New toy.

Ok, before I start let me tell you how asinine our society is. I feel it is every mans god/gods given right, no DUTY to defend himself or his family. Our religion in fact states that. We are not a flock of passive sheep, anyone who tells you that will have to ignore all of human history. Now I in no way look like a victim. I am 5'11" - 6' and usually hang around 250 pounds of muscle. I would most likely dwarf my viking ancestors. I took Karate as a youth and later JuJitsu in the military. I'm sure if the government had anything to say about me, It would be against the law to walk out of the house with me. Sound crazy? Well, I have a cool new cane to walk with. I had it custom made by a guy in South Africa.

The thing is, If I carry it in public the government feels it is the same thing as packing a gun in my belt.

I don't feel anyone should be restricted from having an edged weapon in public. For one, hand to hand combat when needed is not the same thing as popping someone with a gun. Any coward can shoot someone. With an edged weapon you actually have to violate someone's personal space. I'm not sure when it became the government's right to tell me what I can and can't use for self defense. It's cowards who wrote these laws. People who couldn't stomach a hand to hand fight so they try to keep anyone from having the ability to inflict lethal force. This is the problem with society today. It has become a "protect me" society when it should be a "protect yourself" society.

Anyway, be careful if you think you can take on a big man because he is limping around on a cane. You could quickly lose your ability to hold your liquor, literally. ;-)

My plate. Finally got a pic!

Ok, maybe not great. But it's my first time I took a crack at this ;-)

Long time no post!

Wow, it’s been a while since I last posted. I have had a rough couple of months. I messed up my back and was bed bound for a week and a half and am just now getting back to normal. Other than that, things are well. I took a swing at ceramics. My little girl wanted to do a pick-n-paint plate for her grandmother and I thought as long as I was there, what the heck I’ll do one too. I did the world tree surrounded by some runes that turned out pretty good! I’ll try to post a pic, but I still look at it and think “did I do that?” As for other happenings, I did get an email from someone who was not happy with my views on Christianity. He was a very nice guy, and I would post the mails but feel I must respect his privacy. Had he wanted his correspondence to be public he would of posted in the comments.

I actually find myself feeling kind of bad. I mean, I guess I say some harsh things at times but I in no way want to hurt anybody. When someone feels compelled to email me because they don’t agree with what I have to say I feel like I have harmed them in some way, and I truly don’t mean to. I started this blog with the hopes of reaching other like minded people. I choose not to follow the Christian god and also personally don’t believe Jesus was anybody other than a cult leader, if he existed at all. Those are my beliefs and I don’t try to force them on anybody else. So people can email me all day long and repeat the same things I have heard a million times before but it won’t change my mind. I have read the bible, as well as many other religious text. Even if I thought it to be true I still am bound by my morals not to follow it. It’s that simple. I have chosen a religion that makes sense to me. To be honest with you, I don’t see what the big deal over religion is anyway. Oh well, I’m not veering over that cliff anymore today ;-)

All I can say is that after years of confusion and feeling guilty I now have peace. After years of nothing I have now had contact with what I believe to be a higher power. For a grounded man of logic a brush with the supernatural can be a powerful thing. I had one of those moments, and it still has not faded. You will never be able to convince me that some man made writings in a book are more reliable that what I have heard from the sources mouth(so to speak).

So hail to those who stumble by this page, may you find your path. Every man parts this earth alone and meets whatever is next on his own terms. Remember that when other men try to tell you what is and what isn’t there. Your heart and mind will guide you truer than any book or spoken word.

The cult of Christianity

I know that Christianity can’t by definition be a cult, although this is what the dictionary has to say about it:

1. a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.

2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.

3. the object of such devotion.

4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.

5. Sociology. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.

6. a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.

7. the members of such a religion or sect.

8. any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.

So it does fit pretty well within this definition until you get to #6. It gets a little fuzzy, who is to say what is “unorthodox” or “false” ? Wow, according to the dictionary, there is somebody out there who can tell us which religious groups are “false” I’m guessing because they know the only true way. I know I’m being dramatic here, but everything seems to be twisted to the Christian beliefs. Even something as simple as a dictionary definition. How has this happened? Even our money has “In god we trust” blazon across it. What if I don’t trust that god? Even on the TV show Bones the other night our religion is treated like it’s some kind of joke. Bones is supposed to be Atheist and is confronting a Christian about God being make believe. To bolster her claim she tells him “After all, nobody believes in Odin or Zeus anymore” Gee, don’t think that had anything to do with 1500 years of Christian persecution do ya missy?

My point is, when did Christianity become the gage that all others would be judged by? How is it the accepted norm? Out of the billions of people in the world only a third of them are Christian, a full two thirds are not! Yet, Christianity is the norm. I think it is the most viral of all cults. Someone tell me what makes it not a cult. They start indoctrinating children from childhood and basically preach that it is their duty to show everyone the light. It makes me sick. Their “light” includes tales of child abuse, disregard for life that is not human, degrading women, human sacrifice, genocide, slavery, etc... the list goes on. Yet numerous other peaceful religions are labeled as sinners that must be saved.

I had to think back to my youth, why did I keep going to church and following a religion that in my heart I knew was wrong. Well, it was for the same reason cult followers don’t get out when things don’t feel right. I was afraid. Afraid to stand up to my parents and confront them with my problems with the church, Afraid of being labeled as an evil sinner, afraid of being smited by god. That is what you are taught. If you don’t believe in the biblical teachings you are angering god. The very act of questioning the teachings is a sin. You are set up for failure right from the start. You are in fact born a sinner! How about that. So someone remind me how this isn’t a cult again.

Now, compare my motivations from the past to my motivations now. In the past I was given 10 commandments of “thou shalt not” this and that. You had to plan your life around these, they were god’s will. Of course they didn’t include things like “tho shalt not enslave thy fellow man” but that is another story. I tap danced around these trying not to anger god. Of course there are a few I broke, all of us have. Some like not working on the sabbath seem almost impossible to follow, if you even know what day the sabbath is. My motivation for not breaking them? Why gods wrath of course! Now, compare that to now. My reasons for not breaking the commandments? Ha, trick question, there are no commandments. Instead there are noble virtues that you try to live your life by and then not doing bad things will follow naturally. That is a much more logical system than just giving you a list of things not to do.

Think of raising a child. You could teach you child about the dangers of fire, but also show them why fire is useful. They will learn fire is hot, fire can hurt you. But fire can also cook your food, heat your water, etc... The child will be armed with the knowledge they need to understand why they shouldn’t touch the burner on the stove. Or you could just say “Tho shalt not touch the stove”

So what kind of group expects you to blindly follow without question? Sounds like a cult to me. Christianity is the proverbial pot calling the kettle black. I find cult to be a nasty word anyway. Why must we label peoples beliefs this way. If it works for you, you should be allowed to practice without the moral majority calling your belief system a cult. If we are going to call something a cult though, lets at least try to make sure we don’t fit the description of the label we are using for others.

Dream of a Mead Hall!

Ah my dreams of building a mead hall. Actually, it would be more of a gathering place. A place of worship if you will. I’m not sure how to approach the idea. It could easily be thought of as an modern Asatru community center of sorts. I’m thinking it would be free of all modern conveniences however. No running water, electricity, etc... kind of like an oversize back woods cabin. I first would need to secure the land. I also would like the setting to be as rustic as possible. Something in the woods with enough of a clearing for the hall. We would then need to enlist some help from somebody with skill in log framing. I have diagrams on the construction of viking great halls but to use them we would need someone who knows how to work logs in such a large structure. I think the whole community that would use the site should be involved in it’s construction. It would become a living part of who we are. Can you think of a better place to hold bloats or yearly rituals? Or just to hang out and tap a keg of ale!

I don’t think this sounds like too crazy of an idea. If we wanted to take the religious angle, perhaps it could fall under the definition of a house of worship. Could we start a non-profit entity to raise funds for the land acquisition or building cost? We could also use the grounds and building for festivals, craft shows, just like modern Christian churches do.

This is all just bouncing around ideas. I feel driven to do this one day though. It may have to come out of my own pocket. If you build it they will come ;-)

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 ;-)