“Freya – If You Can’t Lay ‘Em, Slay ‘Em” (Asatru – Part 14) – The Pagan Pulpit

October 13, 2019October 13, 2019 / 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: “Freya Song” – Sascha Ravendark

Meditation:

Text:

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

Sermon:

Now there is a historical debate as far as the development of Norse religion regarding Frigg and Freya being the same goddess that at some point split in two with one aspect of this goddess being Odin’s wife (Frigg) and the other becoming the hostage of the Vanir along with her brother Freyr being the other, but even if they were once the same they become very different in the mythological stories later.

Freya and Frigg have many of the same spheres: Love, Fertility and prophetic magic. But they diverge as Frigg seems more of a homebody of hearth and home. Frigg seems to be the aspect of the woman and man would want to settle down with as a wife. Freya, on the other hand, is the girl you want to party with, fight alongside, and fuck. Or rather given her far more aggressive nature – let her fuck you. She is very independent and self-reliant much like the cats who are her symbol.

Freya is actually associated with the spheres of beauty, sex and war, things Frigg is far less associated with. She is a far more aggressive female than Frigg and far more passionate and warlike being also a goddess associated with death. It is, after all, the goddess who gets to take half the slain in battle to her hall. Captian of the Valkyrie, she is one of the choosers of the slain giving half to Odin for Valhalla and keeping the other half for herself. I don’t remember where I read this, but one commenter said she really had the motto of = “if you can’t lay ’em, slay ’em”. She was either going to fuck you or fight you and kill you.

For the followers of Asatru, she represents fertility much like her brother Freyr and is involved in all things productive. But she is also invoked in matters of the heart whether love or conflict. It is said that her worshipers have evidence of their existence long before any others except Odin and her worship was the last to die out when the Christians came. A large testimony to her veneration. She would make a very good goddess for any shieldmaiden.

For me, this splitting of feminine nature seems very necessary. Frigg being the quiet passionate strength behind the throne of Odin. But Freya, well she is the openly passionate side of women. That raw animalistic love and anger that they can be quite famous for. I love both sides and it leads me to believe that this split (if a split actually occurred) might very well simply be a reflection of this understanding. That man at some point in his life needs a Freya to inspire him with passionate side of women and then needs a Frigg to give him strength as a father and husband. Perhaps it is reflective that no woman can be both of those, or such a woman is incredibly rare even among the goddesses.

Parting Thought:

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Wolfsbane” – Rogue Wizard – The Fire of Fury – Part 15

October 3, 2019October 3, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

Rogue Wizards Journal – September 7th, 2019

Amber definitely has lycanthropy and Lunette and I have been debating what to do. I hope the ‘cure’ I just tried with Amber works but it is probably going to take a couple days to know for sure. But I am getting ahead of myself and should take this in order.

Amber displayed the restless sleep and the rapidly dilating pupils on the first day. She woke up screaming the second night. Then I knew she had it as I have been there. Lunette for her part at that point created a magical potion from Wolfsbane that is supposed to slow the progress of the disease but the inevitable march would come so the three of us one day sat down to debate what to do.

The first thing we talked about was not Amber’s disease, but the possibility of a werewolf pack being around. We continued our routine as much as possible including the skinny dipping but we were now much more watchful and we did it earlier during the day saving night time for discussion time.

I set up some wards on the cabin and sauna shed and the path between the two. they would give me a warning buzz in my head if anything got too close. Skinny dipping in daylight would have been interesting but it was now more about a quick cool off before retiring quickly to the cabin. Our relaxing time had been interrupted by actual danger and that had us all on edge.

Last night we talked about what to do about Amber’s developing lycanthropy. She, of course, did not want to be a werewolf despite the power. You slowly but inevitably go feral and there are only a couple cures. The one used on me required killing a werewolf draining its blood and the magical power of Mrs. W. who used both healing and mental magic on me to affect the cure which involved bathing in the blood of the werewolf. The whole ritual died when she did, so that was out.

This, of course, brought out all the other known cures real or legendary. One of note involved a ritual of wolfsbane potions and a magical altar that reputedly a mage had built for the express purpose of curing lycanthropy. No one knew if it was even real. Some healing mages of the past and developed enough power to cure it but that was legendary. Most of the rest were dreams of desperation.

In the end, the discussion turned to me and my antibodies. Mostly how we could use them to cure Amber. I wasn’t sure how that could happen. Mrs. W. and I never talked about this and I had always assumed that it was because it was irrelevant, but I had to now consider the possibility that had I been brought forward to cure others it would have tipped people off to my existence a long time ago and that boys and girls would have led to my death.

Now though that the Council was very well aware of my existence, it seemed that this discussion would have been helped if I had approached people with healing magic and asked but I never thought to do so.

How does one normally transfer antibodies from one person to another? Well, you can make a serum from the blood. But that requires a lab and in this case, a full alchemy lab which we didn’t have access to and would take a lot of energy and time which might reveal where we were. Amber wouldn’t hear of it. Transfusion? There were other issues most notably biological blood type but more importantly for us, the equipment we didn’t have.

Suddenly Lunette laughed. Amber and I raised eyebrows and watched her for a minute as she chuckled endlessly, then she spoke.

“Fluid transfer, that’s all we need.”

“Ok, Lunette what are you getting at?” Besides the fact, Amber and I think you have just lost it.”

“Remember when you almost died Edward from that poison blade? How did we cure you?”

“How could I forget? I lost my virginity and learned to supercharge my healing powers at the same time. Well basically I had sex with you, that’s also how you got those wings of yours.”

“Yep, but the sexual exchange is what did it. It is the only thing inherently magical about what humans and in particular mages do. Sexual magic is the key to making it work. You just need to use it to transfer the antibodies to Amber and you can do it through a combination of magic and sex.

“Now…”

But my voice trailed off as I saw Amber’s eyes. She had that look on her face where she felt excited but awkward at the same time. She knew I wanted to take that part of our relationship a little slower. At the same time, she was afraid of what was happening to her and she wanted to make love to me a long time ago.

“Ok. how does that work exactly?”

Lunette explained that the antibodies were magical in nature and that they would be present in all my bodily fluids. The trick would be to get them to magically jump from me to Amber. This would require natural magical energy and both Amber and myself to focus on what healing skill we had through it.

“Basically Edward you have to do what you did back then and Amber has to open herself up to the transfer with her own healing magic. The sexual act provides the energy boost and the means of transfer. Sexual healing at its finest.”

I had to admit her logic was sound. I had gone over again and again about how I had not died that time so long ago and it came down to the supercharged nature of the sexual exchange between fairies and mages. It saved my life and gave Lunette new wings. The old pink and light purple ones had been ripped off by Elpis. They had been replaced by these black and dark purple ones and I had a hand in that.

I got up and moved closer to Amber.

“A long time ago, I resisted what Lunette is talking about. I tried everything else and in the end, it didn’t;t matter. Practical sexual magic won the day and healed us both. I am alive because of it. Now, here you are Amber and my feelings of love for you are brand new. You also have a horrible disease that right now is just beginning to take hold of you. It is weak and my temptation is to try some other way because it is weak, but every time I do that I regret just going full-on and getting it over with. So, if you think it is worth a try my love, I am willing to try as well. I mean I am not asking you to do anything horrible but it might be for nothing. I just wanted more time to get to know you better before we did this.”

“Oh, Edward… I have wanted to make love to you for a couple months. It’s not me that I worry about. It’s rushing you. I love you too much to do that, but I don’t want to be a werewolf either and this does make a lot of sense. It’s rushing you that doesn’t sit well with me.”

I nodded. Then I stood up. And put out my hand. She took it and I led her into the bedroom with the double bed. No door but I slid the curtain across the doorway and I head Lunette leave the cabin. I took Amber in my arms.

“Gentle, I still am a little sore from my wounds”, she remarked.

“Absolutely, gentle and loving, my love.”

I am not the kind of guy who kisses (or has sex with a girl) and tells. So, no details other than I am now sitting here in the early morning. looking at her naked body laying in the middle of the bed. As soon as I finish this entry, I am going to cuddle back up with her and wake her up in a style more befitting a lover.

I hoped this worked. Lunette is in the other room sleeping on the single bed. She seems at peace. as well. I can feel it – love for both of them. I don’t know where the future leads, but I want them both with me.

Writer’s Notes:

The only thing I am going to comment on is the idea that a person can love romantically more than one person. given my own experience, I say it is very possible to do so. It is only our western society that says it is wrong, but I have yet to find any traditional reason to say so. One form of sexual orientation is bisexual and that kind of assumes a Trois relationship for such a person to be satisfied completely. I also think that it is more of an ownership thing of saying you control someone else’s sexuality and you don’t simply because you are lovers.

The one thing I think is for certain is the human race is not naturally faithfully monogamous. We have to work at it and that makes things unnatural at times. I suppose if we git rid of jealousy, envy, and desires to control sex and sexuality, it wouldn’t be a problem. But here we are – the human race – flawed and unhappy because of it.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Qualities of Spiritual Nudity” – Freya’s Chambers – Nudism

September 27, 2019September 27, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / 2 Comments

Happy Frigg and Freya’s Day

Disclaimer: The topics covered in Freya’s Chambers include serious discussions of sex, sexuality and related issues. If it isn’t your thing; you can move along, otherwise enjoy and feel free to discuss. Given this week’s topic be prepared for nude images of people engaged in spiritual and other activities. I avoid genitalia as a general rule but is not always possible.

On May 17th, 2013 I started a series on my old blog All Things Rabyd called Naked Before God with the post; The Positive Spiritual Side of Nakedness. Back then I was still a devout Christian that was struggling with the simple fact that while Christianity basically had strongly connected nudity. sex and sexuality: the Bible had not. If anything the most positive time in humanity’s existence in the story of the Bible is when Adam and Eve are in the Garden – naked and unashamed.

That series was about the spiritual side of being naked before God and how nudism could be considered a Christian spiritual discipline or at least a metaphor of how one could picture oneself before God and develop a sense of enlightenment about that relationship. That was over six years ago and a lot has changed but the main principles of spiritual nudity I think are still solid and deserve a second look.

I listed six positive spiritual qualities that nudity possesses: 1) Vulnerability, 2) Openness, 3) Intimacy, 4) Genuineness, 5) Wholeness and 6) Equality. I would say that all of these are still valid but need to be rethought without all the ‘how do I draw the line and avoid sin?” question. For me, this question no longer even exists so I want to see how things change from what I felt and thought then to what I feel and think now.

What follows will be excerpts from that old post with commentary and changes to reflect new attitudes:

Vulnerability:

“While it could be argued that vulnerability is a weakness and at times it is, there is a positive side to it. In the Garden of Eden we see this in Adam and Eve as they are completely vulnerable to God’s presence, each other and the world around them. Because of this, they have to develop interdependency with each other and God. In all person to person relationships, vulnerability is the key to opening up intimacy and ultimately love. To love someone, you must make yourself vulnerable to them and take risks that they will take advantage of this vulnerability, but when vulnerability is rewarded with returned vulnerability from the other person intimacy and love grows”. – The Positive Spiritual Side of Nakedness – May 17, 2013

I suppose the easiest way to edit this would be to remove all the lines about the garden of Eden and leave the rest because I think it still is a positive quality at times. I think one could experience the vulnerability to other people and the world around them and just drop the divine parts unless that is part of your spiritual goal of being naked. I know that for myself this is a longing of my heart but I have experienced vulnerability being naked with my wife. There is something about that that opens the door to intimacy.

Openness:

‘It is really hard to be closed off to people when you are naked. … Reading the testimonies of practicing nudists, particularly people who are sharing their first time is interesting in this spiritual aspect of nudity. Even naked, they try to cover themselves up and present themselves in ways where their perceived ‘bad features’ are less noticeable. In the end, they give this up and just allow themselves to be themselves…. – The Positive Spiritual Side of Nakedness – May 17, 2013

As you can imagine this one is pretty edited down and much simpler without the God of the Bible involved. It suddenly switches the spiritual focus from the divine to humanity and being open to our fellow human beings. This a shift that actually gives this author a cause for pause, because the question becomes is openness truly possible without being naked in front of someone else? I can do this with my wife but that is it, so the spiritual aspect of openness is left to that relationship. This is simply a spiritual quality that you are either open to others around you or if you are more spiritually minded – the universe. This brings up a limitation that depends on one’s willingness to be naked in front of others.

Intimacy:

Clothing prevents intimacy and in our world, this is often by design. I am not going to say this is bad in certain contexts. Clothing is a barrier that is used to prevent people from knowing things about you. Intimacy ultimately results from people discarding barriers and defenses. In personal relationships, you don’t necessarily have to shed your physical clothes to be close to someone but you do have to let your guards down and let people know things about yourself that are sometimes uncomfortable and awkward. In a real way, intimacy is achieved when you allow others to see that you too are human and you also allow them to show their humanness to you without judging them in return. – The Positive Spiritual Side of Nakedness – May 17, 2013

I would still say that clothing is a barrier to intimacy in certain contexts. Sometimes this is about security but also it can be about insecurity. We all guard ourselves and cover-up both literally and figuratively. Intimacy is just not possible without the shedding of all the barriers and one of them can be clothing. Learning to drop barriers and not judge when they do the same are the two key factors in building intimacy.

Genuineness:

‘Hard to be false and deceptive about anything when you’re naked. Everybody sees the truth about what you are. This is particularly true with yourself.’ – The Positive Spiritual Side of Nakedness – May 17, 2013

I guess this still applies to spiritual things as well but I find that this is accomplished far more by looking into your own eyes. The principle is still true that when anyone is naked they are who they genuinely are. In my own life, this has become reflected in my morning routine of getting up and meditating in the nude which means I start with who I genuinely am and work the rest of the day from that point. Being honest with myself looking in a mirror has been both a great motivator for health and fitness. In any case, when naked every flaw, scar and what does not measure up to normal society is visible. What can be changed for the better is obvious but also that which one cannot do anything about should be accepted. Often what we think are flaws are simply things that make us unique. This can be particularly obvious when standing in front of a mirror naked and honestly assessing ourselves.

Wholeness:

‘It is very difficult to see yourself compartmentalized when you are naked. You actually see everything that you really are. Clothing is used to define ourselves but in very limited senses. We dress in work clothes to define our work. We dress in athletic clothes to go work out. We dress in casual clothes to relax. We dress in sexy clothes to be romantic and make love. We dress in formal clothes to impress people with who we are. In a very real way, clothing is used to compartmentalize our life. When you are naked all that is gone and the reality of ALL that you truly are is there: body, soul, and spirit in one package and there is no compartmentalization at all. We simply and truly are what we are.’ – The Positive Spiritual Side of Nakedness – May 17, 2013

I would still stand behind the above statement. Clothing seems to be about changing roles and gives only one facet of who we are at a time. Take that away and you are what you are completely. You are whole and not compartmentalized in that state.

Equality:

‘It is very difficult to see yourself as better or worse than someone when you’re naked. Want to make everyone socially, economically and culturally equal? Take off their clothes. The housewife, businesswoman, prostitute, and debutant suddenly just become women when you strip them of clothes, makeup and jewelry and make them stand in a lineup. Without their clothes, you can only define them by their bodies, personality, and actions and none of that necessarily reveals economic, social or cultural status. Nakedness forces us to realize that we all came into this world naked and we all will leave it naked. That is the great equalizer.’ – The Positive Spiritual Side of Nakedness – May 17, 2013

I still stand by what I said to here and I don’t want to give the impression that I am singling out women because the same is true for men and perhaps a little more visible. To most women, a man in a suit with an expensive watch is going to get a lot more attention if he is single than the guy in a t-shirt and jeans. Take their clothes off and then the factors of attraction change radically. The equality of removing fashion from the equation I think could be and perhaps has been scientifically demonstrated.

A Word of Warning:

Now, this all said, there is a reality of the world we live in that cannot seem to grasp the concept that nudity doesn’t necessarily mean a person is being amorous or an expression of sexuality. We live in a world where culture can be very sanctimonious and self-righteous and those that practice spiritual nudism are well-advised to take that into consideration. For myself, I practice privately and when alone. The whole goal for me is not to have people see me. Forcing your nudity on others might not be wise. Fighting for equal treatment like the topfreedom movement does is one thing. Shoving your nudity in the face of people you know would be offended is another. The issue is to make these experiences, if they have a spiritual side to them, positive and not negative.

Issues:

I think most of the issues involving spiritual nudity and if you want this as part of your life both practically and spiritually are solved with using reason and wisdom. This is definitely one of those needs or wants that you should listen to the ravens first before letting the wolves be feed. There are definitely spiritual and personal benefits and perhaps even social ones. The issue is ‘indecent exposure’ is a real legal charge and there are simply safety measures that you can and should engage. I think privacy and perhaps going to a place where nudity is known to be accepted are probably the best options.

Personal Thoughts:

I am agnostic about most things. I lean toward thinking deism might be an option but at the same time I have no active belief in anything divine, so on a practical level, I am an atheist. I believe in spirituality as practicing meditation to calm my mind and focus my day. I believe in the power of symbols to help conceptualize things such as virtue and principles. If spirituality is about virtue and relationships then I guess in that sense I am very spiritual. My following of Asatru is more about the virtues and recovering the lost pagan heritage of my ancestors.

Nudism has a lot more to due with me just being truly who I am. Being a whole person who accepts who they genuinely are without all the trappings. It’s about being honest with myself about what I can improve and what is simply what makes me unique.

The other aspects of nudism from a spiritual point of view are incomplete for me. They are high in these regards when it comes to my wife, but other aspects of them are incomplete because of my lack of any kind of experience of communal nudity. Well, other than the locker room when I was an athlete. I don’t know if this would be so revelatory as to change my views on spirituality or not, but until I experience it I will never know. In the meantime, I stick with what I know and can experience. One of the things I know is that nudity has other qualities besides the physical and those can be very positive.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Divine Masculine and Feminine” – Freya’s Chambers – Male-Female Balance

September 20, 2019September 26, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Frigg And Freya’s Day

I am fairly new to this and perhaps this is a topic for Odin’s Eye but the sex role and sexually infuse magical concepts are very much what Freya’s Chambers is meant to address. The pagan concept of the divine masculine and feminine hits pretty much every form of paganism in some form or another. There are some that focus on one or the other, but usually, they have both. The idea of masculine and feminine not just being genders but spiritual forces are quite common.

In most mythological pantheons there is a duality of gender when it comes to the simple fact that most gods and goddesses are paired. There are a husband and a wife and often there is an understanding of the feminine and masculine roles in the divine realms that are conveyed in those pairings. One of the most common is that rain, thunder, and lightning is often a masculine god, like Thor or Zeus. The feminine is earth, harvest and giving life, like Sif and Hera. When I was in seminary one of the pairings and mythologies we looked at basically held that the earth was the womb and that rain was semen.

In this idea, there is the notion that certain forces of life are masculine based and others are feminine. That some forces in life contain masculine energy and others feminine. Also with this is the idea that these two forces need to be kept in balance as much as possible. That when things get out of balance things can go horribly wrong to being just off and not working.

In our modern world, the issues of gender identity, gender roles, etc. seem to defy these views in some respects. Gender identity has become a bugaboo because according to someone can simply choose one’s gender by a decision. Gender Roles are often questioned and rightly so because in many cases in society one sex’s roles are often put as superior to another.

In ancient paganism and mythologies, there is little gender-neutral or gender fluid. Odin is a man, Frigg a woman. That doesn’t mean that Odin doesn’t do some things that even in Viking society would be considered feminine – like his ability to use divination magic which is a role that was almost exclusively female. But Freya embraces the masculine when she dons her armor and flies with the valkyrie. That said, for the most part, Odin and Freya stick with their sex when it comes to what they express spiritually and their role in society.

It should be said that those that believe in the divine masculine and feminine try to remove the negative stereotypes: Men are aggressive and women passive is a common spiritual theme but that doesn’t mean men are strong and women weak. Aggressiveness and passivity each have their own strengths and weaknesses so each is required to complement and harmonize with the other. They need each other.

My personal view is presented in the simple idea of male-female balance:

I think self-fulfillment is found first in accepting all you are including if you are male or female. Trying to be something you are not is self-defeating and indicates self-hatred which is not helpful. So no, I don’t think being gender-neutral or fluid is a good thing or even based in reality. The genders are not evil but evil can result if they are not balanced. A good way for them to become unbalanced is to deny their existence or ignore them.
It stands to reason that if spirituality exists men and women would have a spirituality that is different from one another. If we are different physically, emotionally, mentally based on our gender. Then it only stands to reason that we would also be spiritually different based on it as well.
I believe that men are strongly masculine but need a touch of the feminine and visa versa. I think the yin and yang symbols are the best representation of this and the need for balance. The dot of the opposite color in each keeps us from the more negative qualities of our gender.

I personally have had to adjust a few understandings to come to these conclusions. One of the great failures of the Abrahamic religions is their failure to lose the patriarchal notion that man is the head of the woman. That masculine dominates feminine is a central theme to all of them. In the end, this leads to women being everything from property to submissive servants to men. I am pretty much sure this a great ploy to keep dominance now. Religion is used to justify men controlling the destiny of women which I would no consider unbalanced and thus doomed to fail. No matter how pleasantly this is put, it is ultimately about the domination of masculine over the feminine.

In my personal life this is challenging in my marriage as my wife still, through long experience, habit, and practice, seeks my authority over her. The problem is I don’t look at it this way and tell her to make up her own mind a lot. This can be frustrating for both of us. I am looking for an equal partner who makes decisions together with me now. She still looks for me to make those decisions alone and she just goes along with them. I was never a domineering Christian husband, but the teachings of the church in multiple contexts over the decades have created this version of masculinity and femininity that I no longer hold, but she does. This represents a great difference in our values and does cause strain in our marriage.

Away from marriage, I have accepted my masculine spiritual side as pretty strong. I also like the feminine and I am attracted to it. I need it as I do not generate a lot of feminine energy within myself. This could lead to a lot of imbalance, but that is why I probably get along better with the women in my life than men. Their influence keeps me balanced.

This is my initial view at present. I may change it with time as I meditate on it more and refine it. I do know that this belief in balance is what caused me to gravitate to Asatru rather than Wicca. I found most, not all, practitioners of Wicca to be very ‘The Goddess’ oriented like masculine forces were bad or inferior. Men were only a consort to the feminine, not presented as equal. If patriarchy is bad; I am going to say matriarchy is equally so. Neither is balanced.

Asatru doesn’t do this but reminds people of the need for both men and women and that both are important. Both the masculine and feminine are equally valued and have their role in society, life, family and sexuality. Neither is a social construct, but spiritual forces created by men and women being men and women. We may be different, but we are both needed and partf o that is to recognize the need for balance between the male and female.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“The Topfreedom Movement” – Freya’s Chambers – Equality

September 13, 2019September 14, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Frigg and Freya’s Day

Introduction:

I have to say that since the first time I wrote on the topfreedom movement in the United States, they have made quite a bit of progress. I originally examined them in my Christian blog many years ago. Mostly the issue back then was legal. But the real trick of any social movement is to address all concerns including cultural, social and political. If you are not aware, the topfreedom movement is basically pressing for equal rights of women to appear topless wherever a man can appear topless. Basically asserting that the different laws for the treatment of men and women’s chests are sexist and violates equal protection under the law. The issue for them is equal rights under the law.

I was supportive of the topfreedom movement back then even as a Christian because unlike many other Christians I actually realized that the constitution is the law of the land, not the Bible, and even with the Bible, there is no, I repeat no, statement or even indirect reference in the Bible that says a woman exposing her breasts is a sin. From my point of view then, a Christian woman who decided it was too damn hot and took off both bra and shirt and mowed the lawn was not a sinner, she was just being practical.

But what about now without Bible as some sort of appeal to authority and being you basic deistic humanistic pagan, where do I stand on this issue now? Without the whole sin question to consider, then the issue becomes very practical and about equality.

Discussion:

From a cultural/social point of view, this is going to be a long fight but I stand with these ladies for a lot of reasons. Most notably to me is a simple fact that socially I feel that these ‘modesty’ constraints are kept mostly to allow the unattractive, the insecure and religious women of the world to have an advantage over those women who are attractive, secure and non-religious. I see it every time I go to the beach and some attractive woman is wearing a very revealing swimsuit. All the other women are judging and criticizing because they are not secure in themselves or have a positive body image about themselves. I love it when a woman asks her significant other, who is watching said attractive female, what he thinks and he says: “whatever you think dear.” This is far more about pecking order among females than anything else. To aid them in this quest for dominance, some women turn to religious moral codes and such to force their way into the law and on other women.

My libertarianism kicks in as well to support these women. If an action is not about force to harm, the threat of force or fraud there is no violation of the Non-Aggression Principle and if there is no victim you can point to and say who was harmed – there is no crime. Can someone tell me who is hurt by a woman walking down the street on a hot day topless? As far as I can tell the only thing that is harmed is people’s opinions, feelings and sensibilities and none of those things count as far as the NAP violation or a crime.

This leads me to the legal issues that how is exposing female nipples a crime and the exposing of male nipples is not a crime? Note that most laws talk about nipple exposure and not the actual breast itself. I have found this an interesting part of the law as the nipples on men and women are essentially the same. It is the mammary glands that lead to the mound of the flesh a women’s nipples are on that is the difference between the chests. However, in most places, if the woman were to put tape over her nipples then she is perfectly legal as she would not actually violate the wording of the law.

But I started this post out with the pagan and spiritual side of this and from that standpoint, I would have to say there is something liberating and freeing to the spirit when one frees themselves from the spirit of being a moral busybody and judge of other people. There can be no greater judgemental attitude that the one where you impose what you think is modest on another because modesty is a spiritual quality of heart and mind, not one of the dress or undress.

The other spiritual quality is the appreciation of beauty and in particular the beauty of the human body. I find a lot of religious believers in God will talk about the beauty of creation and then spend a vast majority of their time trying to cover up one of its most beautiful parts: the human body, both male and female. In this appreciation of beauty, I have also started to discover something about my attitude about women and their appearance. I have found a greater understanding that sexual desire and nudity are not always connected. Put simply just because a woman is topless it doesn’t mean she is thinking about or asking for sex anymore than a man who is topless is doing so. Personally, I have learned that real modesty is letting other people be free and if a woman wants to freely walk down the street with her breasts bare, that is her business and I should respect that and not look at it as an invitation for a sexual encounter.

Conclusion:

When I first was made aware of the topfreedom movement, only one state of our fifty had changed its laws to reflect and equal treatment of men and women regarding toplessness. Since then there are now 35 states that have followed suit realizing that legally there can be no distinction between a man and a woman’s chest.

The challenge now is in these states many local governments have reacted with their own ordinances and so what the topfreedom movement focuses on there is trying to get the one legal case in that state that will bring the locals government to heel with state law. There is currently one woman bringing legal action against the city of Chicago before the Supreme Court of the United States. That might be the legal silver bullet that brings about the remaining states and locals to realizing they can either lose money in a lawsuit every time or just let women be topless.

The real problem, of course, is that the long term will require society some time to change. Cultural norms change slowly but inevitably. Like when women were first allowed to show their legs and more cleavage, it takes some time for it to be more normal to everyone in a society. I see change coming for American society regarding this issue and the majority of pushback will come from women and the religious. In time, even they will have to submit to the inevitable. Sure men will probably at first avert their eyes, but eventually, they won’t think of bare breasts, as usual, any more than bare legs. Time will tell.

Thoughts?

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

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The Grey Wayfarer

A Blog of Ed Raby, Sr. – The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher

Culture

“Freya – If You Can’t Lay ‘Em, Slay ‘Em” (Asatru – Part 14) – The Pagan Pulpit

“Wolfsbane” – Rogue Wizard – The Fire of Fury – Part 15

“Qualities of Spiritual Nudity” – Freya’s Chambers – Nudism

“Divine Masculine and Feminine” – Freya’s Chambers – Male-Female Balance

“The Topfreedom Movement” – Freya’s Chambers – Equality