Courage

“Viking Virtues – Part 1” – A Skald’s Life – Foundational Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Journal Entry:

As I begin the first journal post of the year, I am glad to find myself discussing the virtues of Asatru directly.  If I find anything that is with me at the beginning of the year it is not so much as to make resolutions ( I didn’t and don’t) but to renew my resolve.  I have never been one to just hope events will change my lifestyle but rather work every day to improve myself and be better than I was the day before.  That is why I journal on this blog and why my goals and bucket list items are regular parts of my life. The point of them is to keep my resolve into achieving more each day.

Honor, Courage, and Truth are foundational because they represent things that hold up the rest.  While the other virtues are more active, these are a constant force that underlies every decision and action I make. They are core.

Honor:

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

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

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

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

Honor and Respect are the qualities that I need in my life.  I have found other things are much more valuable and profitable when I value and honor myself. Honor is something that is the greatest struggle for many and I am no exception.

Courage:

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

Principle – Act with Courage at the right time.

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

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

I still find myself holding back regarding certain people and ideas. I just need to find a little more steel to put in my veins. The iron of heart.  There are some discussions that need to take place.

Truth:

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

Principle – To Honestly Pursue, Accept and Speak Truth to All who will Listen.

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

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

Speaking the truth to myself is the hardest.  I wonder sometimes if that fucker listens to himself. But in the end when accepted the greatest freedoms arise.  Truth is valuable and I need to see that again.

Higher Virtue: Love:

I need to love myself.  That is all that needs to be said.

Morning Routine:

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

I like it now and so far so good.

I remain.

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

Skaal!!!

“Approaching 2020” – The Rabyd Skald – The Grey and The Wayfarer – Part 26

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sol’s Day!

As I approach the New Year there is a lot of for lack of a better word  -‘fear”.  I know seeing I meditate often on the virtue of Courage, fear seems to not be in line with the virtue but courage is not so much the absence of fear, but the ability to look at uncertainty and the fear it can bring and say ‘fuck it’.  I just need to look at 2020 in the light of opportunity despite risk rather than not taking the risk.

The Grey for the last two weeks or so is my constant anxious feelings about the situation.  Nothing major, just the constant nagging buzz of the flies of failure, struggle for something better and still the nag of a broken heart which I thought would be better by now.  On top of all that I can feel myself doing the same things over and over again expecting different results – most notably continuing to do what I do to make everyone happy and yet I feel restless and sad a lot.  I need a change of job and location.  I can feel it,  The Wayfarer needs to move. Literally and figuratively.

I am torn because here I am again trying not to hurt anyone while hurting myself at the same time. I can’t’ seem to find a win-win and this bothers me that there might not be one.  If I am going to win for myself, I may very well have to hurt some other people to do so.  I hate this conflict of not trusting people but at the same time not wanting to hurt them. I wish sometimes I had the capacity to get over hurting others but such is the fate of empaths. You feel the pain you cause as well as your own and that is what truly sucks.

I would like 2020 to be a good year where I find a new job, start moving toward prosperity and then also start being at peace with myself. I want to heal in the coming year, but all I can see his more pain and injury either way.  I don’t know.  Mostly I just need a better job somewhere else.

Writing Notes:

I will be posting the epilogue to Space Tramp tomorrow and the final two posts for  Rogue Wizard on New Year’s Eve.  Starting Woden’s Day I will be back to the regular schedule as this blog will truly become more of a journal blog than anything else.  I really need to free my time for other writing, reading, looking for a job, etc.

I hope sometime in early January to start my Youtube Channel but that depends on how quickly I can learn what I need to learn and I do need to learn some things.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“My Morning Routine” – A Skald’s Life – Foundational Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Journal Entry:

My daily routine is shit these days.  I hate the holidays and I need more things to be habits rather than struggles. This is why I added a week to specifically discuss routine because it is the key to a better future.  Life has a way of passing and how we control what happens to our time and what we spend our time on is important.  For me, this is particularly true.

My morning routine is pretty messed up at times.  It is simply the fact that I need to spend more time doing other things at this time of year. I really wish I had a job that had a more stable schedule as this would help all my routines but the morning routine is simply a matter of me getting up and doing what needs to be done. Not just that but what needs to be done in terms of keeping myself balanced emotionally and that starts with meditation.  Something this last month I have struggled with.

I think this stems from my atheism.  Meditation seems too ‘spiritual’ even though I know it has psychological benefits that have nothing to do with divine anything.  It can feel like my old religious past and that is something I find distasteful anymore. But virtue is true regardless of religion and I know when I am meditating regularly, I am more stable emotionally.  This is the part of my morning routine I need to make more consistent and I think that it will require a meditation altar and a consistent form.

Honor:

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

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

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

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

My morning routine is probably the thing that develops honor in myself more than any other time.  It is about me finding balance and strength and being prepared for the day.

Courage:

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

Principle – Act with Courage at the right time.

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

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

I know of no routine that prepares one for the necessity of courage other than to meditate on courage.  That is definitely why meditation is important.

Truth:

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

Principle – To Honestly Pursue, Accept and Speak Truth to All who will Listen.

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

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

The reading and writing as part of my daily routine need to be more solid.  Too many things hinge on them.

Higher Virtue: Love:

I recently heard a speaker via YouTube make a simple statement that learning to love oneself is key to everything and that one should take the chance and love yourself first and then the rest will flow out of that.  I couldn’t agree more but my personal struggle has always been to put myself on the back burner for others.  Finding balance here is the key and routine is the process of turning that key.  Of spending time on what is important to me.

Morning Routine:

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

There is no need to change this.  There is a need to be more consistent in doing it. But that is probably true for all my routines.

I remain.

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

Skaal!!!

“Year’s End” – A Skald’s Life – Foundational Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Journal Entry:

It should be noted, that for me new years and years end from a calender sense do not mean as much to me. My philosophy has always been that the day you are thinking about doing something is the day to act on it.  If you wait till later, it will fade and you will find yourself not doing it.  My year cycle goes from April to March which coincides with my birthday.   That is mostly about the assessment of progress and making adjustments to goals and my bucket list.

That said as I am starting to look back at 2019. I can say at least it wasn’t shitty for me.  Not what I wanted completely but it didn’t suck like 2018 or cause grief like 2017.  The two things that bother me right now is I felt I would have a new job by now and that I would have crossed at least one thing off my bucket list by now.   The deadline is March 2020, but those were the things I wanted to get off my list before the end of 2019.

I suppose it could still happen but I am thinking it will be early 2020 that those things will happen and so 2019 has been the same ole for the entire year.  It is the part I have found most frustrating.  But this week is about looking at my bucket list and I am trying to remind myself that I still have three months left.  it really isn’t ‘year’s end’ for me yet.

Honor:

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

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

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

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

The real issue here is once I  get a new job, I want to start planning on how to gain the hiking equipment I need to start planning for day hikes, weekend hikes and eventually this hike. As a hobby, hiking is less expensive than most but getting good durable equipment will be my first issue.  After that its all about planning and getting some experience.

Courage:

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

Principle – Act with Courage at the right time.

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

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

Money rears its ugly head on this item too.  I mean vacations are not that difficult to save for if you have some disposable income.  This has a ten-year time limit; well, nine years now.  I suppose this year’s end is a reminder that the clock is ticking.

Truth:

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

Principle – To Honestly Pursue, Accept and Speak Truth to All who will Listen.

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

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

This is a new item and begins at year’s end.  I need to start planning this one out at least a month at a time.

Higher Virtue: Love:

I think for the purpose of self-love, I need to have a bucket list item crossed off very soon. I need 2020 to be a good year.  I really need that at this point.

Morning Routine:

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

My routines are good and next week I will look at them specifically.  But mostly it is the execution that needs to be better.

I remain.

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

Skaal!!!

“True Satisfaction” – A Skald’s Life – Foundational Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Journal Entry:

I guess coming off industriousness yesterday that is still a theme running in my head. Most notably, that I need to get a little more aggressive in going after what I want asf ar as goals.  I no longer believe that ‘godliness with contentment is great gain’.  That’s a good saying to keep the masses under control, but it is not true.  Mostly, those that work hard, focus on their goals and go after them that are successful.

Reviewing my goals is the issue this week for A Skald’s Life and thankfully there are fewer of them.  Down to five left and so that means I can focus more time on each one of them. Hopefully, the help I receive now will aid in that as well.

Honor:

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

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

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

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

Goal Achieved

Courage:

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

Principle – Act with Courage at the right time.

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

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

Crossing something off my bucket list is easily down with a small significant amount of cash to get a tattoo. A new job would go a long way toward this and that is one of my other goals.

Truth:

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

Principle – To Honestly Pursue, Accept and Speak Truth to All who will Listen.

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

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

If I stick with my word count for the rest of the year, one book will be finished in all probability by March.

Higher Virtue: Love:

Much fo my counseling and talk about a career is about finding a new identity.  Every time a goal falls off I feel a little love for myself and I know this overall theme of finding identity is wrapped up in a lot of goals for the year.  I may be a wanderer of life, but I need mile markers to tell me I have passed a certain direction with progress.  This is key to loving myself and so goals are a necessary and important tool.

Morning Routine:

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

I need to get back to his more consistently.  It seems like my discipline these days waxes and wains and that is symptomatic of The Grey.

I remain.

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

Skaal!!!

“Matters of Principle” – A Skald’s Life – Foundational Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Journal Entry:

This week is a week of reexamining principles.  I have no doubt that there will be changes but what they will be I am not sure.  Mostly though principles are short reflections that guide my own understanding of the Nine Noble Virtues. They feature prominently in my meditations.

Mostly though I am using this week to reflect as during holiday weeks like this one I have a lot to think about because holidays mean something far different to me right now which I am still discovering.

Honor:

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

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

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

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

No changes.  This has always been a good principle to guide me when it comes to honor.  As slippery as honor can be, this seems to give me some traction when it comes to meditating on it.

Courage:

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

Principle – Act with Courage at the right time.

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

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

No problems with this one and I consider this principle one of my best as it is short and two the point.  My meditations on courage are often the best because of it due to this simple principle.

Truth:

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

Principle – To Honestly Pursue, Accept and Speak Truth to All who will Listen.

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

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

This was pretty much a complete rewrite as the old principal was wordy and two phrases. This sums it up better and shortens it.

Higher Virtue: Love:

Love’s principle is undefined.  Partly because love as a virtue is so large and encompasses many things, mostly though the priority of loving myself first is a big change for me and I have to work at it.

Morning Routine:

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

I am thinking there will be a week where I specifically address my routines as well.  But so far this one works.

I remain.

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

Skaal!!!

“Rewriting My Virtues” – A Skald’s Life – Foundational Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Journal Entry:

So I have reached the point in this rotation where I am back to reconsidering my virtues.  I am actually looking this week to do a little rewriting off them.  Something I have not done for pretty close to a year.

I have been getting memory posts on Facebook from last year regarding this blog and it is very interesting as then things were far different than they are now.  I am a different person but I am still becoming. Following these virtues has been a large part of that and still is part of the process of becoming so it needs to continue.

However, things change as far as understanding of the virtues and I need to change them in small ways to reflect that. Although there will be some if not most that I won’t change at all.

Honor:

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

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

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

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

I really don’t have a problem with how this virtue is written as probably it is was Honor and the definition gives for it that drew me to the Nine Noble Virtues in the first place.   Having inner value and recognizing it in others is a noble pursuit.

Courage:

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

Principle – Act with Courage at the right time.

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

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

Another one with no changes,  Pretty simple and straightforward.  In this case, it is not the virtue so much as living up to it that is difficult.

Truth:

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

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

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

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

Once again no rewriting here but a commitment to probably speak out more is probably more necessary.

Higher Virtue: Love:

I have never defined love as I think it has many definitions and they all need to be discussed here.  I have done a few self-love things this week so I am happier.  I probably am overdue for a ‘The Grey and The Wayfarer’ post but that happens sometimes when I engage in self-love actions and then start questioning myself about it.

Morning Routine:

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

Good.  I still need my meditation altar stuff though.

I remain.

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

Skaal!!!

“Milestones” – A Skald’s Life – Foundational Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Journal Entry:

A family member once remarked to me that my goals and bucket list items were good but seemed unrealistic at times or might be hard to achieve.  I told them that is kind of the point.  For me Goals, whether the regular yearly ones or the ones on my bucket list are milestones on the journey. Markers of progress.  The goals are about getting somewhere even if that somewhere is gone to simple for enjoyment’s sake.

My bucket list items are just that – the enjoyment of life milestones.  They are the subject this week of review and one that I enjoy every time in doing because they are the ones that cause me to dream the biggest.  The point of a bucket list is to keep you living life and if done right has things crossed off it regularly.  Also though there should be things on it when you die.  The most damning thing in my mind for a human being is not to have his eye on the horizon toward the next mile marker even when you’re dying.

You can milestones or gravestones – the choice is yours.

Honor:

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

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

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

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

I want hiking to be more of a regular hobby of sorts.  I need out more and even if alone hiking offers me that thinking solace that I enjoy, but also the fresh air and exercise do wonder to my mood.  My bucket list item here is about my first long camping hike.  After that who knows.  Hiking the AP, PCT, and CDT in retirement?  Maybe.

Courage:

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

Principle – Act with Courage at the right time.

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

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

My first and last time in Budapest was so fast and I enjoyed it but I want to go back as a travel goal.  Part of a longer trip to discover my origins, maybe that river cruise capstone of that experience.

Truth:

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

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

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

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

This a new one where I can say to people I read a book a week for a year but also a desire that this is a habit I get into as well.  I want to learn something right up to the day of my death.

Higher Virtue: Love:

I am looking at this part of my bucket list and realizing that persuing these three items is some of the most loving things I could do for myself. The journey to these three items is really about me getting something I would love to do. All of them are expressions of who I want to be and what I want to see in my life.

Morning Routine:

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

I need to get the mechanics for this routine down and some stuff for meditation purposes.  I do like how this works now.

I remain.

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

Skaal!!!

“Courage, Atheism and Asatru” – Of Wolves and Ravens – Courage

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Mani’s Day

Discussion:

Probably the most sobering moment for me as an atheist was to realize that my life is a one-shot.  This is all I get, and I need to make the most of it.  There has been a lot of attacks on atheism that courage might be difficult but I feel that atheists are actually the most courageous people in the world.  We face mortality with a great deal of reality.  We embrace what is true not what feels good.

For a long time, I kept my faith in the hope that an afterlife would give me a second shot. This a nice unprovable fiction. It feels good but it isn’t verifiably true and probably is nothing more than wishful thinking.  Time to flip this and face my convictions with courage and ask the tough questions of life and accept the reality of the answers that are true.

Asatru gave me a definition of courage I accept and still embrace.  The issue is Vikings no longer walk the earth in the old sense and Valhalla is just as much a fantasy story as heaven.  If an atheist lays down his life, he probably does it for far greater reasons than the religious.  The atheist is going to want his death to have some meaning, but more importantly their life as well. The atheist wants every moment to have purpose because once those moments are gone, they are gone. It takes a great deal of courage to live this way as well as die for something when you know that is the absolute finale.

To the Wolves and Ravens:

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

Needs (Geri):

What I need is more of the courage of conviction. There is a battle in this world every single day and to do the right thing at the right time is a monumental task on a daily basis. The issue is having convictions that are about asking difficult questions and then accepting the answers. This a basic need of humankind but most people don’t have the courage to do this preferring to ask simple questions and accepting answers that comfort them rather than are genuinely true.

Wants (Freki):

The reason I want courage is that truth has far more benefit, even when uncomfortable than lies. Delusion, such as the kind found in any form of tribalistic ideology, is never helpful and often ends in the suffering of a kind that has long term consequences.  The truth may be painful at first, but if courageously embraced, it will lead to the prosperity of all types.

Reason (Huginn):

For me, courage starts with reason rather than feelings. It might be nice to die for a cause but one has no way of knowing if one’s death will actually be helpful.  The only way to really determine this would be to think about it.  Courage stemming from one’s rationally held convictions is far more likely to lead to something of value.

Wisdom (Muninn):

Of course, as an atheist, I pay far more attention to the lives of others. To their words and wisdom of age as they live.  People who live a long time are not always wise, but if they have wisdom it is usually rationally evident and convicts the intuition.  One knows wisdom when you hear it and it gives motivation as well as reason. Then all that is left is to act at the right time.

Conclusion:

We don’t live in a world of such constant warfare that dying and going to Valhalla is an option like of old.  Courage must express itself differently and in the case of an atheist, it is done by conviction and accepting of the truth regardless of feelings.  The real battle one must have courage with at times is the one inside one’s own mind.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Death Angel” – Rogue Wizard – The Fire of Fury – Part 19

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sol’s Day!

Rogue Wizard’s Journal – October 30th, 2019

Well, the fear I have been having has taken form. I have been nervous every time we go to town and the last couple of times I felt that we were being watched.  Closely watched.  Lunette says her scouting runs every morning show nothing but I pulled my familiar raven Nevermore from his pocket dimension and added his wandering eyes to scouting and in the end, it has paid off.

The cold of fall and early winter is on the Upper Peninsula so the skinny dipping sessions have disappeared and we are spending more time in the sauna and cuddled in bed for that matter.  Our plan was to settle in here for the winter and then take off in the spring.  As safe as this place seems, the fact remains the longer we stay here the more difficult it will be to keep ourselves hidden.

My relationship with the two women is growing and we are now pretty comfortable in the presence of each other to the point intimacy of all levels is pretty normal with us. If it wasn’t for the constant danger we are in, things would be wonderful.  As it is we have to remind ourselves our little paradise on earth is under threat from some of the most dangerous magic users in the world.

Today brought to that the forefront of our mind as we finally saw a Death Angel wandering in town.  It took us back for a second but we knew immediately he was hunting for us. he didn’t stand out at first with his black overcoat like he probably would have during summer, but in the cold weather, he looked normal for this time of year.  If it wasn’t for his pale skin and pure white hair – two side effects of necromantic magic.

I have been a rogue wizard all my life and am not in any way bound by the Council’s laws on necromancy (which you can see they violate themselves), but you know what magic form I have never dabbled in?  Necromancy.  It dangerous shit as it can truly exact a heavy price if you do not learn to safeguard yourself.  The most potent form of it is death spells which require the life of someone to cast.

I suppose this is also its greatest weakness and why so many necromancers don’t like casting the death spell.   You have to first bind another living creature to the spell as the ‘cost’ for casting it, then cast it hoping you did the binding spell right.  If you don’t it will take that price from you.  That’s why necromancers like immortals as if the bind their death spells to an immortal then its unlimited charges.

Normally though most necromancy takes blood or other living things of smaller size like bugs or rats.  Which is why necromancers are fond of them. They also tend to use blood magic using their own blood when possible but the blood of others if necessary.  It isn’t uncommon for necromancers to have cuts on their palms.  More subtlely the magic begins to take the color from your skin and hair. Pale is what you call a long term necromancer.

Nevermore was circling the town above us when he spotted the guy. He was tall, pale and dressed in a black overcoat. Really, right out of a movie.  These necromancer types the Council recruits are usually professional and have the same moral code as Darth Vader.  Often the same effect on people too.

I quickly told the girls to get in the truck and we needed to leave as quickly as possible without causing a scene.  We finished our shopping, loaded the truck and headed back to the cabin. We all breathed a heavy sigh of relief when we were home.

Nevermore came home a little later. I had left him to observe the man.  He stayed, seemed to track something by sniffing where we had been and then took off into the woods.

“What could he be sniffing for” Amber asked.

“Me”, Lunette answered.

Pixies have their own smell that is unique.  Lunette never wears perfume as she already smells like flowers constantly.  I love her smell but it is unique in that what would a pixie be doing here in the middle of nowhere?  There is no grove up here.  The presence of a pixie wouldn’t be too abnormal if this wasn’t werewolf territory for the most part and pixies and werewolves have a blood feud so old, no one remembers who started it. But if that smell is accompanied by two others who are human then it might set off some alarm bells.

Nevermore lost him and came home.

The time of year does not help either. Halloween is upon us and that means the worlds are crossing over and the spiritual plane will give necromancers a little boost to their powers.  All wizards really, but the undead will walk tonight and they will have an easier time spotting us. I checked my wards and we are sitting by the fire instead of in the bedroom.  The plan is to take shifts being on watch. This could get ugly. Nighttime will be the worst.

Writer’s Notes:

The series is coming to its finality. I should also note that the last parts are going to be emotionally draining for me to write. That’s the only spoiler alert you are going to get. 

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!