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mdehnersI’ve been thinking about Social Contracts lately, esp. that of Oaths. This is probably because I’ve reconnected with some AS Heathens.
One of the big problems I have is that “In the Old Days”, Heathens would share Culture, Family and Faith…a coherent World View. You would Know who, what and where you Stood on every Action you took AND those Actions of your Folk AND those not….as well as the Reaction(s) to them. Today, even within the same “branch” there is not a coherent view… even within biologically-related Heathens, as we have been shown in the Recent Past. I think this is really something that the Children of those Children presently being Raised Heathen to “Deal” with. Right now it’s basically at the Polytheological experiment level and folks are actually coming close to blows over it. It’s “Reganomics” for Theology, a “trickle-down” Spirituality. Do the big things and things’ll work out at the Personal Level. We have Folks spending large amts of time Working on “the Workings” of Huge Heathen communities that at Present don’t Exist, and won’t IMO if they don’t start paying attention to “the small picture”…
What I mean is that we spend very little time focusing on the Individual Heathen and their families(biological and acquired). In fact, there’s an almost “phobic” reaction when it’s brought up in certain Heathen communities. Personally, I Believe that the Regin would rather us learn about Them and you/ we can Help Them Work in Midgarðr and to Increase the Odds in Our favor at Ragnarok than camp-outs, potlucks and Runestave classes for Utgarðr. Yes, kindreds and groups are very IMPORTANT but what they actually DO in their Practice I Believe is more Important than just the getting together. ..
Now, what does this have to do with Oaths you ask? Well, how are Folks going to Understand their Importance if they don’t have the sort of linkages that the pre-Conversion Heathens did? We don’t and IMO are avoiding the building blocks of how to do so. I’ve been in situations where, if anything the group was supportive of breaking Oaths simply because “things changed”. Folks who made Oaths at the Heat of the Moment or as part of the group’s culture, then found out it would be difficult(or in some cases interfered with other parts of their lives…) to Keep. I’d rather folks took fewer Oaths than be forced even Emotionally into binding themselves to persons/groups kindreds/orgs/etc then ending up breaking those Oaths Intentionally or by Ignorance because they lacked the Cultural and Familial Background to Understand. Oaths are like grafts/transplants IMO…they can Strengthen you but if done for the wrong reason(s) Drain you and Severing will ALWAYS cause complications, the only Unknown is how Woeful….
We need, IMO to do the Work 1st between us and the Regin, then with our families, then with our kindred, then with our branches and let those connections come about Organically instead of binding Folks together with Oaths 1st then Hope that they Learn AND Understand in time before Woe is Bred in the fertile ground of Resentment and Knowledge gained from the results of Ignorance….
Troth,
Patrick T. Duffy
One of the big problems I have is that “In the Old Days”, Heathens would share Culture, Family and Faith…a coherent World View. You would Know who, what and where you Stood on every Action you took AND those Actions of your Folk AND those not….as well as the Reaction(s) to them. Today, even within the same “branch” there is not a coherent view… even within biologically-related Heathens, as we have been shown in the Recent Past. I think this is really something that the Children of those Children presently being Raised Heathen to “Deal” with. Right now it’s basically at the Polytheological experiment level and folks are actually coming close to blows over it. It’s “Reganomics” for Theology, a “trickle-down” Spirituality. Do the big things and things’ll work out at the Personal Level. We have Folks spending large amts of time Working on “the Workings” of Huge Heathen communities that at Present don’t Exist, and won’t IMO if they don’t start paying attention to “the small picture”…
What I mean is that we spend very little time focusing on the Individual Heathen and their families(biological and acquired). In fact, there’s an almost “phobic” reaction when it’s brought up in certain Heathen communities. Personally, I Believe that the Regin would rather us learn about Them and you/ we can Help Them Work in Midgarðr and to Increase the Odds in Our favor at Ragnarok than camp-outs, potlucks and Runestave classes for Utgarðr. Yes, kindreds and groups are very IMPORTANT but what they actually DO in their Practice I Believe is more Important than just the getting together. ..
Now, what does this have to do with Oaths you ask
We need, IMO to do the Work 1st between us and the Regin, then with our families, then with our kindred, then with our branches and let those connections come about Organically instead of binding Folks together with Oaths 1st then Hope that they Learn AND Understand in time before Woe is Bred in the fertile ground of Resentment and Knowledge gained from the results of Ignorance….
Troth,
Patrick T. Duffy
