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  • Incorporating my faith into every day life.

    Firstly hello,

    Secondly I seem to have come to a crossroads on my path with Asatru/heathenry.

    I hope you don't mind me using this post as a soundboard with a few questions thrown in that I would encourage anyone to answer.

    As stated in early posts I have been reading about Asatru, runes, and the norse Gods etc for a number of years. Currently I am feeling rather stagnant in my all round involvement with my faith and the Gods.

    I feel as though I am not practicing my faith as I should or dedicating enough time to it. I feel like I should be doing blots, using runes and studying my faith a lot more.

    With blots, I am not too sure where to start and what to honour when carrying these out (any suggested reading?). also, I also need to pick up the runes more and start "living" them again as I do not feel as close to them as I did previously. In terms of study, I would like some suggestions as I seem to have read a lot of the suggested material but have never made my way all the way through the Eddas (just parts) but should I aim for going through the Eddas from start to finish?

    I am hoping this is just a temporary lapse and wondered if anyone else has experienced this?

    I just feel a bit lost. Maybe I could do a blot for this reason to help make me feel "connected" again and I feel I have drifted somewhat.

    Sorry if I rambled on here but thought this was a good a place as any to voice what I am feeling.

    The gist of this post is how I incorporate my faith more in every day life?

    Thanks for reading.

  • #2
    Re: Incorporating my faith into every day life.

    I recommend reading To Walk A Pagan Path by Alaric Albertsson. Regardless of tradition, he offers a fairly straightforward framework for living more fully as a Pagan. I've slowly (I got a bit sidetracked on a tangent, and a bit delayed by life) been doing a sort of read-along with this book on my blog, so you can see a little bit more about the first bit of the book then you might in a regular review.

    After (or while) reading it, I recommend keeping a notebook and actually (planning, researching) doing the things he talks about. Another really good resource (regardless of whether or not you are interested in Druidry) is the ADF's Dedicant Path Through the Wheel of the Year book...I'm not saying that everything in it will apply to you, alot of the Druid-specific stuff will not, but as a guide to laying out what you believe, why you believe it, and what you actually do about those beliefs; I think a person from any tradition could easily adapt this resource to their tradition. (Plus, the ADF framework includes any Indo-European tradition, including Heathenry)
    Last edited by thalassa; 22 Jul 2015, 07:35.
    “You have never answered but you did not need to. If I stand at the ocean I can hear you with your thousand voices. Sometimes you shout, hilarious laughter that taunts all questions. Other nights you are silent as death, a mirror in which the stars show themselves. Then I think you want to tell me something, but you never do. Of course I know I have written letters to no-one. But what if I find a trident tomorrow?" ~~Letters to Poseidon, Cees Nooteboom

    “We still carry this primal relationship to the Earth within our consciousness, even if we have long forgotten it. It is a primal recognition of the wonder, beauty, and divine nature of the Earth. It is a felt reverence for all that exists. Once we bring this foundational quality into our consciousness, we will be able to respond to our present man-made crisis from a place of balance, in which our actions will be grounded in an attitude of respect for all of life. This is the nature of real sustainability.”
    ~~Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

    "We are the offspring of history, and must establish our own paths in this most diverse and interesting of conceivable universes--one indifferent to our suffering, and therefore offering us maximal freedom to thrive, or to fail, in our own chosen way."
    ~~Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History

    "Humans are not rational creatures. Now, logic and rationality are very helpful tools, but there’s also a place for embracing our subjectivity and thinking symbolically. Sometimes what our so-called higher thinking can’t or won’t see, our older, more primitive intuition will." John Beckett

    Pagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
    sigpic

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    • #3
      Re: Incorporating my faith into every day life.

      I've gotten overwhelmingly positive and overwhelmingly negative reactions to this view. Others will have other things to say. One thing about Heathenry is that there's really very little that's the wrong way of doing things.
      • You light a candle for your deity(ies), or you don't (I do).
      • You have a vé (shrine), or you don't (I do, indoors). You can set up a stone or a pile of stones outdoors as your horgr (altar). Ask the land wights before moving any stones.
      • You remember where you came from (or try to), i.e. venerate, respect, honor your ancestors. Anything that makes you think of the past and the people who went before you, whether you know them or not are your ancestors.
      • Try to be a good community/tribe member. Heathenry is said to be more about community, ancestors and spirits than worshiping the gods. But I don't downplay the gods as much as some others do (but what do I know? ).
      • Respect and honor the spirits of the land.
      • Try to live by the Nine Noble Virtues. Admittedly they are reconned, but they are a good code. Some people hate them, others love them. I think they're pretty good as a start.
      • Pop a cold one (or room temp as I prefer), raise it in a toast, then bottoms up. A blót does not have to be elaborate or done often. Pouring a drink, raising it in a toast to the gods or to a god(dess) with some words of thanks and praise, pouring a little aside in a bowl or cup, then pouring that out by a tree is a blót. Drink the rest. Even at a restaurant, taking a drink and making some small gesture of offering is appreciated.
      • Talk to the Gods, thanking them for their help and blessings. But no groveling.
      • Understand who and what the Gods are... older, wiser, more powerful versions of us, but like us nonetheless: e.g. Freyr sat in the All-Father's seat, saw Gerda, pined for her, used his sword as a bribe to Skirnir (what kid never got into his or her parents' things out of curiosity and then got punished?); Freyja used her sexuality to get a piece of jewelry; Odin broke faith a couple of times; Thor is a very protective and devoted family man. Yep, they are just like us and have lessons to teach.
      • No demanding by them, no threats, no punishments.
      • We (they and us) are all in this together; we're born, live the best we can, and we die.
      • There's precious little historical evidence that the runes were used for anything more than writing despite the Hávamál. Remember, Odin did practice seidhr but most people don't I understand that the magical aspects are reconstructionist... I don't know how true that is. Someone else may know.

      Here is a link to a template for a Midsummer Blót. I scaled it way down for my personal blót. http://www.asatrublog.com/wp-content.../Midsummer.pdf The entire site is pretty good. http://www.asatrublog.com/2013/07/04...s-how-to-blot/ The author is more than a little conservative, not that I'm knocking that, just making an observation.

      This is what I scaled down his blót to for mine. It takes all of 10 minutes, if that.

      Invocation and calling

      Hail Thórr!
      Hail the Æsir! Hail the Vanir!
      Hail the Álfar! Hail the Dísir!
      Hail the Ancestors! Hail the Landvættir!
      Hail the Huldrafolk!

      We bid you welcome, Holy Powers. Stand with us, as in days of old. We bid you accept our offerings true.

      < Fill the drinking horn or cup with a drink. Optionally light a candle and incense. >

      Holy Offering

      < Make the sign of the hammer over the horn, raise the horn and consecrate it to the Holy Powers. >

      Mighty Mjöllnir, hammer of Thórr, bless this offering.

      We raise this horn in your honor and share it as a token of our gratitude for the gifts you have given us. Grant us your blessings and keep us safe. Protect us from all ill-willing wights, trolls, and niðlings. Keep our homes safe from storms and make our hearths warm.

      Hail the Æsir! Hail the Vanir!
      Hail the Álfar! Hail the Dísir!
      Hail the Ancestors! Hail the Landvættir!
      Hail the Huldrafolk!

      <Pour some drink into the offering bowl, drink the rest.>

      Gods and Goddesses, Aesir and Vanir, I thank you for the blessings you have given me. I ask you to continue to bless me, and to help me face the decrees of the Norns with courage and honor. I ask you to help me do what is best for my faith, for my folk, and for my family, this and every day. Hail the Æsir! Hail the Vanir! Hail the Holy Powers!

      Closing

      Gods and Goddesses, Aesir and Vanir, and all the Holy Powers, thank you for being here with us today and for giving your blessings.

      < Pour the contents of the bowl onto the hörgr or under a tree. >

      From the Gods to the Earth to us,
      From us to the Earth to the Gods,
      A gift for a gift. Hail!
      śivāya vishnu rūpaya śivaḥ rūpaya vishnave
      śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

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      • #4
        Re: Incorporating my faith into every day life.

        I'm also feeling a bit 'lapsed' too as my kindred slowed dramatically for reasons of life getting in the way for the most active members, and then I made it worse by moving away. In the past I've found making offerings helps so I need to do that more often. So I can sympathise with the problem.

        I've found a useful app called daily asatru which runs you through the Havamal one verse per day, showing two different translations. It also has the runes and Voluspa. On the reading front I think it's well worth it to read the eddas and beowulf (some of the other AS texts are very interesting too). See if you can't get a look at different translations before you buy to see if you find one more readable than the others - it's all very well going for the most technically accurate translation but if you find it unreadable you'll never plough through it.
        * * *
        You can find some of my creative writing at http://libbyscribbles.com

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        • #5
          Re: Incorporating my faith into every day life.

          Daily Asatru is a great little app, isn't it?
          śivāya vishnu rūpaya śivaḥ rūpaya vishnave
          śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

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          • #6
            Re: Incorporating my faith into every day life.

            Yeah really handy. I ought to set an alarm to make sure I use it daily rather than twice a week or so!
            * * *
            You can find some of my creative writing at http://libbyscribbles.com

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            • #7
              Re: Incorporating my faith into every day life.

              Just sort of a side notion but what have your deities asked you to do? I used to think I was being remiss in what I needed to do and actually got sort of out of sorts thinking about it. Tried various rituals, ceremonies, observances, etc and they all seemed stale or never went off correctly. Then I decided to just sit back speak out loud to my deities and ask them just what they wanted from me.

              I sure anticipated being told more prayers, more offerings, those type things. Yet that was not what I got back to me. What I got back was more along the lines of being there when they needed to use me as a hollow bone / talking stick. Being there when they wanted or needed someone to talk about them and convey some little item that to most would make no difference but to someone else might be the clue they needed. To live my life in the right manner more than living it in the so called right practice. If I was needed to make an offering or perform some ceremony then I would know. For nearly ten years now that has been the way of things. I get a feeling I need to do certain rituals or ceremonies and as the time approaches the need and clarity shows up. Sometimes it more like just walking and I see something and it makes me think about a certain god or goddess and I converse with them in my mind for a bit or even talk out loud to them.

              So I'd advise talking to your deities and ask them what they want and desire from you and for you. You might just find out your trying to be someone or something they do not desire you to be. I tell people all the time I am not a priest as that is not what I am asked to be yet many times get told no your not but you are a source they often get sent to to ask questions and get answers.

              I'm sure if you ask they will tell you what they want you to be and guide you in what it will take to do that.
              I'm Only Responsible For What I Say Not For What Or How You Understand!

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              • #8
                Re: Incorporating my faith into every day life.

                Thorbjorn, it's funny that you call out to the Huldrafolk, as I am convinced that there is at least one living in the vicinity of my home, in or around a gnarled, twisted bush that only seems to bloom once a year. The rest of the time it looks rather dead and scraggly.. I've spotted it a number of times both inside and outside of the house, and it gets VERY upset when I start to do drastic things with the foliage in my back yard. Also, I LOVE that app, and was raving about it a while back on the forums at one point last year I think it was.

                As for daily life, I'm pretty lax about it, to be honest. I want to do more, but when it comes down to it, I just either forget or am too tired. For a while there, there were two things that I did every day but eventually stopped. Each morning in the shower, I would trace each rune on the wall, and once I had done all of them, I would place the palm of my hand against it and close my eyes, drawing into me what energy I could from them to carry me through the day. The other thing I used to do was each Wednesday, I would take a swig of mead and give a quick prayer to Odin.
                "The streams called Ice-waves, those which were so long come from the fountain-heads that the yeasty venom upon them had hardened like the slag that runs out of the fire, - these then became ice; and when the ice halted and ceased to run, then it froze over above. But the drizzling rain that rose from the venom congealed to rime, and the rime increased, frost over frost, each over the other, even into Ginnungagap, the Yawning Void. Ginnungagap, which faced toward the northern quarter, became filled with heaviness, and masses of ice and rime, and from within, drizzling rain and gusts; but the southern part of the Yawning Void was lighted by those sparks and glowing masses which flew out of Múspellheim. Just as cold arose out of Niflheim, and all terrible things, so also all that looked toward Múspellheim became hot and glowing; but Ginnungagap was as mild as windless air, and when the breath of heat met the rime, so that it melted and dripped, life was quickened from the yeast-drops, by the power of that which sent the heat, and became a man's form. And that man is named Ymir, but the Rime-Giants call him Aurgelimir" - The Gylfaginning

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                • #9
                  Re: Incorporating my faith into every day life.

                  Originally posted by monsno_leedra View Post

                  I'm sure if you ask they will tell you what they want you to be and guide you in what it will take to do that.
                  You have a good point (the whole post, I only chose the last bit so as to avoid a long quote). I do think it's natural to have active periods and less active periods and that getting on with your life is really important. When I was in the process of moving house, finding a new job and settling in to it I didn't do very much then either but I didn't feel bad about it because that was the important stuff to focus on. Now I'm on an even keel again, having been in my new house and job for ten months, I am feeling the need to be a bit more active again.
                  * * *
                  You can find some of my creative writing at http://libbyscribbles.com

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                  • #10
                    Re: Incorporating my faith into every day life.

                    Thanks so much to you all. There are some wonderful replies here. Thorbjorn has raised some great points and I am very grateful to you all for taking the time to answer what I was voicing.

                    I will check out the literature that has been suggested. I have some alone time tonight and I plan to blot and honour the Gods with music, mead and words. After reading all of your answers I am feeling very inspired again.

                    I am also going to purchase by something from Amazon called Saga Six Pack which is six books in total Only 99p for Kindle which is an absolute bargain.

                    I already have Asatru phone app. Which I agree is great and I should use on a daily basis.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Incorporating my faith into every day life.

                      That six pack looks like a bargain! Just bought it
                      * * *
                      You can find some of my creative writing at http://libbyscribbles.com

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                      • #12
                        Re: Incorporating my faith into every day life.

                        Originally posted by Maythe View Post
                        That six pack looks like a bargain! Just bought it
                        For that price it was a must. I need to find time to read them all now. Haha.

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