I got directed to this post by a friend and wanted to say you raise some very good points there. I do believe Theodish Belief is different from Irminism which is different from Anglo-Saxon Heathenry which is different from Asatru. However, calling ourselves 50 different names isn't going to help when you're filling out your intake form at the hospital and you don't see a space for "Heathen". There are some hospitals that now have a space for "Pagan", which is fine for Wiccans and other recon religions who don't seem to have an allergic reaction to the word. But if more of us decided to use "Heathen" as an umbrella term, we might have less crapola from, for example, school administrators, medical professionals (esp. mental health), and so on.
I do not like using the 9 Virtues as the end-all, be-all of Heathen ethics. It is easy for a n00b to Heathenry to think Odin came down off an Icelandic mountain with the NNV etched in stone. They are a good reference point but morality is more complex than putting it into 9 virtues. For example, I'm not going to extend "hospitality" to someone who's deliberately harmed me and my kin, but people who misunderstand the NNV (esp. those who come from a Wiccan background) are likely to think that "hospitality" means you bend over backwards for every jerk on the Earth.
Now, mind you, I'm not saying you're "wrong", or even completely disagreeing with you there (like I said, you raise some excellent points), but there is more to Heathen ethics than a set of rules. Rather than the NNV I try to look at the examples of the Eddas, especially the Havamal, but also how the Gods interact with people, and how people interact with each other. I realize the NNV is a good quick reference especially for people who do need a sense of order, but it's a little teensy bit more complex.
And your back-to-life story is cool. You are indeed here for a reason, and it may well be as a frith-weaver, the role is sadly lacking in Heathenry with macho "I'm a more manly warrior than you, NYAH" posturing. As a devotee of Frey, I believe frith is VERY underrated, and that doesn't mean not disagreeing with folks, but it does mean trying to be considerate and thoughtful in your choice of words, and deeds. I also have Asperger's, so this is a bit of a challenge ;)
So yeah, an umbrella term is a good starting point. We have much to do if we want to have a strong community, but too many people fail to realize that Heathenry IS in fact a community-oriented religion, it's not "every man for himself saying and doing whatever the Hel he wants". I'm not talking about dogma, I'm talking about unity.
Thank you for your kind words and I totally agree with you about the hospitality stopping where deliberate hurt has been done. We are not a "turn the other cheek crowd" which I have always thought just makes ready-made victims, especially when the tormentors are typically the ones asking you to turn the other cheek. I am friending you (and the rest of you too) so you can read my friends-only post about what I think about turning the other cheek and the deliberate harm done to me that resulted in me having a permanently damaged spine, which in turn led to the near-death experience. You will read that it was my own kin who did this to me and they are sure not welcome within 100 miles from me. it's about six or so posts back. If you're interested, you can also read my ghost stories too. I am glad, this was a very civil discussion with lots of good points made.
A Frey follower. That's nice. My husband is a devoted Freya follower, as is my oldest daughter. It's challenging having an autistic child, isn't it? Mine is too young to know but she's 6 years old and a computer whiz. We had to put extra security on mine because she figured out how to hack into it.
Yes, I've had many pointless discussions with some Wiccans over the meaning of "If you mean no harm, do what you will." Some take this to quite stretchy extremes. I know at Free Spirit (at least this was the case in 1999) they didn't take checks because too many of them bounced back and I've had to refuse a few over the years who wanted to live in my house because they didn't want to bother taking care of themselves and who used their magick to make objects disappear the five finger way. These guys were the dabblers and bloodhounds for freebies. Hosptality doesn't mean doormat. I like that "every man for himself saying and doing whatever the Hel he wants."
You got the point exactly. No dogma, Unity.
One of the other sad reasons why I wrote that post about facing irrelevancy is that not only are we counted in the U.S. census but we're severely underrepresented in websites that talk about universal religions.
Here is a link that all of you should check out, it's called the Universal Life Church Monastery but it's a compilation of the world's religions. Asatru is not even mentioned. Wicca, Druidism and Celtic are all mentioned. Atheism and Agnosticm are mentioned. And you will check the huge library of books they have to order. Not one Asatru or Germanic heathen book in there. All of the above mentioned are represented in plentiful supply and a diversity of authors. Here is it here. http://www.themonastery.org/
I got directed to this post by a friend and wanted to say you raise some very good points there. I do believe Theodish Belief is different from Irminism which is different from Anglo-Saxon Heathenry which is different from Asatru. However, calling ourselves 50 different names isn't going to help when you're filling out your intake form at the hospital and you don't see a space for "Heathen". There are some hospitals that now have a space for "Pagan", which is fine for Wiccans and other recon religions who don't seem to have an allergic reaction to the word. But if more of us decided to use "Heathen" as an umbrella term, we might have less crapola from, for example, school administrators, medical professionals (esp. mental health), and so on.
I do not like using the 9 Virtues as the end-all, be-all of Heathen ethics. It is easy for a n00b to Heathenry to think Odin came down off an Icelandic mountain with the NNV etched in stone. They are a good reference point but morality is more complex than putting it into 9 virtues. For example, I'm not going to extend "hospitality" to someone who's deliberately harmed me and my kin, but people who misunderstand the NNV (esp. those who come from a Wiccan background) are likely to think that "hospitality" means you bend over backwards for every jerk on the Earth.
Now, mind you, I'm not saying you're "wrong", or even completely disagreeing with you there (like I said, you raise some excellent points), but there is more to Heathen ethics than a set of rules. Rather than the NNV I try to look at the examples of the Eddas, especially the Havamal, but also how the Gods interact with people, and how people interact with each other. I realize the NNV is a good quick reference especially for people who do need a sense of order, but it's a little teensy bit more complex.
And your back-to-life story is cool. You are indeed here for a reason, and it may well be as a frith-weaver, the role is sadly lacking in Heathenry with macho "I'm a more manly warrior than you, NYAH" posturing. As a devotee of Frey, I believe frith is VERY underrated, and that doesn't mean not disagreeing with folks, but it does mean trying to be considerate and thoughtful in your choice of words, and deeds. I also have Asperger's, so this is a bit of a challenge ;)
So yeah, an umbrella term is a good starting point. We have much to do if we want to have a strong community, but too many people fail to realize that Heathenry IS in fact a community-oriented religion, it's not "every man for himself saying and doing whatever the Hel he wants". I'm not talking about dogma, I'm talking about unity.
Thank you :)
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it's about six or so posts back. If you're interested, you can also read my ghost stories too.
I am glad, this was a very civil discussion with lots of good points made.
A Frey follower. That's nice. My husband is a devoted Freya follower, as is my oldest daughter. It's challenging having an autistic child, isn't it? Mine is too young to know but she's 6 years old and a computer whiz. We had to put extra security on mine because she figured out how to hack into it.
Yes, I've had many pointless discussions with some Wiccans over the meaning of "If you mean no harm, do what you will." Some take this to quite stretchy extremes. I know at Free Spirit (at least this was the case in 1999) they didn't take checks because too many of them bounced back and I've had to refuse a few over the years who wanted to live in my house because they didn't want to bother taking care of themselves and who used their magick to make objects disappear the five finger way. These guys were the dabblers and bloodhounds for freebies.
Hosptality doesn't mean doormat. I like that "every man for himself saying and doing whatever the Hel he wants."
You got the point exactly. No dogma, Unity.
One of the other sad reasons why I wrote that post about facing irrelevancy is that not only are we counted in the U.S. census but we're severely underrepresented in websites that talk about universal religions.
Here is a link that all of you should check out, it's called the Universal Life Church Monastery but it's a compilation of the world's religions. Asatru is not even mentioned. Wicca, Druidism and Celtic are all mentioned.
Atheism and Agnosticm are mentioned.
And you will check the huge library of books they have to order. Not one Asatru or Germanic heathen book in there. All of the above mentioned are represented in plentiful supply and a diversity of authors.
Here is it here.
http://www.themonastery.org/
I find this disquieting.
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