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):
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.
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.
A band called SKALD and a song about Odin. It fits my Paganism and a great song to start this series with.
Meditation:
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:
Responsibility of Belief
Personal Responsibility for Your Actions and Personal Development
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.
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.
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.
In the United States where I live, the number of religiously ‘unaffiliated’ is growing. What is shrinking is White Protestantism and Catholicism particularly with Generation X and the millennials. Below is a good statistical graph of what is happening.
In short, older people are clinging to what they know and were taught, but younger people saying ‘fuck that shit.” It also true that as people age death and what follows it becomes more of a thing to them. But that does not account for the fact that a change is strongly evident. That Protestantism, particularly among whites but truly across the board, is shrinking in the United States and Catholicism as well. What is happening?
There are a lot of things that one could say here, but for me, I understand one thing for certain – that information is far more available and then there is no way to prevent people from getting alternative opinions. If one has an internet connection, you can find alternatives opinions and arguments against any religion and faith with ease. The two generations that have enjoyed this state of affairs the most are the Millenials and Generation X. Both of these groups have had the luxury of when any opinion is offered of being able to find a counter opinion in seconds and not just one counter opinion but many.
Of course, Christians fear what means. But in truth, this country was not founded as a Christian one but a secular one based on reason. It could be argued that we are simply returning to where we came from. I question whether this is a bad thing at all. As we look through the eye today I can only tell my personal story of becoming one of the Unaffiliated. I don’t know if it is typical, but I think it might be the pattern for most.
Time to Look Through the Eye:
Faith:
In the case of Christianity, faith rests on the story of Jesus Christ being true. Not just parts of it but all of it. Without this, faith is simply not possible. Paul’s argument in the 1 Corinthians 15 is true in that regard that without the historical resurrection, Christianity is founded on nothing. The problem is that the gospels are problematic as I pointed out in this post: Odin’s Eye – Bible Problems: The Four Gospels. Because of this, the real Jesus of Nazareth is obscured by disciples who created what amounts to a tall tale with no historical verification. In many cases, stories are told alone without even the other gospels to back them up. Once the truth of this was apparent to me, I realized my faith in Christianity was based in large part on nothing but unverified stories that were no better or worse than the stories of any other mythology.
Religion:
My religion was no help here in preserving my faith. Nor was my experience or education in Christianity a bolster to my sagging faith. In fact, my traditions repeatedly informed me it was dangerous to ask such questions. My response was: ‘if my religion cannot handle questions and the god they proclaim cannot stand the scrutiny of logic, then both are weak and not worth serving’. Religion as a general rule doesn’t like questions and would rather have people blindly follow than analyze the doctrines and theology. My problem was I have always been a rebel in that regard; and when it comes to theology, I am a guy with a degree in theology and that journey actually drove me to realize that all ideas about the divine are strictly opinion based on man’s thoughts about god.
Theology:
As a theologian, I thought a lot about God. Mostly the problem was how to get the god of the Protestant Bible to make sense. The best I could do was to abandon the idea that god controlled everything; because if he did, then he was an evil fuck. No matter how you shake and dance, the god of scripture seems very human. Being jealous and acting in ways that would make tyrants look benevolent. He creates man knowing he is going to suffer and do evil things and then yet punishes them for the way he created them. The god of the bible promotes a certain morality, commands it even, and then breaks it himself. Over time, this and my other Four Major Objections to Christianity formed out of my theological struggles and I simply could not reconcile them. In the end, I found myself a pastor without any faith.
Spirituality:
The hard cold truth is that our spirituality is chosen. It cannot be imposed and the reason I was a Christian all those years was not that Christianity as faith, religion or theology could prove itself true. It was because it was how I chose to engage the spiritual reality that I perceived around me. Once this truth dawned on me, I left Christianity to follow a more spiritual path without religion imposing on me the thoughts of others. I find a lot more peace about it these days.
Conclusion:
I don’t know how typical I am here but I do know one thing. All of this journey was possible because my access to information and counter-arguments was right at my fingertips. Books, articles and web pages in abundance offered up alternatives to the arguments Christians used to defend themselves and their beliefs and in the end, they prevailed to the point I could not accept Christianity anymore. I think this is basically what is happening in American as a whole. It just took longer for me to join the religion known as “Unaffiliated” than others. It is a new path for me, but one I new cheerfully embrace. I consider it an honor to be a part of a time where religion is in retreat and perhaps there is a new chance for Reason to reign instead. Or at the very least where people can be Unaffiliated and free from religion’s control.
Continuing to Walk the Path,
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
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 sees a dime, farthing or peso of that money; it all goes to the church, mosque or shrine.
Opening Song: ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ – The Neptunes Remix
I suppose it wouldn’t be a playlist for the pagan pulpit without some reference to something controversial – like having sympathy for the devil.
Poem:
This is hard for me. The truth of this little poem; as much as it hurts, is still the truth.
Meditation:
Song of Preparation: “Safety Dance” – Men Without Hats
Hats and a maypole for Beltane. Easy call here.
Text:
“You Need to Use Your Head for Something Besides a Hat Rack” – The Book of Rabyd 3:1
Sermon:
Chapter three of the Book of Rabyd represents some of the sayings and ‘-isms’ that have dominated the Raby Family for years. They are not necessarily principles or wisdom but just stuff that is around our family that we just say as part of our particular family collective. This one is from my father and I have no idea how many times he said it to me. “You Need to Use Your Head for Something Besides a Hat Rack” was on his lips every single time I did something stupid. It was a polite way of him telling me I should use my head to think rather than just have it occupy space and hold up my hat.
My father was not an educated man. He was dyslexic or at least we think so. He was a blue-collar man who had a gift for manufacturing. He learned machinery and grinding early in his factory work days and knew math very well. He just could never read very well. These days, he might have been diagnosed early and he might have learned to read much better. He was, however, a math genius in his own way and he believed highly in learning and common sense.
I don’t actually use this expression of his much myself. I, however, hear it all the time in my head. I always hear it when I am about to do something stupid or have not thought things through before I am about to act on them. Most people don’t wear hats these days so I wonder if somebody would get it, but I certainly do.
This expression being 3:1 in the Book of Rabyd is more about my love for my Father than anything else. I want the expression preserved for my kids and grandkids and all the rest. I think it is a very polite and creative way to tell someone to start thinking and using your head. I know he was proud of me when I graduated college but he did not live to see me get my master’s but I could not have made either without this expression rolling around in my head. Thanks, Dad, I still miss you.
Closing Song: “Walpurgisnacht” – FAUN
English lyrics version:
In honor of this past week being Beltane, I include this song. The song is definitely a Celtic flavor I love. Included the English translation version second if you are interested in the words. Truly pagan for the pagan pulpit on this one.
Parting Thought:
I remain,
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
In my Christian blogging day I made quite a name for myself among nudists, naturists, and people of like nature when it came to the subject of nudity and sex. My view back then was nudity being sinful in and of itself was false. I have a few online friends who are my friends precisely because of this view and they maintain a Christian nudist lifestyle. My most famous work from that blog is probably The Bible and Nakedness which you can still view by clicking on the link above.
In addition, I had some controversial views on marriage and sexuality. Most notably that the bible never condemns polygamy of either form. That adultery and homosexuality are the same levels of ‘sin’. I proposed that line marriage as proposed by Robert Heinlein is still well within the realms of Christianity, etc. Mostly I simply separated that which is cultural from that which was the bible and discovered that most of what Christians believe about nudity and sexuality was based more on culture than the Bible.
So what has changed now that I follow a more deistic, humanistic and paganistic path? Honestly, once you take out sin and the appeal to authority; and as I reflect back to the holiday discussion last week, I have the following observations:
Nudity being wrong in some way is pure Grade A opinion and based on cultural mores, not rational thought. In truth, there is no basis for morality laws regarding nudity or modesty as they are simply one ethical viewpoint imposing itself on everyone else. There is simply no way to prove a man or woman walking down the street naked is harmful to anyone using reason.
Sexuality has many biological factors and I don’t really support the notion of gender neutrality or fluidity because of genetic and biological reality. There are two genetic and biological genders and it is rare for anyone to be born with none or both. Most of us are either female or male biologically and those differences are biologically and psychologically observable right from birth. That’s science, not culture talking. The video below is well researched and linked and points out these are real differences, not culture.
I would say the real problem is not gender identification but rather a lack of personal gender acceptance. It is part of accepting yourself to accept your biological gender. Sorry, most of us either have a penis or a vagina and we need to accept that part of us as part of who we are, not fight it.
That said, I think a lot of role expectations are culturally based, and given my views of liberty, I think gender roles beyond what is biologically natural are often just societal and religious coercion. How a woman wants to view her role in society is her own business and the same for a man. If a woman wants to be female and do what her culture traditionally thinks is the role of a man, she is perfectly free to do so and she should be allowed to do it.
Of course, the real question looking at it from a pagan point of view is how nudity and sexuality express themselves on the spiritual front. This reflects more of my pagan opinion than my deism or humanism but they both chime in on this discussion.
Time to Look Through the Eye:
Faith:
I have faith that there is male and female and we can observe that both of these are real, different and beautiful in their naked expressions. For me, the faith question here is that I think the human body has inspired my spirituality far more than made me feel guilty or ‘sinful’. What made me feel sinful about the whole thing was the fact that people told me I should be and if I didn’t there was something wrong with me. In cultures where nudity is common and prevalent, you never hear of this guilt about nakedness to being male or female. Faith tells me that being male, female or naked is nothing to be ashamed of at all. The real problem is not our maleness, femaleness or nakedness, it’s people who want to use those things to promote an agenda.
Religion:
In the area of defining gender roles and demonizing nudity, religion takes center stage. The Abrahamic religions being the most notorious for the definition of traditional male and female roles according to an ethic that is thousands of years old based on a patriarchal, male superiority mindset. The question I have always wrestled with is why women put up with this but I think ultimately it is the appeal to authority and not wanting to displease ‘god’ that drives it, but then again I have watched as those roles get redefined all the time to reflect reality. If the various scriptures that are the claims for God’s authority are discredited as simply concoctions of men, then women should be free to follow their own personal sovereignty.
Religion and nudity go way back and some religions are pagan enough in scope that they don’t have a problem with it. Those that do often use their holy books to justify it. The one problem I developed was that on the one hand, I knew what the religious folks said about nudity being wrong, but my own biblical studies concluded the opposite. When that happens you start to realize that most of the concerns about the human naked form are based on personal preference and culture, not honest biblical studies. Religion simply seeks to control people by taking those personal preferences and forcing them on others.
Theology:
My theology these days is based in large part on what is the reality of the world that is. I don’t engage in fanciful notions about the divine. I believe in the divine more than I don’t because of notions like love and beauty being something more than biology and physics. That is based on observation from my point of view so take them for that. When it comes to sexuality I find there is a great design in having two sexes and their need to cooperate as fellow human beings. Treating each other as justly as possible while respecting differences starts in accepting ourselves as men and women and accepting our differences because of sex. Glorying in those differences not condemning each other because of them.
Because I don’t believe in sin anymore and dismiss it as a human made up concept, I simply do not see anything inherently wrong with the nude human form. I kind of laugh at our responses to this as we seem to have a greater amount of problems with sex and nudity than violence where people are actually raped and murdered. It’s a sad thing really that something as beautiful and wonderful as sex and the human body has been demonized so that both are considered evil and sinful based on opinions designed to control others. I don’t have that anymore and my attitude toward both is pretty much based on George R R Martin’s below. To me, sex and the beauty of nude human form have given me as much joy as a good painting, book or any other art form and it is a crying shame that most religion and theology rob us of that.
Spirituality:
I draw a lot of spirituality these days from this freedom. I posted this picture on the pagan pulpit this last Sun’s Day:
For me, it reflects a lot of my changed attitude toward these subjects. I think the look on the man’s face says it all. The topless woman hasn’t caused him to be a lustful pervert, but she has brightened his day a little by being topless. She isn’t a slut for doing so either, Just a woman taking a walk who is comfortable in her skin. Males and females being themselves and doing what they do without coercing each other to do something they don’t want to do. No sexual pressure, but there is a sexual expression that is being enjoyed by the man as he sees it and the woman as she does it.
Personally, I find that my liberation from ‘sin’ has been wonderful in both these areas. I can appreciate good art and writings were the questions fo sexuality and nudity are seriously discussed and beautifully presented. No appeal to authority jumps in to ruin it. I now very freely accept that I am a man and I’m heterosexual and enjoy both of those parts of who I am. So I enjoy the female form and there is nothing wrong with it. While there are certain biological factors in being a man, I don’t accept any societal roles about being a man that is forced on me. I embrace those I wish to and nothing more.
I feel comfortable in my skin as much as in any clothes I wear. The questions of nudity for me are more about how to avoid being arrested for being freer than others accept, not calling down judgment on others for not sharing mine. My paganism treats my nudity and that of others as a natural thing not abnormal. Naked is our natural form and represents who we are in truth. Everything else is an add on.
I draw a lot of spiritual insight and strength from accepting these things and living in these freedoms.
Conclusion:
I doubt society will change with a wave of our hands. Religion will continue to ruin and pervert sexuality through the forcing of gender roles. It will continue to demonize the beautiful and seek to cover it over to hide it. Control is the objective of religion through defining roles and social mores. All of it is bullshit, but it is bullshit we have to live with because of laws that threaten, coerce and engage in fraud to control others.
The best we pagans can do most of the time is to live our lifestyle expressing the truths of real sexuality and nudism when we can. On the nudism side, some (like myself) find their answer in practicing nudism secretly, while others carve out places in the world to practice it freely without society’s prying eyes. In any case, being the man or woman you want to be is possible without secrecy in the western world at least. Just be prepared for the backlash of not fitting in with your specific expression of your gender either male or female.
Continuing to Walk the Path,
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
Defining justice is not easy especially when you have realized a couple things. 1) That there is no such thing as fair. 2) There may not be an afterlife or a supreme being to balance the scales after this life is over.
The first means that justice is not based on fairness so much as equitable treatment of each person as much as possible. No matter what might seem fair, it isn’t always going to happen. Something you can either accept which will give you a lot more peace, or fight which will lead to personal strife. Hopefully, the price of that strife is worth it, so the peace that follows more than makes up for it.
The second notion is a little harder to accept and one of the reasons I think belief in the afterlife with a supreme being that balances all the scales of justice is a common concept among many religions. It might just be wishful thinking to a childish hope. It might well be that you may be the victim of a crime or an injustice and there will never be any resolution to it in this life or the next. What do you do about that?
For me, I have decided that it is more important to act justly than receive recompense as my personal definition of justice. I may never see justice done to certain people that I think deserve it, but I can treat people with just dealings that fit a certain definition of justice. I can behave justly, so perhaps this definition works best:
Justice: Just behavior or treatment of others, a concern for justice, peace, and genuine respect for people.
To the Wolves and Ravens:
Needs (Geri):
I need this sense of justice in my life as I deal with others. I don’t always like the people that I deal with, but there is still a need to be respectful of others’ humanity regardless of personal feelings. Being respectful has its own rewards. People also know when that respect is genuine or not. That means there is a need for this definition to be more than lip service but a genuine lifestyle.
Wants (Freki):
If you want to be treated justly, you need to treat others with justice. Even though you may not receive it at times, you will never receive justice if you are a person who never gives it. If you play favorites, don’t be surprised if people do the same back. If you do treat people equally, then you have a better chance of receiving the same in return. Personally, this is why my definition of continues to be about respect for everyone’s humanity.
Reason (Huginn):
Reason address the subject of mercy verses rightness. I have pretty much abandoned the notion that forgiveness should just be given. I find a whole lot of injustice goes on and it basically white-washed in the name of forgiveness. A lot of injustice takes place and is glossed over in the name of ‘God will fix it later’ or ‘it’s better for you to forgive’. Reason tells me that those two statements might not be true. Sometimes when you receive justice in this world for wrongs, that’s when you find peace. It is also more responsible to act like we are the only instruments of justice and not believe blindly that others will do it for you later, even a supreme being.
Wisdom (Muninn):
The wisdom issue is when to forgive and when to demand justice. I forgive a lot as most things are just not worth crying or expending the emotional energy to achieve in regards to justice. Life isn’t fair, so many things are just a reflection of that and you can spend your life bitter if you don’t let a lot of them go. There are a few things and they center around I know that I won’t be at peace until I see the scales balance. It is identifying these issues and how to approach them knowing that I might never receive justice. Patience again is key but also knowing the fine line between vengeance and justice.
Conclusion:
I have about three things in my life right now that I struggle with concerning justice, the rest is just noise and things I forgive most of the time. These things haunt my dreams and thoughts almost every day.
1) I struggle to still respect the humanity of certain people, it is hard being equitable at times when you see douchebags get away with shit in how they treat others.
2) I still struggle with how people perceive me as more responsible for my affair than the young woman with whom I was involved. The only thing I hold against her is that she really hasn’t or I haven’t heard of her doing much to correct this notion. I would give it as much thought as the rest of the issues in our relationship – chalk it up to love lost and ‘that’s the way some relationships go’ except for this one thing. Hurts, but I can live with most of it. I wish her well for the most part. The favoritism toward her, which is unmerited in my opinion, and she doesn’t seem to have ever done anything to correct herself that bothers me.
3) The man who handled things ‘for me’ in front of the church claiming to be my friend. Yeah, my hope would be to see poetic justice done where his lifestyle of lies is revealed for what it is. He is as phony as a three dollar bill, but some people think he is a good man. I know better now. He dumps anyone who is no longer of use to him, as evidenced by the people he has broken faith with who are in a long line of broken relationships behind him. When they no longer serve his purpose or are an advantage to him, he dumps them often deceiving them in the process. It is a pretty clear pattern going back quite a way. If I saw poetic justice done to him, I would clap. If I had the chance to be a part of it – yep, no hesitation to pull that trigger. I just patiently wait to see if it will ever happen or I will be given the opportunity, as I know it would give me a great deal of peace to see it or help it along.
I remain,
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
From a Viking point of view, May Eve or April 30 represents the final day that Odin hung upside down on the World Tree and gained the knowledge of the runes. It is a festival time that commemorates his sacrifice for humanity. If you think this is suspiciously familiar with the Christian holiday of Easter, you would be right.
All mythology has within it some story of a god who sacrifices for humanity, this is hardly a unique concept and a very popular one with humans in every myth it is employed. The End of April is a special time of year for pagans of Northern European heritage known as Walpurgis with its celebration of April 30 Beltane and May Day with its maypole celebrations. First, though, we should look at Easter and the elements of paganism in it.
Easter. The very name is stolen from Eostre the fertility goddess. The pagan holiday revolves around fertility with rabbits being fertility symbols for obvious reasons and the egg as well-being the symbol of the beginning of life. It is funny to watch Christians with candy rabbits in their homes and coloring eggs and spring-like Easter traditions. Probably harmless, but it shows how much the traditions of paganism can survive and adapt. The whole end of April though is pretty much about fertility to pagans and the actions that bring it about – namely sex and lots of it.
Walpurgis. This a time of year at the end of April that stretches from April 22 to April 30 representing the nine nights that Odin hung from the World Tree. It is the official end of the Wild Hunt on April 30th. Six months previously it had started and now it ends. On May 1st – May Day – young couples dance around the maypole and oaths of marriage are taken which lasts one year and a day. Walpurgis is a time of other oaths as well.
Beltane. There are other traditions around this festival time. Most notably Beltane which is the night of April 30th itself. The end of winter is official and Summer begins. The most notable tradition is spending the night in the woods ‘a-maying’. Basically having sex and you could pretty much have sex with whoever you wanted. Even married couples could for that single evening lay their wedding bands aside and have sex with whoever they wished. You could also stay at home if you didn’t want to participate.
May Day. May First becomes the maypole festival portion where young couples, who probably had sex the night before, dance around and give their oaths of marriage. These oaths lasted a year and a day. The idea here that is unspoken is that married couples might split at this point, or retake their vows that would last another year and a day. Must have made every year an interesting thing for married couples joined this way. No one and done but a renewing of vows each year.
Time to Look Through the Eye:
Faith:
If there is one thing we can all have faith in it is humans like to fuck have sex. This time of year actually celebrates that rather than calling down condemnation. Spring is about the death of winter and the birth of summer. Fertility has a large part to do with that and is also celebrated along with children. The one thing I can draw some faith from is looking at nudity, sex, and sexuality as a positive spiritual expression rather than taboo. It is a welcome change.
Religion:
It takes religion to destroy the joy of life. One of those joys is making love and religion always tries to set standards, but in truth, there is no rational reason to forgo sex other than not wanting an STD or a child. Outside this, religion is basically a way to control sexual behavior and in my mind, this is the great distinction between religion and paganism. Paganism isn’t interested in controlling the sexuality of others. Far more practical, free, and less cult-like.
Theology:
As a deist, I no longer have the appeal to authority that once was so necessary to dictate terms to people’s sexual relationships. I don’t want it and it is a waste of energy in my mind to be judgmental of people’s sexual habits or living arrangements. With this absent, a theology of sex and sexuality is not difficult; it is simply non-judgmental. If you look at the nature of the world of sexual guidance, you will see it all. From faithful monogamy to harems to interchange of partners whenever the mood strikes – animals literally do it all.
In the end, I leave it to each person’s own moral sovereignty to determine their living arrangement and sexual partners. Control of sexual expression is just no longer part of my theology. My issue is wisdom in such arrangements and whether or not people are going to try to steal from me to pay for the consequences and results of such unions. My only other moral concern is that each person is engaged with their full free will consent.
Spirituality:
Personally, I have always found sex to be as spiritual as it is physical. Oneness is the best way I can describe it. The fact that it is also physically enjoyable is pretty cool too, but its the intimacy often after sex that I enjoy the most. That moment where you are naked in each other’s arms having spent all to make love. That moment is the best part to me spiritually speaking.
Conclusion:
I continue to find pagan holidays and customs to be more practical and more realistic than religious ones. There are more freedoms here and as such less unnecessary guilt and no shame. If a relationship goes forward, it does so by constant yearly assessment rather than one and done. Sex is and it is not evil or dirty. Rather it is a natural thing to make love and the only concerns are children (which in paganism are celebrated), STDs and consent. Our modern world has actually made the STD and Children questions a matter much more manageable. Rape, of course, is universally condemned or at least it should be.
I find this holiday the most liberating from my past. Even though I will be at home with my wife on Beltane because of my vows are ’til death do us part’, I find the notion of releasing religious judgment makes things less stressful and opens the door to a lot more friendships. Enjoy Beltane with your lover. Peace.
Continuing to Walk the Path,
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
No Service today. I saw someone taking the day off for Good Friday and said to myself “Great idea – a day off for a holiday”, so I am taking my first Easter off pontificating in probably twenty years. Peace. Enjoy the chocolate eggs and sugar rabbits. If you want to know more about the real deeper stuff behind Easter and this time of year, stay tuned this week for Odin’s Eye on Thor’s Day.
I remain,
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
Spirituality:
The Grey Wayfarer 