or subspecies because it produces high yields, is pesticide resistant, or is better performing than what is called heritage crops. The problem with these crops is that they have no genetic variation, and thus simple to wipe out with a blight or disease. Many of them are, in essence, clones. Clones aren’t harmful to you, unless there is something wrong genetically with them, but the lack of diversity increases the chance of a serious famine.

That Chicken (and Pork) Contains Arsenic

The problem with our food system isn’t just that its monoculture. The big farms often use chemicals to enhance yield. In the case of chicken, pork, and turkey, the big farms used a chemical call roxasone which is an arsenic-based drug used for treating coccidia in animals. Chickens almost always have coccidia, as do a number of other animals, but there are other treatments available that do not have the same ingredients. It is common for industrial agriculture to just feed these chemicals all the time in the food to ensure that the animals are coccidia free. A study that was published on the National Institute of Health site shows that the amount of arsenic in chicken meat is substantially higher than chicken that were raised organically. This study caused the FDA to remove approval of 98 of the 101 arsenic-based additives that go into food. Incidentally, another arsenic-based drug is allowed in turkeys, and with three chemicals still at the industrial agriculture’s website, you can bet this is still a problem. The conclusion of the study was:

The present study provides strong evidence that the use of arsenic-based drugs contributes to dietary iAs [inorganic arsenic] exposure in consumers of conventionally produced chickens. Our findings suggest that eliminating the use of arsenic-based drugs in food animal production could reduce the burden of arsenic-related disease in the U.S. population.

As an aside, Snopes.com, which usually gets things right, has this somewhat misleading title. While 70 percent of the chicken in stores may or may not have elevated levels of inorganic arsenic, the actual study showed that half of the conventional chicken tested positive for roxasone in the study and that the roxasone decreased while inorganic arsenic increased. The study suggests that an additional 3.7 people in 100,000 could be exposed to enough arsenic to cause bladder and lung cancers.

Why Being Self Sufficient is Important for Heathens (and

Pagans)

At this point, you may be saying “Tyra, that’s only one case.” Is it? How many times have you heard of a food recall that expanded across more than one state? (I bet there’s no fewer than five states in any real recall.) How many times have you heard of problems due to various pesticides potentially killing bee populations? How many times have you heard how genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were produced so that they would withstand an herbicide?

As a semi-subsistance hunter, I look at the way foods are produced and ask myself how this is good for the land, the next generations, and for myself. I’m not a rabid environmentalist, but even I realize that we can’t sustain our current conventional growing and farming methods. This is not a healthy way, nor is it a way I could imagine any god would approve of. So if you’ve celebrating or are celebrating Harvest Home, Freyfaxi, Thanksgiving, or another harvest tradition, look at what kind foods you’re being thankful for. Are they from our fields and woodlands, neighbors, or local farmers, or are they from big industry agriculture and maybe halfway around the globe? In the first case, you have connection to your food. Maybe you know the farmer whom you bought the peaches from (like I do), or maybe you grew an apple tree in your yard and you’re canning apples and baking apple pie.

Being Self Sufficient isn’t Easy

While it’s incredibly hard in this age to be truly self sufficient, there are many things that you can and should do, even if you live in a city. Maybe you have to rely on someone for most of your food. Do it responsibly. Here are my suggestions:

Plant a small herb garden in pots. Maybe plant some tomatoes and peppers in a patio garden.
Hunt. Yes, hunt (and fish). The meat is healthier for you and it is completely carbon neutral.
Learn the local edible plants and learn how to prepare them.
Have a garden, if you have a yard.
Raise your own chickens for eggs and meat. Many communities allow chickens. Check out Backyardchickens.com for lists of communities that allow them.
Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program and get to meet the farmer and take stock in the farmer’s success.
Buy organic foods, or foods that are produced naturally. They don’t have to have the organic label, but you need to know how they were produced.
Buy local.
If you have some room and your ordinances allow, small milk goats are awesome.

Hopefully, I’ve given you ideas how to make a difference and respect our land and our gods. And next year, you’ll feel closer to our gods because you participate more closely in the cycle of life.

Emotional Rescue

August 19, 2016 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

Rage.

There’s a lot of rage going around the Internet. I’d like to say “lately” but I’ve noticed it’s a sustained rage for some time. It becomes more focused to me when I’m on the receiving end, but it’s not just me. It’s everyone and everything. The world is becoming a more polarized place, and not for good reason. Intolerance of any new idea that doesn’t fit the hive mind’s is immediately shouted down by the Internet mob.

It makes me wonder what is going on with our society.

Reading Angry Blog Posts

Recently I came across this piece on a blog. For the sake of disclosure, I do not know her, nor do I read her blog regularly, but I was taken aback at the overall rage she had in the blog. For those with the tl;dr attention of a gnat, she brings up the hypocrisy of caring about deaths of people whom we don’t know brought to our attention by the media and laments how people do nothing to help other people. (If I am wrong on this interpretation, let me know.) She has some good points, but I think she was a bit harsh when it comes to judging people. In particular, she points out she doesn’t know the people who died in Orlando and doesn’t shed tears for them. She sheds tears for friends who have died.

Well, okay.

Why I Think People Show Sorrow Over Deaths the Media Brings Up

TL:DR version: People can only process about five to seven bits of information at a time. The rest causes information overload and we get confused, drop the information, or pay attention to other things more pressing. Most people unless they know someone directly involved end up becoming distracted by life.

The writer of the blog seemed to imply that people care about the deaths the media brings up but do not care about deaths in their community nor deaths that occur that aren’t brought up. (Again, if I made the wrong supposition, you can correct me on it.)

I’m not sure if this is correct. I believe that most non-psychotic people do care whether or not someone dies, or someone suffers. It’s human nature to care when we see something going on in our circle, whether it be our loved ones, family, or friends. Even if it is our acquaintances, we’re bound to feel something when someone we know is hurt or dies. The problem people run into is when they’re inundated with statistics. Joseph Stalin, the tyrant, stated: “If only one man dies of hunger, that is a tragedy. If millions die, that’s only statistics.” As much as I hate quoting Stalin, he had a point. People don’t notice the numbers of people dying every day. I suspect it has mostly to do with information overload and our overall problem with processing such numbers.

Let me explain. Humans have a limited processing capability in their conscious minds. One article says that we can juggle three or four things in our brain at once, but if I recall my psychology classes correctly, the maximum number is about seven, and the optimal number for most people is around five. At some point, if the person isn’t one of those affected by the deaths directly, other pressing matters of life take hold. In other words, if you’ve just lost your job, your rent is overdue, and you have a negative bank balance, that’s going to have more impact than someone you never knew in your local community dying in a car accident, especially if you live in a big city. If you read about it in the paper or heard about it in the news, chances are your mind went there for however long it took to hear or process the story. Maybe you thought about it afterwards, especially if the story was particularly poignant, but at some point, you let it go and move on with your day and your own troubles. It’s not that you don’t care, it’s just that it doesn’t affect you at this point and time.

But What About the Current Deaths?

Orlando was an interesting case. First off, it has happened in the United States by an Islamic terrorist. Yes, I just said that. Deal with it. Second, it happened at a gay nightclub, something that the gay community, while a minority, is a vocal minority. Many in the press are quick to cover this type of hate crime. If you’re LGBT, chances are you’ve agreed that they should cover this. My response is that it should be covered because it was a terrorist attack, and not because it was against a person’s sexual orientation. It was a hate crime, but then all terrorist attacks are hate crimes, when you think about it.

The attack on the cops in Dallas should be covered. The attack in Nice, France should be covered. You probably felt something when you read the news about these terrible attacks. If you are a cop or related to a cop, or if you live in Texas, you probably had more emotional involvement. I know that I did. As horrified as I am over the Nice attack, I admit I don’t know the people and I know I just don’t have the same emotional ties as the Dallas attack, even though more people were horrifically murdered in Nice. At some point if we’re not directly affected by these murders, the demands of life intrude.

Why I think the Orlando attacks draw more sympathy in the US is that was an attack on citizens in the US. Even if you aren’t gay, you can still make the association that ordinary people were harmed in a bar.

At some point, we deal with information overload and more bad news coming through the Internet. The other part of the equation is what information we’re given. If you’ve read a poignant story about a death in one of these attacks, that’s going to stick with you. Again, the Stalin quote rings true, and I hate the bastard.

What About Rage on the Internet?

I think that the overall impersonal nature of the Internet has not only created trolls, but has also created people who wouldn’t be so angry all the time. But the near anonymity, lack of accountability, distance between the posters (he won’t show up from 2000 miles away), and the inability to read people’s expressions while communicating has created generations of rude, near troll-like people.

People, if someone has ruined your day on the Internet, you need to get a life. Seriously. You need to unplug and get some distance from the computer or smartphone and live in the real world a little. If you’re always arguing with people, angry, and enraged, maybe it’s time for some perspective.

My sister once put my bad day into perspective back in 2001. She told me after 9/11 that if one didn’t have to make the choice of jumping to your death or burning to death, everything is good. No matter how bad you think your life is, think about those people.

Kinda makes our arguments trivial, doesn’t it?

A general note: I wrote most of this sometime back, but for whatever reason, I decided to not publish it. That being said, I’ve been late with posts. Yes, I’ll admit it; life intrudes. But I got a nice message from my readers. So, I dusted this off and finished it up. If it feels a bit dated by a few months, now you know why.