Month: November 2019

“You Can’t Go Back” – A Skald’s Life – Business Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day!

Journal Entry:

As I have started developing the discipline of being a writer, the reading parts are coming along fairly well.  It is the writing that is more time crunching and I think it is going to necessitate a change between workdays and rest days as to how much I write. it isn’t that 2000 words is a difficult goal, but it is time-consuming on a day I work, workout and then try to do the business of my life.   This is why I have fallen down a few times on days I work in getting that word count or even writing at all as life on a day I work can take a lot of time when the family needs you or you need to do other things.

I think the answer is to drop to 1000 words (about a blog post of extra work on a workday and then do 3000 on a rest day. This may fall short of my tentative goal of 60,000 by the end of November but you never know on rest days I might do more if inspired. I am also not going to try to make up missed work.  I find that is more frustrating in the long run and the best course of action is to pick where you are, make adjustments and then get moving. Looking back is never a good way to go.

Another thing I have been considering is doing 2-3 projects at once.  I should have taken this lesson from the blog because as people should notice I vary my content as far as the subject so I don’t get bored with one thing.  It is this shifting that has been very effective in keeping me blogging over the years I have done it. I may have to apply this to my writing as well.  perhaps 3-4 items that I rotate like the blog so I can do fiction and non-fiction at the same time.  This may slow down getting a book done every month or two but in the end, it will keep me writing every day which is the main thing.

Self-Reliance:

“Self-Reliance is the spirit of independence, which is achieved not only for the individual but also for the family, clan, tribe, and nation.”

Principle: To achieve and maintain personal independence and advocate for independence in my family, state and nation.

Goal:  Find a new, better paying job by March 2020.

Bucket List: To be a published author of at least five books by March 2029

The job search has entered the long term frustrating part.  I get more and more rejections and still no interview at all.  I decided to use The Clergy Project and their ’employee help’ grant to see if I can get some help.  I don’t like getting help from a personality point of view but sometimes you need to go there. Using the resources at one’s disposal is self-reliant. Still, I would rather do it on my own personality.

Industriousness:

“Industriousness is the willingness to work hard, always striving for efficiency, as a joyous activity in itself”

Principle: Work with the enjoyment of work itself.

Goal: Finalize last requirements for my degree – Internship by May 2019 – May 2019 (achieved)

Bucket List: Write A Novel and Get it Published by March 2022.

Goal Achieved.

Hospitality:

“Hospitality is the willingness to share what one has with one’s fellows, especially when they are far from home.”

Principle: To share out of my abundance to help people where I can with their life’s journey.

Goal: By March 31st of 2020, to be the leader/participant in a group of some kind.  (Goal Achieved

Bucket List: To own my own home by March 2024.

Goal Achieved.

Higher Virtue – Justice:

It is nice to look at this set of three goals and see only one left.  True, the most significant one, but I can’t help have a gut feeling that this one is a significant life changer. It will greatly change how I deal with life and people and I know that. I am just not sure everyone will like the job and career path I want to follow now.  Particularly those of Christian and religious persuasion.

Work Day Routine:

  1. Morning Routine
  2. Wife: Communication / Cuddle Time
  3. Blogging – Organize, revise, write a new post for the next day, templates
  4. Weightlifting: Gym time – 1 hour after work.
  5. Writing: 1000 words/day.
  6. Reading – 1/7 of a book a day
  7. Personal Business: record financial transactions, savings plan actions, budgeting, appointments, job search, other actions, etc.
  8. Check Communications and Email after 2 pm but before 4 pm.
  9. Nutrition: Daily Carb Count – 2

I think the change will make the writing part a little less daunting on very busy workdays.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Athiest Spirituality” – Odin’s Eye

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Woden’s (Odin’s) Day.    

Discussion:

Spirituality is a very broad term and even among those who believe you have to define what perspective is being used in regards to spirituality.  Christian Spirituality, Pagan Spirituality, Islamic Spirituality, Hindu Spirituality, and Buddist Spirituality all have their various difference in how to approach the spiritual nature of humanity in relationship to the divine.  But what of Atheist Spirituality.  Without the supernatural in any form is spirituality possible?  I believe the answer is yes and all these forms tap into something that is probably very human.

Sam Harris in the quote above is on to something when he gives a shortlist of 1) spiritual experience, 2) ethical behavior and 3) strong communities all leading to human happiness.  I am going to lay the last two aside because for me these are found in following virtue which I discuss extensively and strong communities is a community discussion as far as I am concerned,  What interests me is ‘what is the nature and function of spiritual experience as an atheist?

Time to Look Through the Eye:

“To see the truth, change one eye for another”

Faith:

I agree that spiritual experience is a product of the human mind and a natural propensity to spiritualize consciousness.  I believe it is an awareness of the world, people and society around us and represents our attempt using our consciousness to understand it all.  It is this foundation of consciousness that I think is the root of spirituality and eventually paganism in its very early forms.  We all start I think as pagans from a consciousness point of view until something comes along to change our viewpoint.

Meditation:

It is the product of some form of meditation, using this term in the broadest sense involving thinking and feeling at length about a subject, that change in our consciousness is achieved. Spiritual change is more about psychology than the supernatural.  We change our ethics and perspective because we come to different conclusions as we meditate on issues and thoughts. This is spiritual in the sense it involves our psyche, but might not have anything to with powers and forces outside ourselves.

Mystery:

This is one area where there is a lot of mystery.  Sure a lot has been discovered by science, but the social sciences, in my opinion, still lack that germ theory moment where a breakthrough happens that changes our understanding of the nature of the subject dramatically.  Until then, the mystery is there but it isn’t an excuse but rather a motivation to open up our consciousness even more as we seek to understand it.

Spirituality:

For me, the foundation of my spirituality is both pagan and atheist.  It is the primitive attempt to understand the world around me using nothing more than my own sense fo consciousness.  I, however, believe that this is the product of the human mind and imagination, not supernatural forces. It is this kernel of truth that survives that I used to surround with religion but now is my own godless and religionless mind.

Conclusion:

I have thus no problem using any religious idea that I feel reflects this.  Following the Nine Noble Virtues, for instance, is a good example of taking something like virtue and using it to provide a framework for philosophical thought while discarding actual belief in the gods of Norse mythology.  I sense as I use religion for this purpose more universal truths will surface like this, but I don’t need to be religious or religiously spiritual to appreciate them and utilize them.  So yes, atheist spirituality is a thing.  It is spirituality focused on humanity and the world we live in rather than spirits or gods.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“5 Remaining Goals” – A Skald’s Life – Foundational Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Journal Entry:

With the Crossing Off of another goal, it is time to list off the remaining ones and has some thoughts about them. This week A Skald’s Life is all about considering my goals so let’s first consider the remaining ones as a group.

  1. Find a new, better paying job by March 2020.
  2. Cross one thing off bucket list every year. Deadline March 31st.
  3. To Write a Non-Fiction Book by March 31st, 2020
  4. To engage in an exercise program that involves weightlifting, hiking/walking, and stretching/ yoga an average of three days a week from April 1st, 2019 to March 31st, 2020
  5. To be following a full Paleo Diet by March 31, 2020.

# 1 – I continue to look and I am getting anxious about this, I am hoping the new support group connection will help there as they do offer career change aid, for those that qualify.

#2 – Once I have the new job or my tax return comes in I am going to get the tattoo on my bucket list so that it will be crossed off.

#3- what I am doing as regards to NaNoWriMo and using it to write my first Non-Fiction Book, number 3 might be off this list fairly soon. Like December at the latest.

#4 – I need only to make one alteration which is to shift my walking. hiking indoors for the winter.

# 5 – I am also getting closer to being fully Paleo but I am having thoughts in March and I may merge the ideas of Paleo and Keto at that time.

If I get the new job and the tattoo and finish my non-fiction book by December, then all that will remain to do is finish to March with Paleo and Exercise.  It gets nice as you cross goals off the list because you can put more concentration on a smaller list.

Honor:

“Honor is the feeling of inner value and worth from which one knows that one is noble of being, and the desire to show respect for this quality when it is found in the world”

Principle – To possess a feeling of inner value about myself and my future with a desire to find the same in others.

Goal: Maintain a daily blog streak of one post per day for an entire year (365 days).  (achieved)

Bucket List: Hike the Northern Lakeshore Trail along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan by March 2024.

Goal Achieved

Courage:

“Courage is the bravery to do what is right always.”

Principle – Act with Courage at the right time.

Goal: Cross one thing off bucket list every year. Deadline March 31st.

Bucket List: Go Back to Budapest, Hungary for a vacation by March 2029.

Like I said the most likely candidate for this goal is my tattoo.

Truth:

“Truth is the willingness, to be honest, and to say what one knows to be true and right. It is often better to not say anything at all if one cannot be honest.”

Principle – To Be Honest, and Speak Truth to Myself and Others.  To Be Silent in the presence of Fools.

Goal: To Write a Non-Fiction Book by March 31st, 2020

Bucket List: Read 52 books (one per week) in the year 2020.

NaNoWriMo being used instead to write my non-fiction book is working OK.  I need to catch up a little at the time of this writing. Days off will be critical to doing this.  I am kind of focusing on this goal and getting a job right now. The rest of my goals are more long term so this one is next as far as an early cross off along with getting a better job.

Higher Virtue: Love:

This renewed focus on goals is necessary right now. It takes my mind off of other more destructive thoughts to self-love. Goals do that for me, along with discipline.

Morning Routine:

  1. Stretching / Yoga
  2. Shower, Personal Hygiene. Morning Meds.
  3. Review Nine Noble Virtues (NNV), Principles, Goals and Bucket List
  4. Meditation – 5 min.
  5. Check Communications and Email.
  6. Paper Journal: Create a Daily Log and To-Do List.
  7. Get Dressed for the Day

This working really well, but would probably work better if I had my meditation place and altar.  Both are a work in progress.  I am also thinking of writing out nine meditations so I focus on the important parts of each virtue.

I remain.

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

Skaal!!!

“Honor, Atheism and Religion” – Of Wolves and Ravens – Honor

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Mani’s Day

Discussion:

For this run through the Nine Noble Virtues (NNV), I am adding the theme of how atheism and religion can affect our understanding of them.  As I have mentioned before, I am an atheist that still practices the NNV of Asatru because it is a good list of virtues and the conceptualization by the Asatru Community is solid when it comes to virtue.  The NNV is a solid list of virtues to meditate and act on. We begin with Honor.

First I want to give credit to Aron Ra, atheist, and YouTuber.  It was he who in a comment inspired my meditations on honor, shame, and religion.

Honor is a virtue that I struggle with and that is fairly normal for people who take Honor seriously.  The one thing I am going to propose today is that Religion robs one of Honor.  There is a debate about religions affects on honor in the Athiest community and perhaps rightly so but to me either you are going to becomes so prideful of your religion that you will have no honor or be humiliated by your religion so you have no shame.

Shame is connected with honor as it is what causes one to try to get back on an honorable path.  Without shame, honor is not possible and religious people who have been humiliated (not humbled) by cultic behavior have no shame so they have no honor either. This why I feel atheism actually promotes honor and shame so that a person keeps their life on an honorable path.

To the Wolves and Ravens:

“Feed the Wolves, but Listen to the Ravens first.”

Needs (Geri):

Why do we need honor?  Because without it we would justify any action against another without shame. You can see this in cults who humiliate their members as part of the initiation process.  Once humiliated, they can be convinced to do absolutely horrible actions with no remorse.  There isn’t anything a person who is humiliated by a group will not do for the approval of the group.  They will whore, steal and kill just to get a pat on the head having been reduced to the level of a dog. Honor and Shame are needed to feel any self-value, but self-value is the last thing religions want you to have. Atheism is all about self-value by contrast.

Wants (Freki):

As I have been throwing off the shackles of my former faith I realize that this was my struggle as a pastor. “To be greatest among us, you must become the servant of all’ are the paraphrased words of Jesus of Nazareth, but this implied a humbling, not humility.  Voluntary slavery is still slavery and there is no honor in slavery.  It is why I want Honor to keep from being a slave.  No gods, no masters.  It is my primary motivation now to free myself from religion and its gods and as a libertarian from the negative powers of the state that also enslave by trying to be my master.

Reason (Huginn):

Honor cannot be appealed to unless it is first approached by reason.  Actions towards others have to be rationally thought through if possible and one of the considerations is whether any action is honorable or would it bring shame. ‘Is this action reasonable and honorable’ is a noble consideration before doing anything toward another and about yourself. From an atheist standpoint, the evolution of social actions has lead us to create the concept of honor to govern actions toward each other and toward ourselves.

Wisdom (Muninn):

The wisdom of this is seen in that regardless of honor becomes the wise basis of all interaction.  No religion required.  Survival and prosperity depend on honor.  Where it is present both are possible.  Where honor is not present, both survival and prosperity are in jeopardy.

Conclusion:

See the source image

Honor is difficult but absolutely worth it.  The one thing I would note: it is my atheism provides that I now can say I engage in honor, not to appease any god or please any master.  I do for myself and there is nothing wrong with avoiding shame and upholding personal honor.  It is the basis for all human dignity – both mine and yours.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Loki – Trickster God” (Asatru – Part 17) – The Pagan Pulpit

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

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

The lyrics of this song not only recount the stories of Loki but the chorus really encapsulates Loki’s mind – “Lord of Chaos, Brother of Wisdom, the others side of good lurking in your mind” 

Meditation:
Image may contain: text
Text:

See the source image

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!!!

“2019 Book List” – The Rabyd Skald

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sif’s Day

NaNoWriMo – Word Count: 2002

I have two book lists.  The one for the remainder of the year and it will be made up of books I already have on my shelf.  The other is for 2020 which is a bucket list item for that year.

The 2019 Book List is about developing the habits I will need to read a book a week in 2020.  I am also noting that the books must come from my current library that I haven’t finished or haven’t read with two exceptions. If my math is right there are nine weeks left in the year counting the first part of 2020.

The 2019 Book Reading List

  1. The Myth of a Christian Nation by Greg Boyd
  2. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
  3. The Virtue of Selfishness – Ayn Rand
  4. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (exception)
  5. The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
  6. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
  7. Tales of Norse Mythology by Helen A. Guerber
  8. The Gangs of New York by Herbert Asbury
  9. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein (exception)

My two exceptions are simply books I want to read again before next year. The rest are books in my current library that I have either started and need finishing or I haven’t read yet.

I am looking forward to this training for next year.  I want to make this a good 2020 and reading a lot is part of that. I need to get back to it.  I will start using Goodreads to do a review at the end of each week and this schedule starts on Sol’s day with the review on the next Sol’s Day and then diving into the next book.  If you follow me on Facebook then you will get the link to the review there as well.

I am still working on my list for 2020, but a post about that should be out soon.  All this starts tomorrow so time to dive in.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Blog Housekeeping” – The Rabyd Skald

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Frigg and Freya’s Day!

I need to make some changes so this post is more ‘by the way of announcement’ than anything else. Freya’s Chambers will return next week.  My motivation is partly to make the time it takes to write this blog more uniform every day.  This will open up time for my other writing projects that I need to get busy on.  Mostly it is Mani’s Day, Woden’s Day and Frigg and Freya’s day that get crowded with double posts and I need to cut that down from three days to one.  The idea is to get back to the one post a day format as much as possible.  So the Weekly schedule is going to look something like this.

Sol’s Day: The Pagan Pulpit, Rogue Wizard

Mani’s Day: Of Wolves and Ravens

Tyr’s Day: A Skald’s Life – Foundational Virtues

 Woden’s Day: Odin’s Eye

Thor’s Day: A Skald’s Life – Business Virtues

Frigg and Freya’s Day: Freya’s Chambers

Sif’s Day: Space Tramp, A Skald’s Life – Self Virtues

This schedule gets me back to the daily blog routine I want which is: 1) File Yesterdays post, 2) Edit Today’s post, 3) Write tomorrow’s post, 4) Create a template for the post two days out and 5) Write a ficitonal post on my days off which I usually have two a week. I enjoy writing the ficitonal posts and I want to feature them on the weekend.

Right now this is about creating time for National Novel Writing Month which I am using to write a Non-fiction book at 2000 words a day but that habit of 2000 words a day needs to continue into the future as a writer. That means some changes to the bog to make the time spent consistently around and hour.

All the posts will drop at 4 pm except the fiction post appearing on Sif’s Day and The Pagan Pulpit which will drop at 10 am on the weekends.  From the standpoint of A Skald’s Life, my journal posts, this will also provide Sif’s Day being sort of a weekly recap.

This new schedule will begin on November 4 with Of Wolves and Ravens for that day.  This weekend will be another The Rabyd Skald tomorrow for the purpose of working on my booklist for the remainder of this year and the Pagan Pulpit will be Sol’s Day.  After that, the new schedule begins.

The Rabyd Skald Posts will, of course, be the rogue posts of this blog.  Appearing when they appear as needed.

Once again, to all that read my journey put in blog form, thank you. Writing this blog has mostly been about sorting out my personal issues, but the fact that some of you take the time to read me, like the posts, and comment on some of them is truly appreciated.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“A Simple but Important Commitment” – A Skald’s Life – Self Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Frigg and Freya’s Day. 

NaNoWriMo: Day 1 – 0 words. 

Journal Entry:

Over the last few months I have been meditating on why I struggle with my routines and discipline so much and I realized I need to make a single but important commitment to combat it.  I don’t do anything else until my obligations and to-do list are done for each day.  I need to make the commitment to getting the business of my life done first then relaxing.  Does this mean is am going to have less fun.  Probably not.  I can find fun in my work whatever it may be.

My principles of self are centered around that which should make me personally stronger in a multitude of ways.  But that doesn’t work if I don’t exercise myself to be stronger.  That starts every day with the idea of doing the list and then relaxing and enjoying life for a bit.  it is much more satisfying to my psyche when I do this.

Discipline:

“Discipline is the willingness to be hard on oneself first and then if needed help with the development with others, so that greater purposes may be achieved.”

Principle: Apply discipline to every aspect of life that it can be applied.

Goal: To be following a full Paleo Diet by March 31, 2020.

Bucket List: Do a rebellious act on April 30th, 2020 – Beltane.

This single commitment is about discipline and getting things done for me. Applying discipline to the course fo the day is important every single day.  Even when it is about getting proper rest.

Perseverance:

“Perseverance is the ability to stand up and return from defeat and failure”

Principle: Keep getting up after every defeat or failure.

Goal: To engage in an exercise program that involves weightlifting, hiking/walking, and stretching/ yoga an average of three days a week from April 1st, 2019 to March 31st, 2020

Bucket List: To get at least one tattoo by March 18th, 2020.

This principle is natural to me but recognizing the reasons for failure so it doesn’t happen in the first place is important so this virtue doesn’t become a vice of something I rely on instead of being a safety net.

Fidelity:

“Fidelity is the will to be loyal to one’s Gods and Goddesses, to one’s Folk, to one’s self, and loyalty to one’s friends was as valued as highly as loyalty to one’s family.”

Principle: Be loyal to those who have been loyal to me.

Goal: Celebrate my wife and I’s 30th anniversary (June 10th, 2019) with a mini-vacation (achieved)

Bucket List: Discover all the countries of origin from my genetics and visit them all by March 18th, 2029.

This commitment is about being loyal to myself first.  I recognize that now. Time to finish some goals and move my life forward and that is not going to magically happen. I need to be loyal enough to myself to make it happen.

Higher Virtue – Wisdom:

Commitments need to be wisely done and I have been putting this one off for far too long.  Work then play is wise the majority of the time. Yeah, you have to let go from time to time but for the daily grind, this is going to be my mantra for a while until the habits I need are developed.

Rest Day Routine: 

  1. Morning Routine
  2. Wife: Communication / Cuddle Time
  3. Blogging – Organize, revise, write a new post for the next day, 15 min. work on fiction.
  4. Cleaning – varies but one room of the apartment at least.
  5. Reading – 1/7th of a book
  6. Writing – 2000 Words

Made the changes regarding reading and writing.  This should make things progress a little.

Goals and Bucket List Items Achieved (Since Summer 2018):

Goals Achieved: 5

  1. Graduated College with a BS in Political Science and minors in Economics and International Business – December 2018
  2. Finalize last requirements for my degree – Internship by May 2019 – May 2019
  3. Celebrate my wife and I’s 30th anniversary (June 10th, 2019) with a mini-vacation – June 2019
  4. Maintain a daily blog streak of one post per day for an entire year (365 days).
  5. By March 31st of 2020, to be the leader/participant in a group of some kind.

Bucket List Items Achieved: 0

Another goal down. Time for some more.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!