So How Does My Last Heathen Blog Post Apply to Heathenry?

There is no Kindred in your area? Start one.

Can't find heathens in your area? Start a website. Start a meetup. Go to the Asatru Alliance, Asatru Folk Assembly, the Troth, or do some google searches. Search MySpace.

Still can't find any heathens? Make some. Teach Asatru 101 classes at the local bookstore. Talk to your friends and family about it.

There are Kindreds in your area, but you don't like how they do things? Start your own Kindred. Or speak with them openly and honestly about your differences, and see if they are as big as you think they are.

Don't have time to read the Lore? Make some time. What is more important than rejoining your ancestral stream and honoring your Folk, your Ancestors, and your Gods.

You're failing at one of your oaths? Then work harder. Or pay your shyld.

Your Kindred is small, and your wish it was bigger? Work at it. Hold open meet-and-greets. Promote them. Tell friends and family. Post them on e-lists, message boards, and hang flyers at coffee shops and bookstores.

There are no regional heathen gatherings in your area? Then plan and organize one. Reach out to other heathens and kindreds in your region and ask them what sort of gathering they would like. Ask if they would like to partner with you in making it happen. And then make it happen.

Your Kindred wishes it had a Hof. Then start planning one. Find out how much land costs. Find out how much a modest building will cost. Start raising money. Have everyone in your Kindred set aside $5 or $10 a month. The gods and this world will not just hand you a Hof. You must must make it happen, don't just wish for it.

Essentially, anything you can imagine...you can work towards. And if you work hard enough, long enough, you can attain it. I don't mean to sound like a Tony Robbin's personal-power video. I'm just saying, we make our own Luck. We shape our world though decisiveness and action. As heathens, we should know this better than anyone...

Mark

They get up in the morning. Check the weather news...eat a few bites...and head off for work. They work a job they don't love. Actually, they have come to hate it in a sense. Its not an art. Its not a passion. It pays the bills. They have work friends, but they aren't real friends. They are people they say good morning too, and forward stupid e-mail jokes to.

They drive home, plop down, turn on the television. They enjoy an evening of reality television, processed snacks, and a form of living death. They are so used to their spouse, that there is nothing new to say. A few work stories...perhaps they discuss the latest drama on one of their television shows. The kids have their own televisions, their own video games, their own phones. Oh, yes...there's the evening news...with its weather report and the sports highlights. Can't forget those. Then off-to-bed. Sleep. Wake up. Repeat steps above.

Politics? They barely pay attention to those. What attention they do pay is surface level. Perhaps they follow the politics they were taught by their parents. Perhaps they have a favorite commentator, blog site, or someone else that forms most of their political thought.

Religion? They are comfortable in their church. Its a big place. The people don't cause much trouble, and they have a few friends there they talk to on Sunday. Or perhaps they just stay home. Religion takes a little too much thought to really bother with. One thing is certain, they've never read the Bible...not even large chunks of it. They believe its the word of their god, but why read it? That's just pointless. The preacher tells them all about god, or they learned all they were going to learn as a kid.

Dreams? Bothersome things that interrupt their sleep. And if they don't get good sleep, they'll be nodding off at their boring-ass job. So, no time to bother with remember their dreams. Thinking about what their dreams might tell them. Dreams are something they had when they were a kid.

Hopes and goals? Oh, they had those once. But they found a spouse. Got into a house. They have a stable job that pays the bills...just barely. And reality television takes up a lot of time. Its sort of hard to find the energy or the time to work towards any real goals. Make anything real happen in this world. Plus, hopes and goals are a luxury of youth. They have a life now. And its not like the hopes and dreams could become reality anyway. So what's the point?

These are the living dead. The drones. They lead their small lives. They don't try to hard at work. They don't try to hard at home. And when they die, they are buried and burned, and within a decade or two...they are forgotten. They have left no mark. They have not lived.

We get one shot at this. Whatever religion you are...this is the here and now. This is the world we have, the life we lead. Make it count.

Don't like your job? Bored out of your mind with it? Move within your company. Work your ass off to advance and challenge yourself. If that's not going to work, actively seek a new job. Something you dream of doing. Maybe once you get it, it won't live up to those dreams...but at least you will have done it and tried it.

Television? Turn that shit off. Sure watch a movie. Learn something on the history channel. Or use television as background noise when you are doing something that actually counts. But don't sit there for four or five hours a night watching other people accomplish things. What does that do for you? It "occupies your time" and little else. Its mental masterbation that numbs your mind to have freakin' bored you really are with your life.

Spouse or family feel disconnected from you? Time to work your ass off again. Be honest. Communicate with your spouse or loved ones what you want. What you expect. What you want your life to be like. Include them in that plan, and ask for their help. Tell them you love them, and you don't want your life to pass you by without joy, and passion, and energy, and dynamic action.

Hopes and Dreams? Listen to your dreams. Work towards your hopes. You want to belong to a ghost hunting group? Start your own. You want to write a novel? It won't write itself. Buy a book on novel writing. Buy 4 of them. Read them, and start writing. Set time aside everyday to write. Want to be an artist? Then take classes. Work on your craft. Meet with other artists. Talk, watch, and learn. Involve yourself in artistic circles. Bored to death with religion, or haven't found one that sings to your soul? Then you haven't bothered looking around. Read. Read. Read. Explore all the varied approaches to the divine question, and find the one that sings to you. No followers of that religion around you? Then start a church, build a website, and start gathering like-minded people.

No one is going to live your life for you. Everyone around you will sit and watch you fritter away your life...without saying a word. No one is going to make you chase your dreams. As a matter of fact, most people will quietly, secretly discourage you. Break free. Make something happen. Live your life so that when you are buried or burned, you will have made something special in this world.

Mark Stinson

In a discussion string about a heathenry 101 booklet that made a lot of comparisons between heathenry and Christianity, the question was asked, "Isn't Heathenry rich enough and complete enough that we can describe it without having to compare and contrast it with Christianity?"

I answered that question strongly in the affimative. Heathenry is a full and rich religion, full of history, and Lore, and poetry, and meaning. Its way of viewing the physical world is full and life-embracing. Its way of viewing our relationship with the gods is positive and enriching. Its view of how we are connected with our ancestors is truly wonderful. And the concepts within heathenry give us plenty to chew on. Wyrd. Orlog. Oaths. Symbels. Fainings. The Folksoul. The Nine worlds. On and on.

So, should someone leaving Christianity for Heathenry need a lot of crutches and transitional mechanisms to make the transition easier? Should we coddle the Christian-baggage the new person brings with them, or should we guide them through the process of abandoning that baggage at the door? Is Christianity so "addictive" that the transition process to heathenry needs to be difficult or "helped along" with transitional devices that are aimed more at Christian-baggage than at actual heathen beliefs? Let's turn the question in the first paragraph on its head a little bit...

"Isn't Heathenry rich enough and complete enough that we can transition to it without having to borrow beliefs and practices from Christianity?"

To this question I answer strongly yes, as before.

I don't believe Christianity is an addiction. I think its something we are indoctrinated with from birth. As far as Christianity being an addiction, I view it this way...

Perhaps Christianity is Nicotine gum, and Heathenry is that big beautiful first cigarette when you haven't smoked one in a while. Perhaps Christianity is the aspirin for a caffine-headache, while Heathenry is that first ice-cold coca-cola or rich dark cup of coffee when you've been off the stuff for awhile. Perhaps Christianity is Splenda, and Heathenry is that big moist piece of chocolate cake you eat, and all the wonderful feelings that comes after that.

For me personally, transitioning from that mess that is Christianity, and all the dogmatic guilt-mongering. All the fear-based brain-washing. The abandonment of physical enjoyment and condemnation of life-affirming action. The hypocrits hiding in every church pew. Transitioning from that utter vacant soul-eating darkness to the vital power, and Tru rightness of Heathenry should not be that big a burden.

But that's my personal view. I'm not saying to think otherwise is "bad" or "evil." I just have my view of it, and I don't agree with other views on the matter. I won't taint my heathenry with Christian-baggage to aid others in transitioning from that sad foreign religion our Folk has been afflicted with for over a 1,000 years.

We should spend more time teaching newbies all the amazing things about heathenry, and less time coddling their Christian baggage. Leave the baggage at the door, and embrace your ancestral stream whole-heartedly. But that's my way of thinking.

Mark

How does one become heathen?

Seriously. How does that happen? Does a priest have to give you the nod? Must you go through a public "confirmation" or "profession of faith?" Must you be certified by a clergy board? Should you open your pocketbook and tithe 10% to some earthbound organization more concerned with power and politics than your spiritual strength and well-being? How does one become Heathen?

For me, I simply began talking to the gods. It felt like they were listening, and that's the first time I have experienced that feeling. I was reading the Lore...it just felt right. It felt like I was coming home to what I already was...or should be. So during one of my conversations with Thor, I promised to build a relationship with the gods...and I promised to find a Kindred, or if I had to...build a Kindred. I was in my car, driving home from work. All by my lonesome. Just me and Thor, talking it out. I remember the moment very well. That was my "profession," I suppose. Though for me, it was a personal oath between me and the gods.

Since then I've lived heathen. I've learned everything I could in the time I've had. I found other heathens, and I gather with them...and we worked together to start a Kindred. When the Kindred was eventually formed, we took an oath to the gods, to our ancestors, to the Vaettir, and to each other. I found heathenry. I personally committed to the gods to learn everything I could about them and the ways my ancestors honored them, and from there things naturally developed.

So what if a "newbie" transitioning to heathenry wants a big public ceremony? Perhaps they would feel more comfortable being tested, and confirmed some way as a heathen? Maybe membership in some organization would make them feel "more" heathen? For me, these actions are not heathen. They do not represent my view of Asatru. One is true to the Aesir...and no one stands between us and our Elder Kin. They are our gods, and they watch us and listen.

So, I think it is our obligation to explain to new heathens or the heathen-curious how we see heathenry. If they ask about something that we don't personally feel is heathen...or necessary, then we should be honest with them...and explain what heathenry is to them from our perspective. We don't have an obligation to share a perspective we don't follow. If due to Christian baggage they would feel more comfortable having a "Christian-style" confirmation ceremony...then we should explain to them why this is not heathen, and guide them in in the right direction. A personal relationship with the gods.

I don't believe in changing heathenry to fit the newly converted's baggage or Christian-based needs. They are coming to heathenry, not the other way around. I see it as slowing down their transition and development in the heathen-mindset to provide them with unnecessary crutches or bandaids to "ease the transition." When they ask a question that seems to reflect a mindset other than heathenry, guide them. Teach them. Explain to them how a heathen approaches that matter. And we should base those answers on the Lore, and solid reconstructed beliefs as we understand them.

Rod once advised someone...

So if you want to publicly profess, go out in your backyard and state what is in your heart, bones, and your balls. Put your hammer on, and start going about being heathen in all things.

That is how each of us in Jotun's Bane Kindred did it. I promised my loyalty to Thor and the Aesir in my car, driving home. I believe Craig received a rather startling sign from Odin in his house one day, and that took him down the path of being a heathen. Rod described his own process of becoming a heathen...

For me when I understood that I have "come home" to my folk way. I said to myself, "I am Asatru and now I will do my best to follow it's ways." Then I proceeded to do it. That was back in 1993

So, feeling this way. Believing that for us, this is what heathenry is...when someone asks us a question, the answer is going to reflect our view of heathenry. We are not going to alter or change our view of heathenry just to aid in someone's transition, due to baggage they are having trouble shedding. If we coddle that baggage, what good does that do.

Instead, we will spend hours and hours, days, and weeks giving them advice, guiding them when asked, and providing answers to questions. But that advice, that guidance, and those answers are going to reflect our views of heathenry. Others may see heathenry differently, and they can give different advice. That's personal to them. But my advice will be Tru as I see it.

Mark

Its a private matter, so I won't go into much detail here. This may sound like a bit of a puzzle, but so what? The situation itself is not the point.

I was facing a situation where I very much wanted two different things...two different paths. I spoke to Thor about it. I spoke to Freyja about it. I spoke to Frigg about it. I spoke to Odin about it. I spoke to my father about it. This went on for months, and months.

Eventually, I just let go of my preconceived notions of what the situation was...and stopped trying to force an answer...or a resolution. I trusted that as long as I was Tru...and as long as I honored the gods and my ancestors, things would turn out as they should.

The situation is resolved. Its resolved in the best possible way it could be resolved...in a completely positive and Tru way. And I thank our gods for how it has been resolved. I don't think they "fixed" anything for me, or "made" anything happen. But I have to think they gave me a nudge here...a nudge there. And I am more convinced than I ever have been that the gods watch us...and smile upon us when we are Tru.

Mark

O.K. There is a stigma in mainstream culture to being any religion other than Christian (or to some degree Jewish). Even using the word "pagan" or "heathen" can send some people into fits. So someone new to Asatru would naturally worry about how their family, their friends, their neighbors, their bosses, or their co-workers might react to the fact they are Asatru.

But over time, as you get comfortable in your new skin...it feels more natural to be open about your religious beliefs.

My wife was the first to know of course. How could it be otherwise? :-)

Next came my friends. It was important to me that I be able to talk about my beliefs and my efforts to build a Kindred with them. So very early on I told my friends. Some of them have come to appreciate my beliefs a lot, and have even read books about them just to know more.

Being open about my religion in my workplace has been longer in coming. I work in law enforcement, and I was worried about what impact it might have on my job. And anything that impacts my job, impacts my family. So while I have not hidden or lied about my religious beliefs, I have kept them private.

The other day an officer saw me looking at an Asatru website, and asked if I was Asatru. I told him I was, and he asked what it was all about. I told him briefly, and he said he knew about Asatru from his time working in a prison...and interacting with Asatru prisoners. So we conversed about that for awhile.

Tonight I told my Captain at work that I am Asatru. He knew I was very interested in Norse Mythology, as he has seen my heathen books here at work...and he learned recently that I had attended the Heartland Pagan Festival. But I believe he thought I had attended that as part of my interest in the paranormal. But it was tonight that I told him about my religion.

He didn't even blink. He said something like, "I sort of guessed." We talked about it for a bit, and that was that. Not at all the problem I thought it would be.

So who in your life knows you are Asatru? And who in your life doesn't know?

Mark

In my e-mail communications with another heathen, we have been discussing past misdeeds, damaged Reputations, Wyrd, and the difference between a Guilt Culture and a Shame Culture. I've edited one of my e-mails to share here on my blog, because I thought it was interesting...

Christianity is Guilt Culture. A Christian can do horrible things, but once they ask forgiveness...other Christians are taught to forgive them and not to judge them. That sin is between them and their desert god. They have but to ask forgiveness and have good intentions, and they start with a clean slate in the eyes of their god. Their god sees all, and no matter what you do that is bad, whether you are caught or not...whether it really hurt anyone or not, you are to feel the guilt of those actions until you ask forgiveness.

Heathenry is Shame Culture. A man is his deeds. The past does matter. What a man does is woven into his Wyrd. His reputation is affected, and the reputation of those that associate with him. Right action is not a matter that is only between an individual and his gods. Right action is seen by his fellow heathens, and renown and reputation are built and earned. Asking forgiveness or having good intentions does not wipe away the past. So let's look at some examples...some metaphors.

If you had a best friend who you respected and liked. And you found out he had molested four little girls ten years before...a few years before you met him. the girls were all under the age of 10. That is a part of that man. That is a part of his Wyrd. And by your friendship, you have made him and his wrongs a part of your Wyrd as well. How you might ask? Your friendship will change forever, and if it was important to you...then that is a loss. It would affect whether you let him near your own children. It would make you worry about the time he has already spent with your children. Perhaps he has touched and harmed your children in ways you did not know about. If he were arrested for the crime it would impact your own reputation as well, depending on how well you were known to be his friend. What he had done would impact your marriage, if you wife felt that you brought this harmful man into your family's home. It would make you question your own ability to judge a person's character and worth. His past would damage your Luck.

If you had a wife who you found out was a hooker some years before, and she had not told you...her past would be a big deal...it would affect your Wyrd. You would worry about her attitudes about sex and loyalty within your marriage. The fact she had not told you would affect your trust of her. You would worry what diseases had been brought into your home and into your own body. If her past became public it would affect the reputation of your family and yourself. If your children come to know of it, it will undermine their respect for their mother...and perhaps affect their own ideas and attitudes about the dignity of their body. Her past would damage your Luck.

If you formed a Kindred, and four months into its existance...one of the members of your Kindred cheated on his wife, and their marriage disolved. this would affect your Wyrd, and the Wyrd of the collective group. The man's life would be chaos and turmoil, and the Kindred would be affected by his distraction. The man has broken a serious oath that he had taken to his wife. The man has destroyed his own family. The man has done something that will scar his own children's ability to form and maintain long-term relationships. The man will be turning to the Kindred for help...and depending on the strength of the Kindred, this could damage or destroy the Kindred. His inability to maintain his oath, his family, and his self-control would affect the Luck of the Kindred.

So, past actions matter. One can seek to change and improve. One can seek to be a better person. But escaping your past actions is not as easy as turning over a new leaf. Not in a Shame Culture...a Heathen Culture.

If a man or woman has great misdeeds in their past, there Wyrd and Luck are likely damaged. Their reputation is likely damaged as well, because others usually know of these misdeeds.

And I think it is important that people who are considering whether or not to mingle their Wyrd with that person...considering whether to share a horn with that person...whether to Fain with that person...should know of both that person's past misdeeds AND their commitment to do better. They should know the whole of a person (both positive and negative) prior to weaving that person into their Wyrd.

In the six months Jotun's Bane Kindred was forming, when we were getting to know each other, we explored both positive and negative things about each other. I learned of the flaws of the other members and they learned of mine. We were an open book. But none of those flaws were so serious that they made us apprehensive about mingling our Wyrd...and forming a collective Wyrd and a Kindred. Were we all perfect? No. Did we have great shame in our past. Definitely not.

Not everyone has a laundry list of bad bahavior that needs to be hidden or kept secret. Only some do. And part of getting a fresh start for someone with past misdeeds and a damaged reputation, would be not trying to hide those past mistakes from people you hope to build relationships with.

What do you think reputation is? What do you think it is made of? Basically, it is what people think of you. It is what people say about you. It is the tales that are told of you. Its the memories you leave with others. So, if among certain people, your reputation is not very positive...they will certainly talk. Don't apologize for your past misdeeds. Pay Shyld...correct your misdeed. Don't focus on people "talking crap about you." Of course they are talking crap about you...that is the bad reputation you have likely earned. Gossip is not gossip when it is true and is being passed onto to a friend, so that person can be cautious regarding someone with a bad reputation. Instead focus on rebuilding your reputation through right action.

That would be the Heathen approach to such matters, IMO.

Mark

My dad, Glen Stinson told great stories...and great jokes. Dinner time was always filled with tales and laughter. When family friends would come over to the house when I was a child, I would sit quietly at the dinner table when dinner was over, and listen to the stories. Some were off-color...but as long as I sat quietly and listened, no one seemed to mind me being there.

When I got older, dad and I still shared stories and jokes. Except now I had stories to tell. So we would swap stories. Many of his stories I had heard over and over again, but I never really tired of them. I would even ask him to tell me certain stories over again that I was fond of.

So, you can imagine how happy I was when my dad began writing his stories down. He wrote one book...and then a few years later, another book of personal stories. I'm working on posting those stories on the internet. Its a long-term project. One I have neglected for a couple of years, but I'm back on it. Thanks to memories. And thanks to heathenry. Here's the link, and I'll let dad's forward to his book speak for itself...

Mark

http://www.glenstinson.com

Over the years I have related certain stories to my family that they tell of various events of my life. Several times I was asked to record those tales for the future families, so that they would know some of the highlights of my life.

Most of the tales that are contained herein, are of my experiences in the Navy as a young man. Others are memories of other fun things that have occurred. During those early years of my life, what I did and what I experienced were times of learning and remain important to me. Somewhere in each of these tales are lessons to be learned and enjoyed.

I do not profess to be a talented writer or even skilled at the art. Having attempted to record these events leaves me with great respect for those that do make writing their profession. It is not an easy task. The selection of what to write is even more difficult. In my years there have been many grand events, so the decision on which ones to record, with the limited time to do so, is also difficult.

Some of the stories were written in the first person and others in the third person. There was no reason for doing them that way. They recorded that way on their own.

I write this group of stories for a reason. I was a member of a broken home and at the age of eight there was little that I learned from my father's past life. I am sure that if he had remained with the family, he would have found the time to relate interesting experiences to me. I would then feel that I knew him better than I did. But such is the result of a family that did not survive the pressures of the Depression. That is a whole story in itself.

This book is not meant to be my autobiography, but a chance to share some of my experiences and emotions of the times. They relate to my youth through some of the later years and have no real connection to one another. For some resemblance of order, I have placed them in chronological order. No dates are necessary, as I am not trying to write history. Read and have fun.

-Glen Stinson

http://www.glenstinson.com

My dad, Glen Stinson, always said that our society does not listen to those that are old and have lived a long and experienced life. And that we are poorer for it. One bit of wisdom he shared with me, I will share with you.

My dad was a WWII veteran, and had served in the Submarine service. 1/3 of the men in the submarine service did not come home from the war. They rest in silent metal tombs at the bottom of our world's oceans. And my dad grew up during the depression, the youngest son of a single-mother household...with a total of six kids in the house. Their father had left them...and the whole family had to work to survive. I tell you this, just so you'll know the perspective from which he was coming.

Why are the bonds between family members so weak? Why do people give up on marriages so easily and divorce? Why do people cheat on each other so easily? Why to fathers and mothers abandon their children to pursue selfish lives? Why do people have no loyalty to friends? Why do people lead jobless, purposeless lives? Why do people pursue drugs, cheap sex, and other self-centered indulgences rather than live up to their responsibilities? Why is our Society losing its values? Why is our Society decaying?

Dad had decades to consider why these things were happening...and why their frequency is increasing. And he was the sort of man that tried to put meaning to the things he observed. His answer was simple. People are increasingly self-centered, selfish, hurtful, and irresponsible because they can afford to be so. We have built a Society with very little starvation or true hardship.

There was a time when people needed family to simply survive. You needed the support and the assistance of you mother, father, brother, sisters, cousins, uncles, aunts, and everyone in your family to survive. If your crops went bad, or your spouse died, you lost your job, or you struck down by illness you needed your extended family to help you survive until you could recover through hard work and struggle from these negative events.

There was a time when people needed a stable marriage and homelife to simply survive. Life was hard, people worked long hours, and the challenge of survival could easily be lost if you did not endure in your relationships. Divorce destroyed not only the marriage it ended, but it threatened the very survival of both spouses and the children involved.

There was a time when you needed loyal and trustworthy friends to simply survive. If something went wrong in your life, without friends to assist you...you might not be able to recover from the hardship you faced. Maintaining those friends, and helping them when they were in need, ensured that you would receive help if by a bad turn of luck you were in need.

There was a tim when you needed the cooperation of your neighbors to simply survive. Neighbors worked hand in hand to lessen or eliminate the hardships of existance. They lifted each other up, and looked out for each other because they had to in order to survive.

There was a time that without these support systems and mutual relationships, you might lose your home, starve, or die. Your children might starve or die. Your very existance was threatened if you lived irresponsibly of failed to maintain your bonds and relationships with these groups of people.

But in today's world, none of this is true. We live in an incredibly rich Society. Even some of the poorest people in our Society have a place to live, a stove, a refridgerator, cars, microwaves, televisions, cell phones, a home computer, clothing, food, etc. We talk about poverty and homelessness, but those problems are nothing like they were just 50 or 60 years ago. Our average standard of living is so incredibly high...that we take it for granted.

During the Depression, my dad's toys disappeared in November, and he was given those same toys back as Christmas as presents. A huge treat was when his mom would bring home a single candy bar, and cut it into six pieces for the six children to share. They grew food in an empty lot nearby, just to have food to eat. They neighborhood pooled what little money they had to have their street covered in gravel and oil. And they lived inside the city of Kansas City. After WWII, when dad got married, he moved with his wife into a one bedroom apartment with a bed and a hotplate. They had to put food outside their window in the winter to keep it fresh because they didn't have a refridgerator. Dad was a hard worker with a fairly good job, but they had to save up for a long time to buy a refridgerator, and eventually they bought an old broken down car.

I've worked as a police officer in the inner city. The people that we all refer to as "downtrodden," "disadvantagd," and "poor" have homes filled with modern appliances, at least one car...usually two, their refridgerators are filled with food, and they have home phones as well as cell phones. Some of them work. We live in a Society of excess. A Society where the government provides a safety-net that can provide for you for years, and years. Even after Welfare-Reform, there are 11 Counties in Missouri where you can exist indefinitely on Welfare due to the "economic depravity" in those counties. Everyone has credit cards, and other means of living beyond their means.

So gone are the days where you need your extended family to help you survive. People trade in their spouses, cheat on each other, and hurt each other in the most selfish ways. People change jobs, have few close friends, and live as individuals confident that no matter how badly they choose to act, no matter how irresponsible their behavior, no matter how self-destructive they become...its extremely rare to starve and die in our Society. In a sense, our societial stability, values, and meaning have suffered greatly due to our material success.

And there is more. People are so incredibly mobile, jobs are relatively easy to come by, and housing plentiful and affordable, that people do not face the destruction of their reputation. They do not face the shame of bad action in their lives. They do not risk being shunned by those that they need, for they do not need anyone. Piss off you family by some horribly selfish action. Who cares...you don't need them anyway. Piss off your neighbors...you simply move. Piss off your friends? What friends? People collect aquaintences...not friends in our age of plenty.

So his answer makes sense to me. As I view the world, and the degenerate nature of our Society, it is hard to not see the world through his eyes. And the lessons he taught me about the world he grew up in...as opposed to the world we live in today.

Mark

Tonight, I got home from a Kindred Study Group, where we went over stanzas #31 through 45 of eight different translations of the Havamal.

When I got home I gave the kids a bath, and got them ready for bed. They asked me to tell them a story about Thor. I told them I'd look for a good one to read them, but they insisted I just tell them one without reading it to them.

So I told them the story of Thor and Loki regaining Thor's hammer, by wearing women's clothing and pretending to be the Goddess Freyja among the Giants. And I told them the story from memory, and added little details that I knew they would enjoy. They loved the cleverness of Loki...and they knew all along that Thor would end up beating the crap out of a bunch of Giants, and were anticipating it throughout the entire story. They seemed to love it, and to hang on every word.

So when that was done, they wanted to hear another story. So I told a follow-up Loki story. I told them about how the walls of Asgard were built, and how Loki turned himself into a horse to lure away the powerful horse helping to build the walls. And how Loki was the mother of Sleipnir. The kids loved that story! Though they thought Loki having a baby horse was a little odd.

Any how, it was fun telling the stories in my own words...and trying to get the pacing and the details just right, so that the kids would really get into the stories and enjoy them. It was a challenge, but they liked the stories so much more told in this way...than when I read from a book. I thinks its more personal from memory...

Mark

Erianne, over at the Pagan Resources and Repository Forum sent me information on how to contact a Heathen Gothi that she knows. I also found the Central States Heathens yahoo group, here's their link:

Central States Heathens.

And after my month long search (or more), I've found one heathen in Carthage, MO, one in Eudora, KS, several over in Topeka, there's one or two in Lawrence, and a handful in Salina, KS. Those are the close ones at least!

And I'm communicating with the Godhi, who appears to be very knowledgable and generous.

We're planning a get together on an upcoming Sunday and possibly a blot in September. If you are a asatru heathen, and are interested in talking more about this...please contact me. And if you know a traditional heathen, tell him/her to Contact Me. Thanks...

Mark Stinson
Temple of
Our Heathen Gods

How Does One Worship the Heathen Gods? If someone is not familiar with Heathenry, this question would definitely come to mind.

This varied greatly. Heathenry existed for thousands of years, with no written rules, or codification. There were temples scattered about, but there was no central authority dictating rules and methods. So Heathenry varied from region to region, tribe to tribe, and decade to decade. But there are some worshipping techniques from the past that have been reconstructed.

Understand, that for the most part, these people did not bow down to their gods. They honored their gods, they respected their gods, they sacrificed to their gods, and they prayed (communicated) with their gods. But their gods were seen as their kin...part of the Folk...or part of their village or tribe. They treated the gods as mentors, or elders in their tribe. Many saw them and treated them like honored ancestors. They saw them as walking among them...and being a part of their daily lives.

I talk with the gods. Mainly in my quiet moments. Driving to work. Driving back from work. The other night I was waiting for someone to show up for an appointment, and I took the 15 minutes I was waiting to just converse with the gods. In the middle of the night at work...when nothing is going on...I'll speak with the gods. Their handiwork is all around us, and I think they listen.

When I do talk to the gods, I do not ask them to do little things for me, or ask them to make things happen for me. A small child may ask his mother for the smallest of things, but I am not a small child. A lamb may depend on his shepard for direction in even the smallest of things, but I am not a lamb. I'm an adult human being, and the gods expect us to make our own decisions, fight our own battles, and make things happen for ourselves. They gave us life, they aren't going to live it for us. So what do I pray about?

Usually I thank them for what they do. AsaThor protects the world from destructive forces and evil, and he shows us that we should not treat enemies as our friend...but as the enemies they truly are. Odin sacrificed his own eye and went through great trials in order to obtain wisdom and knowledge, and he showed us how to take whatever honorable action we can to accomplish a goal that is important to us. Tyr was so courageous that he knowingly sacrificed his own hand so that the gods may bind a horrible monster called the Fenris Wolf. He placed his hand in the creature's mouth, as part of a trick to bind the beast, and Tyr shows us that in order to help and protect our families and community, we should be willing to risk whatever it takes.

I will ask them to show me strength, or to give me courage. I'll tell Odin, "As you sacrificed your eye for wisdom, if I work hard and make every effort to find other Heathens in my area...grant me the wisdom to eventually find them." I don't ask him to find them for me. I often say to Thor, "Give me the strength to protect my family when I am with them, and watch and protect them at times that I am unable to be with them." But there is a concept called "a gift for a gift." The gods deserve to be treated with respect, and when you ask for a gift or favor, you should offer a gift or favor. Perhaps you promise them to take a certain course of action, or to conduct a blot (see below) in the near future, or you pledge your loyalty to them.

Besides talking with the gods, there is also the more formal blot (pronounced "bloat"), which is similiar to the word for bless. This article talks in detail about blots, their historical significance, and their structure.

A blot is simply a ritual. Not a magical ritual in the Wicca sense of the word. But a structured method of honoring the gods, drinking mead with the gods, and then the blot usually transitions into a gathering, celebration, party, or festival. This can also be referred to as a faining. At the time I am writing this, I have not participated in a blot or conducted a blot. So I can't say much more than what I've read...but it can be a loud boisterous, joyful event. I am looking forward to my first blot.

And there's an event called a Symbel or Sumbel, I've seen it spelled both ways. This event consists of the participants taking turns talking and bragging. When its your turn you brag about the exploits of a god, a hero, an ancestor of yours, or something you have done...and then you drink. And then its the next person's turn and they follow suit. It can be very structured with the first round of bragging being limited to the gods, second round to heroes, the third round to ancestors, etc...but it can also be very unstructured. But Symbels were a way to pass on and remember great deeds and stories, and a way to get to know your friends and kin better. I've heard these are difficult for Americans to do sometimes, because our culture teaches us not to blatantly brag publically, but that's what's required at Symbels.

Mark Stinson
Temple of
Our Heathen Gods

Recently, I was reading some posts about Karma on a metaphysical message board I visit occasionally. But, to some degree...the "Karma" being described there was an over-simplified version. Sort of this "bad things happen to bad people" sort of cosmic justice concept. For me, when Karma is oversimplified like this, it becomes a simple matter of coincidence and selective-memory. When something bad happens to a bad person, everyone says..."Oh... wow... that was Karma at work." Nevermind the decades of profit and the good life the bad person earned while being bad. Nevermind all the good things that happened to that bad person...those weren't Karma. So we throw all those good things out. They don't count. Just that one bad thing everyone points at and says "There's Karma." When an innocent child dies of cancer, no one mutters "Karma" under their breath. You know what I'm saying?

The Norse and Anglo-Saxons had a concept called "Wyrd," that had to do with all actions affecting in some way every other action, and that everyone's actions came together to weave reality. For them, past events and actions affect future events and actions, but in a mysterious way, future actions (since they are part of this woven reality) also affect past events and actions. Everything is connected. Not predestined, but connected and influential over an individual's wyrd, or ability to continue weaving reality. But the concept should not be over simplified into the "justice to the evil-doer" message that seems to be represented in a "New Age" concept of Karma.

I know that for some, what I'm about to say isn't cheerful, but couldn't it all be as simple as our lives are harsh and difficult, because that's just how it is. The world is a dangerous place. There are many selfish and dishonorable people. Our bodies are biological, so they are vulnerable to injury and disease. As advanced as we are, we can't completely prevent SIDS, car accidents, child-molesters, cancer, heart disease, violent crime, falling down stairs, depression, mental illness, war, slipping on banna peels, strokes, drug addiction, marital infidelity, teenage pregnacy, rapists, murderers, road rage, cavities in our teeth, the common cold, wife-beating, plane wrecks, terrorist incidents, hatred among different races, religions, and cultures, etc. etc. etc.

Couldn't it just be that this life is not easy, and we should rise to the challenge? We just have to live our lives the best we can, live honorably, help others, and maybe, just maybe we'll leave behind a legacy with our children and the memories they (and others) hold of us?

No one has to agree with me on this. This is personal to me, and I hope you all find something that makes you happy. But I'm done working towards the carrot-on-the-stick...Heaven, transcendence, Nirvana, the next vibrational level, or any of that. I'm going to live this life, right here, right now...and when I'm done...there will be a handful of people, maybe more, that will say..."That guy lived a full and honorable life."

I'll leave whatever exists beyond this life, if anything exisits beyond this life, to the gods.

Mark Stinson
Temple of
Our Heathen Gods

Now, I'm still learning...and there's a lot to learn. So I'm not an expert in any of this of course. This is a complex religion with a complex history, so this will take years to learn...and I'll never know it all. But I'll do my best as a Newbie to describe the "Purpose of a Heathen Life" as I understand it right now...

First off, remember that the belief system of these Germanic/Northern Gods spanned thousands of years, never had a central authority or structure, was never put into writing (until Christians wrote it down), and varied from village to village, person to person, and even year to year. There was no pope, no dogma, no codified belief system. It was different for each person, in many ways. Even more so that centralized religions. So, there is not just one way of looking at any of it.

A heathen lives this life...because it is his/hers to live, and leaves whatever may come in the next life to the gods. We've heard of Odin's Vahalla for the warriors after death, and Bilskirnir was Thor's feasting hall for the workers and thralls after their death. And Frigga had a palace for married lovers that had be especially dedicated to each other, so that they could live together forever. But many of these myths came later...and were not the central purpose of the religion. You did not live or make choices in life based on a particular afterlife you were working toward. I'll write more about this sometime. It sort of complex, and because if was not a main focus of the religion, it tended to vary region to region and over the years.

So the religion focused on living your life with honor, with strength, and with independence, dependent on no one. Even the gods. You respected and honored your Folk and your ancestors. And you lived your life in a way that you would be honored and respected as an ancestor. Theirs was a culture of oral communication, and to be remembered and live forever, you had to live a life that people would remember and tell stories about. This sort of afterlife was much more the focus than a supernatural one.

If you took an oath, you kept it. If offered hospitality, it was a great insult not to accept it. And when you were in a position to offer hospitality, you offered it. I'm learning that hospitality was a very big deal. Feasting and toasting were both a big deal. Your family, your kin, and your village were very important.

So, a heathen's purpose in life was to live their life well. Work hard, fight hard, be direct and honest, eat well, drink well, keep your oaths, and take care of guests...and by doing these things you would live an independent honorable life that was full and worth remembering. And in a culture with very little written word, being remembered and continuing your family were your only guarantees of any sort of immortality.

Mark Stinson
Temple of
Our Heathen Gods

When I was a Christian-leaning agnostic, I was told innumerable times that I was going to Hell because I was not going to Church each Sunday. I was told I was going to Hell because I was not "born-again." I was going to Hell because I was not a Jehovah Witness. I was going to Hell because I was not a Mormon. I was going to Hell because I did not tithe enough. I was going to Hell because I watched the wrong movie, tuned into the wrong TV show, or listened to the wrong music.

It seemed like the only way to not go to Hell, was to believe the exact same thing as the person who was passing judgement on me. "Believe what I believe or you are going to Hell." This is preached by every Christian denomination in one form or another. So now that I've embraced heathenry, and have decided to not honor the Christian god...where do the Christians think I will go? Certainly, more than ever...to Hell.

The old pagan religions allowed other people their own gods. Each culture had its own gods...its own group of divine powers to honor and respect. When it came to fertility gods, often each tribe had its own. And while these pagan honored their gods, they did not claim that all other gods did not exist. The Christian god (in the Bible and in practical worship) not only claims that all other gods do not exist, he threatens you with eternal damnation if you don't fall in line and follow him.

That's just not very polite, nor generous, nor particularly endearing. The idea that a god would damn his creations to eternal torment, no matter what sort of life they led, or how many people they helped, or what sort of mark they left on the world...just because they did not have faith in him seems cruel and unfair. Don't accept Christ as my son...go to Hell. You aren't baptized...go to Hell. You were not a paying member of a physical church...go to Hell. It seems to me that this way of thinking has more to do with recruitment and conversion than with actual theology. More with keeping church-goer and church-contributors in-line and coming to church to make donations, than with love or respect descending from the Deity above.

I mean, why would loving god create a place of eternal torment, and allow conditions and rules to exist where even one of his beloved creations is damned to go there forever? It is so clearly a device to scare people into believing YOUR specific brand of religion, that its basically shameful. So if Hell exists, then I don't want to honor the god that would do that to his creations. And if Hell does not exist, then what other Christian teachings are simply recruitment and conversion tools? 10% of them? 50% of them? 100% of them? I don't know, really.

So if Christians want to condemn me to their Hell for believing in different gods...gods my ancestors worshipped for 1000's of years prior to Christianity...then I'm willing to accept that. I will not be bullied into following their god, or their concept of god.

Mark Stinson
Temple of
Our Heathen Gods

By the tiime I reached my late teens, I was beginning to have doubts about the Christian God. It was actually pretty uncomfortable and awkward to find myself not believing in what I had been taught up through childhood. What do you do when you start questioning the Virgin birth? Or when you begin to feel that maybe Jesus was just a very kind and spiritual man who had been turned into a "god" by extremely-zealous followers? What happens when you begin to see Christianity as threatening, overly-political, corrupt, and even a little silly at times?

When I went to College, I was exposed to Catholic teachings, and I was able to discuss theology with Priests. These incredibly intelligent men told me that they did not believe that Jesus ever actually said he was the "Son of God." They believed that his Divinity was revealed to the writers of the Gospels years and years after the historical Jesus had been crucified. This seemed like a fatal flaw to me, in many ways.

If even Jesus has never said he was the Son of God, then why was I taught that for years and years and years? I'm over-simplifying here, to some degree...but I learned many things in College that further weakened my faith in a Christian God.

Was I an atheist? Never. It was not my belief that there was no "god." I had simply concluded that there was no way for a mortal man to ever really know whether there was a god or not. Or for a mortal man to know the nature of that god. So I was a confirmed agnostic...and fairly comfortable as one for many many years.

Mark Stinson
Temple of
Our Heathen Gods

Welcome to my blog! This area of the website will deal directly with my own personal beliefs, and how I came to believe what I now believe. This is an important part of the "Temple" for me, but if its not to your taste...there should be plenty of other content to keep you busy!

Welcome to my blog...

Mark Stinson
Temple of
Our Heathen Gods