Happy Sol’s Day

Announcements:

We don’t pray here – we figure God, the gods, goddesses, or whatever powers that be either know already, don’t give a fuck, or are busy with more important matters than our petty stuff. We also kind of assume that they expect us to do stuff that we can do for ourselves and that we will do them ourselves and not be lazy. We also believe in being good friends, so we don’t presume on our friendship with the powers that be by asking them all the time for stuff while giving them nothing in return.

We also don’t take an offering here.  We figure the powers that be probably don’t need it.  Let’s be honest, offerings are not given to the divine powers, they are given to an organization to support it.  Just being honest. God, the gods or whatever never sees a dime, farthing or peso of that money; it all goes to the church, mosque or shrine.

Theme Song: “Loki” – Rebellion

If you want more details about Asatru, I can’t recommend this book enough.

Sermon: 

Loki is an antagonist that does a lot of good things.  Recounting his role in all the stories fo Norse Mythology would take quite some time and he is not as straightforwardly evil as a character as people would think.  Much like Fenrir, he only turns against the gods because, in the end, they turn against him.  Did they have a good reason and a rational fear to do so?  Perhaps but the realness of Loki is that he is not a straightforward villain, you can see his side of the story.  You can see he has some good points and it hard to be truly disgusted with him.

In the world of the past when the Norse gods were actually worshiped, Loki does not have any worshipers if you look at his artifacts.  None that we can tell.  Loki is a god, but his worship must have been underground and outside the norm.  No temples or statues to this trickster god.  But to those willing to bargain and engage in cunning and discreet deception, Loki smiles.

To the followers of Asatru Loki is worshiped by some.  His cult is not of the mind that Loki is evil or Ragnorak is the end fo all things but rather a necessary change of the wheel of time. He may make trouble form time to time but the benefits might be worth it. I mean Sif’s hair, Freya’s Ship, Thor’s Hammer and Odin’s Spear are all products of his work. The walls of Asgard are the product of his trickery as is Odin’s steed Sleipnir.  The modern heathens have many debates about Loki. It is only his role in Baldar’s death and the fact he kept one person from weeping over Baldar that condemns him.  Although his three Children by the giantess add further problems.

Villians, if they are done well, have a motive that you can actually sympathize with.  No one is truly evil and Loki is no exception.  It should be noted that as epic as some of the antagonists in Morse Mythology can be, Loki represents the threat within that comes from a person who is an ally that could be turned into an enemy. There is a lot of wisdom to be gained when considering this element of Loki’s story.

Parting Thought:

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!