Christianity

“People as Sacred” – Odin’s Eye – Humanism

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

Discussion:

A humanist is a person who sees human beings and the human race as the central thing to solving human problems.  A pagan is a person who finds spirituality in all things.  I want to talk about how these two intersect.  For me, people are both the solution to their problems and sacred as part of the universe.  I don’t look to political or religious forces to solve human problems.  Both of those things tap into tribalism hard and push us to fear and hate one another. If you looking for the evil that might exist, you don’t have to look too far into any political or religious organization and you will find some.

As a humanist, I don’t think political ideology solves problems. Speaking as a political scientist, I can tell you that politics is about putting groups of people against one another to gain power, not solve problems.  Unless you see solving the problem as subjecting other people to what you think is right and forcing them, politics and government is not the way to go.

As a pagan, and former Christian, I can see how religion is used much the same way as it influences culture to label things ‘sinful’.  Once again, this is then used to put groups of people against one another as ‘the righteous’ put themselves against ‘the sinners’. Using shame, shunning and general looking down noses at others because ‘they don’t have the truth of our faith’, you can see once again how this is used to control people through fear and manipulation. Sorry, religion tends to create more problems not solve them.

It seems if human beings want actual solutions to their problems, they might want to look at themselves and stop joining religious and political groups that are not about solving problems but rather are about control.  Time for an alternative way of looking at people that might actually solve their problems.  Time to start looking at people as sacred.

Time to Look Through the Eye:

Faith:

Having faith in human beings to solve their own problems is difficult at first.  Both the above forces fo government and religion do some pretty good PR to label some people as the problem and having the need for others to control them. I always marvel at political and religious leaders ability to label whole groups of people as the problem and not themselves of course.  They are the solution.

I can say that if you sit back and really think about it there are two things I can have faith in: 1) That things are getting better all the time for humanity, and 2) That a whole bunch of people are trying to convince you that things are getting worse for their own gain.  But if I look at it objectively and consider people being sacred. You can have faith in each individual human being to solve their own problems if they are given the freedom to do so. Letting people be themselves is the most sacred and loving thing you can do for someone else.

Religion:

Religion, in general, sees humans as problematic or having problems.  Paganism sees them as sacred. Not problems but wonderful parts of the universe. Religion involves chains and spirituality involves removing them.  The first step in seeing people as sacred is to stop thinking they need religion to help them overcome their problems.

Because each person is sacred, they hold within themselves the ability to solve their problems.  Religion always tries to get a person to look to the divine, or faith or something outside one’s self to solve the problems they have but in truth, each person’s decisions will either lead them into problems or out of them.  Religion makes a lot of false claims and promises they cannot prove, but one thing you can know for yourself is there is always a better path that you can take as a human being if you tap into it.

Theology:

What needs to change is our understanding regarding humanity.  As a Christian, I taught mankind is sinful and only god can get them out of the problems that cause. The problem is there is no evidence that sin even exists outside the say-so of the Chrisitan preachers. That theology certainly does not look at people as sacred, that is part of the goodness that is creation.

As a pagan humanist, my viewpoint of humanity is very much changed.  Each person is unique and the most sacred thing they all have is the ability to choose their own direction.  To choose their own path. It is this that must be guarded and protected as the previously mentioned forces of politics and religion will always try to take this away.  What makes a person sacred is their ability to sovereignly choose for themselves the path they want to walk.

Spirituality:

The spiritual side of all this is that to walk this path we have far more going for us in helping us to do do this.  That in addition to their being a rational and logical side to life, there is an emotional and passionate side.  There are also the factors of driving needs and wisdom gained through experience.  All these combine into a spiritual walk that allows us to use all we are as human beings to set and guide the choices we make.

Part of that is respecting that people are sacred and walking it as a spiritual path is to guard it for ourselves and respect it in others. To interfere in a person’s choice, even benevolently, is to look at them without this respect for the fact that they are sacred and what makes them sacred is their ability to choose for themselves what path they are walking.

Conclusion:

In the end s much as sometimes I can think people are stupid in their choices, I respect that their ability to choose is sacred to them.  It is what makes each individual unique to me and worthy of a measure of respect.  Now, this doesn’t mean all choices are good ones or even benevolent and some choices can be stopped if they violate this principle.  A choice to force, coerce or defraud someone is one that does not have this respect of another person’s sacredness. It should be stopped. But there are many choices that I would not make but they are not violating the principle of sacredness so I should not interfere.

It is amazing to me what peace of mind comes when you leave people to be sacred in their own lives. The freedom from the desire to control and manipulate is a wonderful one. It also brings about the simple truth about yourself – you are the product of your choices.  Those choices are sacred no matter if they were good or bad because as a human being you made them.  That is freedom with responsibility.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Basic Pagan Principles – Everything is Sacred” – The Pagan Pulpit

/ Ed Raby Sr / 1 Comment

Happy Sun’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: “Rune” – SKALD (lyric video)

English Translation: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/r%C3%BAn-rune.html

A little long about the Runes.

Meditation:

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Just a little reminder of last weeks lesson before we hit this one.

Text:

Most pagan religions believe that everything in the universe is sacred, but the definition and level of sacredness applied to an object will generally vary from one pagan to another. For some pagans, all parts of our universe are considered divine and as such, sacred and worthy of our deepest respect.

Source: http://exotic-pets.yoexpert.com/exotic-pets-general/what-are-some-of-the-basic-principles-of-paganism-2192.html

Sermon:

Everything is sacred in paganism.  This means there is no distinction of things as evil or good which is the first significant implication of this principle.  No object or thing is better than another.  Objects and places are all sacred. So they cannot be evil or good. Moral ‘evil’ or ‘good’ is found in our actions, results, and intents, not things. Yet all things have a spiritual quality to them.  This is mostly to remind us that we are connected in some way to everyone and everything around us.

Like all things pagan, this principle is individually applied and its application is as individual as the pagans themselves. We each see some things as more sacred than others. That’s why in some forms of paganism there are still religious aspects with sacred places, practices, and rituals.  Some consider the universe itself as divine while others see it more as spiritual but not necessarily divine.  Like I said at this point there is a lot of variances but in the end, there is nothing wrong with any of these views. Paganism is very genuinely tolerant, so to each their own.

For me, the religious aspects of paganism are not my thing. I live with a more deistic mindset on those things, although I understand the benefits of community and honoring things that are virtuous and respecting the past, present, and future actions of my fellow human beings.  I suppose I consider human beings and their liberty as the most sacred thing as a humanist, so it is reflected in my paganism. For me, my paganism is ultimately found in Asatru and following the Nine Noble Virtues.

As far as the rest of creation as being sacred that includes the things that man creates. not just the natural world.  Human beings and what they do are also natural and I feel the whole natural/ artificial thing is a bunch of noise.  Where did the so-called ‘artificial’ come from if not nature?  A computer is just as sacred to me as a tree.  Beavers create dams, bees make hives, humans create computers.  The difference is only in the mind of people who want to use this distinction to control others. I am far more a conservationist than an environmentalist.

The beauty here though is once again freedom of choice about it.  It is simply a principle that flows out of the previous principles that your beliefs are your own and you alone are responsible for them.  This includes how you look at the world around you.

Parting Thought:

 

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Tolerance (the real stuff), admiration, compassion, kindness – these are real love and they don’t involve – obedience, conformity, fear or submission.  Those are not aspects of love – rather they are aspects of slavery.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“The Virgin Birth of Jesus” – Odin’s Eye – Bible Problems

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

Discussion:

What I am about to do here is give at sample or teaser of what I am doing for my non-fiction book.  What I am doing is taking my expertise gained from a biblical studies degree, a theological studies degree and twenty years experience of being a pastor and doing a class I did many times – Life of Christ.  I am however this time doing it from a skeptics point of view.  I am doing it as a non-believer and a critic of Christianity and The Bible.

Today I am going to give a brief synopsis about why I think the virgin birth story is a tall tale concocted by many people who had personal and political reasons to do so.  The theory I am running with here is my own which is that there was a man named Jesus of Nazareth and that he did indeed have disciples.  That those disciples watched Jesus as he fought the religious establishment.  That establishment then did perhaps have him crucified by the Romans because they came to hate him and the threat he posed to their political and religious power.

This is where those disciples create mythology surrounding the man known as Jesus of Nazareth.  They knew the Messianic prophecies and began to retroactively go back to his life and spin things to fulfill them.  One of those things involved the fact that there was a prophecy where the Messiah had to be born of a virgin.

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. – Isaiah 7:14

One of the things that may have very well have been true about Jesus is that his origin may have had a little scandal attached to it.  That is there was a question as to who his father was or that it was clear he was conceived out of wedlock.  As a political scientist, I can see how scandal can be turned to opportunity if it is spun right.  So, no Jesus wasn’t the product of an illicit affair or the fact that Joseph and Mary had sex before the wedding day, let’s write it this way to turn him into the Messiah.

Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. “For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.  Luke 1:26-38 – NASB

Suddenly the scandal becomes an opportunity to tell the story in a different way and Jesus fulfills the prophecy of being born of a virgin.  So what is the actual evidence?

Time to Look Through the Eye:

Faith:

In order to believe in the virgin birth, you have to believe that God can make a woman pregnant which is not a stretch if you accept an omnipotent god. That Joseph was not involved and that he suddenly became cool with the fact that another man has sex with his bride to be and knocked her up.  He has to buy the story himself.

Mostly though you have to believe that Mary herself is not lying about the angel.  Because the only witness of that event is Mary herself.  Understand that even if I take the account as true, the only witness even in the gospels of the event is Mary and the only gospel that records it is Luke.  Luke is probably the last synoptic gospel to write.  One could theorize that Luke is reacting then to the fact that Mark says nothing about a virgin birth and Matthew only deals with Joseph’s reaction and no one has addressed Isaiah’s prophecy to that point.  If you believe in the virgin birth, you simply taking the word of one witness – Mary.  A girl of fifteen who finds herself pregnant in a culture that stones women who commit adultery or at the best puts away women privately to live out their days in silence.  Which is more likely at this point – God impregnated her or that she came up with a story to cover her pregnancy out of fear of reprisal?  Or she made it up later to vindicate herself after the fact when people are starting to believe her son is the Messiah.

Religion:

Let’s understand something. the virgin birth in the Bible does not stand alone as the only one.  Religions around the world have tons of virgin birth stories and Mary was not unaware of them. This is something that is well known and well published. Just look it up for yourself.

The thing is though for Christianity a lot of theology regarding sin and the biblical god is wrapped up in this story being true; so of course, they defend it regardless of how common such a story is in mythology around the world and how little testimony there is to support the actual story.

But understand that even under the Bible’s own standard of establishing every fact the virgin birth story fails.  It only has one witness Mary herself and she certainly has plenty of cultural and personal motivation to make it up.  Luke is the only direct record of it but it is still her story alone, he just records it. This fails the two or three witnesses required even by Biblical Standards, particularly the Law of Moses.

Matthew records Joseph’s response but even his response might have had a personal motivation if he either loved Mary or he was the cause of her pregnancy.  How he reacted really has only one witness – Joseph himself.  He may have simply been a man who took responsibility for his actions and we are assuming he was even around for Matthew to interview as he might have been dead.  It is easy to see how Matthew who was writing with the goal of persuading Jews to become Christians might make up Joseph’s story based on stories of others. But that makes is second-hand hearsay, not reliable evidence.

Theology:

This story absolutely is essential for doctrines such as original sin and the incarnation of Christ.  For the early Christians, they needed a story that fulfilled some of the prophecies so going back a retroactively recounting things with their own spin on it became essential for the accusation that the Jewish leaders had killed the Messiah.

The motivation for this is that Jesus may very well have been a man who successfully created a movement of reform and the Jewish leaders, by killing him, had created a martyr.  It is not hard to see how the disciples, motivated by a desire for the resurrection to be true and to create Jesus as the Messiah, would stretch the truth and follow rumors and ‘urban legends’ of Jesus of Nazareth to do so. For later Christians, these become the basis for theology that allows Jesus to be the answer to the sin question and how Jesus was both God and Man.

Spirituality:

While a great many Christians, particularly women, draw a lot of spiritual strength from Mary’s Story, I look at it more as identification with a character caught in a bad situation that has a great story to get herself out of it and go from being a immoral unwed mother, to the mother of the Messiah.  I can see where a lot of women would love that idea and emotionally and spiritually resonate with it. Even those who might think it is not true fully understand given Mary’s Culture why she would do it. In the movie Saved! – the character Mary remarks in one scene how she could understand, being pregnant herself in the movie, why a girl would make up such a story.

Conclusion:

My thoughts are this, I think Jesus of Nazareth was a real person but I think after thirty years before the first writing on his life a lot of mythology and what we would term ‘urban legend’ became built around him that also got into the story.  One of the examples is the virgin birth story which appears late in the accounts like it was a reaction to criticism of Jewish leaders that the prophecy in Isaiah is not fulfilled by Jesus of Nazareth.  So Matthew records the story of Joseph with his reaction to her being pregnant and later on a little bit after that Luke does the same from Mary’s point of view.  Except this does not even meet the Bible’s own criteria of ‘two or three witnesses” as each account is only one person’s perspective and with no other witnesses.

What really happened?  Most likely Joseph and Mary had sex before they were married.  A common tale even back then.  Joseph may very well have simply decided to marry her because it was his child; which oddly enough the Law of Moses would have accepted provided he gives up is right to divorce her later. Joseph and Mary would have lived with a cultural stigma after that which would have cast her in particular as an immoral woman.

Fast forward some decades and their son actually becomes a great Rabbi and critic of the religious leadership.  He gets killed and becomes a martyr.  Mary finds herself with the opportunity presented by the new but fanatical Christians to vindicate herself and be the mother of the Messiah, to no longer be considered an immoral woman.

So that is what she did.  The story gets changed so that she is a virgin and both she and Joseph have visits by angels no one else sees and they decide to get married after all. She was a virgin until after Jesus was born and the prophecy fulfilled.  Of course, there are no witnesses to this other than Mary herself and so we must take her word for it. No physical exam, no other witnesses of the angels in question, nothing but her word.

I think the more simple explanation is she made it up to vindicate herself.  It is not something Christians want to hear but it seems to be very likely given her culture and her desire to clear her name would have been very strong.  It is just unfortunate how far people have taken this legend. I mean people actually pray to this woman now and she is probably nothing more than a woman who either told the story to save her ass or vindicate herself as an older woman who had lived with the stigma of being immoral all her life. She definitely improved her status in retrospect so the story worked.

So there it is a sample page from my non-fiction book although it will be much more extensive and much more complete and referenced. Hope you enjoyed it.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Asatru and Honor” – Of Wolves and Ravens – Honor

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Discussion:

“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.

As I start the cycle of going through each of the nine noble virtues I am using a little help and I am also looking back at the last time I did this.

The help I am referring to is this website page which I have looked at often to make sure I was thinking about the Nine Noble Virtues in the understanding of some of those that follow Asatru. It has been a good resource for me and I want to share it.  For these discussions, I am engaging the ideas found here as I write, so it is a good backdrop.

Website: Ravenbok – The particular page is: The Values of Asatru

Last time I looked at Honor was January 8, 2019, and I described it as the most difficult virtue: Honor: The Most Difficult Virtue.  I would probably stand by that idea still as it is still the most difficult virtue to grasp because it is so personal.

Without honor we are nothing.  Honor is the central element of Asatru as far as its central moral imperative. If Norse mythology teaches anything that is truly valuable, then it is that honor matters. People with honor are valued and respected long after death, people without it are despised. Those trying to embrace the Asatru ideal of Honor should strive to be the former. To guide myself into a better understanding of it, I look to my wolves and ravens.

To the Wolves and Ravens:

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

Needs (Geri):

When I left my faith in Christianity, the need for a new moral compass was very real.  I was struggling with a lot of questions of self-worth,  What was my value if I wasn’t a Christian minister? The main question though was a question of the value of self. The need for honor was overwhelming in the light of the fact I really had nothing outside of my faith before.  My marriage at the time was bad.  My career as a minister was over.  What was central to myself was a big question.  I needed answers and I found the first and most significant answer in Asatru and its Nine Noble Virtues.  In particular, Honor became the foremost virtue in my mind in addressing these questions.

Wants (Freki):

Once I knew the need for honor was present, I wanted it.  It began to stabilize my life quite a bit.  I had a lot of questions but my conversion from Christianity to being a Deistic Humanist Pagan needed focus and some way to make it consistent. Honor became a particular challenge for me.  I was following my heart but it had no guidance or wisdom and Honor came in as I not only needed it, I wanted it so I could find a path back to being respectable without all the nonsense fo faith in the Chrisitan creed. I wanted to know that I was on a path where my inner value of myself would lead to an outward reputation that was respected or at least – feared.

Reason (Huginn):

Honor is knowing what is true about yourself.  This takes a hard look at yourself to see what is true and then change accordingly.  Meditation and thought about who you are is essential and I have found this road requires a lot of thinking things through to find the paths that need to be taken that are both reasonable and wise. This is the start of finding the honorable path. Asatru helps with this in that it gives me other virtues that are tools for finding honor – Truth and Fidelity being the most notable, but all the other virtues in a sense combine into honor. This path I am on is a rational one because of this.

Wisdom (Muninn):

I find that when it comes to honor, wisdom says that honor leads to a good path that is well chosen not just because it is of the most advantage to one’s self, but because it also benefits others. Honor leads to respect and respect is a benefit to anyone who has it.  It leads to a lot of benefits when you have a society where people are honorable and respected for it.  There is no coercion or fraud in such a society and everyone benefits.  This is the wise path made possible by being each person being honored as each person pursues Honor.

Conclusion:

I still struggle with honor mostly because I know I am capable of greater things than I am doing.  I just feel the need to catch my breath with all that is happened this past year. The taking stock of where I need to go and then move forward. What matters to me is Honor – my own feeling that I have value.  To know what is true about myself and work to make it better. I cannot walk the path as a follower of the virtues of Asatru or as The Grey Wayfarer without it. So it remains the most difficult but most essential virtue.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Iron Maiden – Epic Metal Poets” – The Skald’s Lyre

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

 

Happy Saturn’s Day

Musical Journal:

This week has been an interesting trip down memory lane as regards to music.  I have been revisiting an old but new friend – Iron Maiden.  In my teenage years, I found my journey through the metal bands of the day difficult for a lot of reasons but most notably was there were so many of them and secondly my religion was openly hostile to anything that looked evil.  Iron Maiden was just one of many great metal bands in the 1980s and I have to say must have listened to them a lot for a couple months back in the day but had to walk away.  I guess it is hard to tell greatness when things are new and back then metal music was still very new. But mostly there was no way a good ‘Christian boy’ was going to slap Iron Maiden posters on his wall with their mascot Eddie grinning back at you on them.

See the source image

I reflect a lot on this, as my musical choices these days have a large dose of “I don’t give a fuck what people think about what I am listening to”. One of the things I have toyed with is getting copies of some of those old posters and lining the wall with them in my new ‘man cave’ someday when I get one.

As for Iron Maiden themselves, I think they are one of those bands that reflects a musical genius that still resonates today.  The music itself is multilayered and skilfully done.  While not speed metal per se, they do have rifts that keep going and a fantastic drummer who does not stop. It is relentless metal you might say. Their lead vocalist is legendary.

See the source image

But it is not just the music but two other factors that make Iron Maiden a great metal band.  Firstly, their lyrics are top notch with intricate poetry.  I challenge anyone to pull up just the lyrics and read them and not think about how deep they can be.  Many of their songs are based on literature both books and poems so there is that connection whether it is Edgar Allen Poe, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, or Frank Herbert.

The poetic part I can appreciate much more now that I understand it better. I suppose I have to thank in part Miss Salty for that, ironically.  The fact that I now can go back an look at lyrics as poetry and see them a little deeper I have her to thank for that. At the same time, some of the pain associated with that relationship is why I listen to more music these days so…

Secondly, they understand that metal is a spectacle. They are one of those great concert bands that sounds better ‘live’ and puts on a real show for their fans.  Deep poetry, well done musical rifts and heavy metal theatre in one great package.

See the source image

Personal Significance:

Run to the Hills – This is probably for me the most known song of Iron Maiden.  The song is a commentary on the whole western settlers vs. Native Americans conflict.  Being a British band their criticism is scathing in some regards and to be honest, they have a good point.

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The Trooper – Based on Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “Charge of the Light Brigade, This song is a high energy, which is also a social commentary on the soldier’s thoughts during battle and war in general.

Hollowed Be Thy Name –  The Lord’s Prayer line coupled with the story of a man condemned to execution.  Classic deep lyrics actually make this my favorite Iron Maiden song. The song is not so much about capital punishment as it is about death and facing it bravely, no matter what is on the other side of it.  Which the song basically asserts the truth of – no one knows.

See the source image

The Number of the Beast – Another Biblically based song.  One of the reasons I couldn’t have this band’s posters on my wall as a teenager. I am fairly sure it wouldn’t have been appreciated.

Murders in the Rue Morgue – Based on Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” it is another classic.

See the source image

I would like to say more but Iron Maiden speak as a band speak for themselves every song they write. For the playlist, I have tried to find live performances as much as possible because that is the best way to listen to them.  IMHO.

Playlist: 

Run to the Hills – Live 1985: (with band introduction)

The Trooper – Live 2013:

Hallowed Be Thy Name – Live 1982

The Number of the Beast – Live 2008

Murders in the Rue Morgue – Live 2005 – with introduction

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Asatru” – Of Wolves and Ravens – The Nine Noble Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

 

Happy Tyr’s Day

Discussion:

I started following the Nine Noble Virtues of Asatru simply because they were a good list of virtues I wanted in my life.  In large part, it was my constant meditation on the Virtue of Fidelity that eventually brought me back to my wife. These nine virtues are now a very essential part of my own spiritual practice using my understanding of what it means to be a pagan.  What it means to be an honorable human being for that matter.

What I began to discover is that Asatru is a whole very new and modern form of neo-paganism. It attempts to recapture the pagan root of the Germanic and Scandinavian world before Christianity took over. The video below is a very good overview of what Asatru is as a religion by a man taking a very informative view on it.  He recommends a book that is on the way to my house at the time of this writing. I want to learn more out of curiosity sake if nothing else.

My own practice has very little to do with the religious aspects of Asatru.  I follow the virtues.  I find the stories of Norse Mythology and the various practices of Asatru inspiring and fascinating but ritual and religion are not a central thing to me.  My issue is living a good life following after virtue.  I must say though if I was ever going to be ‘religious’ again – I would pick this one.  More practical than most of them.

I center most of my personal paganism on following a life philosophy that leads to prosperity of life. Whether it is the prosperity is foundational, business or for myself. If there is a god, or gods or whatever, I am fairly sure they expect me to handle my own issues.  There is no real wrong or right way to a pagan after all so perhaps my paganism is as much about my philosophy of life as spirituality. This actually fits well with Asatru so there is a lot of common ground between me and those who practice the more religious aspect of Asatru.  Both of us find the simplicity and challenge of the Nine Noble Virtues to be central to achieving personal peace and prosperity.

To the Wolves and Ravens:

Needs (Geri):

If you have ever lost your faith in something or left behind an old religion, you will know the need for finding something that grounds you and gives you ethical and moral focus. In my case, I found the Nine Noble Virtues fairly quickly to be a value centering philosophy that didn’t require the religious element.  There was a hole in my moral and ethical philosophy, a real need, and the NNV filled it quite nicely.

Wants (Freki):

I wanted something solid and simple as a philosophy to live by.  I got sick of the multitude of interpretive points one could give to Christian scripture and you could pretty much make the Bible say whatever you wanted with very few limitations. I also wanted to dump the whole appeal to authority issue and while the NNV are solid virtues, they can not be looked at authority so much as a guide.  The only authority I have for my moral philosophy and ethics is myself and so finding something solid to both meditate on and provide a basic framework for that was a big want.  The Nine Noble Virtues have performed well in this role.

Reason (Huginn):

The Nine Noble Virtues all have the reason element I was looking for.  There are very good solid rational reasons to embrace each virtue.  They have good results that lead to peace and prosperity.  They are rationally practical That said it still takes a lot of thinking to employ them and implement them.  They are not easy always in application but they work.

Wisdom (Muninn):

See the source image

I come back to the wisdom of this quote by Markus Aurelius all the time.  Virtue is its own reward in this life to be sure.  It creates solid memories for your loved ones and for yourself leads to prosperity and a good life. The afterlife, if there is one, simply becomes a matter of whether there is a good or evil judge on the throne.  The good judge should see ones’ virtue and reward it, the evil judge needs human defiance.

Conclusion:

Over the next nine weeks, I will be returning to the Nine Noble Virtues one at a time.  Every time I do this there is a spiritual awakening of a sort.  I may not be a religious follower of Asatru, but I respect the virtues that all of those who follow it try to live up to.  It is something I will continue for much of the foreseeable future.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“The Last Sermon” – The Rabyd Skald – The Grey and the Wayfarer – Part 11

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Moon’s Day

One year ago today (May 27th, 2018), I preached my last sermon as a Christian pastor. When people ask me how I am doing, I am doing as well as can be expected, given the time of year and the memories involved with it. Part of that is leaving the identity behind of ‘pastor’.  This week is dotted with a lot of emotions, but leaving the ministry behind for good was bittersweet and it speaks to me of waste.  The thought that I have wasted 20 years of my life crosses my mind a lot.

My last sermon couldn’t have been more ironic. I was in an affair preaching on adultery from the ten commandments. My basic message was that if Jesus’ words on adultery were the facts, then we have all failed and we just need to cling to grace because that is all we got. No one is going to make it if the standard is not lusting.  No one could meet that standard.

Emotionally this was my most difficult sermon ever. I just wanted the service to end and go home. Neither my flame at the time or my wife was there and I felt alone and just sick of being a pastor and all of it. I went home, the woman I was having an affair with told her aunt about it.  I told my wife and the rest is a painful history.

I wouldn’t have minded so much but when it came to my last church, the message of grace seemed completely lost, even though I had been preaching it for nine and a half years to them. Lots of wasted words from my point of view. The man I entrusted my resignation to engaged in a plan to basically make things to be much worse than they really were.

For the record once again, I have never actually had sex with the woman I had an affair with, in fact ever.  At the time of my resignation, it had barely graduated beyond “I love you” and holding hands at a prayer meeting that looked normal to everyone else.  People made this to be much more than it was and that hurt too.  Because the man in charge let it happen on purpose. He told me he didn’t want gossip to spread through the church which is very sensible. He also told me he didn’t want to drag the woman into it either to protect her, something that was my concern as well. But once he had my resignation I had revised removing that confession line at his request, he called the woman up within probably minutes of me giving it to him and asked her permission to tell the story.

In the week’s that followed he did everything possible to make sure that gossip and rumor were exactly what happened. He deliberately dragged the woman into it (made possible by the fact we had broken up at the time and we were not talking to each other)  to do this and used her to get to me. I looked like I was hiding something, which I wasn’t. He looked like the hero so he could feed that ego and hero complex of his. He used it in the following weeks to paint a picture of me as a monster, the woman as a victim and him as the white knight that was here to bring the monster down. What a load of bullshit he piled up. All of it. 

In the end, he used the emotional hurt and anger of the congregation to get me fired and no severance given. I was never informed of anything that was going on officially until it was all over. The whole process was done without me being asked to speak on my own behalf one time.  ‘Grace’ and ‘Mercy’ at their finest.  That’s sarcasm if you can’t tell.  Bitter Sarcasm.   

I have forgiven the congregation for this.  They were misinformed and misled by a man who has to be in control of everything because he is personally insecure. People like him are in every church and the real cause of problems and why churches don’t succeed and have the reputations they have.  I have even forgiven the woman’s busybody aunt who did the most to engage in gossip. She was just acting in anger and hurt and I very much understand it.  She actually had good reasons to act the way she did, even if her actions were not very Christian.  Whatever that means. 

But the man himself – if there is any force of justice in the world I hope he has to experience the betrayal, manipulation, lies, theft of honor, and all the rest of it that he visited on me himself.  That karma visits on him the exact same thing he did to me. If nothing else I hope he lives a long and miserable life surrounded by no one at the end of it. That would be an end which he deserves because of his very utilitarian view of friendship. His friends no longer seeing him as useful so they simply don’t show up to help or comfort him. That would be truly fitting. 

As far as me and The Grey, this ‘one year ago thing’ is bothering me but I am moving through it. I refuse to go down to this storm.  I want to walk through it laughing at it. Mostly though, I just want a new sense of identity beyond the pastoral ministry thing.  It’s garbage to me now. An old cloak I have discarded. The white hat, the cross, and white cloak no longer suit me.  I prefer grey vestments and vulknut medallion now.

Mostly, my wife and I are trying to build some new memories. I worry about her as she has to get used to a man who is in many ways, not the same as he was. A man who is damaged in some ways, trying to heal as well.  Who will never completely heal and will no longer be what he was.  I want her to be happy because my own happiness depends on it.  I just don’t know about my side of it a lot.

The last sermon I preached in the church was ironic but also fitting.  The whole thing of pastoral ministry is adultery in my opinion now.  A pastor’s church is a mistress.  One that takes a lot and gives back very little and much like a real mistress drives a wedge between you and those you love as a pastor. A smart man gets out a lot sooner than I did.

I walk The Grey right now.  It is this time of year last year where every day has some significant event and memory that makes it difficult.  It probably won’t stop until the summer is over. I am just trying to live my life and living it in joy as much as possible.  If it wasn’t for the guilt and pain I have associated with these memories of last year, it would be easier.  The thing is I have come to accept that this walk is my path, but I can’t control the weather. I wish I could.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

 

“Weightlifting with Disturbed” – The Skald’s Lyre

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Saturn’s Day

Musical Journal:

My weightlifting routine is filled with music.  It is the only complaint I have with my new gym is that their music is less than motivational and inspiring. Maybe it is to those who like soft Christian rock but being a deist/pagan in spiritual orientation and needing something a little more forceful to get me going, I find the need for my own playlist when I hit the weights and true to form it is metal.  Heavy Metal.

This last year I discovered Disturbed.  Now they have been around for a lot longer than my discovery of them and I have heard their songs several times without knowing who they were.  This last year I have listened to them a lot.  Mostly in the context of weightlifting as I find their music intense and motivational.  The subject matter of some of the songs resonates with some emotional states I have had over the years.  I find that their music was one of the go-to choices as I struggled through last year’s crisis and as we have now come full Circle that same time of year, I find myself listening to them again and it is still therapeutic.

Personal Significance:

The Skald’s Lyre is simple in its execution.  Journaling the significance of the band in my life overall and then talking about some of the songs as far as their personal significance to me.  Then I will give a playlist.  Do with that as you will.  Mostly I am writing this to myself.

  1. Down with the Sickness is probably the Disturbed signature song and represents their music overall the best.  For me, it is the constant call to not be caught up in the sickness of society. It is also a great way to start a weightlifting session.
  2. Stricken is a song that resonates with my hurts and pains about a relationship of a year ago. It reflects the part of my heart that can’t seem to let go of this relationship and I hear it and remind myself of that.  I have found a lot of acceptance of part of who I am in this song.  A guy who falls in love and never completely gets over it regardless of how long it has been.
  3. Ten Thousand Fists – Great rebellion song.  A Good Jam too. For me, it is a solidarity song for all of us that have left the Christian faith.
  4. Voices – I have actually learned to sing the fast-paced lyrics to this song. Combined with the message of the video, I like how even though the voices talk to the guy, he doesn’t act on them ultimately.  He just goes to a concert and burns the rage off having a good time.  A simple lesson I have had to remind myself of often this last year.
  5. Prayer – Speaking of leaving the faith, this was a theme song for me this last year.  “This is how we pray.  Living just isn’t hard enough. Burn me alive inside. Living Just isn’t hard enough.  Take everything away”  How you say that last line makes all the difference.  Is it a statement of information or a request?
  6. Sound of Silence – I love Simon and Garfunkel’s version don’t get me wrong but this one is straight up haunting.  The vocals are off the chart. The message is something I am familiar with and it will probably start to creep back into my playlist for walking after the second of August as it represents that time very well.

When music gets into my life it tends to crop back up at times of memory. Certain times of year reflect certain music. Mostly they are connected to things that have happened to me and the music I was playing at the time. These next few months are going to suck for this, but I feel Disturbed will help me pull through The Grey of it.  They were after all pulling me through it at the time.  It also doesn’t hurt that they are high energy and get me through a weightlifting session faster than anything.

Playlist: 

Down with the Sickness

Stricken

Ten Thousand Fists

Voices

Prayer

Sound of Silence (cover)

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Still Four Objections with No Answers” – Odin’s Eye – My Four Theological Objections to Christianity Revisited

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

Discussion:

I am approaching the date now where I will have been out of the ministry and away from Christianity for a whole year.  I have literally not darkened the door of a church in that entire time. I can’t say I miss it. Mostly, it is the simple fact that it no longer makes any sense to me. It is my four objections that I formed that stand stronger than my faith ever was.  No one has come forward and no one has offered answers. To review my objections with links provided:

Odin’s Eye -Objections to Christianity – Part 1 – The Bible’s Inspiration by God

Odin’s Eye – Objections to Christianity – Part 2 – Sin: An Imaginary Man-Made Problem

Odin’s Eye – Objections to Christianity – Part 3 – The Cross and Empty Tomb – An Imaginary Solution to an Imaginary Problem.

Odin’s Eye – Objections to Christianity – Part 4 – The Justice of the Biblical God – An Unbalanced Scale

I still stand by them.  For the Eye today I am more looking at my feelings about my former faith than anything else.

Time to Look Through the Eye:

Faith:

The most nonsensical statement in Scripture is Hebrews 11:1 –  “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”  Most Christians think this is deep and profound but what it really is saying is that the only evidence and proof of the things we ask you to believe in is your own choice to believe them.  There is no evidence to prove any of our assertions, so the Writer of Hebrews simply asks them to take their own choice to have faith as the substance and evidence that proves it.  How would this be any different than simply asking people to believe in Thor or Apollo in the same way?  Nothing really. Christian faith certainly isn’t special in that regard.

Religion:

I now look at Christianity even more skeptically than before as a religion.  I see how religion can be used to control people and Christianity is a great perpetrator of that.  Before as a Christian, I was like George Washington in that I may have been devout but I was skeptical of a lot of things.  Now I am just skeptical.  I am working on my first non-fiction book that might be considered anti-Christianity, but trust me I have a list I considered on various topics and it is quite possible that this could be a deep well of ideas that could lead to a writing career doing nothing more but being a skeptic. Christianity has a lot of problems particularly in the USA and it could be a gold mine for a writer with my knowledge of it and my current mindset about it.

Theology:

My four objections are theological and they are also hard to break.  I know I have tried to break them myself for years.  This transition from being a theologian who is an apologist for Christianity to one that is a skeptic of Christianity was personally very difficult. But I refuse to waste my time being an apologist for something I now consider to be as made up as other religions. Christianity is sophisticated makebelieve, but makebelieve nonetheless. It’s my knowledge of theology that tells me that.

Spirituality:

I love it when I tell people I am no longer religious but spiritual.  I think they think I am some warlock chanting some magical shit, but nothing could be further from the truth. Mostly I draw my spirituality from experiencing life and all that there is to it. I find myself listening in meditation now almost exclusively, I don’t pray at all. I think not whining to the universe or the Divine and taking personal responsibility for yourself is a good first step in being a mature spiritual adult.

Conclusion:

I think to myself sometimes about the things I have lost by leaving Christianity.  Friends, colleagues and a sense of community that were all left behind. However, I have gained an honesty that I find much more satisfying and more appealing to my actual self than ever. I still remain open to someone trying to give me some answers, but so far nothing.  In the meantime, I walk the road of life. My eye wide open.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Me and Mozart to Metallica” – The Skald’s Lyre

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Saturn’s Day

I am currently planning on doing a lot of research on Norse Mythology in order to do a few Crossing Bifrost posts with a little more knowledge behind them.  I am instead going to implement one of the changes I proposed which is to create a series of posts on music.  This will be subtitled The Skald’s Lyre and will most likely appear with Crossing Bifrost on Saturn’s Day.  I miss discussing music and I want to get back to it.  The one effect this will have on other posts is that the Pagan pulpit will probably only have one song now on Sun’s Day.

I find music to be far more spiritual the older I get.  It has always had an emotional effect on me and I can’t go for too long before I find myself looking for something to listen to either motivate men or calm me.  I have also discovered over the years I am far less devoted to a particular kind of music or a particular era.  I am most interested in musical discovery; that is the discovery of new music from any era that I can enjoy and from which I can draw inspiration.

My musical journey like most people started with my parent’s music.  They both grew up in the 40s and 50s so that music was a regular part of what was on the radio.  My mom was a band member in high school and so she focused on classical music; so I cut my teeth in understanding music as a child on Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and Brahms.  I liked it, particularly Mozart. I don’t if she realized it but she sowed the seeds for my metal baptism later.

Dad was more of an eclectic guy when it came to music. He liked the 50s do whop groups, country (and by country I mean old country, not this new stuff that is more pop with a country twang) and he was the one that introduced me to Johnny Cash.  Both my parents were young adults during the 60s, and so that music was also around too. My dad must have had a thing for Janis Joplin and Iron Butterfly as he had their albums.

Of course, we went to church and the old hymns and gospel were there as well as some new fangled worship music later.  My problem was as I went through school, I never settled on anything.  Until my first day in high school.

I entered the doors as a freshman full of fear.  I have been introverted all my life. I was tall and skinny.  I had started playing football, but I had no real athletic talent. I was nerdy and kept to myself except for the few friends I would keep close because of church or school.  That first day though I walked in and half the school as wearing Def Leppard “Pyromania” t-shirts.  I bought the album a few days later and listened to it. My parents had gotten cable so I hit MTV and saw all kinds of what would be later known as Hair Metal.  It was not this that drew me, but I would close my eyes and hear Mozart, just played very fast and with electric power.

After that metal was a part of my life. We played it in the locker room before a football game so I began to understand the emotional power of music.  ‘Back in Black’ by ACDC became the unofficial school song as ‘red and black were our school colors and our home uniform for football was black, head to toe. Hard Rock, Metal and 80s Pop were aa part of the equation for me as a teen of the 1980s. When I hit young adulthood a band called Metallica would dominate my music in the 1990s.

Now you need to understand I lived a double life with music from my Freshman year in high school on.  I had an extensive Chrisitan Rock and Metal collection; which while it irritated the fundamentalist pastors I had at the time, they wouldn’t completely tell me to knock it off because of the lyrics.  That was my public music.  When I was away from the church and in my own room, there was a collection of devil worshiping secular music and Playboys under my bed.  It was this music, and perhaps even the Playboys, that brought out in me the side that was true to a part of me that church told me to repress.  I just never could shut that off and so I became a headbanger. A Christian one in public and a secular one in private.

I have always listened to what I want since becoming an adult. I like and prefer things with strings and multiple part harmony.  I like a lot of things my parents liked and since then I have a lot of very eclectic tastes.  I have never really gotten to be the old man shouting at the kids around – “That isn’t real music.”  Even as a metalhead, my only gripe is other metalheads who start decrying different types of metal as not real metal. What a bunch of noize.  If I like it, I like it and these last ten years I don’t think there is a genre of music that I don’t have at least one song in that I can enjoy.  That said. if I want inner peace, some form of metal, alternative music or a sappy love song hits my playlist.

The Skald’s Lyre will have different kinds of posts.  Sometimes I will focus on an artist or band. Sometimes I will focus on a particular song or group of songs. Sometimes I might focus on a particular genre of music.  I might follow a theme in music or even reactions to some songs that I have loved for years but some other person is hearing for the first time. The subject will be basically music I am listening to at the time and what I feel and think about it.

To close this week though I will leave you with a historically significant song.  This song was the first song to ever be played on MTV: “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles:

Perhaps it will be as equally prophetic for me.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!