Honor

“The Cold Hard Reality of Justice” – Of Wolves and Ravens – Justice

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Mani’s Day

Discussion:

The cold hard reality of justice is that you may never receive it. Ever.  No matter how much you desire it or want to think you deserve it, justice may elude you. It this injustice of life that causes people to think if a final cosmic justice after death where the scales are balanced and everyone gets what they deserve.  Every type of life after death mythos has this in it in some way. The problem is that there is no evidence that this will ever happen. It might be something hoped for, but it is likely to be all nonsense and wishful thinking.

When people ask me what I believe, I tell them that I have no active belief in any god of any type. That makes me for all practical purposes an atheist. I occasionally conceded it would be nice if deism was true, but believing in a creator cause is a far cry from all the other claims of theism of any kind. Including any form of a goddess, that holds a scale in her hand one hand and a sword in the other and is blindfolded.  That is mythology.

See the source image

The sad real truth is many people will never receive justice for what has been done to them and in some cases, you have to be content with it.  Notice, I didn’t say forgive because in my opinion forgiveness should not just be given toward injustice.  Forgiveness being encouraged is often simply an excuse for those who have the power to get away with wrongdoing and abuse. A man who sexually abuses and rapes his daughter should have his dick cut off; not be forgiven.

There are other ways to get peace about things that happen to you, forgiveness needs to be carefully measured and viewed in the light of contrition from the person who did the harm in the first place.  Without contrition and restitution upfront, forgiveness is not deserved in my opinion.  Justice is a better option until those things take place.

Justice can take many forms and merits a discussion in regards to philosophy outside of any final afterlife balancing of the scales. So…

To the Wolves and Ravens:

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

Needs (Geri):

To illustrate my meaning here, I will use my own unpleasant experience with and desire for justice to take place toward The Dirty Pig.  I need justice in this regard as I know like so many others who have wronged me, they haunt me like ghosts to this very day. I never get over them and that is simply how I am.  I learn to cope but it never sits right with me ever.  The only exception has been when I learned later that karma or the universe had bitten them in the ass in much the same way.  The leadership of my former denomination that was instrumental in my downfall from my second church is a good example as later I learned their own bad actions caught up with them and they too were discredited.

I need something similar to happen to the Dirty Pig for my conscience’s sake.  Such justice allows me to smile and truly walk away and not look back.

Wants (Freki):

I want justice in regard to The Dirty Pig as well.  Pardon me if I think people who are fake and false friends should be seen for it. That an honorless person should be exposed as being honorless. That people who have a trail of broken friendships they no longer saw as useful to them or that were necessary to shuck off to cover their own ass should face the consequences of being narcissistic self-righteous assholes.  Yes, pardon me for think justice should be enacted on people who are sanctimonious jerks who use people to entertain themselves.  Sorry, I don’t just want to see it with the Dirty Pig, I want to take the sword from lady justice and use it myself.See the source image

Reason (Huginn):

All that said with my wolves howling for justice, the raven of reason caws and reminds me I may never see it, or be the one who holds the sword, and I need to be ready for that.  I need to be content that it may be someone else he has wronged (there are many of us) that brings down the old boar known as The Dirty Pig.  In such a moment I need to be content with simply toasting that bringer of justice’s good fortune.  I may also have to accept that he may die having never received justice. Then my contentment will come from toasting in contempt of his memory and I won’t be alone in that regard.

Wisdom (Muninn):

The raven of wisdom caws – patience. Yeah, I can do that. Mostly one day I know he is going to need friends and because he has thrown so many of us away as no longer worthy, he will be lacking in that regard. The potential and probability for poetic justice are very high given his behavior and patterns.  He also isn’t as smart as he thinks he is and that means he has the potential to make a mistake with the wrong person who will show him for what he is. Yeah, I wait and watch.  My fury can stay smoldering and focused on the right time to act.

Conclusion:

In the last two years, I can say three traumatic events have happened in my life. I loved and lost Miss Salty.  I nearly got a divorce from my wife.  Someone I thought was a good friend turned his back on me.  He lied to me and used someone I loved and a congregation I loved to get his own version of honorless justice to prove he was the kingfish. He slandered me, lied about me and stabbed me in the back.  In doing so he demonstrated his lack of honor, friendship and concern for anyone but himself. Of the three it is the only one I am still angry about and want justice for.  But, I realize patience and keeping myself open to the many forms justice may take is necessary.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“One Year – Made it” – A Skald’s Life – Foundational Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Mani’s Day

Journal Entry:

The moment this post goes active, there will be a WordPress notification that tells me this is a streak of 365 days – 1 year.  Tomorrow will be the one-year birthday celebration and I will talk about that in more detail then.  But for today, I want to take a deep breath and enjoy the fact that a finish line was crossed.  Something I set out to do was completed and quite frankly right now I could use the win.

In the ‘A Skald’s Life’ posts this week I will be focusing on the principles of each virtue.  The virtue is the idea, the principle is the beginning plan of action to make it happen. A guiding idea that takes each virtue and puts it into practice.

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 is one of the most tricky virtues of them all. I have worked hard to shuck off the past and live in the present moment. One can only take one’s honor at the present moment and build it and that comes from a sense of personal pride. I still struggle here for myself but note people who are honorable and people who are not.

Goal achieved today.

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.

What specifically is the right thing to do is often self-evident for me.  The tricky part is to act on it at the right time. If there is one specific thing that happened recently it was to take the plunge and be a writer first and whatever second.  That said now finding a better job may be in focus, but given the situation at my current work, I just don’t feel that is my avenue to find a better job.  Time to search for something better with more energy and act with courage.

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: Learn Latin by March 31st, 2021 to the point I can take a test and show my self proficient.

I am not sure honesty serves me well in all things, but I guess given my personality I would rather fail and maintain truth than succeed with a lie. My personality would never see this as a liability as INFJs are idealistic as fuck and here I am. I find myself quiet a lot these days.  I simply don’t think most of humanity is ready for the truth because it is uncomfortable. I would rather stay quiet than engage the comforting lies most people tell themselves.

Higher Virtue: Love:

The struggle between the love of myself and the love of others continues. The warnings I have gotten from studying my personality and my counselors over the years echo in my head – ‘You need to remember to take care of yourself. It’s something you are going to struggle with, so remember to do it.”  Yeah, I know.  I just keep running into a wall about it.

Morning Routine:

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

Better, but needs to be complete.

I remain.

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

Skaal!!!

“Corsair” – Space Tramp – Chapter 6 (MegaTraveller Fan Fiction)

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Story:

Captian Junos shook Jeremiah’s Hand for the last time as his captain.   She told him it had been an honor to serve with him and to be his captain.  He, in turn, thanked her for all the training and support she had given him for the last five years.  She was retiring and selling the Regina Strider because the last speculative trade run had not only been very profitable, it had put the last pieces in place for her to retire on Regina, her homeworld.

Jeremiah thought back to the day after the refit was finished and the captain had accounted what was going to happen that next year. Firstly that he was not going to be the pilot or engineer that year.  He was not even going to be the Steward/Medic.  Rather he took the role of navigator/security officer.  Captain Junos had hired a top-notch pilot and engineer and they were not going to need a steward as they were engaged purely in a speculative trade run in very lucrative goods along the border of the Empire.

That’s why the refit of the Regina Strider had also involved installing a weapons turret with a missile launcher. Something that before they left Jeremiah was trained to operate as it would be his responsibility in the event of a pirate attack to use the turret in combat.  In simulations, he was eventually very good at it.

The one problem was that he was a security officer and he realized he had never actually been trained in anything martial.  He began to ask around and discovered that the new engineer had been in the military and has some knowledge of weapons.  Jeremiah asked if he would train him and the engineer, a rough middle-aged man, suggested he learn to use small blades.

There were a lot of reasons for this.  Inside a starship, a battle was going to be close quarters and so distance weapons would be less important.  Secondly, a blade was a solid weapon that on most systems one could still wear openly or concealed for personal protection.  It was easier to learn knife fighting than most other things. The entire trip the engineer trained him in small blades and even though he never had to actually use the skills he had learne, he was good at using them by the end of the trip.

The real test came as they entered a system to refuel at a gas giant.  There was no good starport so they were simply going to top off the fuel tanks and run the onboard purifier.  The process took some days because you had to travel to the gas giant. Doing hyperspace jump in a strong gravity well is dangerous.  So, you then had to travel enough distance away from the gravity well of the gas giant to jump all the while letting the purifier refine the fuel.

They were approaching the gas giant when the corsair starship appeared. Hails did no good as it was clear that the pirates intended to disabling the Regina Strider and boarding her. Jeremiah activated the missile launcher and after getting a target lock fired a salvo of three missiles.  The corsair had not expected a merchant ship with teeth but continued to pursue despite the missiles. Jeremiah guided the three missiles and used his skill to make them come in from three directions.

The Pilot maneuvered their ship to be evasive and Captian Juros showed a little knowledge of ship tactics.  The end result was the pirate ship was hit twice but did manage to hit the Strider with its own beam weapons which disabled the maneuver drive. The corsair, however, must have been gravely damaged as it broke off and disengaged. limping back the way it came. Jeremiah sent a couple missles after it to keep it moving away.

The engineer and the rest of the crew of Strider went to work getting the maneuver drive back up and running and succeeded in a few hours. With the corsair nowhere on the sensors, they fueled up and headed to the jump point. The hyperspace jump was a welcome relief as everyone was on edge thinking the corsair would reappear, but it never did.

A couple jumps later they were back on Regina.  The cargo they brought had done far better than expected. Jeremiah was given a large bonus and Captian Junos announced her retirement.  As it turned out the pilot and engineer were old friends of hers who had over the years invested in her ship.  All of them were going to retire to very comfortable lives.

All of them met at The Naked Gypsy for a combination of celebrations.  Captain Junos’ retirement from the Free Traders was well celebrated by many free trader captains. But also Jeremiah had passed his 2nd Officer exam and had been promoted. Captain Junos said it was fitting that as she was going out, a bright star of the future was rising.  She was very proud of the man he had become and even said so. She was glad that she had taken a chance on a young man from Strouden those five years ago.

Eventually, the celebrations died down and Captian Junos said goodbye to him.  She had a ship to put up for sale and then was traveling to another city on Regina where she had purchased a home. She did something he didn’t expect while telling him if he ever needed her help with something to not hesitate to call her; she kissed him.  Gently and with a lot of motherly love, something that Jeremiah had never experienced in truth until then.  He watched her leave with a large sadness in his heart.

The rest of the evening he sat at the bar and pondered his next move. His possessions were in a duffle bag at his feet and everything else was on his person. It seemed strange to not have the Strider to go back to as it had been his home for five years.  He had learned a lot these last five years and now it was time to put that to the test in finding a new ship and captain to serve. He was wondering what challenges were in store for him next.

He downed his last drink and then gathered his duffle bag over his shoulder.  He was a Spacer and he would land on his feet.  In the meantime, it was time for some companionship of the female variety, so he headed upstairs to the brothel.

Megatraveler Notes:

Free Trader 3rd Officer Jeremiah Kilwood

Rank: O2 – 3rd Officer   Terms Served: 1

UPP: A67A74   Age: 22  Homeworld: Strouden UWP: A-745988-D N Hi In

Skills: Pilot – 1, Navigation – 1, Engineering – 1, Sensor Ops – 1, Legal – 1, Carousing – 1, Grav Vehicle – 0, Computer – 0, Handgun – 0, Vacc Suit – 0

Brownie Points: 3 

Year Five:

Roll for position availability: 8+ 1 for Intelligence = 9  – position available.

Roll for assignment: 9 + 1 for Social 5- = 10 – Speculative Trade

Survival Roll: 5 – survives (barely -again),

Skill Roll: 5 – Skill acquired.

Bonus: 9 – Bonus – roll: 6 muster out table: 50,000 Cr / 2 = 25000 Cr. bonus.

Promotion: 8 – Promoted to 2nd Officer

Roll for Skills: ( 1 fo skill roll/ 1 for promotion): Shipboard Life Table: Blade Combat Cascade: picks Small Blade – 1, Free Trader Service Table: 5 – Space Combat Cascade: Picks Gunnery Cascade: picks Turret Weapons -1

1 Brownie Point for promotion:

MegaTraveller Shorthand

Free Trader 2rd Officer Jeremiah Kilwood

Rank: O3 – 2nd Officer   Terms Served: 1

UPP: A67A74   Age: 23  Homeworld: Strouden UWP: A-745988-D N Hi In

Skills: Pilot – 1, Navigation – 1, Engineering – 1, Sensor Ops – 1, Legal – 1, Carousing – 1, Small Blade-1, Turret Weapons-1, Grav Vehicle – 0, Computer – 0, Handgun – 0, Vacc Suit – 0

Brownie Points: 4, Bonus Money: 25000 Cr.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“A Strong Foundation” – A Skald’s Life – Foundational Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Mani’s Day

Journal Entry:

This week we return to the beginning and talk ao but Virtues; particularly the virtues of The Nine Noble Virtues of Asatru and the Higher Virtues. In my own philosophy, I have broken these down into three groups of the virtues each with their own corresponding higher virtue. This is my conceptualization and other followers of Asatru might do it differently.

The first group for me is what I call the foundational virtues: Honor, Courage, and Truth with the corresponding higher virtue of Love. For me, this is symbolized by the bottom triangle of the Vulknut.  It is about the part of my philosophy that is foundational in the sense it deals with everything and all situations. These are the virtues that form the bedrock of my philosophy.

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).

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

Honor is not just a word to me.  I do find the struggle interesting of being an honorable person is a modern world that seems not to have any at all at times. Having a feeling of inner value and worth seems to be constantly challenged. My foundational drive is to have that sense fo honor. I also seke to recognize and praise the honorable. Honor is a tricky and difficult virtue, probably the most difficult.

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.

Doing what is right is not always easy to figure out.  Once I do I have gotten much better at acting on what is right but it still is the question of what is right?  That takes some time to figure out and honestly, my track record tells me I take too long at that part of it. I am getting better because time is something important to me and wasting time trying to make decisions that ate perfectly right is not ultimately productive.

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: Learn Latin by March 31st, 2021 to the point I can take a test and show my self proficient.

It takes a while to get real shit (truth) form me because I don’t just give that out to anyone. I prefer silence when it comes to the truth to most other people.  Most people don’t want the truth anyway, they want comforting lies.  The more real issue to me is remaining truthful with myself.  It helps that I now see this as a loving act toward myself to be truthful.

Higher Virtue: Love:

Honor, Courage, and Truth coem together to form the foundation of love.  That leads to one aspect that I now struggle with which is creativity.  For me, my muse has always flown from something or somebody I have loved.  For whatever reason, when I have a certain type of love for someone it is the best kind of foundation for creative work. For me writing, in particular, is fueled by this kind fo love. my best times of writing and most productive is where I have had someone I loved very deeply and it flowed to my fingers and out on to digital paper.

The frustrating thing is this has never worked with my family, even my wife.  I wonder sometimes if this is because certain love is expected and not just freely offered.  I know my most productive time of creativity was Feb 2018 to July 2018 but that was Miss Salty and that also had some serious downsides in the end.  Now, I just search for a new muse and I wonder who or what I have to love to find her.

Morning Routine:

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

Solid, working more on consistency at all levels.

I remain.

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

Skaal!!!

“Kicking the Bucket” – A Skald’s Life – Foundational Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Mani’s Day

Journal Entry:

This week I consider my bucket list. You know that list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket. This list is the major milestone I want to hit before my death and i think it is important to have long term goals and that is what they are.

People ask me without Christianity how do I have hope.  I ask them why they would assume that just because I don’t believe in the Chrisitan version of the afterlife any more that I wouldn’t have hope?  If you always looking to the beyond for your justification for living in hope now; I would say you are too heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good. Hope for me is not about life after but the life I have now.

As I deist I concede the atheists might be right and this is all I get. I also hope there is a life after death but I am not going to act as if that is guaranteed.  My bucket list is a reflection of the things that I want so that my life now is enjoyable and the purpose I create with them for my life is my own creation. I find a lot of hope in this.

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).

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

This is the beginning of my hike bucket list as the first goal.  If my ultimate goal as an old person is to hike the triple crown this is a good training hike to prepare for the idea of how to do something long term.

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.

This is a desire to visit a city I have seen for a few days once again and view all of its places. I loved this town as it did not feel like a city to me.  More of an experience.  I want to experience it again but this time for a couple weeks and enjoy it.

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: Learn Latin by March 31st, 2021 to the point I can take a test and show my self proficient.

A short term bucket list Item and one I am considering changing.  Don’t get me wrong Latin is an awesome language to learn but I am thinking that if I am going to learn a language every couple of years, languages that are actually spoken now might be more beneficial and then learn Latin at a later date.

Higher Virtue: Love:

I am very focused on the fulcrum of self-love right now. my understanding that this is what makes all my other loves possible and stronger is the motivation.  Mostly though I need to start focusing on my goals and bucket list because this is my life and I need to start living it and loving it.

Morning Routine:

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

This part got shorter.  I don’t do breakfast and people freak out about it, but you know I have found that eating from what most people would consider 11am to 7pm is sufficient for me and intermittent fasting has proven, when coupled with my Paleo Diet, to improve my fat loss and weight management.

I remain.

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

Skaal!!!

“Escape” – Rogue Wizard: The Fire of Fury – Part 12

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

 

Happy Thor’s Day

Rogue Wizards Journal – August 20th, 2019

If you had told me three days ago I would be sitting in a cabin in some unknown location in the upper peninsula of Michigan and writing in a journal I haven’t touched in months, I would have told you that it was highly improbable. But here I am and the last 3 days has been something that definitely took away the boredom of the past couple of months.

Well, it hasn’t been completely boring as sexual activity with an attractive middle-aged pixie is always a treat. Just the right amount of energy and experience. Yes, Lunette and I are still a thing. It’s actually gone quite well other than I began to get alarmed at how much we weren’t paying attention to the situation or doing our research the first couple of weeks.  We were having a lot of sex.

Eventually, though things evened out a bit and the nights with Lunette were a welcome end to a day’s work where we could change gears and just enjoy one another on all levels. She is a different woman since high school.  More conscientious and far less stuck up. I am glad she is with me right now because the situation has gotten dramatically worse.

Three days ago, Amber knocks on the door.  Lunette answers it and she hustles in without the normal ‘is it ok if I come in’. She informs us that the Lioness received communication from the Council which basically amounted to an accusation that she was harboring a fugitive, namely me.  There must have been a leak and that means not all of the mages of House Venus are loyal to the Lioness.  No surprise, but that meant this place being a safe house was over.

We were prepared for this and in a few minutes I had my magic books in my backpack, and I had changed into my traveling garb which was basically a pair of jean shorts, a dark grey t-shirt, and some trail boots.  Lunette for her part has packed some potions in my backpack.  She was going to shrink down in size eventually,  so she had prepared a small outfit made of enchanted leaves and she also had a very small dagger to match.  She kept this stuff in a small box in her back pocket of her cutoff shorts she was now wearing along with her pink t-shirt, so when she shrunk down she could put them on then by pulling it out first.

I cast some wards on the rest of the stuff in the room.  Some things could only be opened by my direct descendants.  Others would basically disintegrate if anyone tried to touch or use them except me. Not leaving anything for the bad guys. The real issue now was how to leave the mansion without being seen or having a fight.

Amber had our solution which as to get to the portal room.  Basically, all these mage types equipped their bases with magic portals.  They were expensive in terms of cost both to create and use, so they tended to be rare. But it would be smart fo the Lioness to be near one so she could get anywhere effectively in the world. The only trick was magic stones were required to power them and they were expensive to make and only lasted a couple times before depleted.

The trick to this portal, in particular, is it was in the second basement at the far end away from us and that meant finding away to get there without being seen.  the second problem was wherein all creation to go once we used it. We had a little time so pulled out the map I had magically made of the mansion thanks to Nevermore and Lunette.  I could look through Nevermore’s eyes and Lunette made him invisible and silent so he could fly about.  Using what he saw I had made a fairly detailed map of the layout of the mansion.

The path through the upper parts was easy enough, the only thing was to slip past all the guards but Amber figured she could escort us where we needed to be.  The second basement would be easily reached through the first level, but then things would get dicey. There was part fo the second basement that was beyond even Amber’s security clearance and one of those was the portal room which was only accessible to the Lioness and a few trusted others.  We might have to fight their way through at that point.

“The second level has illusion countermeasures.  Lunette’s power will be less helpful down there.”

“Yeah, but Lunette and I are good at fighting together, and if I go taking out some of these House Venus female superiority types, that’s a fine way to go.  No offense Amber.”

“No offense taken. I think it is time for me to leave my house anyway.  I was born into it, but I don’t agree at all with their ideals – I like men as more than playthings.”

“So you are coming with us?”, Lunette asked.

“Have to.  They will know I helped you and they will have me executed for treason. Better to take my chances with you, and you need the firepower anyway. Things are going to get hot and you need someone hotter.”

She winked and I laughed. Lunette frowned.

“The real question is where to go once we use the portal?’, Amber’s question and it brought me to the one thing I had never thought of before. Lunette spoke.

“I know a place we could go to.  A safe house I used to use.  It’s a cabin in the upper peninsula and quite secluded.  It is not going to be a permanent place, but it might buy us time.”

“Ok. that actually sounds good. Any chance it is occupied?”, I asked.

“No, it’s a family place and the only ones who used it was me and my parents.”

Amber nodded in agreement and we set out to the second basement.

Lunette basically made herself silent and invisible. We figured if it was only me and Amber I could look like I was being escorted to the Lioness who was usually in the basement. In fact, that was our cover story.  The people in the mansion were used to me walking around as I would do that once or twice every day with Amber in tow so nothing unusual to alarm them.

We reached the stairway to the second level of the basement and paused to collect ourselves.  I knew there were two guards at the bottom of the stairs. If the Lioness was in the second basement, we could get past them with our cover story. I had been in the second basement several times but this is where the invisible Nevermore had been the most helpful.  If not we would have to fight past them.

The Lioness was in the second basement so they let us past, but that meant we might run into her and that would require some fast-talking. I wanted to get out of this place with as little noise as possible. I wanted to leave as many questions as possible after we disappeared as to where we were.  Oddly enough, there were no guards at all on the second level and we walked pretty much in a straight line to the portal room.  I was suspicious as fuck about this and so were my two companions. Lunette especially since she was visible and could be heard.

“Ok, I am going to shrink down.  I smell a fight.  She took out the small box from her back pocket and put it in my palm.  She shrunk down and her clothes collapsed on the floor. She landed on my palm and after opening the box, got dressed and put the belt with the dagger around her waist. She winked at me and I smiled. She knew I had been watching.  I picked up her clothes and put them in my pack.

“Ok, I am ready,” she said as she drew her dagger.

We opened the door to the portal room and were surprised – Only the Lioness was present in front of the portal which looked like a big looking glass about seven feet in diameter and a true circle ringed with a bluish gem-like material.

“I knew you would come here.  I made sure Amber knew about the communication from the Council.  They will be here tomorrow and you need to be gone.”

I was flabbergasted, “You want us to leave, no heads on a platter to save your sensual curvy ass.”

“Thanks for noticing. I do squat in the gym you know?  But yes, I can give you this last kindness, I truly believe in a world where magic is everyone’s to use, but the time for revolution is not yet. You need to go and the portal is the best way to go without anyone noticing.  Here.”

She walked across the room and handed me a blue gemstone pendant and necklace.

“This is the power source for the portal.  It is fully charged so all of you can go with one shot. Whoever is picking the location need only to think of it and walk through holding the other two’s hands.”

“Thanks…you know you could gain some pretty good influence by handing us all over to the Council on a silver plate.”

“Yes, but I gave my word and that means something to me.”

“Thanks again. Janice.”

She looked startled at her real name.  Then blushed.

“Don’t tell me where you are going, the less I know the better.”

She started to walk past me then stopped and leaned over and kissed my cheek.

“Take care of Amber for me.  She is special to me.”

Then she walked out.

Lunette took off her leaf clothes and dagger and put them back in the box.  She grew back to normal size and I handed her clothes back which she deftly put on in a couple seconds. I put the necklace and pendant around her neck and she kissed me hard.

“Ok, each of you take one of my hands.”

I took her left hand in mine and Amber took her right.  We walked forward, the mirrored surface gave way and we walked through like it was a vertical pool of water and BLINK.

Suddenly, we were in front of a cabin in the woods.  A rather nice one with real logs and glass windows.  The necklace was gone.  It probably was still in the room we left right at the edge of the portal with the gem now spent of magical energy.  We, however, we’re somewhere in the upper peninsula of Michigan.

These last couple of days have been uneventful.  The problem is we are now out of the loop as far as information.  The cabin is nice enough.  Two bedrooms and an actual bathroom and a common area with a kitchen, small dining table and a couch in front of a fireplace all in one.  Cramped in some ways but close to a lake.  Down the path, a couple dozen feet is a small lake with a shed on the edge. It serves as both storages for the rowboat oars and as a sauna bathhouse.  Food is canned or boxed so we all plan on going to the small town five miles away.  No vehicle so we will have to make a day out of it and walk.

I took Nevermore out of his pocket dimension and let him fly about.  So far no alarm bells.  Well other than the U.P. is known to be a werewolf country. We can’t stay here for too long.  But it will be a nice rest for as long as it lasts.  For me, it is simply good to get outside and walk around.  Neither the pixies or mages claim this part of the world as fully theirs, so it is somewhat safer.   Time, I guess, to wait for a little and see what is next.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Self-Love – The Essential Ingredient for Happiness” – Of Wolves and Ravens – Love

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Mani’s Day

Discussion

Just a reminder that Of Wolves and Ravens will be the second post on Mani’s Day from now on instead of on Tyr’s Day.

The last time I wrote on the virtue of Love, I engaged the topic of love based on Robert Heinlein’s definition which is love is mutually essential happiness.  I still hold with that which is why turning this idea of mutual essential happiness toward the idea of self-love is personally difficult.  Because it basically amounts to the simple fact that if you do not view loving yourself as essential then you will never be happy even if you love someone else and they in return love you.

I know this from painful experience as my lack of self-love led to a lot of problems with loving others.  It creates an imbalance NOT because self-love is at one end of the scale and loving others at the other end of the scale.  It is actually that self-love is the central fulcrum point on which all other loves are balanced and if the fulcrum isn’t solid the rest will collapse.

To the Wolves and Ravens:

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

Needs (Geri):

I hope that the above understanding of self-love demonstrates the need we all have for it.  For me, this revelation showed why things went bad and why they also went so bad once they did.  This is the difference,  When your self-love is good, then you consider your love for others as trying to balance all the rest but the central love of self will not be sacrificed while doing it.

When you don’t have that, you are like a juggler that keeps taking on another object to juggle and never considers if they can handle another one. There is no self to maintain so you just keep loving others more and more until it flips to self-loathing and then you focus on that and forget you are juggling. You can’t keep all the balls in the air at that point and they start to fall until you just say ‘fuck it’ and sit down letting them crash all around you and you don’t care anymore.  That’s what happened to me.

Wants (Freki):

This is why I personally spend a lot of time thinking about how to love myself.  Loving others comes naturally to me; loving myself is work but essential work I want to do.  Taking the time to ask the simple question of ‘If I take on loving this person, will it help me love myself or hinder me loving myself? Is this love a benefit or a burden too great for me to carry?” When things are balanced, you are not juggling, but carefully considering if things between yourself and the others you love are balanced on self-love.

Reason (Huginn):

Rationally there is also the fact that loving others and finding that person whose happiness is essential to your own keeps you from narcism.  Loving yourself at the expense of all others needs to be guarded against.  Narcism is probably the basis of all evil shit in the world. Loving others is rationally necessary to keep yourself from that path, but it has to be balanced on the fulcrum of the love of self.

Wisdom (Muninn):

Balancing the love we have for others while maintaining the central fulcrum of the love of self is the issue here. We need both to be happy.  Whenever I feel unhappy, I realize now either something is out of balance or my love for self has slipped.

Conclusion:

Going back through all my discussions on love, I have to get back to the beginning idea that Love is the combination of Courage, Honor, and Truth.  Love takes these and combines them into a very powerful force.  A force that leads us to be happy in this world and that happiness’ essential ingredient is self-love that allows us to keep all our other loves balanced.  It is this understanding of love that now guides me and so far the only issues it raises is about whether certain relationships are essential to my happiness. The most essential of these is the one with myself.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Viking Blood” – A Skald’s Life – Foundational Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Mani’s Day

Journal Entry:

Every time I set aside these journal posts for a little while I get reminded of their importance. I feel I lose focus every single time I do it so I might just want to make a mental note that I should not set these aside again – ever. That said, it has been in some way a good break so I can refocus what my life and this blog are about. For those of you that might be new followers, these posts are more for my benefit, but if you can learn something from my example then bonus.

This week I want to focus on my goals so below will be some notes regarding them under each virtue. I figure a four-week focus rotation might keep me from getting repetitious or bored.  Week 1 – Virtue, Week 2 – Principle, Week 3 – Goals, Week 4 – Bucket List.   This will allow for constant review and the ability to focus on more specific aspects once a month.  I haven’t talked about my goals in a while so this will be week 3 so to speak.

The title ‘Viking Blood’ is actually a reference to some good news that happened this week.  I had some blood work done Frigg and Freya’s Day this past week and the results were much better than expected.  All my indicators are right down the middle so I am healthy in that respect and my A1c dropped from 7.5 the last time to 5.7 this time.  1.8 points in the last year and a half.  Diet and exercise are definitely working.   Still no complications due to my diabetic condition.  Good News but still trying to get my A1c into the normal range which I am now .1 away.  This Viking Blood of mine seems to be doing fine.

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).

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

When this post drops it will be 344 days straight for the Grey Wayfarer.  That leaves 21 days to go. Goal complete on September 30th.

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 am a good job and some savings away from one of my bucket list items.  Getting the tattoo would fulfill one of them. I just need the money.

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: Learn Latin by March 31st, 2021 to the point I can take a test and show my self proficient.

Now that I have determined my primary identity is a writer, I look at this goal as the first challenge of that. Getting that non-fiction book written my march is doable.  I just need to discipline myself to write every day on it.  I guess I look at this blog as stage one of my journey in becoming a writer and now it is time to write for publication purposes.  Developing the discipline and habits to do that is my next priority along with finding a new job.

Higher Virtue: Love:

I still struggle with keeping my love of self right up there with love for family and friends.  I know what happens when I continue to give up things I want and need to make others happy, eventually, I don’t give a shit and need relief at all costs.  I want to avoid that situation,  so self-love is on my mind a lot. Making sure I am taking care of me is and should be my number one priority. More on this later today.

Morning Routine:

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

As for my Routine, I am going to get back to them a couple of days at a time.  Tomorrow I want to get back to this one in full and then in a couple days my work one and then my rest one. Time to get my work and rest day routines back to where they need to be as this helps me the most with all my stuff.

I remain.

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

Skaal!!!

“Taoism: Yin and Yang” – Of Wolves and Ravens – Eastern Philosophy

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Discussion

In the rotation, I deal with eastern philosophy directly once, but to be honest there is a lot of Taoism in my philosophical viewpoint.  Particularly the idea of balance or what the Taoist would call yin and yang. The chart below kind fo displays the basic difference.

One might say the whole concept of Wolves and Ravens represents Yin and Yang, but it isn’t that simple because in Taoism some things in my philosophy cross the lines to the other side and some of the things might be considered on both sides depending on how they are applied. For me, you might say the Wolf of Need and the Raven of Reason are Yang, but the Wolf of Want and the Raven of Wisdom (which involves a lot of intuition based on experience) are Yin.

If I take anything from Taoism it is the idea of the balance of life. Of keeping things level instead of overdoing one thing at the expense of the other.  The parallels to this idea are in truth in every philosophical system I can think of as well as a large chunk of the nature of each mythology.

Probably this is found in two other notions: 1) Order (or Law) vs. Chaos (or Liberty) and 2) Good (benevolence) vs. Evil (malevolence).   A Taoist would try to strive for a balance between these and be truly neutral about both of them.  I tend to be more Chaotic but neutral about the question of good and evil.  You might say I boil it down to the issue of law vs. liberty and lean heavy on the side of liberty, but the whole good and evil question might be invalid.  I say ‘might be’ because I am still thinking and meditating about it.  The one thing is that I am deliberately unbalanced right now from a Taoist point of view in regards to law vs. liberty. Mostly because I can see how the law is far easier connected to doing harm in the name of good intentions. Whereas to me liberty brings about a respect for the humanity of the other persons in the world which often benefits all.

I would say at that point the Taoist and I reach a fork in the road and I wish them well and then take the fork in the road that says ‘liberty is better than law’.  That said, balance in other aspects of my life is influenced and reflects an understanding of Taoism.  Balance is a constant consideration of mine.

To the Wolves and Ravens:

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

Needs (Geri):

The need for balance is illustrated in what happens when the balance is not maintained.  I can speak from painful experience of the consequences of not maintaining the balance between self-love and loving others as an example.  Too far on self-love and you become a narcissist and too far in the love of others makes you a living martyr that eventually leads to self-destruction.  Neither is desirable and the balance keeps you functioning both in the love of self and others without the extremes of either. The need for balance is pretty clear from a preservation standpoint.

Wants (Freki):

A proper balance is also wanted.  It leads to greater success. I have known many men and women who their life was their work and in the end, they never enjoyed once the fruit of their labors.  Because they didn’t know how to relax and enjoy the fruit of their labors, their health suffered.  On the flip side, I have known people who gave themselves over to hedonism without working at all.  Their laziness leads to poverty and quite frankly a lack of honor.  The ultimate expression of this is the thief who lives on the labors of others.  The one who learns to balance work and enjoyment will be the one who is truly successful and that is something I definitely want.

Reason (Huginn):

Reason comes into these things as you have to think about things fairly regularly to observe if balance is being maintained.  Balance doesn’t come easily or without a lot of thought behind it.

Wisdom (Muninn):

I would say Taoism as a philosophy has a lot of wisdom to it, but I would evaluate things ma little differently as far as what needs to be balanced. That said, the principles are very universal and wise at the same time and I have no trouble listening to them and applying those I think leads to wisdom.

Conclusion:

I suppose Of Wolves and Ravens is indeed my own form of Taoism.  Balancing need and want with reason and wisdom.  But there is an imbalance built-in to that – listening to reason and wisdom first. A little asymmetry is good for us actually so that is something else to consider. Next week is western philosophy and I think there is a debate there that is about asymmetry that will be good to look at when considering this.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“The Journey: Means or Destination?” – A Skald’s Life – Foundational Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Mani’s Day

Journal Entry:

Over the last month, it seems that every discussion with family and friends turns eventually to a discussion of my future. Some of these I have started myself others have been presented to me.  No one has really yelled or pushed, but there is a concern for my welfare that is appreciated because I am not always sure about my welfare myself at times when it comes to my future.  Not that I am not concerned, it is just things seem far more difficult than I want them to be.

The issue for me is finding a new role mostly and that has me debating whether my future career is that role or is my role what needs to be defined and then what my career is will flow out of that.  It is probably for us spiritual wanderers the basic question of what is the journey? Is it a means to enlightenment or is it enlightenment itself? If it the path that is a way to points that are what brings truth and thus change or is walking on the path itself the means by which truth and change are acquired.

I have struggled with this question at times but the answer is not either-or, it is both-and.  All the questions I am trying to answer about myself right now are important.  The way I am going to find the answers is in part the points on the journey where I stop and am enlightened, but also the walking of the paths of virtue also is enlightening in and of itself.

I suppose this expresses itself in the Virtues I follow and the Principles that guide them becoming the means to the change I need in my life.  The goals and bucket list items becoming more of those points on the map where I can mark where truth and change were discovered. Both-And.

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).

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

Honor is something that seems to me is a lost virtue in this world. I note how fluid people are with their beliefs on important matters and I have to wonder if it is truly a change in position over long thought which is the honorable way to do things, or simply bending to the political whims of the mob. I commit myself to do the former and not the later.

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 have some items in my life right now that require courage and needed change. The question now is to act at the right time on them.

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: Learn Latin by March 31st, 2021 to the point I can take a test and show my self proficient.

Facing the truth is difficult these days, there is far more struggle than I want to admit to ahead in my life. But I need to face the truth and act. I am coming to another time where courage and truth as paths are going to come together for a while and that is just the truth of it.

Higher Virtue: Love:

The main issue for me right now is that I feel I am loving others again but at the expense of loving myself. I keep asking the question of how much am I going to have to give up of what I want in order to make others happy and that is causing me to have flashbacks into the same emotional state I was in a couple years ago. Being both dissatisfied and restless.  I know this means I am not loving myself enough and that is going to be tough for others when I make the shift here.  The worry I have is a backlash and my personality doesn’t like backlash, but at the same time, if I don’t make some changes, I will have failed myself.

Morning Routine:

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

The beginning of September marks a new round of effort on my routines. I am going to have to make some adjustments to the other two but this one is good and I simply need to be more consistent.

I remain.

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

Skaal!!!