Characteristics of a Yuppie Heathen

Well. Not quite yuppie but the impression probably fits. I certainly feel like one when I check out various Asatru or Heathen or Norse Paganism boards. It's also why I made this blog - because maybe (unlikely) I really am the only person out there who feels out of place on those boards, but that won't stop me from ranting about it.

I don't drink. I get a hangover from practically two glasses of wine so it's not worth it. I do keep good booze in the house, though, and I'm probably a bad heathen for not offering my Gods some home-brewed stuff but let's be honest: I don't like the stuff myself. Why would I offer it to my guests, then? Never mind the fact that I'm bad enough as is in a kitchen. We don't need the added disaster of homebrewed mead.

I live... well, about as far away from actual nature as you can get here. I'll probably move out in the countryside when I have kids but so far, I'm just fine here. The parks are fine for nature. We have some pretty ones.

I'm not interested in dressing up all Viking-style or performing blots in Old Norse. I like our language - it isn't pretty but it gets the job done. And to be honest, I like my suits. I respect our history but why should we remain static? Why would the gods remain static? I respect people's right to show up in whatever they feel good in and I accept the fact that I'm sufficiently environmentally damaged from my job and education to feel completely out of place in the kindreds I've had contact with. They're nice people - smart ones, interesting ones - but not people I'd normally have anything in common with, other than the fact that we happen to worship the same gods.

I'll be honest and say that I don't get most of the 'contact with deity' discussions, either. Maybe I'm too much of a sceptic or maybe I'm just not interesting to them or maybe they just know I'll work things out of my own most of the time. Freya doesn't show up to braid my hair. Odin doesn't give me advice on seidr and Tyr doesn't show up for a friendly chat. I try to honour them through hard work and by building up a reputation I can actually be proud of. I wouldn't say I try to be a good example but I'm always aware of how I appear when I have a Thor's Hammer hanging in plain sight. I don't want to be the type of person that makes me wince and I don't want to give my religion a bad impression because I act like a moron while wearing a one-inch silver Hammer for all to see. Asetro gets enough bad PR as it is. I try not to add to it.