(no subject)
The following is from a book that will be released later this year or early next year...
Thouhgts??? I have some, but will wait until some others voice theirs...
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From the chapter on "The Gods"
URD: There is a late tradition where Loki's half-black, half-pale daughter rules the Underworld under the name Hel. The idea is based on a Christian misconception purposely devised to make the Teutonic eschatology and cosmology match that of the Bible. His daughter's real name is Leikin, who only watches over the realm of the damned as Hel's slave. The true Hel is, in fact, our goddess of fate, of that-which-is, the benevolent deity concerned with matters of life and death, Urd. She is the highest of the Norns, powerful maidens directly linked to all sentient beings as their guardians or the creators of their destiny. Her sisters, Verdandi and Skuld, help her weave the web of wyrd, a symbol of synchronicity and the relationship between all life in the universe.
To our ancestors, no power was greater than that of Fate. It is possible that it was personified as a mighty deity (Metod) worshipped by the gods and goddesses, with Urd as his representative. Today there are many, caught up in the ideals of individualism, who do not believe in fate simply because they feel they can control their own destiny. Such a belief is based on a lack of understanding of what fate is. All we can "control" in life is our own choices, how we choose to live and deal with what life has to offer. Everything else is fate. Let's consider an example:
You see a carrot laying on a table, then decide you want to eat the carrot, so you move towards it. Here you are controlling your choice, your decision that you want that carrot. But then, I run up, grab the carrot and take off with it. Of course you could say I'm just being a jerk, but nevertheless, you do not have the carrot, even though it was your decision to get it. This is fate. You cannot control your destiny because you cannot control your environment or those around you. This is why, in Asatru, the concept is represented by a web, with each thread, a thread of fate, signifying the life of an individual. When two threads meet this is the overlapping of two lives: our relationships with oen another. As we live out our existence Urd creates our threads of fate from her sacred well, feeds them to her sister Verdandi who weaves them into web, the lives or fates of others, then Skuld cuts them, deciding our time to die.
Urd's lesson is to accept life on life's terms. We may not be able to control our environment, but we can control how we deal with it. We will make our decisions, trying to make the best of any situation, and hope that Fortune will shine down on our endeavors. No matter what the outcome we must face our ups and downs with dignity. Most problems human beings face are based on our perception of hour things should be, rather than how they are. Developing an acceptance of what happens is a mark of the highly evolved person. This is not to say that we do not try to fix wrongs, or that we live passively, waiting for fate to lead our way, it is simply a decree that things happen for a reason. This is why Urd is not that goddess of that-which-was or the "past" as it is commonly defined, but rther of that-which-is, the way things are and the circumstances that have led up to them. When bad things happen we learn from our mistakes, or demand compensation when we are wronged, or fight against those who oppress us. Fixating on the past changes nothing.
Thouhgts??? I have some, but will wait until some others voice theirs...
**************************************************************************
From the chapter on "The Gods"
URD: There is a late tradition where Loki's half-black, half-pale daughter rules the Underworld under the name Hel. The idea is based on a Christian misconception purposely devised to make the Teutonic eschatology and cosmology match that of the Bible. His daughter's real name is Leikin, who only watches over the realm of the damned as Hel's slave. The true Hel is, in fact, our goddess of fate, of that-which-is, the benevolent deity concerned with matters of life and death, Urd. She is the highest of the Norns, powerful maidens directly linked to all sentient beings as their guardians or the creators of their destiny. Her sisters, Verdandi and Skuld, help her weave the web of wyrd, a symbol of synchronicity and the relationship between all life in the universe.
To our ancestors, no power was greater than that of Fate. It is possible that it was personified as a mighty deity (Metod) worshipped by the gods and goddesses, with Urd as his representative. Today there are many, caught up in the ideals of individualism, who do not believe in fate simply because they feel they can control their own destiny. Such a belief is based on a lack of understanding of what fate is. All we can "control" in life is our own choices, how we choose to live and deal with what life has to offer. Everything else is fate. Let's consider an example:
You see a carrot laying on a table, then decide you want to eat the carrot, so you move towards it. Here you are controlling your choice, your decision that you want that carrot. But then, I run up, grab the carrot and take off with it. Of course you could say I'm just being a jerk, but nevertheless, you do not have the carrot, even though it was your decision to get it. This is fate. You cannot control your destiny because you cannot control your environment or those around you. This is why, in Asatru, the concept is represented by a web, with each thread, a thread of fate, signifying the life of an individual. When two threads meet this is the overlapping of two lives: our relationships with oen another. As we live out our existence Urd creates our threads of fate from her sacred well, feeds them to her sister Verdandi who weaves them into web, the lives or fates of others, then Skuld cuts them, deciding our time to die.
Urd's lesson is to accept life on life's terms. We may not be able to control our environment, but we can control how we deal with it. We will make our decisions, trying to make the best of any situation, and hope that Fortune will shine down on our endeavors. No matter what the outcome we must face our ups and downs with dignity. Most problems human beings face are based on our perception of hour things should be, rather than how they are. Developing an acceptance of what happens is a mark of the highly evolved person. This is not to say that we do not try to fix wrongs, or that we live passively, waiting for fate to lead our way, it is simply a decree that things happen for a reason. This is why Urd is not that goddess of that-which-was or the "past" as it is commonly defined, but rther of that-which-is, the way things are and the circumstances that have led up to them. When bad things happen we learn from our mistakes, or demand compensation when we are wronged, or fight against those who oppress us. Fixating on the past changes nothing.