Religion

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

/ Ed Raby Sr / 1 Comment

Happy Sun’s Day

Announcements:

We don’t pray here – we figure God, the gods, goddesses, or whatever powers that be either know already, don’t give a fuck, or are busy with more important matters than our petty stuff. We also kind of assume that they expect us to do stuff that we can do for ourselves and that we will do them ourselves and not be lazy. We also believe in being good friends, so we don’t presume on our friendship with the powers that be by asking them all the time for stuff while giving them nothing in return.

We also don’t take an offering here.  We figure the powers that be probably don’t need it.  Let’s be honest, offerings are not given to the divine powers, they are given to an organization to support it.  Just being honest. God, the gods or whatever never sees a dime, farthing or peso of that money; it all goes to the church, mosque or shrine.

Theme Song: “Rune” – SKALD (lyric video)

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

A little long about the Runes.

Meditation:

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

Text:

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

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

Sermon:

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

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

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

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

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

Parting Thought:

 

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

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

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

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

Discussion:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Time to Look Through the Eye:

Faith:

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

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

Religion:

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

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

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

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

Theology:

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

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

Spirituality:

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

Conclusion:

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

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

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

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

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

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

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

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

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

 

Happy Saturn’s Day

Musical Journal:

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

See the source image

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

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

See the source image

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

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

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

See the source image

Personal Significance:

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

See the source image

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

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

See the source image

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

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

See the source image

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

Playlist: 

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

The Trooper – Live 2013:

Hallowed Be Thy Name – Live 1982

The Number of the Beast – Live 2008

Murders in the Rue Morgue – Live 2005 – with introduction

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Thoughts on Freedom” – A Skald’s Life – Business Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Wooden’s (Odin’s) Day

Journal Entry:

Governments don’t grant freedom.  Religion doesn’t grant freedom.  The right to liberty and freedom simply is, it is others who are arrogant in their presumption that they have the ‘right’ to take it away or grant it.  If you need permission to do something from the government, religion or any other force, you are not free to do it. If we are going to say liberty is an inalienable right, no permission is needed for it to exist. The best we can do with the government is hope it will defend our liberty.  The best we can hope from religion is that it minds its own business about the way we live our own life.

But as the anarchists will point out, the very fact that government exists is an affront to the idea of rights and liberty specifically.   I agree with them theoretically.  I have always felt the problems with anarchism are not the theory and philosophy of it, but rather the practical application.  It overlooks one key thing about human beings – we are inherently tribal. I think the founding fathers of the United States using their reason recognized this, so they understood that government is a necessary evil and tried to create one that actually protected the rights of its citizens and one that was so restricted as to not encroach on rights quickly or without restraint.  Smart practical men, but they knew over time even their system would fail if it wasn’t maintained by people who value freedom and liberty.

For me personally, I am free because I am free.  I alone bear the responsibility of my actions and The Book of Rabyd 2:2 kicks in a lot. It is the following of the virtues of Self-Reliance, Industriousness, and Hospitality that do more to maintain and follow after freedom than anything else.

Self-Reliance:

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

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

Goal:  Find a new, better paying job by the end of June 2019 or before.

Bucket List: To own and run my own successful business or company.

Liberty and Freedom are the two reasons why I work so hard for self-reliance.  Anything else is dependence and it can lead to slavery.  The cage can be guided but it is still a cage. The more you are independent through being self-reliant, the more options you have that are created by you and that leads to freedom.

Industriousness:

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

Principle: Work with the enjoyment of work itself.

Goal: Working on it.

Bucket List: Write A Novel and Get it Published.

This kind of freedom and liberty doesn’t just come to you, you have to work to create it.  It doesn’t mean you have to work harder but that may be involved.  You can work smarter or create something that does some of the work for you.  But freedom and liberty are found in the fact that you have chosen the work for yourself and that you enjoy it.

Hospitality:

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

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

Goal: By March 31st of 2020, to be the leader of a support group of some kind.

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

Being prosperous enough through liberty and freedom with the other two virtues, allows you to be generous.  I think this is the one missing element of the entire capitalist structure. This is not the fault of capitalism but rather capitalists who succumb to greed rather than hospitality which would lead to greater overall prosperity.  If you can’t let go of what you create then you truly are not free of its control over you.  Slavery takes a lot of forms and one of those forms is being a slave to having to own and control everything.

Higher Virtue – Justice:

The best way to live creating justice is to live in liberty not just for yourself but for others as well. Justice means you let people be free to pursue their own path and don’t interfere or meddle in any way. You respect freedom and liberty as forces enough ot let others have it.

Daily Routine:

  1. Wife: Communication / Cuddle Time
  2. Blogging – Organize, revise, write a new post for the next day, 15 min. work on fiction.
  3. Reading – half-hour. Priority order: work, school, pleasure
  4. Study / Homework / Research: half hour per day minimum or until all necessary work is completed.
  5. Personal Business: record financial transactions, savings plan actions, budgeting, appointments, other actions, etc.
  6. Check Communications and Email after 2 pm but before 4 pm.
  7. Weekly Routine Items
  8. Nutrition: Daily Carb Count – 2

June 2 starts another full week for me and I am going to try to be in a position to put all my routines into action more fully. I have a few goals that depend on these routines so I need to get better at getting them complete.

Still walking,

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

Skaal!!!

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

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

 

Happy Tyr’s Day

Discussion:

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

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

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

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

To the Wolves and Ravens:

Needs (Geri):

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

Wants (Freki):

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

Reason (Huginn):

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

Wisdom (Muninn):

See the source image

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

Conclusion:

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

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Basic Pagan Principles – Responsibility of Belief” – The Pagan Pulpit

/ Ed Raby Sr / 1 Comment

Happy Sun’s Day

Announcements:

We don’t pray here – we figure God, the gods, goddesses, or whatever powers that be either know already, don’t give a fuck, or are busy with more important matters than our petty stuff. We also kind of assume that they expect us to do stuff that we can do for ourselves and that we will do them ourselves and not be lazy. We also believe in being good friends, so we don’t presume on our friendship with the powers that be by asking them all the time for stuff while giving them nothing in return.

We also don’t take an offering here.  We figure the powers that be probably don’t need it.  Let’s be honest, offerings are not giving to the divine powers, they are given to an organization to support it.  Just being honest. God, the gods or whatever never sees a dime, farthing or peso of that money; it all goes to the church, mosque or shrine.

Theme Song: ‘Úlfhéðnar’ – Norse Viking Music

If you want to get the most out of the Pagan Pulpit.  Put the theme song on a loop and then read the rest of it. The Ulfhedmar were the wolf warriors of Odin.

Meditation:

Image may contain: 1 person, text

It is important to know the difference.  One requires sleep and the other requires action.

Text:

The most basic tenant of paganism is that it is your own responsibility, not the responsibility of any government, institution, church or other people, to choose what you believe in regards to spirituality, values, ethics, the nature of Divinity, etc.

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

Sermon:

In Paganism there is no appeal to authority to justify your actions. This would violate the first of the basic tenets which is that each person is responsible for their own beliefs. This is called the Responsibility of Belief.

The first point of this is to accept your responsibility for what you believe. It is yours and no one else to decide what you believe and how you practice your spirituality.  It is yours alone and there is no one to blame or praise for where your spirituality is or your conduct regarding it. No blaming God.  No “God told me to do this.”  You act on your spirituality and take full responsibility for the results – good or bad.

The second point is to emphasize what cannot be used as a scapegoat.  The government is not responsible for your spiritual state, nor a religion, institution or community of people. None of these things can be responsible for where you are in regards to the spiritual part of your life.  Just you and only you.  Your spirituality is the product of your own choices and journey.  They should not be dictated to by anything else nor should you blame anything else for them.

The third point is the scope of what we mean when we say ‘spirituality’.  It involves all things that touch spiritual life, ethics, morals, values, the nature of Divinity, etc. These are all yours and no one else to take responsibility for.  If it can be considered spiritual in some way, then you are responsible for it. This is why I find most things have a spiritual side to them because they involve ethics, morals and simply a spiritual sense to them. There is more to this than pagan rituals and feelings.

There is no “Be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet” in paganism. No “I am waiting on God to make me more patient, loving, etc.”  If you feel you lack spirituality, a moral compass or ethical understanding; it is on you and you alone to fix that. That is the essence of Responsibility of Belief.

Parting Thought:

Image may contain: 1 person, text that says '"Now, every time I witness a strong person, I want to know: What darkness did you conquer in your story? Mountains do not rise without earthquakes" -Katherine MacKenett ITheMindsJournal THE HEMINDSJOURNAL'

The great face down the struggles of life and use them to become stronger.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

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

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

Discussion:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Time to Look Through the Eye:

Faith:

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

Religion:

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

Theology:

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

Spirituality:

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

Conclusion:

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

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“Basic Pagan Principles – An Introduction” – The Pagan Pulpit

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sun’s Day

Announcements:

There is going to be a format change to the Pagan Pulpit. Most notably that I will be removing two songs and the poem out of it.  I want to focus on music specifically in The Skald’s Lyre which debuted yesterday.  Poetry I am still deciding what to call that but it will also be separate.  Any poem I write myself Goes under Skald Poems. This will leave Announcements, Theme Song, Meditation, Text, Sermon and Parting Thought.  Hopefully, this will make it both easier to write for me and a little more streamlined for you.  I am just trying to provide some spiritual inspiration here, not dominate your Sun’s Day.  To the rest of the announcements.

We don’t pray here – we figure God, the gods, goddesses, or whatever powers that be either know already, don’t give a fuck, or are busy with more important matters than our petty stuff. We also kind of assume that they expect us to do stuff that we can do for ourselves and that we will do them ourselves and not be lazy. We also believe in being good friends, so we don’t presume on our friendship with the powers that be by asking them all the time for stuff while giving them nothing in return.

We also don’t take an offering here.  We figure the powers that be probably don’t need it.  Let’s be honest, offerings are not giving to the divine powers, they are given to an organization to support it.  Just being honest. God, the gods or whatever never sees a dime, farthing or peso of that money; it all goes to the church, mosque or shrine.

Theme Song: “Odin” – SKALD

Translation of lyrics: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/%C3%B3dinn-odin.html

A band called SKALD and a song about Odin.  It fits my Paganism and a great song to start this series with.

Meditation:

Image may contain: text

With paganism, each person’s path is unique to them.  There is no right or wrong path necessarily.  Just a journey.

Text:

“Pagans may be trained in particular traditions or they may follow their own inspiration. Paganism is not dogmatic. Pagans pursue their own vision of the Divine as a direct and personal experience.” – Pagan Federation international

Sermon:

The real problem with getting the dictionary definition of pagan or paganism is that the word has had a negative connotation in common use for so long; those definitions are still colored by that negativity.  The observation above is made by pagans themselves and when people ask me why I consider myself a pagan is it because of this basic idea of each pagan chooses their own spiritual path.  I have had my fill of religions telling me what to believe, I seek it myself.

For the next six weeks including this one, I want to go over the basic five principles that pagans hold in common. Specifics can vary quite widely.  The five principles I see most often are:

  1. Responsibility of Belief
  2. Personal Responsibility for Your Actions and Personal Development
  3. Everything is Sacred
  4. Freedom of Choosing Diety
  5. Scope of Consciousness

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

For myself, I have realized for a long time that religions, in general, are simply that someone did the above and then codified it to a point they discarded large chunks of this until you are left with none of it.

The truth is we all choose our faith, and within that faith choose a path. Some of us choose a religion and that religion limits the paths to a certain selection of choices approved by others.  Paganism throws all that off. It says that all paths are valid, the real issue is to responsibly walk the one you are on.

Over the next five weeks of the pagan Pulpit, I will be exploring each of the above principles in detail.  I hope you enjoy it or at least learn something about the path of the people who identify themselves as pagans.

Parting Thought:

Yep, highly recommended that you do this from time to time. Don’t let anyone else define this for you, do it yourself. This should include your spirituality.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

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

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Saturn’s Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Perhaps it will be as equally prophetic for me.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

“The Wolf Within” – Odin’s Eye – The Grey Wayfarer’s Spirituality

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

Discussion:

Well, the time has come in the rotation of Odin’s Eye to deal very directly with my own personal spirituality.  There is no wrong or right way to practice spirituality as a pagan. One simply looks at life and the universe and seeks to both understand its spiritual nature and develop spiritual strength within through doing so.  There are common themes in the spiritual life of pagans to be sure, but the ways of practicing paganism are as individual as the people that do so.

So when a pagan talks spirituality, they use their own metaphors.  For me, the concepts of Wolves, Ravens and other Viking metaphorical language are my way of describing abstract concepts.  The wolf is symbolic of that part of me that is filled with passion whether that passion is based on need or want.  It contrasted with the idea fo the Raven which is the rational and wise part of me.  The two work together to pick and follow the best path for me.

‘The wolf within’ is the concept of that part of me which is wolf itself.  As a Christian is used to deny and try to subjugate to slavery this wolf.  Now I let him roam free. That wolf is the sum of all I want and need.  The hunger and fury of being a man in this world. If there is anything that I recognize now, it is my wolf within is not inherently sinful or evil and I let him live free and roam free. Funny thing is, he is not all bad. Like anything else in human nature, I have found him to be the motivating force of my life and the one that is truly strong when I need strength.

This is an important spiritual concept for me right now.  That if there is a wild and untamed side to me, that is a good thing.  It is just a question of how to best utilize it.

Time to Look Through the Eye:

Faith:

I have always felt that if there is something to have faith in, it is my own passions. Passion drives us, but it can be a double-edged sword. That said, I have found that my intuition is something more right than wrong.  That intuition didn’t come from my reason or wisdom; although they certainly chimed in, it came from the gut level uneasiness that the prowler of the wolf within creates. It is this sense of danger that comes from the wolf, not the clear seeing raven of reason. When it comes to the danger these days, particularly with regard to danger in relationships, I find the wolf is far more my friend and something I place my faith in to be both wary and watchful.

Religion:

Religion always has a moral code based on whatever the founder of the religion says is right or wrong. Sexual desire becomes lust. Industry becomes greed. There is no end to this and it is more often this notion that so-called ‘baser’ instincts are labeled as sinful or evil than other things. Fulfilling needs and wants becoming bad or evil. This notion of higher desires and lower ones is inherently religious. I don’t find any desire sinful anymore, just a question of whether is it is wise to engage it.  I can understand all virtues engage all desires at some point and thus engage them all in their proper time and place. In pursuing virtue rather than religion, I can find the profitable in any need or want, even the base power of rage or hunger.  I don’t have two natures to feed one and starve the other.  I have a single nature that at times resembles a wolf and at other times a raven and sometimes both at the same time.

Theology:

I view mankind theologically as what they are.  Every part of us has a purpose in that, and what others consider sinful, I see as human. That is not to say there is no morals or ethics, but I can draw as much spirituality from passionate sex as I can from reading a book on logic.  All things that a human being wants or needs can be the door to spiritual strength and enlightenment. All desires, needs, thoughts, and experiences are righteous to me.  Ethics and morals for me is something that involves it all, not simply what supposed revealed religions says those morals and ethics should be. All parts of what it means to be human have the potential to lead to spirituality. We are not divided in nature as human beings; it is all the same human nature and no part of it is inherently good or evil.

Spirituality:

So here is the central path for me right now.  Learning how each feeling, desire, need, thought and experience can lead me to greater growth of my spirituality. To do this doesn’t just mean I embrace the raven but also the wolf that is inside myself. To feel is just as spiritual as to think, and I have found this transition enlightening. I grow spiritually when I hold my grandson; when I lift weights; when I make love to my wife; when I hang with friends; when I work. When I am doing anything really there is a potential to see something with my spiritual eyes and grow and gain the strength of spirit I need for each day.  That includes when I let the wolf out to hunt and play.

Conclusion:

The image remains for me of myself as a Grey Pilgrim. Part of what it means for me to be grey is not to label any part of my nature as dark or light.  It is just at times I am a pilgrim that is following his wolf’s heart and not just his raven mind. There is no difference between the two of them when it comes to who will give me the greater potential for spiritual understanding and growth. The wolves and ravens don’t just walk with me, they are inside me and I embrace them. They are what help me find my path and passionately pursue it.

Continuing to Walk that Path,

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

Skaal!!!