Hammer and Chains, take 2

After dedicating around half a year to nothing but my thesis, I'm finally able to breathe again. Stretching my legs in between reading and writing and ranting on the phone to my law friend, I stumbled across a curious little shop below ground level. In the window, in a display case with various silver pendants, was the most gorgeous, feminine knotwork-style Hammer. I had to own it. Lucky for me, the price was quite reasonable, too. It looks modern, with clean lines and actually has the right size for someone like me - pretty, but no overwhelming. Something I might even be able to wear to work. Jewellery for when I start at work somewhere will most definitely require some thought. I have no intentions of being a walking Asatru notice-board, but I feel naked without a Hammer or a Valknut, too. One of the suitable ones is a small, silver key-pendant, a "Key to Heaven". It's technically very early Christian, but I love it anyway. Another is a tiny Valknut pendant that's somewhere in the mail, due to arrive in a couple of weeks. I'll see if it actually fits on a chain, then.

My collection of Heathen jewellery keeps growing, slowly but surely. I guess it's a good thing I'm almost finished with university.

But It's Natural!

One thing I never got is Heathens who leave offerings in a way that's pretty much identical to littering. There's leaving mead in a bowl in your own garden, or pouring it on the ground in a forest, or leaving bread or steak or cake or other things that nature can handle herself... and then there's leaving bottles lying around in public areas or, even better, in protected sites. If you value nature so much that you insist on making your offerings there, why, oh why, do you leave your unopened bottles there, instead of pouring out the contents and taking the container back with you? You're not the only person passing by there. You're not the only person who enjoys the area, and I'm pretty sure other people won't see the beauty of your offering but rather that some asshole had lunch in the park and just left their trash lying around for other people to deal with.

Bonus points if you've made it abundantly clear that "Asatru wuz here!" - thank you so much for improving our reputation through your thoughtful, gentle way of treating nature.

Image'd

(Goodness, a warning is probably in order. This is long and rambling and mainly a way to get my own thoughts sorted out. It hasn't been edited for coherency)

Occasionally, in a moment of insanity, I want to write a book. Not really serious or lore-heavy, since other people have managed that far, far better than I ever could, but something light-hearted and silly - "How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love the Gods" or "Yuppie Heathenry - Fashionable Raiding in the 21st Century". Nothing "Teen Witch", since "Yuppie Heathenry" wouldn't actually take itself seriously.

It would be a handy little cheerful guide to life, lore, the Gods, and everything, aimed at people whose contact with nature at most consists of the flowers they got on their last date and the potted plants in their apartment, and whose religious devotion consists of showing up in church for their uncle Magnus' third wedding and not answering phonecalls during funerals.

I don't do mixing religions but I wouldn't mind updating it or making it more accessible to people who aren't interested in going deep into Old Norse culture and languages just to understand the basics, or who would feel incredibly awkward and out of place at a blót. Something for people who are half atheists, anyway, and who don't want to deal with rune-magic or seidr or chapter after chapter about how other people met/talked to/had sex with [deity of choice] and how said deity is actually a really hoopy frood who drops by for a horn of mead all the time. There are lots of useful lessons to be found in Ásatrú, anyway. Loyalty, honour, family, ambition, work ethics - that you're not going to Hell for not going to church, that you're not always required to turn the other cheek, that ambition and status isn't something to be embarrassed about and that your own ass isn't always the most important thing around.

There's this huge group of people who are somewhat-spiritual. Who wears a cross because it's pretty and buys "Pooh's Little Book of Feng Shui" because Eastern stuff is fashionable and because they feel it's a very nice idea and maybe it works. You'd never be able to make most of them hardcore Ásatrú any more than they would become hardcore Christian or Buddhists. They'd likely always mix cultures and religions. But getting at least part of the old Norse beliefs mixed into that could work wonders for removing the "neo-Nazi, wannabe-viking, longhaired metal-fans" macho image Heathenry as a whole suffers from.

It's all about fashion, all about trends. You can change the image of a religion by giving long speeches and writing academic books and participating in debates to present your views in a logical, educated way... or you can just make it trendy. It's about advertisement and the human mind. We copy what we think look good. If we see a supermodel in a Louis Vuitton store, in a black trenchcoat, buying stilettos and looking like a million bucks, we're gonna associate that trenchcoat with fashion and beauty and money and subconsciously hope for the same for ourselves if we wear that coat, too. If we instead had seen the same coat on a goth chick with pierced lips and badly-dyed hair, we would associate it with the goth culture instead.

It's not about keeping anyone who isn't twenty, trendy, and fabulous from wearing a Thor's Hammer. It's about getting everyone to do it. Make it sufficiently trendy and its image will change as well. Make Freya an icon, the original Independent Woman who can handle herself and her career, and takes what she wants and is willing to fight for it. Make it cool and trendy to go to meditation classes on Yggdrasil and repeat a mantra while imagining the peace among its leaves. Make wearing the Hammer a sign of independence and power and strength. Publish "Pooh's Little Book of Norse Wisdom" ("Serve food and drinks for your guests and offer them a place to sit. 'Oh,' said Pooh. 'I like to sit down. Will there be honey?'").

It could (probably rightfully) be accused of selling out and cheapening Ásatrú, but that probably depends on the point of view. Religions have to grow to survive and perhaps placing Ásatrú firmly in the mind of people by making it a part of popular culture will be exactly what's needed to make it survive. There will always be room for the dedicated students of Old Norse religion, but maybe creating a light-version to ensure it won't be forgotten wouldn't be half-bad, either. There's a series of graphic novels called 'Valhalla' published over here. They're written with obvious love for the source material - not always accurate completely to the letter, but the spirit is right, and it had a big part of the credit for kids over here actually being familiar with Norse mythology. It's made accessible to them and they enjoy it and remember it. It's entertainment and it's a good way to make present-day kids familiar with the old mythology of their country without making them read through long books about Norse myths.

It's the 21st century, really. Maybe it's time to try another strategy.

Holy Days

I must admit, I'm somewhat of a Bad Heathen when it comes to (religious) holidays. There's this long list of more or less historically based important days in Heathenry, of which various people have different opinions about which are real and which to observe, and I really tend to ignore most of it. I'm usually not aware of them until the usual bloom of posts regarding the given upcoming important day on various forums and LJ communities. Likely because I'm not part of the Heathen community and not a member of a blót group. I celebrate the holidays my family does, and that isn't a whole lot. When we do, though, it's about getting together and having a good time as a family and I can't imagine any better way to spend those days.

I don't celebrate Yule or the Winter Solstice or Christmas. I celebrate Jul and it's on the 24th and it's about good food and catching up with family and just in general having a good time while hoping for snow. We never attend church, either. Easter's about good food and family as well, and midsummer is about bonfires and summernights and Midsommersangen. I'm aware there's something in the start of February but the first thing that comes to mind there is kyndelmisse, even if I don't celebrate that, either, and I can sing Luciasangen as well as any of the girls carrying those candles. For that matter, I likely know the various hymns and songs in the 'official' blue song book better than 95% of the rest of the population. They're not Heathen songs and I'm not Christian, but I still like them and I grew up with them in school. I don't sing nearly as well as I did when I was in a choir but they're beautiful and they're part of my culture and I'm not going to just ignore them in favour of 'Norse songs' set to Christian tunes and a brand new set of holidays that don't speak to me in any way, shape or form.

Besides, it's not like "Marken er mejet" and "Det er i dag et vejr" are Christian in any sense. They're Danish and cheerful and traditional. That's good enough for me.

Pray Tell, or The Santa Claus Syndrome, Take 1

As previously mentioned, I get regular visits from a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses. I doubt I'll ever convert - there's something in the Norse lore that speaks to me on a level that the Bible doesn't, some sense of rightness past the "Oooh, interesting stories!". It's hard to explain but I imagine it's the same stuff they feel when they study the Bible. Some feeling that hey, this makes sense, this is right, this moves me in a way that no other religious text has managed, however interesting they might be. We agree on a lot, and we disagree on a lot as well, and that's not even touching the whole question of which god is right.

Prayer, for one. The Bible tells to pray to God and do it heartfelt and however often is needed, to develop a relationship a bit like with a friend, to share your problems and thoughts and to respect and honour him. With the Norse pantheon it's a bit different. They don't encourage you to lean on them all the time - rather address them too little than too much. Honour them, respect them, maybe even love them, but your life is yours to live and they have other things to worry about as well. Maybe that's why I was never attracted to neo-wicca. These beings are divine and demand respect. They're not someone to casually call upon because you need a date for the prom or need to lose five pounds to fit that dress you really, really want, and oh, could you please get some money to buy it for as well? Why would they even bother with you, if the only time you address them is when you want something from them? It's like the friend who only calls when they need your help - sooner or later, you stop helping at all (another thing my JWs and I agree on - it's not a list for Santa Claus, it's prayer).

I keep my gods in my thoughts but I rarely address them. I handle as much as I can on my own, I thank them when I get a streak of exceptionally good fortune, and I only address them with a request when I've exhausted any other option and desperately need a hand and then only with an offer of something in return. Maybe that's why my JWs' way of praying seems strange to me. I don't want to bother my gods with insignificant stuff. It's my life to live and my problems to handle. I don't fear my gods but I do have an immense respect for them. And that's likely why the classic "Heathens don't kneel to their gods!" never rang true to me, either. It's my gods. I'll do whatever the situation seems to require and if that's how I wish to show them respect, until they themselves tell me otherwise, I'll damn well do just that.