Just a neat spiritual moment.

This was just something I had to share. As most people who know me know, I'm I pretty grounded realist. I don't buy into magic, miracles, ghost, things I can't feel or touch, etc... I am however spiritual. I just haven't had anything like a god appearing before me ever happen. I have had some strange things happen, but nothing that I'm sure couldn't be explained by something tangible. So it's really cool when something freaky happens to me. Even if this could be explained, it's still a neat happening!

Ok, so yesterday is one of my rest days. I workout every other day so I use my rest days to work around the house, sometimes maybe go for a motorcycle ride. Yesterday however I was feeling a little beat up from work and mentally exhausted. So I chose to meditate and do a little short blot. I have a nice little corner of the house to hide. So I set up my spot, light a candle, get out my blot bowl. All I had to offer was a heather ale, the only one I had. So I sit for a while and tell the gods all I have is that ale, but it is a good ale and hope they like it as much as I do. I fill my horn, take a drink and then pour the rest in the bowl. I then tell them I'm not there to ask for anything, just need to relax. I then find myself just chatting. I bitch about work for a bit and as most people who are realist do I put in the old "I just wish I had a sign that someone is listening" Inside I can feel they are though.

Anyway, I sit there for a little longer and then blow out the candle. I'm sitting on the floor gathering up my things when all of the sudden I just get overwhelmed with this sense of wellbeing. It's kind of hard to explain, I just felt like a million bucks. Then I stood up, and mind you I am in a closed room, and am hit with a light breeze coming from nowhere and it is full of the scent of fresh flowers! It smelled like I was standing in a field full of wildflowers! Oh, and trust me, I looked around the room to see if maybe my wife had hidden a air freshener somewhere. She hadn't. It was gone as fast as it appeared. Talk about getting cold chills.

Needless to say, I'm still pretty high from the whole thing.

Book of Runes - Ralph Blum

This book caught a lot of flak on one of the Asatru list serves I am on. I was so curious about the bashing it was getting I had to run out and buy a copy to read for myself. I'll just repost my reply to the list here.

Ok, I'll throw in my two cents. After hearing all of the bashing of Ralph Blum's book I ran out and bought his book of Runes. I just had to read it and see what all of the fuss is about. I am an educated man and as far as Asatru goes I am quite conservative. I don't believe much in magic or spells although I don't discount the idea of divine influence. So that being said, what did I think of his book?

I can't say I didn't enjoy reading it. Ralph is obviously a very spiritual man who draws from more areas of study than just Norse beliefs. So it is only natural that his views will part from the views of strict followers of Norse teachings. He references the I Ching numerous times, I don't ever recall that being of Norse origin nor does Ralph imply it is. It just shows he draws from a varied belief network. He also references more Christian ideals than I am comfortable with when dealing with subjects such as rune lore. In honesty though, there was a time when the two were surely mixed. The Lord of the Rings quotes that pepper the book also don't help if you are trying to take his book as a true reference. Nothing wrong with it I guess but if I was writing a book of medieval history I doubt I would load it full of Dungeons and Dragons references. Just seems to cheapen it a bit.

The book as a whole was of nice quality and despite the flaws very inspirational I think. Ralph seems like a guy who honestly believes in what he preaches and the actual meat of the book wasn't too terribly off base. If I was to categorize his book I think it would be a book of using the runes as a tool written by someone who is a general spiritualist, not a devote follower of Asatru.

So although I didn't agree with a lot of his views, I did enjoy reading it. I always welcome other's views, even if I don't agree. I do believe that is part of our teachings no?

and that just about wraps that up ;-)

Is God real?

Boy how I love a theological debate. I’ve often wondered if you could prove god(or gods in our case) is real. Most people would say the existence of miracles is proof, but that is really a flimsy thing to rely on. I’m not saying they don’t exist, maybe they do, but to rely on one as proof of something? I’ll give you a couple examples. I have a door at the end of my hallway that will on occasion open by itself. Nice and slow, with nobody near it, while you are watching. My house is big and over 105 years old, it fits the idea of what a “haunted house” should be. I’ve also had bouts of strange knocking on the walls and another door in the hallway. A person who is prone to believe in ghost would have all the ammo they need to “prove” my house is haunted. That is if they didn’t believe in structural engineering. See the door at the end of the hall sticks and doesn’t catch when you shut it. When anyone over 200 pounds walks down the hallway the stress on the floor causes the frame of the door to flex just enough to release the door and because the house is crooked the door swings open. The knocking? A loose window and another sticky door that basically does the same thing the previously mentioned one does. All my ghost have been found out ;-) So my point is, nothing really magical has happened at all. Yet I still have some friends who claim my house is haunted. It’s all in perception.

So, most of the time I think proof of god(s) mostly lies in gut feelings. Anything outside of that is either someone trying to prove god to themselves or convince others. Perhaps it is beyond our understanding to imagine that there is nothing outside of us? When we die, that’s it, game over, there is nothing else. I don’t believe that but it is of course possible. The whole god(s) created everything theory kind of falls apart when you ask one simple question, who created god? Hmmm, the whole chicken or the egg thing. Are we the chicken, or the egg I wonder. Say you buy into the idea of one god over many. Why? Well because he told you so, or at least someone says he told them to tell you. So now you are not even relying on miraculous first hand proof, you are relying on what someone else has passed on to you. In my haunted house situation you are now not even coming over to have a look for yourself but relying on what someone who has been here told you. Worse, someone who ignored the facts and just stuck with a “that dang place is haunted, I seens them!” So you get the point. If we presume god is real, how do we know he is telling us the truth? Perhaps we have all been mislead. In the case of our theology there are many gods, they are a race of their own. Actually, even among the gods there are different races. I believe the bible confirms that more than one god exist. It even states that their god is a jealous god. I don’t want to misquote anything, but you could at least admit the possibility that the god as portrayed in the bible could be misleading all of his followers. I guess what I am saying is to take all of the things people tell you, including me, about religion with a grain of salt.

Everyone believes their god(s) to be real if they in fact follow a god(s). Their reasons for this are their own. They could of had a miracle that provided them all the proof they need. Perhaps their god(s) talked to them. They just may have a gut feeling. Our teachings say the gods would be honored to answer any question asked of them, they actually respect that. Other religions say who are you to question god. Either way, what ever answers you may find are your own. If you are relying on any kind of “proof” , well one persons proof may not be another’s. I will tell you all the proof I need is gut feeling. In the end I feel that is the best proof of all because I don’t need to prove anything. So yes, for me the gods are real.

Runes

What are Runes? Our myths tell us Odin got them while hanging on a branch of Yggdrasil for nine days. They are the root to many of our modern day alphabet(The term AlphaBet actually being of Latin origin, A, B, etc..) Nobody is really sure of when they first came into use, a long time ago is a good guess. Understanding the runes was a sign of great knowledge, it brings us closer to Odin. Odin of course was always on a quest for knowledge. I would like to think he was proud that his children learned to use them and know them as he did.

We feel the runes still hold a certain spiritualness about them. Some Odinist even think that the runes hold magical properties. They use them to construct spells, bless objects, etc.. I however just feel they represent a devotional object, much like the Christians use the crucifix. As other religions have things that are symbolic in their rituals, so do we. The runes I feel are just one of those things for us.

I’ll give you an example. On my fork I use in competition I have the rune “Tiwas” burned into the handle. Tiwas represents the god Tyr. Tyr was once the ruler of the gods but stepped aside when Odin came. Odin was thought to be the wiser ruler I guess. Tyr is known for his sense of justice. He was once the also god of war. He favors warriors who show honor in battle and who fight justly. Warriors would often carve the Tiwas on their swords to honor Tyr and hopefully gain his favor in battle. Tyr loves competition as well. I honor him by burning the Tiwas on my fork, the only implement we really use when we compete. It reminds me to compete justly and treat my competitors with honor. In the past I was afraid to put it on my fork. You are asking Tyr to watch you while you compete and to make sure justice is done. If I was to think ill of my fellow competitors, or to think of them dishonorably because they were doing better than I was, Tyr would find that cowardly and may bring his vengeance against me. I do not like losing, and in the past I have had trouble keeping honorable thoughts in my head.

This year my path is true and my convictions strong, so I feel I am ready to make Tyr proud. I am no longer afraid.

So that is a short description of one of the runes and why I use it. No magic, just a reminder of faith.

Havamal is here!

Just got my new copy of the Havamal in the mail today. Found it on Abebooks for $1 new! What is the Havamal you ask? Well it's just a collection of old Norse sayings. Just words of wisdom, small quotes. It's a great little collection.

The Eddas

Do we have a bible? Well, not really. Our history was passed down verbally over the years. The stories of our gods were captured in many poems and sagas. The closest thing that would pass for a bible is probably the Eddas. These are a collection of stories that were captured and translated in the 13th century, although the actual tales predate Christian record. There are numerous books out there that offer their interpretations of the Eddas, but if you want to read them for yourself and draw your own interpretations you can obtain a copy of both the Poetic(Elder) Eddas and the Prose(Younger) Eddas from Project Gutenberg free of charge:

The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson; and the Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson

If nothing else, they are a fun read from a historical prospective. These however are the tales we pattern our lives after. When you boil it all down, what is the bible anyway? A book of tales containing fantastic unbelievable stories of gods and people. Who is to say what is true? Read the Eddas and look past the stories. In your heart you'll feel the truth. It may be the thing that makes you want to explore our faith a little more in depth. A true Odinist will never ask you to leave a faith you are true to however. We believe the act of believing in something is more important than the actual god(s) you worship. We feel the gods are all the same but appear to different cultures in a way that they best understand. So I can ask you to read the Eddas but I can't force you to believe in them.

This is a choice you must make on your own.

Death of the earth, death of the warrior...

What do I mean by death of the warrior class? Well, I want to step outside of the “survival of the fittest” box in my answer. In the short term one could argue that since we now dominate the planet we obviously must be the fittest. Can we yet control the weather? Can we stop an earthquake, a hurricane, a tornado? How about make the clouds go away so the sun could shine through? Well, I guess we have not dominated everything yet. The type of survival we now enjoy is out of sync with nature. The comforts are mostly artificial, a good flood could take them away in the blink of an eye. If you woke up tomorrow with nothing sitting in the middle of a jungle, would you have what it took to ensure you could mate, continue the family, or even survive for more than a week? Look at the couple who got stranded up in the mountains because they took a wrong turn. The environment they were in would of been nothing special to our ancestors in northern Europe a few thousand years ago. Yet one of them couldn’t make it a week. Mastering the art of driving was a skill that would not be of any use for survival in such an instance. Now say it was a plane on an island with no hope of rescue. The ones who would survive and mate would be the warriors, ones who could face the challenge and live to tell about it.

So what we have now in society is not survival at all. Sure you could say to survive on the streets, or in the board room takes survival skills, but not the kind that would mean anything in a natural setting. Man no longer has the right to challenge a person who they feel is a threat, or who has wronged them in some matter, without getting the courts involved. Some would say this is civilized, but is it really? It counters the laws of nature, perverts it even. In modern society weak traits and genes are allowed to advance through the human race unfettered by natural selection. We are no longer allowed to be warriors, we are no long allowed to coexist with nature which is built on a warrior base. Look at the world around you, are we better off? Maybe for the moment but we are eating up what is left of the earth at an alarming rate. Nobody seems to care. So when the crap hits the fan and our race finds itself stuck back in nature we will be weak, unable to survive. Trust be, it will happen. Nature has a way of righting itself. Would we be in this situation if we had not been corrupted with others values? They called the Vikings barbarians, the American Indians savages, the highlanders an uneducated lawless people. What they were striking out against was a people and a system based on a warrior society which by it’s very nature stayed in tune with the environment. It closely followed the laws of nature, something that has been removed from us in modern society. If everyone lived as these people once did, the population would be in check, the water would be clear, the ice caps would be whole, the sky would be blue, our kids would have a place to live in centuries to come. As it is now, modern civilized man may not have a place to call home in the near future. This will be due to the death of the warrior.

Man will not survive in his current state, he is sliding down hill. If you are a person of faith, I hope you see that this is just one of the benefits of following a teaching that still respects nature and the warrior ways. I fear the damage is done though and when Ragnarök comes, I want to make sure I’m fighting the good fight for a cause I believe in. My faith tells me I will be well prepared for adversity in times yet to come. I feel comfort knowing that I am preparing for life, real life not the kind sold to you on a billboard. Do what you will here on earth, you will be lucky to last 80 years here. Are you willing to sell yourself into a common boring life after death? For what? MTV, a Hummer? Was the death of a planet, your children's future, worth it? When Odin ask why you turned away from the teachings, when he ask why you showed such disrespect for nature, your children, your ancestors. You just go ahead and tell him how nice that Hummer was.