mdehners: (Default)
Personally, I’m getting a bit tired of many Heathen’s “Christianitiaphobia”. Not that I don’t think it’s a disgusting, Soul-destroying, Malevolent Belief-system, just that I’m tired of this automatic tossing of anything Culturally “Christian”….because in Truth it usually isn’t very Christian.
While Wiccans and Modern Pagans will complain about Christian’s “Stealing their Religion”, Heathens who actually have a valid Right to those things tend to ignore them.
Any Reading of the Bible, Early Christianity, early Roman Church etc will show you how LITTLE the common Beliefs of European Christians ARE Christian.
A good example would be that of Angels. In Hebrew, Biblical and early(read pre-European Influenced) Christianity, They are, as one author succinctly put it, “YHVH’s Stormtroopers”. They strike Terror in the hearts of the Transgressors of His Laws. In actuality, if you read the early descriptions to a Modern Christian and don’t give the source, they would think you’re describing a Demon. They aren’t the Dead, they aren’t Guides of Individuals of Families and they are always described as Male. The Modern Christian Angel(sans Wings:>) describes better an Idis or an Alf.
Another would be the Afterlife. Again, nothing like the modern C view(well, with exceptions of small denominations such as JW’s…). In these you are DEAD. You remain DEAD until YHVH decides to bring your Body back to life…if you are of the Elect AND your corpse is still Intact after all those yrs….PERIOD. The Idea that when you die your Soul goes to be with your Dead Relatives or to the Halls of Divine Being(s), even that there is a place of Punishment(Sheol is literally the garbage dump. You burn the body of the Evil-doer, negating even Divine “clemency”. That’s IT.) for the really Evil.
We won’t EVEN start on the Holy Days;>!
So when you hear some Eejit online blowing off Lore because it was written down by Christians, Remember who really won the war of Ideas in the long run…
Troth,
Pat

“We’re probably talking about a New Age kind of Angel;” Claire sighed. “human-appearing, frighteningly powerful, smug … a sweetly sanctimonious busybody”. “The Second Summoning”
mdehners: (Default)
Lore is IMPORTANT. It gives you both a template, toward the Nordic Ways, it gives you a touch-stone, esp. in things UPG. Yes, Knowing the Lore doesn’t negate UPG, it Enhances it. It helps you Know whether that which you are getting is at least in the Spirit of pre-C Heathenry. If you’re well-read enough in the Lore, you have that within yourselves to both discern and judge that which you’re getting. One of the easiest ways is to picture a group of pre-c Heathens. Then picture their reaction to the UPG. Let’s say a Being has appeared to you, stating that they are _____. Would that pre-C crowd in the hall Accept, Reject or ask for a Spaeworker for clarification?
A less “Visual” way is simply to compare the event/experience to that in the Lore. Does it match, resemble or at least be in the “spirit” of ___? If not, it may be valid for you but certainly be in the Utangarðr dept, Heathen-wise...
I’ve been on Heathen BBS’s, Groups and lists even before I was Heathen. I’ve read(and at moots Listened) to a lot of stuff that I Know my Ancestors would have though Utangarðr at Least and Insane at Best. Sadly, some will quote Lore but it’s after the fact, not before. IMO, if you’re searching for material to back up your UPG, it’s a bad sign. That means that you Know that you’re on shaky ground and are looking for a vague passage or one translation that might be able to back it up(like Lore where someone dresses as a Regin and is mistaken for it as backup for the trendy practices of Channeling or Possession). Digging through Lore to Justify a UPG(or Practice) is never a good sign of it’s Validity, IMO…
Of course, this is only valid for Recon Heathens...
Troth,
Pat

It was easy to be a vegetarian by day, it was harder preventing yourself becoming a humanitarian at night –Angua the Werewolf, ‘Feet of Clay’

June 2025

S M T W T F S
1234567
8 91011121314
15161718192021
2223 2425 262728
2930     

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 2nd, 2025 12:17 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios