"Faith" should not be part of a Heathen's vocabulary.

Faith ... I know this is tossed around a lot ... however, that term and  its origins are Abrahamic.  They use it to describe their covenant and later ways to "interact" with their “white christ” and by the Muslims and Jews to describe their actions.  It is so ubiquitous in religious discussions because Xtianity has dominated Western culture for so long.  

I do not think ancient Heathens had "Faith" they held beliefs, but now we are getting into niggling praxic based vs. doxic based.  Belief is based more in "proof" (and I'm speaking very simply and broadly here), I believe in Thor because he has proven himself to me in a variety of ways, thus he has earned my honour/worship.  Faith being a doxic approach means one was told or informed what, how, and why the Divine does this or that and one adheres to that doxy.  This is why it is "blind," one accepts what they are told, not necessarily what they experience.  I do think the many hard recons head in this doxic direction, and this is wrong, in my mind.

I do not think ancient Heathenry took much "on faith," and I do not think we should now.  Reciprocity and earning one's place is to obvious in our Lore.  They dealt in precedent and "what worked" (praxic leading to orthopraxic) not having faith in some document or authority. 

To put this in a clearer example:  A village had a nearby large lake, they depended on it for water, food, and such.  In a very small period five people drowned because of one mishap or another.  Clearly the "Lake jotun" (I’m using “jotun” to mean “very big sentient Vaettir” not a member of the Ice or Fire Giant Tribes) wasn't happy for some reason.  So because when they blotted to the God/desses, and to other Vaettir (of the mountain, their own lands etc.) and received good results (precedent) they applied that same belief to the "Lake jotun."  They sacrificed one of their best bulls, some important items they had made, etc., said great things in praise of  the "Lake jotun."  Then they waited for omens from that Lake to say whether it was received.  One of which was fewer drownings, and other such obvious if you know to look for them signs, and other such positive things they observed.  They received those signs as the Lake's acceptance, thus decided that every year on this or that auspicious date to do the same thing.  That is praxic leading to orthopraxic.  Ritual leading to positive results that lead to belief not only in the process, but the specific ritual to the "Lake jotun."  Essentially, the proof was in the pudding.  If it worked they did it again, developing beliefs.  If it didn't, they changed tactics until it did.  

However, this is *not* how the Xtians (or really the Abrahamics) did things.  They were told what to do in some doxic form, the very basis of the covenant.  If they didn't adhere to that covenant, Yahweh punished them.  
Are people understanding the subtle difference I'm speaking about?  Heathenry is not a Faith, it is a Way ... specifically a Folkway.  It is a practice.  We do not do something because we are told in a book what to do, but what actually works.  Which changes depending on the environment and situation.  There are people who *do* approach their Heathenry in doxic ways, which Rod designates as "scriptural" but that is because that way is what has dominated the West for so long and is thus "easier."           

So, I get squirrelly when Heathens talk about their Faith, because it means they are adhering simply to what they are told.  They are not developing beliefs, but merely "having Faith" in what they are told.  I do not think Heathenry's various aspects of Divine wants us to be that way. 

Am I making sense?

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How to ask Godhar a Religious/Spiritual Question

I'm just going to put this out there.  

Of late, I've been trying to come up with a series of essays that address and provide tools on solving various parts of starting, growing, maintaining, and other nitty-gritty types of things that go on into a Kindred/Tribe/Group and also more personal specific religio/spiritual (that's a fancy term I kludged together to speak about the sphere I deal in) concerns.

Rod works best in a Q & A environment where one can deal in and provide possible tools and approaches on *specific* information.  So I would like put it out there to request some *specific* questions that have stumped you or your Kindred/Tribe/Group ... mostly from a religio/spiritual  perspective that modern Godhar can assist with so that your Kindred/Tribe/Group can  best tackle a solution. This does not mean I am somehow *the* Authority, quite the contrary my goal is to help with tools and methods for you/your group to tackle the problem.  Essentially allowing me to put out information that can help others to deal and solve their own questions that follow their own Thew, which is important.  Heck, sometimes just defining the problem in a very specific way helps to attack that problem.

So here's a rubric on the kinds of questions that work best:  Ask questions that articulate what, how, and why you wish to do, know, or feel something. Deeper questions of what, how, and why of knowing something, or appropriate questions of why, how, and what that address your religio/spiritual concerns.

... Examples from my methodological point of view:

• What is the problem/issue/concern? (Be specific as you can.)
  • "What does 'Hamr' mean?
  • "What do I do when I feel my Ancestors are not responding?
  • "What can my Kindred do to be more religious?
• How is it causing a problem/issue/concern? How do I/the group attack this problem/issue/concern?
  • "How does one strengthen their "Maegin?"
  • "How does my Kindred discourage/encourage participation?"
  • "How do you communicate with the Vaettir?" 
• Why do you/the group feel it is a problem/issue/concern?  Why is it important to resolve this problem/issue/concern?
  • Why is it important to actually look a person in the eye when you confront them?
  • Why should my Kindred go to other group's gatherings?
  • Why should I be concerned with a 'promise'?

Try to be specific, I'm not going to try to focus on telling you what to do but on ways that helps you/the group's to figure out the best solution based on your personal or Kindred/Tribes/Group's Thew.
Again, what Rod the Godhi is telling you is not the "right way," but providing guidance to help.  My job is to help you to develop and articulate tools and methodologies so *you* and your Kindred/Tribe/Group can best solve the dilemma that best meets your needs and wants.

If you do have a question, don’t hesitate to ask it over at my link on the right side. Please tell me if it is alright for me to publish the question and the answer.

Though I'm going a bit more in-depth, drill down a bit more, and are/will be more specific, here's a pretty good guideline on how to ask smart questions."  {http://www.wikihow.com/Ask-a-Question-Intelligently}

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Towards stronger, healthier Heathen Clergy resulting in better Heathenry

Greater Heathenry need to have something that can be pointed at that articulates in clear, rational, and accessible ways what Heathen Clergy actually *is* rather than what other people define and think it is.

One of my most difficult arguments on the interwebs is getting across that we are not Richelieu-vian power grabbers. That we are *not* Catholic Priests out to sell indulgences, Protestant pulpit thumpers trying to tell their congregations how to live and what to do, or even Wiccan Priest/esses discussing magical ways to solve life’s problems. Too many Heathens assume the totality of our job is performing rituals.  That *is* part of our job, but modern clergy do far more than that.  Not even getting into spiritual/pastoral care, we can be medical advocates, explorers, articulators, and developers of Heathen Theology, and arbitrators and frithweavers, just to name a few. 

I have to too often stress that we (Godhar) do not wish to get between people, their spirituality/religion, their relationships with the Divine (meaning a short hand for God/desses, Ancestors, Vaettir, and our Ways), and their Folk.  We want to enhance, encourage, advise to make those various relationships the best it can be for the Folk.  To see a Kindred/Tribe/Group flourish with just a portion of any guidance I gave fulfills me a great deal, even if I am ultimately left behind.  I learned that lesson from Odhinn.  He is happiest when we don't want or need him anymore. 

Do I need to point out that being Clergy has a lot more to do with a variety of other factors beyond just knowing a lot on a particular scholastic subject?  Yes, Godhar need to know the Lore, but they do not need to have Bachelor's (or higher) in History to do the job.   In fact to be a Godhar they need to know many soft skills (arbitration, spiritual/pastoral care, applied theology, interpersonal skills, etc.) that *just* knowing the Lore and History does little to inform.  They need to be able to *apply* the Lore, along with other solid experience, and other knowledges.

The academic and scholastic aspects of our Heathenry are very well represented, yet our spiritual/religious sides (what my Religious Studies professors called "theological")  is severely lacking. I think it is part of the job of Heathen Clergy *to* articulate the Theological side.  Merge the Experiential with the Lore and other knowledges to make a better, stronger Heathen religion.

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The Reconstruction Dilemma

The Reconstruction dilemma is something I think needs to be honest dialogued about not just in some obscure forum or around a campfire (though those places are a start) but in many forums and ways. My contribution is as follows:

I agree we need a strong foundation, but my question is when do we take a step forward? At what point can we start taking that foundation and move into new areas of thought, theology, and understanding? And how do we do it in a way that is by and large acceptable to greater Heathenry, which is not centralized and no one group has authority over another?

Reconstruction as a method is vital and important, and I don't think many people argue, but when it starts becoming almost "scriptural" (if it isn't in available lore, or some academic mentioned it, then it isn't Heathen) we start having problems. I am not talking about making stuff up (which rapidly the term UPG is turning into, and why I don't like using the term) but taking that solid foundation that is both explicit (like something found in a saga like the Eyrbyggja Saga or a procedure in Njal's Saga) and implicit (ideas of Honour, Ethics, etc.) into new areas. Take what we are pretty sure was done and thought and apply it/them in a new way. When do we get to new Myth? When do we get to new theological ideas? New accepted ideas that fuel new ritual and procedure?

Our ancestors pulled from their memories precedent to tackle issues that was before them. For example, There is a large lake that is the major source of water and food, they regularly honour it ... and calm it with ritual and offers. Suddenly there are more drownings and a flood, to their logic they have somehow upset the Lake. So they do a special ritual, and do their best to satisfy the Lake Jotun/Vaettir. No more drownings occur, and everyone is seeing white Herons (or some unusual bird) which they take to mean a good omen.

Now, they are in a drought a few years later that no one including the oldest of Elders have experienced. They call in a Spaekona or Volva (or equivalent) or local "holy person" who tells them the Mountain is holding back the rain because it has never been honoured or recognized like the Lake has, even though it has been there longer. The Elders all grant that they haven't. What to do, they don't know what is important to the Mountain. So they essentially go to some significant part of the mountain, and do the same ritual as they do the Lake, offering things that they think honour the mountain and will soothe it. It rains a little, so they are doing something right. So they try something they do with the harvest that honours Freyr and give him "wife" from the village (this could be a statue, a corn dolly, or an actual sacrifice of a maiden depending on the group). The rains come quickly!


So new ritual and new thought comes into their lives. Every five years they give honour to the mountain and give him a new wife.

My point is our ancestors took the past and adapted and innovated. There validation came from their environment, through dream, omen, and similar. They had no "book" to tell them what worked or what didn't. Because we are "writing based" too many think that if it is not done exactly like they think is done in some Saga or what some Academic or scholar says is right ... that it is not valid and therefore not Heathen. This is essentially "scriptural." These "reconstruction-alists" (these people who only accept as valid what you find in the Lore, totally my own term and referring to people who think like this) look at a Kindred in the desert that has adapted understood Heathen ritual forms but in a way suitable to their environment as invalid because it doesn't follow the Freyr Ritual found in the Lore. What is, and is not, Heathen is being determined by text not locally.

… or these “reconstruction-alists” claim that when a Tribe redefines the role of say Thyle into different areas beyond Sumbel, combining it with Lawspeaker, and a parliamentarian from Robert's Rules into something that is a good fit for their Tribe, that since this is not what Unferth did in Beowulf that tribe calling this new "job" a Thyle is wrong, invalid, and therefore *not* Heathen.

Reconstruction as a method is important, and we need to build from it as a foundation, but when does modern environment and experience to take us into new areas of thought, concept, and theology? How does the Internet figure into our Religion? Is it Odin's domain? or Loki's? How do Freyja or Frigga (or any of the Goddesses) grow in a modern feminist world? Where is the new Myth to adapt this? How do we Heathens grapple with ethical concepts of say cloning? These are just a few examples.

I know not all who claim to be Reconstructionist are this way, but I have encountered many who have moved beyond reconstruction as a method, into the texts (primary and secondary) are deciding validity. I think my primary problem is that Authority is being derived from academic and scholarly places instead of from within Heathenry itself.

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Trying get things synchronized?!?

So I got three blogs.  My old Livejournal, my Tumblr (which I haven’t really used yet), and my Blogger.  Frankly, I’d like to be able to write one post that then goes to them all.  I can get RSS feeds into Blogger pretty easily, but Tumblr doesn’t wish to cooperate.

Any ideas out there?

This is Simply a Test

So I would like to try a few desktop clients.  Surprisingly Windows LiveWriter is very popular.  I would prefer to use something like my various Word Processing programs (Yes, I have several Word, while stable, doesn't have some features that I like.  Wordperfect and Atlantis are my current favourites) then import it into a desktop client for any tweaks, then upload to my Blogger.  So as I try to figure this stuff out, my Blog might be a little uninteresting.  

A Bit on Ethics.

Ethics is the process you go through to get to a "morality" (which is the right or wrongness of something).  That is why you have Buddhist ethics and Business ethics.  On the same issue you will get a different "morality."  

Religion (pick one, there are many) can provide a morality, but *you* develop your ethical system. Don't let one person or many determine your Ethics and you will get to a strong moral for you every time. I'm personally a proponent for Aristotle's Virtue Ethics {http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue_ethics} (which meshes with my Heathenry) with a dollop of some Utilitarian processes.


Ethics and Morals can be taken from Religion, but they do not have to.  Religion is not monolithic.  Some are themselves (the Abrahamic Judeo/Xtian) but others provide much more situation based ethical systems (like Heathenry).  Or you can use the ethical system you learned in kindergarten or the pretty ruthless one espoused on Wall Street. The thing is *you* determine your ethics and *that* determines the resulting morality. 

Religion in and of itself is not bad, only when it is used badly and for the wrong reasons (other ethical systems coming in) does it produce bad morality.  

Does this make sense?