Anyone feel like Thor is with you?

[PoisonTears]

Re: Anyone feel like Thor is with you?

Trauma Yes. But not in my childhood. I had a long post all written about this, but I hit a button and it erased it. But i will say that the trauma was my breaking point and i havent been the same person since.

[Dez]

Re: Anyone feel like Thor is with you?

Dez, that is a very interesting theory. I'll have to talk to some of my closer pagan friends who I know "see" and find out about any trauma. It certainly holds true for me, so feel free to add me to that statistical group. lol

Trauma Yes. But not in my childhood. I had a long post all written about this, but I hit a button and it erased it. But i will say that the trauma was my breaking point and i havent been the same person since.

Interesting...I don't want to derail the OP much further, but for me it is a combination of both for me. Certain events a few years ago seem to have tipped the balance.


If anyone has the inclination to turn this topic into a separate thread, I'd be very interested in that. I'm mid-move right now, though, and so don't have time myself.

[Omidottir]

Re: Anyone feel like Thor is with you?

done and done.

[Wednesday]

Re: Anyone feel like Thor is with you?

Absolutly you could and should learn the traditions. to me, the connection to the spirit is most important. If you Cultivate that connection, you will be drawn to many things. some of it is tradtion (which is important, don't get me wrong) But how would we know that Frey desires honey if not for dedicants striving for a deeper connection with that energy?

Pre-christian heathens probably didn't "strive for connection" because there wasn't any separation. The gods and wights were seen as present, corporeal, physical. They weren't invisible people in some heavenly realm. Bees pollenating crops and being active in fertility wasn't a metaphor for spirit, it's a literal manifestation of Freyr. Honey is also an ingredient in mead.

[PoisonTears]

Re: Anyone feel like Thor is with you?

an interesting choice of words 'strive for connection". This is exactly how I have felt all my life. I grew up a christian and although it worked for my parents I always felt so disconnected from the spirit world. Although I am still striving for much more in relation, I felt a difference as soon as I started on my journey.
There are some heavy duty storms in my soul that I think would crush most people. I Thank Thor for the strength he is giving me to endure such turmoil.

[DrStrange]

Re: Anyone feel like Thor is with you?

I hope Thor is with me, but I'm not arrogant enough to claim He is.

Thor has always been the God I feel closest to. The Christian God is just too large and impersonal for me to relate to. I find it very hard to follow Christ's teachings(turn the other cheek? Aye, right!). And there is far too much hypocrisy in Christianity. I prefer the Norse Gods and their keep it simple philosophy: love your family, protect your friends and slaughter your enemies. Enjoy life but accept that death will happen some day.

"Eat. Sleep. Mate. Defend"
- Jim Wendler.

There are parts of my personality and physical being that draw me to Thor. I love a good thunderstorm, or even just heavy rain. I prefer winter to summer. I'm physically big and strong; my main hobbies are weight training and the Martial Arts.

Ironically, I had my DNA tested a few years back. I expected to find I had Norse ancestors, or at least a German or two. Disappointingly, I'm almost 'pure' Celt. If Alex Salmond ever gets his Tartan Reich off the ground, I'm headed for the very top...

Yet I've never felt drawn to the Celtic Gods and Goddesses. They simply don't interest me.

[Taliesyn]

Re: Anyone feel like Thor is with you?

didn't wasn't were weren't wasn't .

how about present tense? "i don't strive for connection"? " the gods and wights are present"? "the gods are not invisible people in a spiritual realm"? "bees polinating crops and being fertile is a manefestation of Freyr"? what is so great about the long dead? why cannot we live in the now and learn directly from spirit what we need instead of constantly pouring over books? librarians never discovered anything.

---------- Post added at 11:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:10 AM ----------

i just see so much of this. pardon my directness, but i hear plenty of past and history- i hear nothing of direct, inspirational knowledge.

[Wednesday]

Re: Anyone feel like Thor is with you?

how about present tense? "i don't strive for connection"? " the gods and wights are present"? "the gods are not invisible people in a spiritual realm"? "bees polinating crops and being fertile is a manefestation of Freyr"? what is so great about the long dead? why cannot we live in the now and learn directly from spirit what we need instead of constantly pouring over books? librarians never discovered anything.

---------- Post added at 11:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:10 AM ----------

i just see so much of this. pardon my directness, but i hear plenty of past and history- i hear nothing of direct, inspirational knowledge.

Sorry. The past tense is meant to anchor it in tradition, but I forget that it's not always assumed among non-recons that "was done" equals "and so is now".

What's so great about the long dead? That's a whole post unto itself, but you wouldn't be here,born in the country you were, raised in the manner that you were, with the experiences you've had if not for that very first intelligent being that made a choice between "a" or "b". And that set off a chain reaction that has ultimately led to you.

You can learn directly without furthering your research or looking to.past knowledge, but I always question the character of people who argue against knowing all that one can. Sorry to be so dire t, Just seems like a strange position to take.

[Taliesyn]

Re: Anyone feel like Thor is with you?

I am not taking a position that refrains from learning- rather one that seeks to learn first from spirit. In my life, I spent loads and loads of time learning, researching, pouring over books from all paths. the whole while My grandfather (not a metaphor, btw- my mother's father) was sitting back laughing at me. he would say " listen to the spirits" or something simmilar, and i would just go on my way, "uncovering" "lost" knowledge or the like, always seeking. I went through ritual after ritual, searching. I fasted, I sat for 3 days and prayed, I did yoga and meditation till i thought my crown chakra would fall off.
you know what I learned? that all you really have to do is open your heart and soul. instead of focusing on the learning and the tradition first, focus on the spirits. They/it/yourself- will guide you to the right things to research, the right rituals and meditations for YOUR path.
Striving for connection- well, that's actually a good way to put it. sure, we can sit here and say spirit is imminent, but it is a different thing to realize it. and even if you have realized it, it is harder still to keep that understanding. that's why the Shaman's of the world have always been a bit crazy- cause you have to be to throw out the common view of reality for something greater and more confusing than anyone ever wrote down.

[Wednesday]

Re: Anyone feel like Thor is with you?

I am not taking a position that refrains from learning- rather one that seeks to learn first from spirit. In my life, I spent loads and loads of time learning, researching, pouring over books from all paths. <snip> you know what I learned? that all you really have to do is open your heart and soul. instead of focusing on the learning and the tradition first, focus on the spirits. They/it/yourself- will guide you to the right things to research, the right rituals and meditations for YOUR path.

I don't think it needs to be an either/or situation. Couldn't one have an open heart while attempting to understand the worldview of the past?

Why would you assume that the gods would lead you somewhere or have an interest in your path? I'm not asking because I think you're wrong or right, I'm just curious as to why you think this.

Striving for connection- well, that's actually a good way to put it. sure, we can sit here and say spirit is imminent, but it is a different thing to realize it. and even if you have realized it, it is harder still to keep that understanding. that's why the Shaman's of the world have always been a bit crazy- cause you have to be to throw out the common view of reality for something greater and more confusing than anyone ever wrote down.

I suppose...but maybe I just see "spirit" differently. It's not something intangible or invisible or transcendent... It isn't the Norse equivalent of God. Thor isn't a man-deity that rules the thunderstorm, he's the personality in the thunderstorm that's been given god status. I don't have to hold onto or strive to understand anything; when there's a thunderstorm, and a feeling in the air, I know Thor's in town. Literally. Not metaphorically, not present in my heart, not through some shamanic understanding. He's physically present.

Researching the spiritual language of the past helped me speak and understand it in the now.

[MaskedOne]

Re: Anyone feel like Thor is with you?

Err, why?

Unless I missed something, Karma doesn't really factor into the Heathen belief structure. Wyrd does and there are commonalities sort of but Wyrd != Karma.

[ChainLightning]

Re: Anyone feel like Thor is with you?

Karma doesn't factor in at all, actually. It is completely separate and, basically, belongs to a whole different kind of world view.




Suspicious cat is suspicious.

[Sarkana night]

Re: Anyone feel like Thor is with you?

I was born and raised in scandinavia and we learned a lot about or ancestors and their traditions in school. But even though I feel like where I live belongs to the norse gods, it never seemed like any of them were something close to interested in me. Ah, well...