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 7 comments

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

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Has Heathenism Beaten Christianity?

August 12, 2016 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

I got in a conversation with another pagan on Huginn’s Heathen Hof, and he had a different outlook on the whole Christianity versus Paganism argument. It hit me as having some merit, so I’d thought I’d explore it more in depth.

The Argument

The person who put forth this argument to me was a Heathen and a Gnostic. (Let that sink in a bit before dismissing it outright.) His basic argument was that Christianity at its beginning had nothing — no holidays, no formal sacraments, etc, — so it took from other religions. In fact, it took so much from pagan religions that the pagan religions actually triumphed. I’ve been mulling it over for some days and while I don’t think it’s entirely correct, I think it has some merit to at least think about.

Christianity at its Core

Christianity is, at its core, a death cult. It focuses not on rewards in the here and now, but after one dies. It even focuses on the gruesome torture and death of their god. While I think that knowing where you’re going when you die is important, I think that this life is just as important on how we live. Yes, Christians do focus on how well behaved they should be because they will receive a reward in “heaven,” but honestly, it takes a fear of eternal punishment to behave correctly? Think about that for a bit.

The major holiday that Christians have recognized since its inception would be Easter, that is the day when Christ allegedly rose from the dead. We know that Easter arose from the Passover festival, around which Christ was allegedly crucified. Easter follows Passover. But we know that it took the name Eostre, and it may have borrowed the pagan trappings of festivals during that time, presumably to make it more palatable to the audience.

Yule and Christmas

We do know that Christmas was pretty much taken from pagan midwinter festivals, celebrating the celebrating the god of agriculture for a full month starting a week before the solstice. We know that Christmas wasn’t instituted until the fourth century CE when the Church thought to take those midwinter festivals and sanction them.

return of the sun. While us Heathens can lay claim to Yule, we aren’t the only ones that had midwinter celebrations. The Romans had Saturnalia, which was spent

The Puritans actually banned Christmas (and the saints) because they recognized the pagan origins. For about 25 years England under Oliver Cromwell made Christmas illegal. That joy was brought over with the Puritans who made Christmas illegal. Such was the control of the Puritans that anyone found in Boston exhibiting the Christmas spirit during the years 1659 to 1681 could be fined. What a great bunch.

Incidentally, the Christmas tree came into vogue with Queen Victoria, taking the customs of her husband’s homeland. The Christmas tree popped up around the 17th century in Germany have its, …ahem, roots in paganism.

Plenty of pagans have pointed to Odin’s ride, Slepnir’s eight legs changing into eight reindeer, and other similarities, that suggest Odin is Santa Claus, so I don’t need to go through that argument.

Harvest and Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, itself, is more of an American holiday that was celebrated in New England for some time before Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday in 1863. George Washington issued the first national Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789, thus putting it on the table, so to speak, when it came to having a national day of thanks. A quote from History.com:

Image by Magickal Graphics

“As an annual celebration of the harvest and its bounty, moreover, Thanksgiving falls under a category of festivals that spans cultures, continents and millennia. In ancient times, the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans feasted and paid tribute to their gods after the fall harvest. Thanksgiving also bears a resemblance to the ancient Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot. Finally, historians have noted that Native Americans had a rich tradition of commemorating the fall harvest with feasting and merrymaking long before Europeans set foot on their shores.”

We have our own celebration of Harvest Home, so saying that Americans “invented” a harvest festival like Thanksgiving isn’t truthful. Now, we did put our own spin on it, but in the end, it is the celebration of family and home, as well as harvest.

The Days of the Week

The months are named after Roman months (gods, Caesars, and numbers), but the days of the week were Roman names changed to our gods, with the exception of Saturday because people probably thought Ymirday might not catch on. (Yeah, I know the story is that there’s no German equivalent to Saturn who was an agricultural god slain by Jupiter, but that’s another story for another time.) So, when we say we’re meeting someone on Thursday, we’re meeting them on Thor’s-day.

Saints versus Polytheism

Becoming Polytheistic was easy after being Catholic for me. Any religion that allows veneration of saints actually lost to the polytheism. Even the Episcopalians have the saints and the time I went to an Episcopalian mass proved to me that they’re Catholics without a pope who allow divorces. We know that some saints were actually gods that got incorporated into the ranks of saints to make the religion more popular (such as Saint Bridget). So, yeah, in some Christian religions, we got some of the gods and goddesses in.

Catholics will tell you that they do not worship saints. That is true at the highest level, but the line gets mighty blurred with the veneration of Mary and other saints.

So Did Heathenism Win?

That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? I would argue yes and no. In the long run, we still have the Christian god, complete with all the stupidity that has subjugated women, condoned slavery, and given us plenty of hangups due to the “do this or you go to hell” mentality. I’m not saying that heathens were morally superior as we had slavery and human sacrifice, but most of us are willing to make the change in the right direction.

By the same token, we got our holidays and other pieces infiltrated into Christianity. People who celebrate the holidays are often celebrating the secular holidays rather than what their church would like them to celebrate. Sure, they keep Jesus in Christmas, but seeing as the whole nativity scene is pretty much made up, and seeing we really don’t know much about the historical Jesus, or even if there was one, we can call it a myth and be done with it.

What it does say to me is that Heathens can celebrate those so-called Christian holidays and feel good about putting their own spin on things. At least, that’s how I look at it.

Added for Clarity:

The point the person made was that arguing whether or not to worship Christ was irrelevant because basically Christianity took all the trappings from pagans anyway. We can argue semantics, but that was his point. I was willing to consider his belief and came up with a yes and no observation. I rushed the conclusion, which perhaps I shouldn’t have done, but I wanted to get the piece out, late as it was.

That being said, I think he does have a point. Is it Heathenism under another flavor? No. Our gods are not revered, although one might be able to point out some obscure saints the Church may have created to appease Heathens. Is Christianity the same as it was when it was conceived? No. It is mostly pagan with the foundation of the Abrahamic faith. Depending on your beliefs in Asatru and Heathenism, you can argue that what parts of paganism was added is superficial. Maybe so, maybe not. I just found it an interesting opinion, and one I couldn’t completely dismiss.

That Idea? It’s Probably Divine Bird Shit

July 30, 2016 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

Being a writer often means one needs to have a certain amount of inspiration along with the perspiration to write. Although I write a fair amount for a living, sometimes the inspiration can be, well…, lacking. You might say the muse has left the building. Some people may even say the muse never entered with me, and occasionally I would agree with them. But since we’re talking heathenry, perhaps it might be a good idea to talk about the Mead of Poetry, since that seems to be most applicable to writers.

The Story of Kvasir and the Mead of Poetry

The full story about Kvasir and the Mead of Poetry is told in the Prose Edda written down by Snorri Sturluson, but there are references to it in the Havamal. It’s an older story, and one we may not have all the versions of, but at least we have a story. I won’t recite it in it’s entirety; there are many good sites that have the story line, and you’re welcome to read it in the text.

For those with the tl;dr attention span, here’s the basic story:

The gods craft a man named Kvasir from their spit (ewww) that is so wise and knowledgeable, that he goes around the world imparting his wisdom to those who would learn it. Somehow Kvasir didn’t get the memo that two dwarves named Fjalar and Galar were up to no good and killed him. They crafted the mead of poetry from his blood (another ewww), and anyone who drank from it was given great wisdom and poetry. To make a long story short, a Jotun eventually kills the dwarves and secrets the mead in a mountain with his daughter. Odin gets wind of this, goes undercover, seduces the daughter, steals the mead in his beak, and flees in the form of an eagle back to Asgard with the Jotun on his heels, errr… tail feathers? So close, he poops out some of the mead, which was not saved. (And anyone can partake of the bird droppings with predictable results.) The rest Odin give to the Aesir and doles out sparingly to those people gifted with poetry.

So, is it Bird Crap?

I look at the story as a metaphor for the creative process. I’m pretty sure it fits to most anything creative whether it is writing, music, crafting, or some sort of handiwork. We all start out as, well, crappy beginners. Some of us may be better or gifted with the mead of poetry, but most of us deal with bird crap. I use writing as an example. Writing is hard work for those of us who do it for a living and work at honing our craft. When we first start out as writers, we’re basically consuming the bird crap Odin left behind. Eventually, we get better, but it takes practice and study.

Looking Deeper into Odin’s Hard Work

In the Mead of Poetry story, Odin doesn’t just trick the Jotun and get the mead. Oh no. He first comes across nine field workers of the brother (Baugi) of the Jotun (Suttung) who has the mead. He calls himself Bölverkr and tricks them into killing themselves and then goes and visits their master, who is perplexed by his misfortune. Bölverkr/Odin makes a deal to work for Baugi for the season and do all the work his nine dead workers would do in exchange for a sip of the mead. Baugi agrees and Odin does the work, but Suttung is none too keen on giving him a sip.

Odin convinces Baugi to help him get the mead. It takes a few setbacks and the Jotun nearly skews the All Father when he shape changes into a snake and slithers into the hole in the mountain. There, he changes back and beguiles the daughter who sleeps with him three nights for three drinks of mead. Odin drinks all three jars in three sips.

We can take this story at face value and find it amusing, or we can actually consider what it means. I suspect it is a metaphor for how we acquire our skills as creatives. Let me explain.

The Metaphors for Acquiring Skills as Creatives

Looking at this story, I see Odin doing a load of hard work. He works a full season doing farm labor for just the chance of maybe getting a sip of the precious spit man’s blood. He manages to convince a Jotun to help him obtain it, only to be betrayed by him. Then, he has to woo the daughter to get the mead. Luckily she obliges. Suppose she didn’t? Hmmm, that would’ve been tragic, but this is Odin, and he manages.

He carries the mead in his bill when he changes into an eagle, and regurgitates it (ewww) for the Aesir as he returns so that the gods have it. He is dogged by Suttung, who may be a metaphor for failure, as Odin craps out lousy mead of poetry while regurgitating the good stuff.

What does this all Mean?

I’m guessing that our ancestors recognized that being creative was hard work, and took skill and perseverance. That being said, anyone can be a writer, but it takes talent and hard work to become an author of any merit (all you have to do is pick up some of the self published works to see what I mean.) I’m not saying all self-published work is bad; I’m saying that a goodly portion is because many people have not taken the time to hone their craft. It’s like someone learning to play a musical instrument. Unless you’re a child protege, chances are if you’re good at playing an instrument, you worked at it. Even then, I’d bet the child proteges work hard to learn and master their craft. It also means that most of what people do, whether it’s poetry, writing, music, art, or anything else creative, isn’t great. Apparently Odin only gifts a select few with the real mead and not the bird crap. No wonder that drink tasted odd…

Is Thor Stupid?

July 24, 2016 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 2 comments

It seems to me that there are two camps when it comes to Thor: those who think he’s at least average intelligence (for a god, whatever that is), and those who think he’s maybe not as dumb as a post, but would be challenged by one occasionally. Since I picked on Thor last week, I’m going to test his good graces again and tackle his intellect.

All Brawn and No Brains

I suspect that thinking Thor is stupid is a relatively recent phenomena which has to do with our current stereotypes. Although the stereotypes are changing, the common stereotype of the muscle man is the stupid jock. I think, rightly or wrongly, that stereotype has been crafted over the years. Although science disagrees that people who are athletic are stupid, it’s still a stereotype that is perpetuated. I did a quick look on the Internet in the quest for the search of why muscular people, particularly men, are considered stupid. I found a reference on that oh-so-accurate Wikipedia (that was sarcasm, for those not paying attention), and even a blog which mentions a study on it.

My Own Experience with Jocks

Growing up, I had the joy of dealing with bullies, and dealing with kids who were naturally better at sports. I had undiagnosed asthma which precluded me from doing well in physical activities when I was younger. This was during a time when people thought asthma was “all in your head.” It took years for me to admit I have it, and now that I do, life is much, much easier. But I digress. Most of those kids were, well — not the brainiest — and those who were smart, tended to hide it for fear of being bullied. To add to the stereotype, I grew up when nerdy guys in lab coats got people to the moon.

In college, I saw kids who got scholarships and were treated like gold because they were good in sports. While not all the jocks were stupid, many were not the sharpest knives in the drawer, because they often were given a pass. I went into the sciences, geek girl that I am. So, the stupid jock was commonplace.

My junior and senior year, I worked out and trained in martial arts. So, I got to know the weightlifters. Many had been the kids everyone picked on when they were small; a good portion of them were introverts. So, they did the best thing they could think of: not become a target. Many of the people I knew in martial arts were smart. Yes, there were the average and idiots in the group as well, but most I would categorize as being clever enough.

So, why the dichotomy?

When We Moved from Agrarian to Industrial

I think that the shift in emphasis started in the 18th century, but really didn’t take hold until the 19th century and early 20th century where people started separating themselves into white collar and blue collar (note: this is not a rich versus poor argument). My parents looked down on those who didn’t have office jobs as being unable to be smart enough to attain those positions. Never mind that many of the blue collar jobs paid better than white collar jobs. I suspect that this attitude was fostered though the colleges and through those who were able to work pushing paper for a living. I suspect that the GI Bill after WWII and emphasis into getting higher degrees also pushed more people into thinking that manual labor means you can’t hack an office job.

I’ve already mentioned the moonshots, which were a result of the cold war. In fact, I suspect that the emphasis going into science and other intellectual activities caused a bigger split, suggesting that you couldn’t be both strong and smart. Sure, we had our Hollywood heroes, but they emphasized not strength, per se, but beauty. Professional athletes were always admired, but they were never considered brilliant, except when it pertained to their performance

When Physical Prowess was Admired

It used to not be that way. Prowess in sports suggested you were good on the battlefield. Being physically fit has paramount before firearms became prevalent. After all, whether you lived or died, whether your family would survive, and whether you had enough food was largely dependent on your fitness and skill as a hunter, warrior, and farmer. Firearms replaced swords, pikes, maces, and knives, and armor went away. No longer did you have to carry some 50 to 70 pounds of armor and weaponry. While there were wars, most problems were resolved in torte.

Brains and brawn weren’t considered mutually exclusive. Many warriors were considered clever and intelligent.

So, What About Thor?

I feel that Thor has gotten a bad rap, not because he’s stupid, but because he has likable characteristics that make him more…well, human. Somehow he loses Mjolnir, and has to go in drag to get it back. He journeys with Loki to Jotunheim and yes, he is tricked by the Jotun’s magic, but then so is Loki. Then, there’s the story how Thor tricks a dwarf who is about to marry his daughter in the Alvissmal where the gods promised Thor’s daughter while he was away. Tricking a dwarf to stay above ground after sunrise (and thus turned to stone) doesn’t suggest a stupid god.

My UPG Take on Thor

I am not an expert when it comes to Thor, but what little dealings I’ve had with him shows me a strong and compassionate champion. Yes, he has a temper; yes, he is not beyond using his strength. But I have noticed that he is more likely to forgive if someone makes an error like Thjálfi did in breaking the bone of his goat and sucking out the marrow. As one of the gods who favors humanity, I can think of no better champion.

I don’t think Thor is stupid. I think that because his strength is so great, we sometimes don’t take into account that Thor is smart too. After all, he’s the son of Odin and Jord. Would Odin have a stupid kid? I don’t think so.

How We Can Learn from Thor Losing Mjolnir

July 17, 2016 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

I’m staring at two half-finished blog posts and hating them. I think it’s because even though I tend to write stuff that causes people to think about some heavy things, today I need a little levity. And I think I’m not the only one that needs it in the Heathen community.

Taking Everything Too Seriously

I swear to the gods, people take everything way too seriously most of the time. Hel, our ancestors
didn’t always take everything seriously. The stories about Loki and Thor are prime examples. Thor loses his hammer; Heimdall devises a plot for a cross-dressing Thor (after Loki found out Thrym the king of the Jotun wanted Freyja as his wife) to so he can get his hammer back. The story is fairly short, but I can imagine a bunch of drunk Northmen telling the embellished story and laughing. Then, there is the story of Loki’s and Thor’s journey to Jotunheim. Oh yes, and the building of Asgard’s wall and Loki’s philandering with a stallion…

Our ancestors understood that levity was important, and not even the gods were beyond having amusing stories told about them.

Why We Need to Lighten Up

My point is that our ancestors had plenty to worry about. They had invaders and wars. They had famines and poor harvests. They had diseases that wiped out whole villages that today we’ve cured or at least made less deadly. They didn’t have smartphones, iPads, and Pokemon Go. Yes, yes, we have plenty of terrible things happening in this world, but sometimes its important just to laugh and shake our heads over the crazy stuff. I swear if more people just relaxed and didn’t throw down every two minutes, I think we’d be a lot better off.

Science Backs Me Up on This

We know (from science, of course) that getting angry all the time isn’t healthy. According to Scientific American, people are getting angrier all the time and less civil due to the Internet. It’s because you’re dealing with a perfect storm of perceived anonymity, the ability to have a monologue, the inability to gauge people’s emotions and reactions, and the ability to be an armchair advocate without really doing anything toward a cause. What’s more, the media outlets actually foster this behavior by leaving up the worst comments, thus allowing people to think this is acceptable behavior.

People are Angrier Because of Issues

A fairly recent piece written in the BBC talks about how Americans are even more angry than before due to a number of issues. We’re bombarded with bad news all the time and becoming more polarized. I remember back when 9-11 happened. I spent a long time being depressed because I was seeing news constantly about the terrorist attacks. Eventually, I had to turn the TV off. So it has been with the Internet.

Dealing with Rage

At some point, we have to decide if we’re going to stay angry all the time, or whether it’s time to lighten up. Obviously, there are times for seriousness, but we should take a clue from the gods and see humor even in the most dire situations (such as losing Mjolnir).

Do You Have Free Will? Probably Not.

July 10, 2016 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

This late post is due to me getting a summer cold. I’ve been dealing with this crap for the past two days which means that taking care of myself supersedes a blog. (Hard to believe, eh?) My latest post which is bound to rile some people is about fate and free will. Rather than tell you my overall opinion on the subject (but I will give you my thoughts on it), I’m going to go over what Norse mythos/legends and science has to say about it. You can then come to your own conclusions.

The Heathen Concept of Fate

Those who follow Norse paganism are no doubt familiar with the Wyrd/Fate and the Norns who weave our Wyrd strands. Their names are Urdr, Verdandi, and Skuld and they water Yggdrasil and use mud to prevent the World Tree from rotting. (I don’t exactly understand how, since rot often occurs with wetting things down, but I digress.) They also weave the strands of each god’s and human’s life. How much is predestined versus how much we can choose is the great debate. The fact that they set our fate upon its path suggests that our destiny may be predetermined already. As always, Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV) on this interpretation.

To me, the Norns are akin to the Greek Moerae, the Roman Parcae, and the Slavic Sudice, which is highly suggestive of an older Indo-European pagan religion whence these beliefs sprang from. I talk about this a bit in my earlier posts, so it should come as no surprise to my readers. I’m not going to talk about the validity of predestination versus free will when it comes to the Norns. I’m going to talk about what science has to say about it, because I find the implications far more interesting.

Is it a Conscious Decision, or are We Trying to Explain Our Behavior?

We think that we make choices all the time. But 20 years ago, psychologists proposed that we somehow convince ourselves that our behavior was caused by our own thoughts and actual intentions after the behavior, itself. In other words, the fact that you’re getting up from your desk to get a cup of coffee isn’t ruled by thought, but by behavior and your mind plays a great game to convince you that you thought this up all along.

As farfetched as this seems, a recent study takes this to the next step. Subjects were presented with five white circles and asked to think which one they thought would light up red. Whichever one was lit up was done randomly and without a predictable pattern. The subject could give an answer that they selected the one that was lit up, selected one that was not lit up, or tell the examiners that they didn’t have enough time. What happened was interesting. When the time was too short more that 30 percent claimed they picked the right circle (when the number should have been around 20 percent). When the examiners slowed the time between when they were to choose before the circle lit up, the number that claimed to pick to right one fell to about 20 percent.

At some point, the scientists determined, the people were mixing up what happened with their actual intention. In other words, stuff happens and we make up a good story why it happened and how we intended it to happen that way.

Bereitschaftspotential

That mouthful of a word describes a readiness state our brain goes into before we are conscious of our own decision. This state can occur up to 1.5 seconds before the mind is conscious of it. In fact, Sam Harris makes a case against the whole concept in his book entitled, (what else?), Free Will. This was proven in tests using MRIs back in 2008, which allowed the researchers to predict the person’s action up to 90 percent even before the person knew what he or she was going to do.

The Block Universe and Time Theory: Or How to Make Your Head Hurt

Okay, you say, that’s works for people, but how about a person’s fate? Well, now I’m going to dive right into the Block Universe theory on time, which will probably make your head hurt about as much as mine is hurting right now with this cold. Time in the Theory of Relativity and other equations is changeable backwards and forwards, so our thought that time is linear isn’t right. The Block Universe theory states that the past, present, and future exist simultaneously in space-time and that we perceive time’s passage as if a spotlight is being shined on the moment events seem to occur. Events happen, but the past and the future are already there too. We live in a temporally scattered existence. We’re scattered throughout a certain segment of time.

Well, this puts our lives in another perspective. We exist simultaneously with ourselves when we’re born and when we die. Our entire lives have already existed and the point where we are at is just the spotlight shining on it. So, while we can make choices that create events, those future events already exist with the past and the present.

Then Again, This Might Be a Computer Simulation

Nowadays scientists are at least considering the possibility that the whole universe is some gigantic computer simulation program and we have no idea what purpose it might have. Elon Musk of Tesla is convinced we’re a simulation. Neil deGrasse Tyson believes it’s about a 50 percent chance. In which case, all our speculation may be moot and our gods are just terrific programmers.

What The Rational Heathen Thinks

There are certainly other views of the Universe I haven’t covered, but it’s getting late and I’m tired and still have some work to do. At some point, I look at the question as possibly meaningless — if I don’t have free will, and if my fate is plotted for me, it won’t change my actions one way or another. I still have pieces I have to write, I still have chores to do around home, and I still have plenty of things I must do. If I am the master of my fate, then the outcome and plan is still the same. I’m not going to say “it was fated,” because I understand that the one thing physics does recognize well is cause and effect. So my work to fix something that breaks or try to improve things is what may cause positive outcomes.

Then again, it might be fated that I do these things. Who knows?