The Rational Heathen

Christian Trolls and Other Idiots

January 28, 2018 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

Well, the Rational Heathen has been trolled by a Christian, who either is terribly misinformed, or just a troll. Christians, he believes, converted barbaric Heathens peacefully. According to him, Heathens were just mass killers and rapists. Now, if that got you bristling, good. Here are the facts behind so-called peaceful Christians and barbaric pagans.

Before I get started, let me point out there were so many instances that they just don’t fit in a single
post. So today I’m just going to talk about forced conversions and just touch on the witchcraft trials and other lovely situations like burning at the stake. If you’re really interested in the background behind my assertions, (and the gory details–literally), that’s going into a premium post which you can access for just $1.

Let’s Talk “Peaceful Conversion”

Let me point out that Christians were exceedingly barbaric once they got into power. From Constantine on, both sides of the Roman Empire (East and West), began systematic elimination of pagan practices, most which were punishable by death. Pagan temples were regularly looted and closed by the government. While there were a few emperors who turned a blind eye to pagan traditions, others would come along that would close pagan temples and colleges, loot the temples and strip the priests and Vestal Virgins of their pay, and outlaw sacrifices to pagan gods which would cause the practitioner to be put to death. Another interesting practice outlawed with the death penalty as punishment was reading the entrails of fowl or sheep to predict the future. Constantine looted temples; his successor, Constantius II carried on a crusade against pagans. Eventually Theodosius I made paganism illegal and many Jews as well as pagans were forced to convert or suffer loss of their possessions, buildings, or even their lives.

Desecrate Sacred Places

Pope Gregory I knew there were still pagans among the Christians who practiced their own religion in secret. To crowd them out, he decreed that the Church should take over their sacred glens, grottoes, caves, and mountains and put Christian altars and relics there. The idea was to remove all pagan symbolism and to establish it as being Christian and not pagan. You can probably imagine how the pagans felt seeing their own holy areas desecrated in such a fashion.

If you’re a Christian, imagine how you might feel seeing your church replaced by a pagan temple and you’ve been told that the pagan gods are the only true gods, and that you can’t worship your god there. Wow. I bet that just blew your mind. Never mind that Heathenism doesn’t do that, nor do most pagan religions, but think about it. What if you could not worship your god and if you did, be put to death? Yes, there are some countries that treat Christians badly, but imagine this was across the world as you knew it: the Roman Empire.

In Fear for One’s Life and Freedom

Once Christianity took hold, Christians were just as barbaric to pagans as the Christian troll stated the pagans were to Christians. In many places, a Christian owning Christian slaves was forbidden, but it was a-okay for Christians to own pagan, Muslim, or Jewish slaves. (Now, granted the same was true with other beliefs: Muslims generally would not own Muslims, Heathens would usually not own Heathens, etc. As long as you were of the “other,” castrating you and sending you into slavery was just fine.) The Vikings had a huge slave trade economy, but then so did the Italians, the Muslims, and other faiths. Eunuchs were big business and there were special eunuch houses designed just for that purpose.

If that isn’t enough to make you shudder, consider Charlemagne. During the Saxon wars, he forced the Saxons to convert and those that didn’t were put to death. The Massacre of Verden saw the death of 4500 pagan Saxons alone because they refused to convert.

Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition

After Spain drove out the Moors, the rest of the non-Christians were forced to convert or be executed. They then had to endure the Spanish Inquisition which tortured and put to death many of the forced converts who were under suspicion of practicing their former religion in secrecy. It’s estimated that about 30,000 to 50,000 people were burned at the stake in a 300 year period by the Inquisition alone. If you confessed to your “sins” you would be strangled before being burned to show mercy. Either way, dead or alive, you were going to get torched. Remember, these are the followers of the so-called “Prince of Peace.”

Burning Witches and Other Horrid Practices

Now, whether you want to split hairs about whether the people burned were heretics or whether they were actually pagans is pretty immaterial. Burning at the stake was a common method of “saving” people’s souls. I ran into one site that claims in the 16th and 17th centuries about 200,000 people were burned to death just for witchcraft. That’s pretty horrible. Now, granted not all of them were pagan or claimed to be witches, but these were people who died horrible deaths. Oh, and I saw some statement that burning was considered different than being immersed in boiling liquid. (Death by boiling.) Fuck that shit. Christians were cruel.

I’m not saying our Heathen ancestors were lily-white either. But those who live in glass houses should never throw stones.

Wolves in Norse Myth [Video]

January 20, 2018 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

A great video by Jackson Crawford.

Pagan Art in the Capitol Building or How Christians Get Their Panties in a Wad Over Non-Christian Symbolism [Premium Content]

January 17, 2018 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

I was reading a Christian blog on Patheos (yeah, I read what other religions think) and ran into this piece by the Progressive Christian. I rolled my eyes and snickered over such ludicrous hand-wringing over The Apotheosis of Washington because apparently some people take the image literally and not symbolically.

I vaguely remember seeing this when I visited the Capitol building many moons ago as a child/teenager, and I recall my own emotions over it, but I think I leave that to a little later while I discuss the piece.

READ MORE for Just $1 and get access to all my past premium content!

The Draw of Family in the Heathen Context

January 14, 2018 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

My sister called me and told me that an unknown relative contacted her. Apparently the grandson of my deceased uncle was doing research into my mom’s side of the family and somehow tracked us down to find out what we knew.

Well, blood is apparently thicker than water. And much to my chagrin, I am not adopted. “Why?” you may ask. Because the grandson, whom I’ll call Thor for privacy sake, is just like me.

Poor kid. And he reproduced.

[Facepalm]

How it Happened

Thor received the call of the ancestors when his own kid started asking questions about his relatives. Seems Thor really didn’t have much to go on originally, having never been in touch with my mom’s relatives. I wasn’t particularly interested in staying in contact with my mom’s side since I had so little in common with them. My relatives always dismissed me as a loner and a weird intellectual with nothing in common with them. They were mainly into shopping and impressing people. I couldn’t give a damn about what people thought of me unless it got me beat up. (Yeah, I had a few scuffles when I was a kid.) So, when my sister told me that Thor was doing research and needed some info, I chatted with him over the Internet.

Shit. He did a similar career route as I did. He likes the same stuff I do. He even has the same sleep habits. He is a smart ass too. Thor confirmed some things my dad told me before he died (and I confirmed Thor’s research). I was able to tell him some stories, which probably thrilled him.

The Pull of the Ancestors

I’m always amazed when the Ancestors step into people’s lives. I figured mine wanted as much to do with me as I did with them. Many were rather unsavory characters whom most people wouldn’t be excited to boast about. My medieval ancestors were Vikings and Normans (troublemakers) who went as high as dukes on one side and knights on the other. Their descendants were sadly nowhere near as glamorous by the time the 19th century rolled around. So, I pretty much decided that I had little to do with them. Even when Tyr called me into Heathenry, I was generic in my veneration of ancestors with the secret hope that maybe I got switched at birth. No such luck. Thor proves I’m out of the same fucking lines.

So, I’m feeling the pull of the ancestors as well. I’ll be going through all the old notes my parents passed onto me and see if it puts together the pieces for Thor. Maybe Thor will be able to tell his child where he came from and what kind of people were his relatives — the good and the bad stories — ugly warts and all. And maybe the kid will be interested in those of us who are still around.

Where Did I Come From?

It seems that we all have a need to understand where we come from, whether from royalty or paupers, criminals or heroes, sinners or saints. It helps us understand who we are and what influenced us genetically. It used to be that we believed it was DNA and how we grew up determined our behavior and traits, but epigenetic inheritance has kind of thrown a monkey wrench into it. We know that certain stresses on people can cause epigenetic marks on RNA. By learning about our ancestors’ past, we can understand how their experiences might impact us. Of course, this is a relatively new field with new studies all the time.

So, if our ancestors’ experience modified our genes, we’re not only a product of their genes but also their experiences. It helps us understand ourselves much better. While not all experiences are going to leave an impact on our genes, certain some do. In which case, we’re not just a product of millions of years of combining DNA but also millions of years of hominid experiences. It may explain weird things like phobias or body types.

We Are All Stories in the End

It’s interesting, because even though many of my relatives are now dead, their stories seem to fascinate the younger relatives. As The Doctor said, “We are all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?” As humans, we need to tell stories and to understand where we came from. Part of the draw to our ancestors is by asking “where did I come from?” we’re trying to answer the question:
“who am I?”

Long after my ashes are scattered, the younger generations will ask “who am I?” and “where did I come from?” The only thing left on this planet will be stories, if they’re left at all. Hopefully, I’ll be making it a good one.

In Search of Magic [Premium Content]

January 7, 2018 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

As you know, I’m not a believer in magic, per se. I’ve spent a lot of my time in the rational and scientific realm where seeing is believing. In other words, you have to have a rational explanation for why something happens. The concept of “magic” was a ludicrous idea.
Which makes my paganism that much more out of place. And yet, I’ve had incidents occur which suggest that maybe there’s a deeper connection to things than just what we can measure. Read More for Just $1.

18 Questions You Should Ask Yourself — and the Rational Heathen Answers!

January 6, 2018 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

I stumbled across 18 Thought-Provoking Questions that Will Free Your Mind in 2018 and was amused by the questions so much I had to share it to my Facebook page.

This is what happens when Firefox and Pocket recommend articles for me to read. Sadly, I am an Internet junkie–I was addicted to the Internet long before the concept of Internet addiction came into existence–and I had to read the blog with their 18 questions. Unfortunately, I can’t take the questions–or myself–seriously, so I thought I would give you my honest (and hopefully, amusing) answers.

You may be wondering how I expect to improve myself with my bad attitude. I really don’t. If I wanted to improve myself, I would swear off computers for good and go live in a cave. But I can’t, and I don’t. Look, I’m now playing Age of Empires: Castle Siege, and trying to beat the shit out of other kingdoms.

Oh yeah…questions. Here goes:

1. In one sentence, who are you?

Look, is this a trick question? Now, I have The Who’s lyrics running through my brain:

I woke up in a Soho doorway
A policeman knew my name
He said you can go sleep at home tonight
If you can get up and walk away

—Who Are You by The Who, written by Peter Townshend.

Okay, I’m The Rational Heathen. Enough said.

2. In one word, what do you live for?

10 million dollars. Okay, that’s three words.

I kind of like: Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of the women.

Yeah, I kind of like that. And I know that’s 15 words.

3. What is worth the pain?

Pain? Are you serious? Fuck that shit.

I guess it depends on your definition of pain. If you’re talking childbirth-pain, I opted out of that. So, the next question of mine would be: what kind of pain are we talking about? You mean muscle strains? That’s pretty minor. Are you talking broken bones? Been there. Dog bites? Yeah, I’ve got holes in my arms. Accidents? Waking up in the hospital with tubes hanging out of you is no fun. So, what is worth that?

My point is that there is pain and there are annoying inconveniences. Pain is something that warns you to not do something stupid. Stuff that causes annoying inconveniences can be dealt with. So, pain is relative.

I’m not saying to not strive for lofty goals. Hels bells, I’m one of those who have done some pretty hair-raising shit and lived, but the reality is that if you’re truly committed to a particular goal, the effort it takes will pale in comparison to the prize. The problem is when you sacrifice yourself, your morals, and your family to achieve that goal. In other words, you shouldn’t destroy yourself over an obsession.

4. What will you never give up on?

Chocolate. There, I’ve said it.

This question is like the previous question. There are things you will stick to and things you will let go of. Be aware that some things should be given up when they’re a lost cause or an obsession. You can’t always will things to go your way.

That is a lesson I have learned the hard way.

5. What do you always try to avoid?

Filling out forms and doing bookkeeping. I hate it.

6. What is something you take for granted every day?

Sleep.

7. What do you need most right now?

Ten million dollars. Oh, and sleep.

8. What would you immediately do differently if you knew no one would judge you?

Are we talking legal judging? Or are we talking societal pressures here? If it is legal judging, I know of several assholes who would get a serious smackdown. And they deserve it.

As for societal pressures, hmmm. I don’t give a shit what people think about me. It’s pretty obvious.

9. What’s something nobody could ever steal from you?

Can’t take the sky from me.

10. Who would you like to forgive right now?

Oh, there’s a Christian thing here. You know, I have very little forgiveness left. Those I’ve wanted to forgive, I’ve already forgiven. Those I have not forgiven, I won’t because I don’t trust them to behave any differently. At the same time, I don’t stay awake thinking about what they’ve done. They’re gone from my life.

11. Happiness is not __________?

Getting your teeth pulled out. Unless you are in pain from a bunch of rotten teeth. Then, you might be happy. Or a masochist.

12. What impact do you want to leave on the people you love?

Sounds painful. How about a good story?

13.Life is too short to tolerate _________?

Assholes. And bad olive oil. In that order.

14. What’s something that used to scare you but no longer does?

Birds.

Seriously. Back in high school, crows used to fly at me. Guess I pissed off Odin sometime. Now I’ve handled birds from quail to large raptors.

15. What do you want to remember forever?

How about just remember? Probably where I left my keys.

16. What do you always look forward to?

Hunting season.

17. What recently reminded you how fast time flies?

Oh, thanks for reminding me of this. My upcoming birthday.

18. What’s something everyone should be able to say before they die?

Dinner was good.

Okay, so I’m not so deep. Maybe you have better answers than I do.

Honoring the New Year

January 1, 2018 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

I started doing research about New Year’s celebrations and ended up laughing at Christian pages that talk about how pagan celebrating the New Year is and how “good Christians” shouldn’t celebrate it. Whatever, bro. Tell that to the millions–if not billions–of partiers who are happy to ring in the New Year.

Holy Days of Obligation and the History Behind New Year’s Day Celebrations

Technically, New Year’s Day is a Christian celebration. Granted, a co-opted Christian celebration, but one just the same. The Roman Catholic Church couldn’t get past the Roman tradition of celebrating Saturnalia and the the first day of the month honoring the god, Janus, so it co-opted the celebrations and made New Year’s Day the celebration of Jesus’s circumcision. Vatican II made it a holy day of obligation in 1969 to venerate the “Virgin” Mary. Just so you would go to mass with a hell of a hangover and hear the priest rail against those who indulged the night before.

But to a large degree, those Christian web pages are right. Celebrating New Year’s Day is technically pagan. The first celebrations of the New Year happened during Mesopotamian times some 4000 years ago on the vernal equinox (that being their new year.) The Romans celebrated New Year’s on the Ides of March (remember Julius Caesar?) The Romans eventually switched their calendar over to January 1st since that was the day when they inaugurated new consuls and tended to keep track of years by consul terms.

A Holiday for the World

You look at just about any civilization that kept a calendar and you’ll find some sort of New Year’s celebration or observance. The Hindus recognize New Year during different times depending on the region. We Heathens recognize December 21st as our new year where the veil between the worlds are at their thinnest. The Wiccans recognize Samhain as being their new year. The Chinese and Vietnamese celebrate their own version of New Year’s sometime between January 20th and February 20th, depending on when their year ends. That’s a lot of non-Christians celebrating the beginning of a new year.

Why Celebrate the Ending of an Old Year and the Coming of a New One?

I think the reason why the new year is so appealing is to turn over a new leaf, as it were. It’s a time to reflect on the past year and hope for a better year ahead. It’s as if we collectively want to step back and take a breath from what we’re doing to celebrate the possibilities that lie ahead. We, as humans, need a time to say good-bye to the old and hello to the new. Hence, we celebrate the coming of the new year.

Happy New Year, my friends and readers! I hope 2018 is filled with wonder and magic for you.

The Darker Side of Heathenry [Premium Content]

December 30, 2017 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

Image of Hel by Tara Ryzebol . Used under the
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
and the GNU Free Documentation License

I read an interesting post about the dark deities recently and it got me thinking about why the darker gods and goddesses have become more popular in recent years. Rokkatru with its many members is a viable part of Heathenry and Loki has grown in popularity, certainly in part due to the popularity of the Marvel character and the actor who plays him. Even I am technically honoring a Jotunn when I honor Skadi. And yeah, Loki does come by from time to time to annoy me, if nothing.

That being said, one pagan witch (yeah, I read Wiccan blogs, get over it) thinks that the popularity of the dark ones seem to coincide with the times we live in and something big and tranformative coming up. I can’t say anything of that magnitude, but I do have some thoughts and theories…

READ MORE for just $1! You get access to all my premium posts, a free ebook, The Wight Stuff, a private forum, and so much more. Check out my premium content on Patreon and support The Rational Heathen.

Being Chosen by a God or Goddess

December 28, 2017 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

Happy Yule Folks! I hope you’re having a wonderful Yule season.

I’ve talked about being bitch-slapped by the gods and being chosen. Apparently there are a couple of posts that talk about toxic relationships with deities and how one shouldn’t call it chosen, but called.

Semantics.

So, let’s talk about what I think is happening, as one who got a rather loud and sudden cho…ahem, calling.

My Own Experience (tl;dr: If you know the story, skip to the next section)

I was a deist/agnostic going on atheist. I am a skeptic, which made the following story a bit hard to deal with. I had rune sets before I became Heathen (long story, that), have had dreams that have come true, and have an unnatural power with animals. (My husband swears that 500 years ago I would’ve been burned at the stake.)

So, one night several years ago I was casting runes (okay, yeah, it seems odd that an agnostic would do this) and after getting an answer, asked who was telling me this. The first rune I pulled out was Tyr’s: ᛏ. Then, I pulled out three more. They spelled: ᚦᛟᚱ.

I was stunned. I knew all about the Norse gods and goddesses from my study of the myths and legends, but have not one, but two talk to me? Seriously? That night I did some soul searching. Was this a joke? Did I read into something that didn’t really happen? I felt confused. Then, I started hearing Tyr in my mediations and dreams. Boy, howdy, did that confuse me even more. Eventually I turned to other Heathens who were able to help me sort it out.

When You Don’t Pick Up the Phone When a God Calls You

My experience with the gods wasn’t something that I was particularly looking for. (Although someone might successfully argue why I was asking who was sending me messages, let alone playing with runes.) I now recognize that I received “callings” in the past, but I was too clueless to recognize them. And even if I had, at certain parts of my life when I was younger I was a serious Roman Catholic.

When a god or goddess really wants you, calling just might not be enough. Humans are notoriously dense sometimes and sometimes it takes one grabbing the person by the scruff of the neck, picking him or her up, and shouting “look at me!” If you’ve had that experience, after you’ve changed your pants, you know the god or goddess has chosen you. You’ve maybe received “calls,” but apparently you’ve never made the connection.

Abusive, or Something Else?

Those of us who do have gods who have laid claim to them can probably attest to the suddenness of the encounter. In some cases, the gods are bullies and should be avoided at all costs, but in many cases, that isn’t the situation at all. It’s not that the god or goddess is abusive or bullying, it’s just that they haven’t gotten that person’s attention, for whatever reason, aka cluelessness. So, being deities, they do things in big ways when the small ways don’t work.

That being said, I never advocate entering a relationship with a god or goddess until you understand what they want from you and figure out how they’re going to treat you. I set ground rules with Tyr from the get-go and he was fine with them. I understand that it reduces my contact with him, but at the same time, it is a safe relationship.

Ground Rules for Dealing with Relationships with Deities (and

Anything Else)

Never enter into a relationship with an abusive being (deity, human, or supernatural)
If a deity tells you to do something against your morals, something that harms you or other people, or something that puts you or others in peril, don’t do it and break off communication.
If a deity tells you to do something against the law, don’t do it and break off communication.
If the deity hurts you physically, spiritually, or emotionally, get out of that relationship.
If a deity bullies you, get out of the relationship.
Set ground rules immediately. Don’t get yourself lost in a relationship with a god/goddess.

Obviously there might be exceptions, but these are good guidelines. For one thing, you might not be talking to a deity but may be dealing with a mental illness. In this case, seek psychiatric help. Even if the deity lays claim to you, you can refuse the claim and get out. Sometimes seeking another, more benevolent deity who is willing to intercede on your behalf will protect you.

My point to all this is that just because a deity chooses you, it doesn’t necessarily make it a toxic relationship. What I’ve found is that quite often being chosen is simply a way for the god or goddess to make themselves known. You have to choose back, too.

For years I didn’t understand/trust Skadi. I knew her as a dangerous goddess. But I didn’t understand that for as dangerous as she is, she is also kind in her own way. We have a bond that goes back decades (gods, I just admitted I’m old) but it took work to establish a — dare I say it? — friendship. Tyr and I are closer because of my very nature, but Skadi is becoming a goddess I speak to more and more.

I hope this helps anyone chosen by a god or goddess. Let me know about your own encounters.

When the Muse is a Bitch, or How I’m Surviving the Holidays

December 21, 2017 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

People have been asking about my insights into the Heathen life on board the Facebook page, so I’d like to give you some ideas how I celebrate, or don’t celebrate. Taking a breath here…