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

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

Happy Frigg and Freya’s Day

Disclaimer: The topics covered in Freya’s Chambers include serious discussions of sex, sexuality and related issues. If it isn’t your thing; you can move along, otherwise enjoy and feel free to discuss. Given this week’s topic be prepared for images of topless females.

Introduction:

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

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

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

Discussion:

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion:

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

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

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

Thoughts?

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

Of Wolves and Ravens – The Practical Application of Political Science

May 7, 2019May 7, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Discussion:

In literally less than a week I will have finished my last requirement for the political science degree I have been working on for four years. I walked in Fall but my internship will be done before the week is out. I happy about this as it represents something I started and finished and that is a good thing.

The problem is most people have a really poor understanding of what political science is about and so they don’t have a really good knowledge of what a person who has a political science degree can do. In truth I picked it because of its versatility as you can do a lot of different things with a political science degree, you just have to broaden the scope of your understanding of what politics is.

Political science is a social science discipline that deals with systems of government and the analysis of political activity and political behavior. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics which is commonly thought of as the determining of the distribution of power and resources.

I suppose this definition is as good as any. What I would like to focus on is the idea of the distribution of resources and power because that is what makes this degree so flexible. Because the distribution of power and resources is universal and common to every organization. Every company and group has a power structure and way of distributing resources that involves human decision and implementation processes and that is what political science is about. If your company or organization has a policy manual and an organizational flow chart, I can look at it and do the following things:

I can understand how you theoretically want your organization to run.
Give me enough time to analyze your company and I can tell the reality of how your organization actually runs and how resources are really distributed.
I can work to help you optimize your organization or company by offering suggestions on how you can change one or the other of the above.

In this political science simply acknowledges that where two or three are gathered together there is a power structure and thus politics.

To the Wolves and Ravens:

Needs (Geri):

For me personally, I needed a degree choice that was versatile and could offer me a good chance of employment. Political science is broad in that regard. I have had courses in psychology, accounting, statistics, organizational structure, research, management, leadership, business, etc. I have a lot of different things I have learned for this degree and I see how things connect together because of it. If you’re looking for someone to keep an eye on the big picture of your organization, I have enough knowledge of the different areas to do that.

Wants (Freki):

What I would want is a job that involves this practical understanding of political science and incorporates that versatility. It is why human resources as a busienss career appeals to me so much as it fits my knowledge, experience, and personality. Human resources and political science are two sides f the same coin to me. One is more focused on the public and the other is focused on the private sector but seeing both of those intersect a lot they really deal with a lot of the same issues.

Reason (Huginn):

I get to use my reason as a political scientist. In the world of politics, emotional appeal is used because people are not motivated by logical argument but by what they need and want. People are rarely if ever motivated by actual logic. That means if you want efficiency you need to plan logically but you must figure out how to appeal to what people need and want to motivate them to follow it. If you don’t figure out the motivation part you will have a nice plan, but it will never be followed by those you lead.

Wisdom (Muninn):

.It is this combination of coming up with good solid policy but understanding that human beings both as individuals and groups are not motivated by reason so much as they are what they need and want that is the heart of the art of political science. Ethics is key in wisdom because you could use this knowledge to manipulate. Being truly benevolent is the heart of wisdom and part of that is respecting human freedom. It’s a large part of it to me.

Conclusion:

For me, this is the practical side of Of Wolves and Ravens coupled with my knowledge of political science. For me politics centers on needs, wants, reason and wisdom so there all the characteristics of the wolves and ravens are present and not treated as evil but normal and good. This is my practical and working understanding of political science as well as my own personal philosophy of living. Hopefully, I will be putting it to practical use very soon.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

The Pagan Pulpit – The Book of Rabyd 2:3 – “Whenever You Find Yourself on the Side of the Majority, it is Time to Pause and Reflect.”

April 14, 2019April 14, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sun’s Day

Announcements:

We don’t pray here – we figure God, the gods and 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 see a dime, farthing or peso of that money; it all goes to the church, mosque or shrine.

Opening Song: “No Rest for the Wicked” – Godsmack

No real official video for this song, but here is the lyric one so you can sing along.

Poem: “Salt in My Wounds” by Edward W, Raby, Sr. – Written April 13, 2019

Once you were the spice of my life,

You kept me from spoiling

You were the flavor I needed

You made life less plain

Then you left me

laying in a pool of my own blood.

Leaving a wound

a void from your knife

Now memories of you are salty

Burning as they are applied to the scar

Salt in my wound

Preserving the pain.

-Ed Raby – April 13, 2019-

Without a doubt this was the easiest poem I have ever written. At least as far as time and feeling are concerned. Took me literally just five minutes. It’s still rough, but I suspect it will be Grey Wayfarer canonized very soon.

Miss Salty, as I called her, helped me through a lot. She is definitely wiser and smarter than her years would say. But this whole thing in reflection was a doomed voyage like the Titanic. Right now memories of this whole thing are bitter-sweet. Salty like she was. They hurt and yet I hope they bring about some cleansing like salt removing infection.

Meditation:

Yep, which is why I don’t trust either party. The Wall for the right and Rich Wall Street on the left are not real threat in my opinion. Mostly fear mongering using a supposed noble cause to seize power.

Song of Preparation: “Cult of Personality” – Living Colour

I once heard these guys live via radio. The guy who was announcing made the remark that they were the loudest band he ever heard in concert. Good intro.

Text:

“Whenever You Find Yourself on the Side of the Majority, it is Time to Pause and Reflect.” – The Book Of Rabyd 2:3

Sermon:

This time through The Book of Rabyd, I am trying to quote as many different people as I can. Mark Twain was pretty much destined to be on this list and it was only a matter of time. This is my favorite quote from him and is truly a principle of wisdom.

Tribalism is inherent in the human species. Survival trait. We band together to take on common threats and deal with common problems. The issue is that it can also lead to a mob mentality. It can lead to just bowing down to the culture, group think or what everyone’s opinion is.

This quote is a regular reminder to all of us who prefer reason to mindless pandering. The issue is to take action on what makes sense and is most reasonable and this quote reminds us there is nothing inherently reasonable about the majority. The only quality they have is more numbers. The majority is not proof of truth or rightness.

For me there is a reminder here that I am both a free citizen and a responsible citizen. Free because on thing that can enslave is tribalism and cults of personality. Responsible, because from time to time you need to be the thinking one that calls into question the actions of the mob.

There are institutions that thrive on this tribalism but they can, in my humble opinion be boiled down to two things – government and religion. Both of these tap into people’s passions rather than their reason and thus are manipulative by nature. They tap into people’s inherent tribalism and mob mentality to get actions people think are the right thing but are actually the desires of those who would seek power either through politics or faith.

The lesson then is never let your loyalty to the group outweigh your loyalty to yourself and your principles. Something I hope gets carried on by those who I call my family is the ability to question anything and everything, even if the majority thinks it is the best course. I would rather have my descendents known for being rebels and original thinkers that people who just went along with the crowd and the mob. That they would be people of Courage, Self-Reliance and Truth

Closing Song: “Of Wolf and Man” – Metallica

I am thinking of making this my personal theme song. A lesser known work of Metallica but still one of their best.

Parting Thought:

Stay strong pagans. Keep going.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

Of Wolves and Ravens – Western Philosophy – Individual Rights

April 2, 2019April 2, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Discussion:

If one wants to point to the main difference between Eastern and Western Philosophy it is Collectivism vs. Individualism. This is overly generalized on my part, and I would say there are elements of individualism in Eastern philosophy and Collectivism in Western. It is just the results ultimately lead down these paths overall.

Source: http://www.writeopinions.com/western-philosophy

We could argue all day which is superior, but there is one element that I personally take to heart because of where it leads. The focus on the individual over the centuries has led to an understanding of individual rights. The people have certain rights like life, liberty, pursuit of happiness and ownership of property that no collective group can take away is something very Western. In Eastern Philosophy you get more of a rights of the group mentality. This can be detrimental to the individual. I suppose this debate will continue until the bitter end. I am going to side with the individual and the below cartoon illustrates how collectivism or majority rule can lead to evil.

That said there is something to be said for Eastern Philosophy in other areas. I just get real rights conscious for the individual from Western philosophy and in this regard I think it is superior to Eastern. I am not going to go into the philosophy where our rights come from at this time. That will probably be the subject of a Of Wolves and Ravens down the line.

To the Wolves and Ravens:

Needs (Geri):

The need for an understanding of individual rights is paramount to treating each other like human beings. If you don’t think humans have rights then it is very easy to see them as non-human. I think it is a basic test of humanity to see what a person’s feelings about the rights of other humans are or may be. If you find they give rights to themselves and people they like but not to others, I think they fail that test. This discussion of rights fills to needs – a) tests your own humanity and b) litmus test for others being human by how they treat other humans.

Wants (Freki):

For myself I would rather have this rights issues than the collectivist one. If the thought that you could be killed for the benefit of the ‘greater good’ bothers you, you understand why you want individual rights. They give you the power to live your life ad protect you from those who would try to take that away from you.

Reason (Huginn):

Of course reason gets us to the point that we realize that rights only have value if they are defended and stood up for. This is another matter for the ‘where do rights come from?’ issue. But for now, it is simply noted that the basic rights require other rights to defend them. One thing leads to another when it comes to rights and the right to defend one’s rights stems from calling those basic rights rationally essential.

Wisdom (Muninn):

A wise world would promote individual rights. It allows one to be both for the individual but also if everyone collectively is given the same individual rights – all benefit collectively from having those rights.

Conclusion:

I would love to think balance between the collective whole and individual rights can be achieved, but I know people are inherently tribal and eventually they submit the rights of the individual to the fear or desires for power. There is always going to be that element in society that thinks they can come up with a better plan or system for you than you can and it seems inevitably they want you to hand over your rights to them or take them from you. This needs to be resisted because if they can do it to you, they can do it to everyone. Individual Rights have to be defended against the mob.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

The Book of Rabyd 2:1 – “People are Stupid”

March 31, 2019March 31, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sun’s Day

Text:

“People are Stupid” – The Book of Rabyd 2:1

Thoughts and Exposition:

We are with verse one of chapter two moving into a different realm of The Book of Rabyd. Chapter one is principles I would say are universally or nearly universally true. Chapter Two is points of wisdom which are more about life guides and coming to a better understanding of the world. Not hard fast rules in chapter two, but definitely can be seen to be true most of the time. We start with the simple three word Phrase: “People are Stupid”

One might say this is a pretty pessimistic view of people in general. This is not a statement about people and their morality however, just their nature. Terry Goodkind and his Wizard’s Rules impressed me in their quick way of getting to human nature and laying it out there plainly and bluntly. I like someone who can take a concept and put it into a simple statement and “People are Stupid” shocks you ,and yet catches your attention, because you know in you heart it is true. I have tried to put this idea into other terms or phraseology but it never has the force of “People are Stupid.”

Terry Goodkind though really doesn’t stop with just these three words. but in his book Wizard’s First Rule he makes several other points about it:

Given proper motivation people will believe almost anything.
People will believe something because they want it to be true or fear it is true. (Confirmation Bias)
Peoples’s heads are full of things that they think is true but is in reality mostly false. (Cognitive Dissonance)
People rarely can tell the difference between a lie and the truth, but they think they can. (Ego)
Because of all this people are easier to fool.

You will note Terry did not say ALL People are stupid. His assumption is that by understanding this rule you can rise above it yourself. First you understand it for yourself that you yourself are stupid. Once you get this idea that you are stupid, and need analyze your own thinking and beliefs for whether or not they are true, then you are very much on the path to understanding yourself and others better. Stupidity is part of being a human being and once you get that part, the rest of the wisdom that flows from this foundation becomes easier to swallow. Truth is found in understanding that even you can be subject to stupidity and that means re-thinking things regularly to make sure you are basing your understandings on the truth and not just what you want to be the truth.

There is tremendous power that you gain when you understand all of this and the challenge for the vitreous person is to not take advantage of it for malevolent purposes. It gives you an advantage when you realize what makes people, stupid including yourself is Confirmation Bias, Cognitive Dissonance, and Ego. You can use this to help or harm. lead people to truth to a lie. Motivate them to great good or evil.

As a leader over the years’, I have come to realize the difficulty of researching and coming to know the factual truth at times, but knowing full well that to motivate people to act on it, requires a great deal of tapping into people’s ‘stupidity’. Otherwise they will never be motivated to act. Truth rarely motivates, passion does. That is the challenge to be motivated by truth as a leader but tap into people’s passions so you don’t on the one hand mislead people, but on the other hand get them to act.

We may see Terry Goodkind again. I am revising a lot of these points of wisdom and combining some of them so we will see. However many of the Wizard’s Rules echo in a lot of them.

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

Skaal!!!

The Book of Rabyd 1:7 – ‘The Only Proper Use of Aggression is to Protect One’s Rights or the Rights of Others’

March 24, 2019March 24, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sun’s Day

Text:

“The Only Proper Use of Aggression is to Protect One’s Rights or the Rights of Others” – The Book of Rabyd 1:7

Thoughts and Exposition:

The Non-Aggression Principle (NAP) is stated many ways but the basic gist of it is a combination of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” and “love your neighbor as yourself”. Every major religion in the world has something like this in it, but then all of them turn around and use fraud or even force to control others.

So leaving religion behind, it is simply that people have their rights and no one should use violence or lies to take them away. If someone or group of someones does use violence to try to take rights away, the NAP simply states that the person whose rights are being threatened or people around them who see that their rights are being threatened have the right then to use violence in return in defense.

Aggression is further defined as the use of physical force, threatening the use of force or fraud. This is not pacifism as the use of force or even the threat of force is allowable in actions that involve self-defense or the defense of others. There are other types of force but the NAP is about physical force, threat of physical force or fraud.

This means a lot of other areas where things are about influence, politics and other types of force are not necessarily covered by the NAP. However, if one thinks on this that means that much of what government does is a violation of this principle. This really limits how much the government should do and puts it clear focus on the government as the force that protects the rights of its citizens and does not threaten them with force or trick people out of their rights through fraud.

On a personal level, this means that if I were to act in a violent manner, that means the one who I am acting on has made a decision to violate my rights or the rights of another person. Other than that, it is never right for me to initiate violence and it is certainly never right for me to engage in fraud. This part is actually more challenging in many ways than gripping about government. One must always be first concerned that you are following the NAP before you judge others on their following it. It is more a philosophy of personal responsibility than anything else.

Following the NAP leads to a practical morality. There is nothing more frustrating on the one hand than people who, because of their politics, religion or other beliefs, think they have the right or force their viewpoint on others through law, violence or fraud. One the flip side, it is also frustrating to watch people stand aside while violence or fraud is perpetrated and they do nothing about it. The NAP gives us a principle to guide us. It is not perfect, but it is a lot better all others I have found so far and far more practically useful.

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

Skaal!!!

The Pagan Pulpit – The Book of Rabyd 1:7 – ‘The Only Proper Use of Aggression is to Protect One’s Rights or the Rights of Others’

March 24, 2019March 24, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sun’s Day

Announcements:

Opening Song: ‘Paranoid” – Black Sabbath

Considered widely to be the first metal band and this one of the first metal songs. I start by giving Black Sabbath props for being trail blazers.

Poem: “Unknown” – The Ruined Man

The problem with being real is being hated. The problem with being fake is you’re a lying coward.

Meditation:

Song of Preparation: “Non-Aggression Principle” – Liberation Animation

I love this song, it is a fun. It also introduces today’s topic very well.

Text:

‘The Only Proper Use of Aggression is to Protect One’s Rights or the Rights of Others’ – The Book of Rabyd 1:7

Sermon:

Closing Song: ‘Dizzy’ – Tommy Roe

I include this song this week because it was the popular song on the radio the day I was born. My 50th birthday was this last week so this is more nostalgia than anything else. I like the video of a 1960s girl in a short skirt doing the 1960s dancing. Couldn’t fit that era more if you tried.

Parting Thought:

Be yourself. If people can’t handle it, that is their problem, not yours.

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

The Book of Rabyd 1:6 – “People Do Not Have The Right to Take Away The Rights of Others”

March 17, 2019March 17, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sun’s Day

Text:

“People Do Not Have The Right to Take Away The Rights of Others” – The Book of Rabyd 1:6

Thoughts and Exposition:

The real key here to understanding rights that inalienable is that it means that everyone has them. Truly understand rights then requires that while we all may have the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and property; it does not mean that we can exercises those rights at the expense of someone else’s rights. You must respect the rights of others to truly understand what rights entail. If you don’t, you have an improper understanding of rights.

It is morally wrong to force another to give up their rights so that you can have yours. It morally bankrupt; in my opinion, to use any kind of force and power to exalt your rights over another. This is something that has to be remembered because as much as we say – “I have my rights”, we also need to say – “they have their rights” in the same breath. It is this respect of rights as a concept that is just as important as respect of my own rights. When we do this we are learning to see others as human beings. It is this issue that if implemented would solve a ton of problems. As much as I feel I have the right to stand on my rights, I must also allow others to stand on theirs.

This why I find the use of government today so repugnant. Much of it is one side or the others trying to take power to use on others. The Republicans try to seize power so they can use it against the Democrats and visa versa. No one is trying to take government so they can genuinely defend the rights of all. Libertarianism for me is simply a wonderful philosophy that seeks to actually see the rights of all protected. The goal of our politics then would be to stop the government from violating the rights of all individuals.

I have been using the issue of abortion to illustrate the problem when rights collide. The right to life movement say the right of the child to live is not being respected, the pro-choice folks say the right of the woman to privacy which is connected to her rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness is being violated if she does not have the choice of an abortion. The problem is we simply cannot play a game of two against one to decided who is right. A single violated right by force is wrong. The argument really centers on whether or not the child/fetus is genuinely a human being and thus has rights. Pro-life folks say yes / pro-choice folks say no. This is not going to be resolved because the arguments on both sides have problems. I am not going to get into that because the arguments for both sides are legion as well. My point is if a single right is being violated on an individual then the action is wrong and should not be allowed.

The problem with abortion is asking a question of personhood and at that point you are getting far more into metaphysics and theology than philosophy. My personal position is to say I am pro-choice on one hand because I do not feel it is my right to force my viewpoint of when life begins on another, and it is a debatable point. But I am also pro-life on the other hand, because I would hope that we would recognize our ignorance on when life truly and genuinely begins, and thus choose to err on the side of life because of that ignorance.

My point in all this is the debate is not what our rights are for those that follow the Book of Rabyd. Those are clearly understood. The debate for me and for my family is to understand and know when rights are being brought into conflict either intentionally or unintentionally and coming up with solutions that both allow one to exercise their rights but not interfere with the rights of others. This is the challenge of those who follow the Book of Rabyd.

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

Skaal!!!

The Pagan Pulpit – The Book of Rabyd 1:6 – “People Do Not Have The Right to Take Away The Rights of Others”

March 17, 2019March 17, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sun’s Day

Announcements:

Opening Song: “Stricken” – Disturbed

Poem: “The Scar” by Edward W. Raby, Sr. (Rough Draft)

Time heals all wounds

“Bullshit” I say

I have been down this road before

I have scars that still bleed inside

Internal bleeding of the soul

Seepage of pain within

Toxic soul-blood poisoning

Hidden behind my scars

The scar you left on me

Is like all the others

A covered scab

Hiding a slow bleeding wound

Another scar

A badge of survival

The poison blood inside fuel

The pain inside motivation

I know this is the second poem I have written for the Pulpit in rough draft form without polishing them later in a Skald’s Tales and Poems but that is coming this week probably.

Meditation:

Me too Penn, Me too.

Song of Preparation: “Anthem’ – Rush:

Text:

“People Do Not Have The Right to Take Away The Rights of Others” – The Book of Rabyd 1:6

Sermon:

Closing Song: ‘Hurt’ – Johnny Cash:

I include this song at the end because I talked about it with some friends this week. I suppose it is a simple reminded that all things, including our lives, end. What legacy we leave is important. Johnny Cash speaks for a lot of people in this song when they near the end. The regrets you have probably have more to do with hurts received and hurts given.

Parting Thought:

I remain,

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

Skaal!!!

A Skald’s Life – Self Virtues – Nutritional Reorganization

January 18, 2019January 18, 2019 / Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Frigg and Freya’s Day

Journal Entry:

As I look to tweak my Self Virtues I can see that most of it revolves around tweaking my diet and is very much of a nutritional nature. Nutrition is probably the most challenging thing on my discipline virtue list because it isn’t a routine or once a day thing. It is a constant thing. Nutrition simply is all the time and it is probably the most important thing to grasp if you want to live longer and live better.

The first thing to note is that I have not been currently doing the intermittent fasting. I was going to do this every other week, but decided I would rather do it the all the last weeks of the diet instead. So next week I will not be eating anything from the time I go to bed to the time normally get up which is usually 1 am plus eight hours which means not eating from the time I go to bed until nine o’clock in the morning. If I ever get a normal job with normal hours I would have to adjust this accordingly, but the idea is not to eat anything for the first eight hours of being awake and while I sleep of course.

Yes, I know nutritionists are gasping in horror over no breakfast, but I have never bought into this notion of breakfast being the most important meal of the day. I know too much about the FDA and the US Department of Agriculture these days; so I know much of their nutritional advice is politically motivated to appease farmers, and that much of what has been suggested is an experiment. Much of these have failed and particularly applicable to me the advice on combating diabetes. I never got anywhere following their standard advice there, just a higher sugar score. After watching the video below, I realized my skepticism was justified and I changed course.

On a practical side this means changing my morning routine by moving two items out and moving one of them to something new – an Evening Routine. The thing that will be gone for good is breakfast. It will just be gone. I do take some medication and supplements and most of them require food; so with breakfast out, I need to take them later and I figure right before bed is the best place as my body then can utilize them while I sleep.

So basically here under Self Virtues I will add the section Evening Routine for discussion. Much of that is basically preparation for the next day, hygiene and a little nutrition. Evening Routines are problematic for me but I think this one has the best chance of working because it involves my medications and nutrition. Hopefully that will provide the motivation to do it right after I eat my last meal of the day.

The focus of all this is of course my goal of being in the best shape I can be on my 50th Birthday (March 18, 2019). How I will evaluate that is basically to stand naked in front of the mirror sometime that day and evaluate. That of course will not end nutrition or exercise for me, I will just start another one year plan for my 51st year.

Discipline:

“Discipline is the willingness to be hard on oneself first and then if needed help with the development with others, so that greater purposes may be achieved.”

Principle: Apply discipline to every aspect of life that it can be applied.

Once again I am applying discipline to something that needs it. Nutrition is a lifestyle discipline. It may make use of routines but it is an every day all day thing. It presents a great challenge to Discipline.

Perseverance:

“Perseverance is the ability to stand up and return from defeat and failure”

Principle: Keep getting up after every defeat or failure.

Nutrition also has moments of failure. The one thing I have learned is that when you do have a moment of dietary failure is to not make it the end of the world. Pick up from there and stay true. One meal or bad choice can be countered by a bunch of good ones. Learn from the failure and move on.

Fidelity:

“Fidelity is the will to be loyal to one’s Gods and Goddesses, to one’s Folk, to one’s self, and loyalty to one’s friends was as valued as highly as loyalty to one’s family.”

Principle: Be loyal to those who have been loyal to me.

It has been a very good week in terms of my marriage. We had a date night which was fun but also as much as my wife and I struggle with things we continue to turn to each other. That is probably the greatest thing I can say because it is so different from what it was before.

Higher Virtue – Wisdom:

Making the right choices whether as far a routines, nutrition or marriage is always a question of wisdom. What is the best and wisest path? That is a question that is always before me. So far I think I am doing well in this regard. The problem with wisdom sometimes is you can’t see if a decision was a wise one until you look back at it through the eyes of hindsight.

Weekly Routine:

Weightlifting – 4 days per week.
Cleaning – 3 days a week.
Walking – 4 days a week
Writing – 4 times a week
Cheat Meal Count – Currently 3

Every time I think I am going to have enough money to do a gym membership so walking and weightlifting are back in my life, something comes up. This week it was books for school. I really need to be lifting and walking again by next week. I will have to see where I stand next Wooden’s Day.

Evening Routine:

Take supplements and medications.
Brush and Floss Teeth
Out the Door Preparation
Go to Bed

What I mean by Out the Door preparation is that if I say overslept or got called into work early, I could be ready and out the door in ten minutes. Part of this though; beyond crisis, is to have my daily paper journal ready for the next day and my meditation stuff laid out for the next morning as well. The idea is to take the time to prepare so the morning runs smoothly.

Nutrition:

One other thing as I head into next week is to reduce beverages from other things to strictly water by mid February. To do this means to reduce slowly what I drink otherwise which is usually some artificially sweetened drink of some kind. Probably at first I would say I must drink a bottle of water in between each drink of these and then increase that to two then three and then eliminate the other leaving only water after that.

Weekly Recap:

Foundational – Love, Honor, Courage, and Truth. All of these things are more than words for me. When people ask me if my morality has changed since leaving Christianity, I say no because most good ethics and morals are based on very simple principles and that’s the core of the virtues. I can’t say anything here was a problem this week. Just a time of readjustment.

Business – Business is about how I interact with others. Exercising Justice, Self-Reliance, Industriousness and Hospitality is core to that. When dealing with other people, these things are on my mind and offer me a way of loving my neighbor as myself as many religions propose as an ethical standard. I would say these virtues do more than that, they make sure I also love myself.

Self – Self is Acting in Wisdom, Discipline, Perseverance and Fidelity in order to improve as person. So far I like the results

This week has been about tweaking a few things. Hopefully by the end of next week all things will be pretty much in place.

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

Skaal!!!

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