This. 👇 So fucking much this.
Bring up prayer and inevitably someone is going to say, “our ancestors didn’t pray.” Well, first of all bullshit…
…People in our communities who refuse prayer, devotion, veneration, sacrifice, and basic piety are parasites. They want the blessings and good things the Gods and a religious community can give without the potential inconvenience of having to show basic respect.
It boggles my mind how many gatherings I’ve attended where more importance was placed on the mead, than the rite for the Gods. Or gatherings where the focus was given to “stuff” or “loot” than it was to the numinous regin.
It’s a huge problem when you have a group that’s been meeting and supposedly worshipping together for years and all they can say individually is “Hail <Deity>”, even the Godhi/Gythia could barely say more.
But religion shouldn’t be mere entertainment, social hour, or a commercial act. Just this week I learned that there’s a Viking Festival here in Texas, and they’ve decided that with purchased admission for their December 21 event you can also attend a blot. Blot is not for commercial entertainment. That is one of our most sacred rituals. Think about it, we don’t sell tickets to Weddings, or Funerals. Those we understand to be sacred occasions, and yet here we are with what should be the most sacred of events, being treated as some cheap carnival act and money making scheme to tack onto the concert that’s part of the offered event.
If you want to pretend to be a Viking, there’s the SCA. If you want to enjoy Viking Metal, there’s tons of concerts and festivals for you. But if you’re going to say you are a member of the religion, then there is PRAYER, there is VENERATION, there is SACRIFICE, there are OFFERINGS, and yes Virginia, there are GODS, many of them in fact. Let us not forget that the Gods exist beyond the confines of the “lore” too. They’re not powers confined to the pages of a text.
I’m thankful we’ve got devotional books out there (thanks to Galina Krasskova leading the way with her seminal work: Whisperings of Woden) that help people with examples they can use directly, or be inspired to create their own prayers. On my facebook feed earlier today, there was a post about a new book of Heathen prayer “The Gods’ Own Country” (published May 2019), and as a bonus it comes with new illustrations. I hadn’t heard of the book before, but I think I’ll be ordering it here after Yule. It makes me happy to know it even exists.
I’ve used my own prayers, and invocations to create (and hoard other creations) shareable images for social media to show as an example that yes, Heathens do pray. We do venerate. And more importantly we should be. I understand not everyone is comfortable being public with their devotions, and that is fine so long as my co-religionists are actually engaging with THEM.
People are so fucking weird. Why the fuck would you say you are Heathen if you don’t pray to the Gods? Then what DO you do? That’s the most basic shit in any religion. If you don’t even respect the Holy Powers then literally why bother? It’s a religion for fucks sake! We’re not trying to be poetic. We’re not trying to be artsy. We’re trying to actually practice a friggin religion! Like, we get it, you had a bad experience with Christianity. But do you honestly believe our ancestors never paused for a moment just to say “Hey! Thanks for making life awesome!”? That’s all you got to say! That’s all it is! All we’re saying is you should stop and say “Thank the Gods for this really cool cosmos They gave us!” Is that so hard, people? Is it?! Like I said. People are weird.
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oooh i did not know about this new book. I’ll be ordering it too. very happy to see this.
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I think it features illustrations from the same artist behind these: https://www.etsy.com/listing/669755126/norse-gods-heathen-god-plaque-portable
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Someone asked me on fb if there were any books on Heathen prayer and I lost my temper. How many more do I have to write? (we’re at the over thirty mark now). How many articles? How many blog posts? The material is there. These arrogant impious assholes just don’t want to read it and they eschew prayer, I am seriously coming to believe, because it reifies our position in the cosmic hierarchy — a position that is NOT at the top and some people can’t stand that. I’ve worked for thirty years teaching people about the Gods and generally (for me) patiently but no longer. It’s time to start calling a spade a spade and driving the detritus out.
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Reblogged this on Gangleri's Grove and commented:
Wyrd Dottir talks about prayer but also mentions a new book on prayer coming out called “The Gods’ Own Country” and it looks like it’s written by folks in the UK. I’m eager to read it!
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Ugh the idea of a blot for entertainment purposes makes me physically nauseous. Thank you so much for adding your voice to this. Yes Real Heathens Pray!
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It infuriates me, and I don’t even want to think of the gnarled mess of wyrd. Hopefully it’s so butchered they don’t invoke the numinous at all and it’s just some excuse for a bonfire.
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Reblogged this on Son of Hel.
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