01 Feb 2010
All You Need Is Love

Why was I born? To some extent, this is not a question at all. A question usually implies a choice - why is it x and not y? There is no choice here: asking "Why wasn't I born?" is a contradiction.

Yet this question has been considered at some level by every human who's ever walked Midgard. Some are seeking a purpose, some are seeking enlightenment. I'm looking for an answer.

So let's get physical and rephrase the query. My real question isn't "Why do I exist?", but rather "What is it about me that makes me unique? Why am I 'me', and not somebody else?"

I remember when I was a little kid, it had to be when I was 6 or seven, the girl next door - was her name Becky? - insisted that her mom and dad had "made" her. I was equally adamant that God had made me, and her and everybody else. My Sunday school teacher said so! But she asked the obvious (and pretty perceptive for a first grader) question: if God made her, why did she look like her mom?

We are, biologically, our ancestors. Here's a thought that'll blow your mind: fifty thousand years ago, somewhere in Eurasia or Africa, two humans mated. If they had not done so, you would not exist.

On a biological level, it's safe to say that you were born because of all of your ancestors that successfully mated, and raised their brood to maturity. Sounds kinda sterile, eh? But take a look at the emotional side...

What's the primary motivation for human mating? Is it mere attraction? Availability? Lust? I think it's probably safe to say that the primary motivation for mating, across cultures and across the centuries, has been an emotional desire. This may be for security, or to please one's family, or it may even be a violent outburst, but commonly the emotion that motivates us to make the beast with two backs is love.

I think it's probably a safe bet to say that the vast majority of your ancestors felt an emotional bond with their mates, and I guarantee that they felt an emotional bond with their children (because unloved children typically do not thrive). Those bonds are what we today would call love.

You were born because your ancestors loved. They loved each other, and they loved their offspring.

This love - this desire to mate and raise children, is the basis for our survival as a species. If we are indeed children of the universe, then love is the universe insuring it's own propagation.

From the perspective of the universe, the Beatles were right.

21:46 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

28 Nov 2009
Copyright and Heathenry

As most readers of this blog are aware, copyright is a subject near and dear to me, and has been for several years. In my professional life, I depend on copyright to make my living (I'm a programmer for those unaware), and am fairly well versed in the legal aspects of the subject, though IANAL.

Everything one writes (publication aside) is considered copyrighted, and republication without permission of the copyright holder, whether for profit or not, is a criminal matter.

That being said, I believe that copyright will prove to be one of the greatest obstacles to the spread of heathenry if we collectively do not understand it, and continue to stand by it for matters of our writings and other works.

We (heathens) are a small group - no matter how you count us or whom you include as "us". The market for our written works is correspondingly tiny. Yet we are a scholarly lot, with a lot to say, and we produce (relatively) massive amounts of work analyzing and translating our lore, giving vision and voice to our worldview.

But look at the sales ranking on Amazon for our works. See how many of our most important books are available in your local public library. How much money has anyone made writing serious heathen tomes? Even the academics that are not heathen do not live by sales of their works: they'll all professors caught in the publish or perish world of the ivory tower.

This leads to an important side effect - how many of our organizations give away books (or even expanded pamphlets) at fairs, gatherings or moots? None - because none can afford to purchase the works from the author or artist, in additional to paying for printing or distribution. We have no organizations like the Gideons, passing out our lore or Eddas, because none of the modern translations of our lore are free from copyright.

How much different would Christian evangelical efforts look if they asked for a set price for the literature they drop off on nearly everyone's doorstep?

I'm not proposing that we go door to door with the Eddas and door hangers proclaiming that "Odin Hung on the Worldtree for YOUR Runes!" - I am proposing that our authors and artists, our scholars and godmen, loosen up on the copyright of their works and allow free distribution. This single step alone, in my humble opinion, would do more to "spread the word" than anything else we could do, while keeping us free from the taint of proselytizing.

I would suggest that we (as heathen authors and artists) look at what our real motivations are. Are we writing to earn a living? Some of us are, especially those of us who are established authors of fiction. Most of us are not. Most of us write (or paint, or draw, or sing and make music) out of our love for the Shining Gods and Goddesses, and out of a desire that our names be remembered in the long years that follow as one of those who first led the Folk back to the Tru path.

"Fair fame never dies for he who has earned it."

To that end, I have placed all of my written and recorded works into a Creative Commons attribution and share-alike style license. (In some cases, mostly from the early Nineties, I wrote my own, but would suggest others visit the Creative Commons or GNU Documentation sites for more information and a wider range of licenses). This includes all of my posts here, in other forums and on our personal site. Those words of mine which are unmarked I have insured are in the public domain, and can be copied, resued, mashedup and remixed at will.

My goal here is not my enrichment in Midgard - my goal is that all of Midgard will once again hear our voices from the North, and consider what they mean and can do. And hopefully remember my name as one of those who played a small part in our renaissance.

I ask all heathen authors and artists to consider this position.

08:13 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

25 Nov 2009
Houses of the rising sun

Interesting stuff - I can find no references to directional orientation of any known heathen temple in the the north. The east has always been associated in the Indo-European religions with beginnings, so I suppose it would make sense to orient temples towards the rising sun. Modern heathenry tends to face north a lot... but that's surely a modern innovation.

New research at the University of Leicester has identified scores of Sicilian temples built to face the rising Sun, shedding light on the practices of the Ancient Greeks.

(link) [EurekAlert!]

20:16 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

15 Nov 2009
Furry fixation

I have to credit Lorraine for this insight: maybe these "furries" have a longer history than we might suppose:

The thrilling hybrid figure of a man with antlered head, round eyes, a long beard, animal (lion?) paws instead of hands, the tail of a wild horse, and his sexual organ placed beneath the tail seems to be a more important personage than a 'sorcerer,' as he is called....Abbe Breuil was right to call him the 'God of Les Trois Freres'....[This Master of Animals and Forests is] shown moving, probably dancing.
The Language of the Goddess

Why do some folk don animal suits and go grooming?

(link) [BBC News]

23:40 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

11 Nov 2009
Day of the Skulls

A fascinating look at how the church fights, wrestles with and eventually tries to subsume native beliefs, in this case ancestor worship. One has to wonder how much of this same process happened all over Europe a thousand years ago.

Ancient rituals and Catholic belief collide in Bolivia

(link) [BBC News]

19:28 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

25 Oct 2009
Christians 'should wear crosses'

And Heathens should wear Hammers ...

Do You Wear Your Hammer?

Do you wear your Hammer
Around your neck each day?
Does it say 'I'm Asatru!'
Or is it tucked away?

Does your speech do credit
To Asatruar kind
Or do your friends have cause to doubt
Your cleanliness of mind?

Will you answer truly
When asked your state of faith?
Do you, in face of Christendom
Vanish like a wraith?

Do you search for knowledge
And credit Odhinn's aid?
Do you show Frigg's charity
and love that will not fade?

Have you defended clan and kin
Against the sland'rer's edge?
Or have you, by your nod,
Helped to drive the wedge?

Are you fost'ring hatred
In breast that should be clean?
Are you worthy of the task
Or are your motives mean?

What you do today, my friend,
Is how you shall be known.
And by inference, all of US
By your actions, shown!

And thus do Asatruarfolk
All, each other represent!
In thought, and word and action.
In garb and temperament.

And we ALL represent the Gods
For from Them, we descend!
REMEMBER that fact DAILY
My Asatruar friend!

Do you wear your Hammer
For Asatruar Kind?
You must wear it on your clothing
AND WEAR IT ON YOUR MIND!
    ©1995 Sylvia Stevens

A bishop calls for Christians to wear their crosses to work to show Christianity is not going to 'disappear quietly'.

(link) [BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition]

22:11 /Asatru | 1 comment | permanent link

11 Oct 2009
Witches' lore

Nice to see this preservation, despite the best efforts of Christian missionaries to eradicate the native religion and domination of an essentially foreign culture.

Would that northwestern Europe had been so lucky...

Taiwan's aboriginal mediums pass on traditional skills

(link) [BBC News]

16:12 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

10 Oct 2009
Winter Nights 2009

Today our farm is hosting the Winter Nights celebrations for Ravenswod - it's becoming almost a tradition to have it here. We're expecting about 35 guests, so this will be the extent of my blogging for today - we're gonna be busy indeed.

Hail the Aesir, Hail the Vans, Hail to Alf and Dis!

07:24 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

27 Sep 2009
Eco Pyres

Religion, even in it's ritual aspects, does not and cannot remain static.

In India's remote north-east, the people of the state of Bihar have devised a novel and environmentally friendly way to cremate their dead.

(link) [BBC News]

08:45 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

16 Sep 2009
Teenage birth rates higher in more religious states

Ya know, I could get snarky and quip "Abstinence only". But there's something else very obvious about this article - and it's so unconscious on the part of the authors I'd be willing to bet the thought never occurred to them. In fact, I'll bet you can't spot it.

Give up?

"Religious" is used as a synonym for "Christian", or, more broadly "monotheist". It's not flat out stated in this study, but note some of the questions that denote "conservative religious beliefs":

The religiosity of a state was determined by averaging the percents of respondents who agreed with the eight most conservative opinions possible in the Religious Landscapes Survey, such as 'There is only one way to interpret the teachings of my religion' or 'Scripture should be taken literally, word for word'.

It would be impossible for a Heathen (or any other pagan), a Buddhist, a Taoist or a Hindu to answer "yes" to either of those questions. Hel, we heathens don't even have such a thing as "scripture"...

It happens all the time: our baseline conception of "religious" is culturally determined. This is the single biggest problem any of the myriad of "new religions" have to overcome, if they fall too far out of the "norm". Mormons made it in, they're monotheist, too, which is the real base. Muslims and Jews were probably counted correctly in the survey, but their numbers are so tiny here as to be statistically insignificant. Especially in areas scoring the highest, like the Old South.

But I daresay no polytheist was counted as "religious", no matter how devoted to their path.

This is more than a matter of mere semantics. It's tough to get noticed when you don't exist. It was just last year that the VA began allowing pentagrams and hammers on headstones in national cemeteries. There are still no pagan chaplains in the military, and no full time ones for prison ministries. In a few isolated instances our clergy do manage to get invited to "interfaith" events, but even that can be a very condescending experience for a non-Christian.

The idea of a religion without revelation, the idea of more than one god (let alone a goddess) is so far outside most peoples comfort zone that the ideas themselves become incomprehensible. Let me explain by way of story:

A few weeks back, when the kids were here for a visit, a van pulled in to our driveway on a sunny Saturday morning. I knew they weren't egg customers when three people, a woman and two men, all carrying books, got out and headed towards the door.

I met them in the backyard and asked how many dozen they'd like. They said they hadn't come for eggs, but wished they could buy some as they really liked country eggs. Then the woman asked "What do you think God thinks about prejudice?"

"Which one?"

"Oh, racial, gender, nationality, you know, any of them."

"Uh, no... which god?"

Dead silence for a few seconds. "Uh, God the Father..."

"You mean the Allfather?"

"Yeah, God the Father...

"Odin?"

"Uh, He has a name that can't be pronounced .."

It was at this point that I politely explained that I was a heathen, and had no interest in foreign cults, and thank you very much please come back and get some eggs. I don't think they ever will.

Yeah, I was having some fun with them. But the point remains, and if you could've seen their faces, you'd see it immediately. They just couldn't grasp the concept of multiple deities. Not for real. But they had to think about it after that - I forced them to see it in a real, living person. I'll bet there were some interesting conversations in that van going down the driveway.

I don't have any answers to this, other than for each of us to educate as many people as we can, be as open as we can, and let our religious voices be heard as often as we can. Time will have to take care of the rest.

Rates of births to teenage mothers are strongly predicted by conservative religious beliefs, even after controlling for differences in income and rates of abortion. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Reproductive Health have found a strong association between teenage birth rates and state-level measures of religiosity in the US.

(link) [EurekAlert!]

20:53 /Asatru | 1 comment | permanent link

12 Sep 2009
Fairy tales have ancient origin

Well, mythology and fairy tales are like that - they reflect the sense and sensibility of the folk and the times, and they evolve with both folk and time.

I worry that many of the old tales are being lost again - it seems as though they're not politically correct enough for modern sense - as if we had any. But folk and time will not be denied - and for every one that's lost in the mists, another will rise to enthrall, terrify and enlighten a new generation.

They have been told as bedtime stories by generations of parents, but fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood may be even older than was previously thought.

(link) [The Telegraph]

15:20 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

09 Sep 2009
A Day of Rememberance

Detail of Monument in New Ulm, MNOn this date exactly 2000 years ago the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest began, near Osnabrück in Germany. Three Roman legions were utterly destroyed by native forces led by Hermann, the son of Segimer of the Cherusci. It was the greatest military defeat ever suffered by the Roman Empire, and prevented their expansion into central Europe. Some would say it marked the high point of Roman imperialism.

Many heathen organizations celebrate September 9th as a Day of Remembrance for Hermann, but this year, being the second millennial is special indeed. So raise a horn tonight for Hermann, who kept his people free from the yoke of Rome.

18:23 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

04 Jun 2009
Piece be with you

In heathenry, we have gods and goddesses primarily associated with war, defense and protection and gods and goddesses whose core function is the bringing of peace and plenty. It is requisite to bring weapons to worship of the gods of war or defense: it is sacrilege to bring weapons to a blot dedicated to a god or goddess of peace.

Isn't a kenning for the White Christ "the prince of peace"?

WWJD? Indeed.

AP - A Kentucky pastor is inviting his flock to bring guns to church to celebrate the Fourth of July and the Second Amendment.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

20:13 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

05 Apr 2009
The Dover Rune Poem

The Aett of Freyr
Fehu
Cattle grazing
Primal Fire
Force of life
Awaken desire.
 Uruz
Lord of the Wood
By night and day
Mighty is the hunter
Who names this prey.
Thurisaz
The tiny thorn,
Always protecting
Woe to the one
Who tries collecting
 Ansuz
Breath of the gods
Bright flow of thought
Tribal wisdom
Dearly bought.
Raidho
Wandering wain
Bearing desire.
Experience
We will acquire.
 Kenaz
Strike the torch
Flame leaping forth
Lead the way
Into the North
Gebo
Gift looks for gain
As it rolls round
Coming to rest
Where ever it's found.
 Wunjo
Here Joy and Peace
Are bound at rest.
Bounty received
Thoroughly blessed
The Aett of Thor
Hagalaz
Flatten the fields,
futile to fight.
Ice from above
An awesome sight
 Neid
Helper, marker, broken cross
Sign of pity and need.
Sign of patience and delay.
sign of skill and deed.
Isa
Silent freezer faring forth,
mark well your far extent,
for soon you'll be retreating
without a trace of where you went.
 Jera
12 times the Earth must circle
in Sunna's holy stead
Four seasons on the calendar
New life springs from the dead.
Eihwaz
Double hook of life and death
n'er allow the soul to rest
in deep self pity or in doubt
take the chance as sun comes out.
 Perthro
Dice cup, cauldron, deep desire,
Well of Wyrd, Muspell fire.
Fate and chance flung to the cloth
risking all and take the loss.
Eolh
Protection promised,
the elk grass grows
where even giants
fear to tread.

 Sowelo
Bolt of victory, goals achieved,
Sign andd symbol of troth.
Well we do to make this mark
on any weapons that we need.
The Aett of Tyr
Tiwaz
Dog of doom now holds your hand
bound in fetters on the strand.
Loosed one day to shake the world
then let fury be unfurled. 		Berkano
Birch Bark Goddess
of the night.
Life and death
as Nature's right.


Ehwaz
Horse and man, the two are twain
Take to the world and home again.
Beast of burden and of pride
So much more than just a ride.
 Mannaz
Only humans have the sight
to know the gods and know the right
To see the truth where'er it lay
to speak the spell and praise the day.

Laguz
Lake of fire and lake of ice,
so was it wrought anew.
Woman's sign and woman's rune
soft as morning dew.
 Ingwaz
Mark the signs as Ingvi flies
from the East across the skies.
New world sought and new world found
Spread before us all around.

Dagaz
Sun wheel turns in frozen sky
day once more is passing by.
Giving way at last to night
always moving, always right. 		Othel
Mark you well the boundries
of property and runes.
Odin's Eye and final sight
round which all life is strewn.


Based on the Tell City Rune Poem, also by yours truly. Not everything got changed, but it was time for an update. Consider it, however, a work in progress. I'll probably move it over to the main web homepage where it belongs eventually, but for now, MacRaven will have to do.

13:39 /Asatru | 5 comments | permanent link

01 Apr 2009
The Many Names of the Gods

Then said Gangleri: "Exceeding many names have ye given him; and, by my faith, it must indeed be a goodly wit that knows all the lore and the examples of what chances have brought about each of these names." Then Hárr made answer: "It is truly a vast sum of knowledge to gather together and set forth fittingly. But it is briefest to tell thee that most of his names have been given him by reason of this chance: there being so many branches of tongues in the world, all peoples believed that it was needful for them to turn his name into their own tongue, by which they might the better invoke him and entreat him on their own behalf. But some occasions for these names arose in his wanderings; and that matter is recorded in tales. Nor canst thou ever be called a wise man if thou shalt not be able to tell of those great events."

Glyfaginning XX

20:06 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

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