I totally feel you on celebrating more. My local group, love them as I do, often talks about getting together and says things like "And we don't HAVE to do heathen stuff! We don't even have to Blot! We can just hang out and have a cookout or something." And, while I get what they're saying and you don't want to burn yourself out, I feel like there is SO much to celebrate and to be proud of for us modern day heathens / pagans. Hopefully a day will come when I'm not always making offerings to the gods and my ancestors by myself.
It is said you can't come into Valhalla if you didn't die a warrior. But you are a warrior, Jacob. You are a warrior in your cause and spreading the word of the old gods, and I look forward to drinking with you in the hall and in Valhalla.
Hel is not depicted as a bad place in the sources we have. It could be assumed that those who have shown great deeds will serve in the halls of other gods after death for those deeds.
I have been studying shamanism for 15 years. I like searching out new (to me) pagan voices.... I enjoy listening to you talk about your faith in the old Gods.😊
One of my favorite things about Paganism is the choice it gives you. I have never even once seen a pagan say I HAVE to be a pagan, of course, they would like you to be, but they will never (from what I've seen, and all the pagans I know would never) try to MAKE someone be a Pagan. I love Paganism, my life, I love the Gods, my mighty yet loving Gods, I love the spirits, the watchers of nature, and I love the Folk, my brothers and sisters. Hail to you all, Skål!
Very very very new to Norse paganism or paganism in general. As corny as this sounds what drew me into this was shows about Vikings and stuff 😂🤦🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️ But I just felt drawn to it. Most cultures that worship nature have always drawn to me also having multiple gods has also. It never stuck to me one god stuff but anyway enough rambling love your channel ❤️🙏🏼
Norse religion was NOT about nature. Norse religion was about religious structures and ancestral worship. And vikings has little to do with it. While viking is a norse word and part of norse culture as a description of seafarers, it has become a common word for people living in Scandinavia and Iceland during the late iron age. I definetly prefer the term norse, as it covers the cultural aspects of the period. As a Norwegian and direct ancestor of the norse culture, with constant reminders of this time period all around me, in the landscape, in my language, in my everyday life and in the folklore I've grown up with, I find the modern norse paganism to be at best naive, at worst directly disrespectful. The norse considered their gods to be the gods of the land. The norse considered the gods a mean to keep connected to their ancestors. While I am proud that my ancestors culture is admired and attractive, I feel sad when it is popularized, simplified, changed, treated with disrespect and made into something it was not by people that seem to know very little about it. At the same time I see big cultural differences between our norwegian culture today and american culture as our culture is still very rooted in the norse.
@geir you sound to have some opinions I think you should start a channel and explain your culture more in-depth and what it means to you. I would watch it
@@tony_ofthe_north6604 I am actually considering it, just to weigh up a little. :) I'll let you know. I don't mean my culture should be exclusive or that the norse heritage should be, but at least understood in the right way. I have the same fascination for japanese culture as many seems to have for norse culture, but I don't worship any japanese deities or claim to know anything in depth about japanese culture.
@@geirarnehelland7271 I would be thoroughly interested in hearing what you have to say, I have only been studying the Norse culture and religion for about 2 years (not incredibly in-depth) but have always loved the culture and what it has to offer. I do somewhat believe in your opinion about the Americanized version of the culture being differ from the original but I also do believe it's because of a .ore lacking proper education in the matter. I also truly believe the incorporating of nature in the religion may be for the best here in America even if it is a white lie.
For me, I think that pagans of all paths need to support each other. While those in the same path should absolutely support each other, it’s the whole “alone we are strong together we are stronger” mentality. Around the middle of the month, there had been an article from The Independent that got a number of pagans defending those who practice witchcraft. It was so comforting knowing that a large portion of the pagan community came to the defense of one of the many paths the pagan umbrella encompasses
I know that this video is literally three years old, but I just started my research on this religion, and your channel is one of the first channels I have come across while researching. Obviously, I'm going to continue my research before I just decide that this is the religion for me because I truly don't know yet. But I must admit that I think I found the religion that I most relate to. At the end, when you were shouting to Odin, it gave me goose bumps. It sent shivers all over my body. It made me tear up with this euphoric feeling that I was not expecting in any way. I don't know what it was or what happened honestly but it did something that even know minutes after watching I can still feel that euphoric feeling just lingering around.
Great video! I absolutely love the idea of the people being an important element of pagan practices. I’ve always thought of the 3 pillars as the land(spirits)/ the ancestors and the gods. Would you say the people fall into ancestors? As we should all be striving to live a life of honor and become ancestors worthy of a saga?
Yeah I would say the “folk” is people alive now, and then the people who lived before us. I believe our main goal in life should be to live life with honor, and to build our reputation so that our story lives on!
I came here because you started following me on instagram (@Radogo7) and I'm really glad. Through Odin and the Aesir I found a faith I never thought I had and the gods have become a big part of my life. It makes me happy to find pagan brothers and sisters who follow the old ways, but I totally agree that we need to shape them to the current state of the world. For the gods and for us, the folk of Midgard. A big hug for you, brother. Hail Odin!
I know this is an older video but, I am so thankful that I have found your channel, and I knew I had to subscribe! I've been stuck at the crossroads lately not knowing where to go from here until now!! I'm for sure the gods led me here! I'm not going to go into detail on why here in the comments but, maybe I'll share with you one day details on the what,where,why,and how I was or I think I was!! So for now I'll just say thank you!!!
Thank you so much for these videos. I'm part of many groups on Facebook that just don't help out when it comes to how to venerate the gods and what to offer. You shine a bright light on it all.
I appreciate all your videos and your passion for sharing your beliefs with us to help all of us learn and understand. I can’t thank you enough. I was also raised Baptist, and never felt a connection. I have been searching years for something to connect with, and I connect with Paganism, and you have helped me connect even more. Thank you Jacob❤
Thanks for the great video. I found your channel yesterday and am greatful to have found someone who shows and gives ideas for ways to honor the Gods. I'm new to Norse paganism. The short of it i was raised Christian, became Wiccan many years ago. Things happened in and in the end become atheist. Until spring of 2019 when I was trying a guided Norse meditation and Odin came to me in the meditation. I have never had that happen before. I have been warned of bad things coming from crows, but never had such from a God. I got feelings. So I greatly appreciate your videos. By the way, in the last part when you were discussing the Gods, aftwr the bug on your hand left you had a butterfly on your right shoulder. 😉
lol...i'm in! thanksgiving is my favorite holiday also...i've been searching for my roots and the closest i've come is germanic/dutch/english...it was amazing to me how it clicked...heilung is my new favorite group...not going to ramble but i'll be bingeing your channel ;)
Fantastic video I agree we definitely need to unite and bring our practices more openly and aim to make a great hall one day. Keep up the good work brother. 🙂👍
I am very very new to Norse Paganism, and this video helped me a lot, and this TH-cam channel in general has helped me a lot. What drew me to Norse Paganism are the gods themselves, while yes I have always been drawn toward the old ways in many cultures, the Norse Gods always got my attention way more
I know content creators don't generally respond on older videos, but as someone from KY, near the Cumberland Falls area, I am new, and I am going through some of your introductory videos as I start my journey. A friend of mine is also on this journey with me. I pray the gods and norns allow our paths to cross at some point. Until then, may you walk with honor.
I know this isn't a "gathering" video but sir, I'm located in Southern Ohio and would love to come and learn from you, my wife and I are new to Paganism but I've always had an interest so I know more than her but we're both learning and you're helping me learn and I thank you for that!
I wanted to say thank you for this video. There is a very old tree right by house that I have always felt something there and I have given my respect. But I'm going to give it a offering now. This channel has helped my on my journey.
Glad to find there is another great source of information available. I struggle being extremely rural and surrounded by no one who believes/celebrates how I do. I try to teach my children, but they each have their own set of beliefs (daughter is similar to me, son worships the Greek pantheon). Wishing there was more of a group in the middle of Missouri!
Hi I know this video is a year hold but I just wanted to thank you for all your video's they have been very helpful for me and the start of my journey I am also from Kentucky and i am fairly new into this religion for me it started off with me trying to be a supportive friend but some were it blossomed into so much more so one more time thank you.
Sorry it showed a year but I completely understand and I would not have it any other way. I plain on taking this seriously and understand that I have much to learn and that I will never stop learning. I am taking it one day at time and doing my best not to overwhelm myself.i payed close attention to some of the books within your videos and I have chosen to start myself off with the prose Edda and the poetic Edda. I plain on getting my hands on more books down the road but for now slow and steady.any how thanks for the reply you have a great day.
I must confess I'm not norse pagan. But my boyfriend is and I want to support him and his beliefs as much as I can. So this channel coming into my recommended is a godsend. Thank you for making this :)
Made a comment on your first video about how I just moved from Lexington, this is 2nd comment. Dude. I camt count how many times I went to Raven Run and visited my spirit friends and sacred spots. This is insane. I wish id known you!!
It really struck me when you said about gods "having someone saying their name gives them strenght". I immediately thought what kind of divine beings are these if they depend on people honoring them for strenght ? How are such powerless beings worthy of veneration? They seem like some very week beings that can't even help themselves
I'll admit I was skeptical when I first read "Pillars" because it gave me echoes of the Nine Noble Virtues, which as you probably know has been pretty damaging to the Norse Pagan community, but these these three you've brought up are so well thought about and forward thinking. I love how practical these ideas are as well. For example the "teaching kids about nature spirits might make them less likely to litter" and having a bigger appreciation for nature will mean we'll really think about destroying nature before we do it. So dude, again well done, I think what you're doing is great.
You are going from the very beginning I see 🍻 this video feels like a lifetime ago. But my belief in putting these three things above yourself has not changed
@@TheWisdomOfOdin I am yeah! I feel like even in older videos there will be a lot of value to be had 🍻 not to mention it will be very interesting to see your growth in realtime over the year you've been posting videos I do have a question though, do you watch Ocean Keltoi's videos?
Something that our ancestors had right was the connection with the Folk, celebrating all the time, eating and drinking the spoils of their hard work and struggle through the year. There has never been a more close to nature and family time then when our ancestors still worshiped and celebrated like they did. Modernism and destruction of the moral compass has led many young people away from the greatness of being in tune with nature and respecting our wonderful planet, many other things have occurred thanks to the modern world, social media has made a vast majority of young adults shy and have very bad communication skills with other humans, social media was supposed to open us up to the vast and endless nature of making friends across the world and for some it has and this is exactly what we as a pagan community are doing or trying to do, wake up the masses to the beauty of the culture of our folk, or showing them the nature of there ancestors and what they believed. One day everything will be better I hope and we will all have large communities taking part in Blots and sitting around a campfire eating the reward of our hard work to the gods and this earth! Keep making great videos my friend!
I'm coming to paganism because I'm yearning for that connection and guidance. Sometimes it's hard to find the path, and I feel stuck, trapped maybe?.. I don't know much, but I feel a connection with my ancestors and this faith. I think I'll start with literature and vlogs like these 🌄
Adding a ! spoiler alert ! here ( 4:19-5:15 ) for those who haven't completed Vikings yet (like me, though i knew about that particular spoiler already but muted you for the minute, sorry 😁, want to here and feel the words when I'm at that point in the series). Wonderful video, glad i found you. A thought of mine as of recently: why do we ourselves often continue to say Norse Mythology but not Christian Mythology? It's either that or Norse Faith and Christian (etc) Faith. Just a personal thing/preference since i don't want to keep the big religions on a pedestal with words because, well, they're the big ones. Stopping myself here before losing myself in a rant 😁 The Folk, celebrating. The Spirits, respecting. The Gods, honouring. Love it!
Thank you so much for these videos! I'm new to paganism, just started worshipping Njord, so this is all super helpful. Would love to chat with you and hear about your experiences but that's probably a somewhat unrealistic expectation! Regardless, have a great day and thanks for sharing your knowledge
Ravens run is a beautiful place and I hope to go there someday but another truly magical place is in berea and it’s called The Pinnacles, I think you’d love it
I want to start up my own tribe here in Chilliwack B.C. Canada (West Coast),I mean we have a few Universal Heathen Norse Pagan groups up in my Province but they are to far to get to so I am sol. But i could start my own here......my anxieties are dealing with the local KKK and white supremacists idiots who use our ancestors symbol's for hate and they are loudest up here. This is an opportunity to turn this religion into our favor if I do this right. We will be authentic, will not turn people away just for petty reasons, universalists are welcome, but mostly the local kindred who are also called to by the gods and are serious. I eventually will want to buy land and build a community village and mead hall and temple in it that all who use the property are equal unto it and can pitch in also to help keep it running. It will be a big deal to most or some depending on how many pagans here stand up and support vocally this idea. I don't subscribe to the Universal, folkish really really as yes most are going to be white people, but who is to say that Odin has not shown interest to someone of skin color other than white or yea...….It is the person that matters not their appearance or flaws as long as they can function, I do not care not. Just don't harm others people children or animals against their wills. And be sure this is for you and you knw your heart is in it, helping others learn as I learn is even better. Id say maybe Trialist?? its my folk my kindred who come first, also friends are family too blood sisters and brothers extended lol and other Norse Pagans. Society I am very very very weary of, I don't think society has much time left to change itself for the better and if things get a lot uglier as they are starting to get now where I am I do not want to be around here much longer; and neither should my friends and families I would want to bring with me. Im just being safe and want to ensure a safe place or get away for our folk in need when things get to stressful and need a breather/ time out/away. But I hold no hope for society though and intend to be a survivor of whatever happens next. Maybe then we will be the re builders or the positive impact this town desperately craves while fighting themselves religiously and politically. It is a big goal, it be the biggest thing I have ever done all my life and I must finish it with the gods blessings, we open to the public on weekends and put on mock battles for families and children, open the mead hall and temple to the public to drink with Pagans. You know what, I think the gods would be for it, I am sure of this I just need the moral support =D
Hail friend I am from a small town in Alberta. I so share those feelings and emotions from trying to find a place or group to truly belong to. You are not alone and I wish you the best. BC is such a spiritual and emotional place so I hope you find your path.
Pt.5 20: However, in the process, he learns to be aware of his limitations, and not to overestimate himself. Thus Thor, who initially represented strength, power and ability, also becomes a symbol of humility, and of knowing one's own limitations. It is fine to mention the shortcomings of the dead in such a manner, to illustrate how the dead overcame their shortcomings. However, if one must speak of the misdeeds of someone who did not learn from their mistakes, or overcome their shortcomings, then one may speak of the misdeeds of that person, but one should refrain from specifying just whom one is speaking of. 21: Instead, the misdeeds of those dead who did not learn from their mistakes and did not overcome their shortcomings, should not be ascribed to any actual person, but instead to some mysterious villain separate from any of the actual ancestors of any actual people. In this manner one may illustrate the evils of humanity, without tarnishing the reputations of the ancestors and thus undermining the roles of those ancestors as role models. Then as time passes, and people's real, flesh-and-blood ancestors are transformed into deities; and the real deeds and experiences of those ancestors are transformed into the myths of the deities, in the manner I previously described; the deities will become the summation of the ancestors of everyone, without being the specific, individual ancestors of anyone in particular; and the one deity who becomes the summation of all that is evil, won't be anyone's ancestors at all. 22: Thus no one will stand to gain anything by falsely tarnishing the reputations of the deities, and nor will anyone take offense at the deity who is the summation of all that is evil, being portrayed as such. Thus there will be far less incentive for people to dishonestly pervert the myths of the deities, than there will be for them to dishonestly pervert the accounts of the lives and deeds of real, individual people. Thus the myths of the deities, which everyone freely admits are fictional, will over time come to have far more truth in them than any tale which was presented as a truthful account of any real person or event, ever could. 23: Thus for the reasons I've described, one should never speak ill of the dead, or associate with one who does, if it can be avoided. Likewise for the reasons I've described, one should always seek to honor the dead and preserve the memories of their virtues and their good deeds, so that the dead may serve as good role models for future generations. Lastly, if there is a certain dead person about whom you simply can't say anything good, then you should simply not speak of them at all, and if you must make mention of the bad deeds of a dead person, then you should not specify who it was who perpetrated them. 24: Indeed, even though the taboo against speaking ill of the dead doesn't teach you anything which is directly useful in and of itself, it may nonetheless be the most core, fundamental principle of the indigenous, pre-Christian religion of the European peoples. The reason why is that so long as a people refrains from speaking ill of their dead, their dead will always come to serve as good role models for future generations. Then their dead will always over time evolve into deities in the manner I afore described, and those deities and their myths will always over time evolve into whatever forms teach the people the most valuable moral and cosmological lessons possible. 25: Thus so long as our people refrain from speaking ill of the dead, then no matter if every other part of our native religion be forgotten, and no matter how many times it be forgotten, our descendants will always eventually rediscover the same deities and the same moral and cosmological lessons, yet again.
Most Germanic pagans did not expect to go to Valhalla. Only half of slain warriors went there. And that isn’t a lot of men. It’s possible that they believed that some who performed different deeds worthy of remembrance went to a different hall of the gods. But as Crawford reminds us, Slain Hall (Valhol) really is only for those slain in actual battle.
2:00 This has angered me so much. People that work retail are now forced to not participate at all due to the need to prepare for those shoppers that come on Thanksgiving. Please don't go. Wait until the next morning.
I would love for their to be a safe place built like a long house for celebration and meeting like minded and different people. With an untainted library and I would even like to see new poems and sagas placed their.
I have a couple of questions for you. What is a good offering to the Gods? How do you know if you're really talking to Odin and not just talking to air? I took your advice and chose to just talk to them while I was outside for a smoke break. I felt something, like a connection and a gentle breeze as I spoke with Odin, Frigg, Freya and Thor. But how do you really know you're actually talking to them and not talking just to talk? I'm asking for advice and I'm not trying to offend anyone. I'm trying to learn and grow in this way of life just like you.
I dont want to fight so I guess valhalla isn't for me and I'm ok with that. I want to go where I'll be in peace, I'll be happy, and I get to feast, drink and relax eith friends and family. I want zero stress in the after life.
I really liked this video. From what you’re saying, it appears that they don’t believe in reincarnation then? In any case, I really got a lot of food for thought from this video. Thank you for sharing and Blesse be.
@@TheWisdomOfOdin I really don't mean that people who are Scandinavian can't be Norse pagan. I'm so sorry if I made it seem like that is what I meant. I have always thought that question marks are aggressive.
Pt.2 16: Moreover, just as people will over time tend to throw out folktales whose lessons are less important or less often correct, and replace them with folktales whose lessons are more important and more often correct, so also people will over time tend to throw out folktales which aren't that much fun to hear, and replace them with folktales which teach the same lessons but which are more fun to hear, such that the children will be more inclined to listen to them, again having been created in the same means out of the real lives of the people's real ancestors. 17: Thus over time, not only do the lessons taught by the people's traditional folklore become more correct and more important, but also the folktales themselves become more and more fun to listen to. There's also a strong Darwinian element to it as well. You see, suppose the parents in a given family are good story tellers, and their children like listening to stories. Suppose also that the family's traditional stories are fun to hear, and teach moral and cosmological lessons which are both profoundly important and universally correct. Well, that family's children will be quite well aided by those traditional stories and the lessons they convey, in living their lives. 18: Thus they will tend to prosper to a great degree, and to produce many children themselves. On the other hand, suppose the parents in another given family are bad story tellers, or that their children don't like listening to stories, or that their traditional stories aren't that much fun to hear, or that they teach lessons which aren't that important or which are often false. Well, that family's children won't be well aided by those traditional stories or the lessons they convey, in living their lives. Thus they will not tend to prosper as much, or to produce as many children as they otherwise would have. 19: Thus through Darwinian natural selection, the people will over time evolve to be good at telling stories and to like listening to stories; and their traditional stories will likewise evolve through Darwinian natural selection, rather than merely by parents throwing out certain stories and replacing them with others, to teach lessons which are more important and more universally correct, and likewise to be more fun to hear. Moreover, if the people's folklore is permitted to evolve with them long enough, there will over time emerge certain stories whose moral and cosmological lessons are extremely profound and important, and absolutely always correct. 20: Once that occurs, the characters in those stories will simply be deified and worshiped as gods, generally with each moral or cosmological lesson having just one deity associated with it, and with each deity having just one moral or cosmological lesson associated with it. Then the stories about those gods, which illustrate the associated moral values and cosmological principles, become the myths which provide the basis for the people's religion. That's how you end up with things like Norse mythology, where you have a small pantheon of deities, each one representing a different moral or cosmological principle, with the moral and cosmological principles being illustrated via various entertaining tales about the associated deities. CHAPTER 2: THE PERVERSION OF STORYTELLING 1: Now, unfortunately, in the modern world, our natural, healthy instinct to listen to entertaining fictitious stories, which exists in order to help us learn valuable moral and cosmological lessons, has been completely and utterly hijacked by a class of parasites motivated not by a love of truth or morality, or for us or our people, but instead merely by a love of money. The parasites of whom I speak, are all of the people, largely Jews, who work in the industries which provide entertaining fiction for the public to enjoy. By that I'm referring to everyone who works in the motion picture industry, or as a writer, editor or publisher of fiction books, or in any similar occupation. 2: Why do I call them parasites? Well, if you earn your living by selling fiction to the public, then the public simply won't pay you for fiction which teaches them truths or morals which they dislike, and it makes no difference how correct those truths or morals may be. Instead, people will only pay you for your fiction, if the lessons your fiction teaches them, agree with whatever they already wish to believe anyway. Consequently, whereas the folklore and mythology which arises organically among a race of people in the manner I previously described, will tend to come in time to convey all sorts of moral and cosmological lessons which are both very true and also very valuable, that simply isn't the case with fiction which is produced professionally for a profit. 3: The unfortunate reality is that if you're a professional producer of fiction, then no matter how correct any given moral or cosmological lesson is, your audience simply won't pay you for fiction which teaches that lesson, unless that lesson agrees with them. Thus the very fact that a work of fiction earns money for the producer of it, is itself proof that said work of fiction has nothing of value to teach, and that you should therefore avoid it. The only works of fiction which you should read, or watch, or listen to, are those the producers of which have never sought to earn any money from. 4: Of course, the reason is simply that the only people who can afford to tell the truth unconditionally, are people who don't care about getting paid for what they say. Thus all those who produce and/or sell fiction for a profit, are parasites, because they take people's money, and in exchange give them only works of fiction which teach them things which, at best, they already know anyway, and which, at worst, simply aren't true. Thus those who produce and/or sell fiction for a profit, are taking advantage of a healthy instinct which nearly everyone possesses, the true purpose of which is to aid them in learning valuable moral and cosmological lessons. 5: Moreover, they are manipulating that instinct for their own material gain, and in return they are giving their audiences only things which are, at best, pointless, and in many cases, harmful. Indeed, I would argue that professionally produced fiction is analogous to pornography. You see, the true purpose of your sexual instincts are to encourage you to produce offspring, and not just to produce any offspring per se, but specifically to produce the most healthy offspring possible, and of as large a number as you can feasibly take care of, in order to ensure the continuation of your family lineage. 6: However, pornography takes advantage of your sexual instincts in order to make you watch mere videos. Of course, unlike the actual sexual act, those videos can't actually give you any offspring. Moreover, their true purpose is to take your money and give it to the purveyors of said videos, either directly by getting you to pay directly for the videos, or else indirectly by tempting you to view associated advertisements which tempt you to buy things from other persons. Either way, the true purpose of pornographic videos is to hijack your sexual instincts, in order to enable the purveyors of said videos to take your money without giving you anything of any actual value in return. 7: In truth though, I don't think pornography is nearly as harmful as is most professionally produced, non-erotic fiction. I've heard all sorts of claims made about how pornography ruins people's social relationships, ruins their ability to relate to members of the opposite sex, destroys their careers, and so on and so forth, but I don't truly believe any of those claims. If a man is so addicted to pornography that he doesn't have time for his job or for meeting real women, or if watching pornography causes him to forget that women are people and not merely sex objects, then clearly the problem is with the man and not the pornography. 8: Also, I find the idea that pornography destroys marriage or family to be utterly absurd. There are a great many reasons for a man to desire a wife, or for a woman to desire a husband, and the opportunity for sexual gratification is but one of them. A porn video can't give you children, it can't listen to your problems, it can't give you advice, it can't pay your bills or do chores around the house, it can't take care of your children or raise them, it can't take care of you when you're sick, it can't cry on your shoulder when it's sad, and it can't be your soulmate. 9: All a porn video can do for you, is help satisfy your sexual urges for a while, and nothing more. If someone is so soulless that they only care about the sexual act and not about any of that other stuff, and so as long as they can watch porn, they aren't interested in actual people of the opposite sex, then as far as I'm concerned, humanity would probably be a lot better off if that person didn't breed anyway. Indeed, I would actually argue that some exposure to normal pornography in adolescence is actually beneficial, because it helps one's sex drive attach itself to the appropriate body parts and to the appropriate physical acts, and because it can teach one how best to sexually pleasure someone of the opposite sex.
Pt.3 10: Without some exposure to pornography, and without any actual sexual activity, one's sexual instincts are likely to find other, less appropriate things to attach themselves to, leading to any of various unhealthy sexual fetishes, and one is also not likely to be able to sexually pleasure one's future spouse as well, at least initially, than if one had taken the opportunity to learn by watching pornography. At any rate, something else which I would argue is somewhat similar to pornography, is modern computer games. Whereas pornography takes advantage of your sexual instincts in order to waste your time and take your money without giving you anything of any great value in return, computer games take advantage of your desire for a sense of accomplishment in order to do the same. 11: They provide you with challenges which are utterly pointless to overcome, but the overcoming of which does nonetheless require much practice and skill. Thus much work and effort is required in order to do well at a computer game, and thus when you do well at it, doing so gives you a sense of accomplishment, but once again, in reality, you haven't actually done anything useful. Instead you've merely wasted a great deal of time, and likely some money as well, overcoming a purely pointless challenge. Now, one might argue that certain computer games, especially 4X games, simulation games, and military themed games, do teach some useful tactics of war, as well as other useful skills. 12: However, I personally haven't found that to be the case. At best, the rules of any given computer game are completely arbitrary, the product of the whims of the designers of it. Thus the strategies which end up being the best strategies in the game, don't necessarily have any relation to the strategies which are the best for accomplishing things in real life. At worst, many computer games are deliberately designed to ensure that the strategies which the stupidest players will most tend to favor, will end up being the correct strategies no matter how stupid they are. The reason for that is that the designers of the computer games know perfectly well that it's specifically the stupidest young men who are apt to spend the most money on computer games, and that that is therefore the most important demographic for them to please. 13: Thus they go out of their way to ensure that the strategies employed by those young men will end up being the correct strategies one way or another, because it helps those young men to inflate their egos by playing the games, and thereby encourages them to keep playing and thus keep giving money to the creators of the games. Thus you really can't expect to learn the correct strategies for anything, by playing computer games. At best the strategies you'll learn from computer games will be completely random and arbitrary, and at worst they'll be completely idiotic. 14: In neither case will it much benefit you. Thus if anything, I would consider computer games to be more harmful than pornography. The latter wastes your time and money, but can't really do you any further harm unless there is already something seriously wrong with you anyway. However, the former not only wastes your time and money, but may also teach you all sorts of ways of doing things, which just don't work well in reality. However, I would argue that professionally made works of fiction, such as movies, television programs, novels, etcetera, are actually far more destructive than are either of the aforementioned things. 15: You see, whereas pornography takes advantage of your sexual instincts in order to waste your time and take your money, and computer games take advantage of your instinctive desire for accomplishment in order to do the same, professionally produced fiction takes advantage of your instinctive desire to hear entertaining stories in order to do the same. However, the true purpose of your instinctive desire to hear entertaining stories, isn't to make you pay money to Disney, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Barnes And Noble, Netflix, Kindle or the like. It's true purpose also isn't to make you buy products advertised on television. 16: Rather, it's true purpose, as I afore described, is to help you learn moral values and cosmological truths which you need in order to live a good life. In other words, the true, proper purpose of your love of entertaining, fictitious tales, is to help you learn to recognize what is true and what is false, and what is right and what is wrong. It isn't to make you give your hard earned money to producers, writers, directors, actors, publishers, advertisers or the like. Thus just like pornography and computer games, the fundamental nature of movies, television programs, fiction novels and the like, is to waste your time and take your money, without giving you anything of value in return. 17: However, as I said before, I actually consider the latter things far worse than the former. The reason why, as I afore said, is that in order to be well paid, or even to be paid at all, for producing a work of fiction, one has to ensure that one's work of fiction agrees with the values and opinions of one's audience no matter how wrong they are. The result is that whereas pornography wastes your time and takes your money, but doesn't really do you any other harm unless you already have something wrong with you anyway; and computer games waste your time and take your money while at the same time teaching you all sorts of strategies of war which may or may not be the ideal strategies; movies, television, novels and the like will waste your time and take your money, all the while teaching you all sorts of moral values and cosmological principles which will be, in many and perhaps even most cases, utterly wrong. 18: Of course, the trouble with that is that having a proper understanding of how the world works and of how you should behave, is far more important than merely not wasting your time, or merely knowing the ideal strategies of war. Thus spending time and money to learn false lessons about how the world works or how you ought to behave, is far more harmful to one's self than is merely spending time and money to accomplish nothing at all, or spending it to learn strategies of war which may not be the ideal strategies. 19: Therefore if you wish to live a good life, I would strongly advise you to not listen to the tales of anyone who tells tales in exchange for money, or to any tales which are new and untested. If a tale was created for the purpose of earning money, then even if you may hear the tale free of charge, I would still strongly advise you not to listen to it, for it will surely teach much decadence and folly. Likewise, I would also strongly advise you not to listen to any tales which have been made-up in recent times, without having gone through the long process of evolution which I previously described, by which there arises tales teaching good moral and cosmological lessons. You see, without having gone through that long process, no tale is likely to have much wisdom in it. CHAPTER 3: THE IMPORTANCE OF HONORING THE DEAD 1: Now, the subject I wish to discuss in this chapter, arises naturally from the subjects discussed in the two previous chapters. Indeed, I included the two previous chapters, specifically because the subjects discussed in them laid the foundation for the subject I wish to discuss in this chapter. The subject I wish to discuss in this chapter is the importance of honoring one's dead ancestors, and also the reason why our people have long had a taboo, although we have in recent times forgotten it, against speaking ill of the dead. 2: The oldest expression I know of, of the European peoples' taboo against speaking ill of the dead, is the ancient Greek aphorism "Ton tethnekota me kekalogein.", which translates to "Do not speak ill of the dead.". I do not know of any historical evidence of that taboo having existed among the European peoples in the pre-Christian era aside from the Greeks and Romans. However, that taboo was once widespread among the European peoples during the Christian era, yet I know of no precedent for that taboo in Christianity. 3: There are passages in the Christian bible which admonish against speaking ill of one's own parents, but I can find nothing in Christianity which even approaches a broad taboo against speaking ill of anyone who is deceased. Moreover, even Christianity's admonition against speaking ill of one's parents, seems to have been intended more to enforce the strict social hierarchy which prevailed among the ancient Hebrews, than to ensure respect for the deceased. Therefore since the taboo against speaking ill of the dead was once widespread among the European peoples but does not appear to come from Christianity, therefore I have to assume that it comes from the indigenous, pre-Christian culture of all the European peoples. 4: We must therefore ask ourselves why, in the indigenous, pre-Christian culture of our people, we would have had a taboo against speaking ill of anyone who was deceased. Here then is where the subject discussed in this chapter, relates to the subject discussed in the chapter on how one's dead ancestors evolve into deities, and how the tales of the lives of one's ancestors, evolve into religious myths. You see, after one's forebearers die, they are meant to become role models for one's descendants. They are meant to come to embody important moral values and cosmological principles, and the tales of their lives are meant to change over time to illustrate those moral values and cosmological principles.
Pt.4 5: However, if you say bad things about someone who has died, you prevent that person from becoming, in death, a good role model for future generations. In other words, if after someone dies, you constantly complain about all the bad things they did and all the falsehoods they believed, you cause that person to come to embody not some good moral lesson or some profound cosmological truth, but instead a bunch of folly and bad behavior. Thus the memory of that dead person can not come to serve, as it ought to, as a means to teach future generations what is true and what is false, and how they should and shouldn't behave. 6: Thus by speaking ill of the dead, you impede the conveying of moral and cosmological wisdom to future generations, and that I suspect is the reason why our people have long had a taboo against speaking ill of the dead. Now, one might object that the taboo against speaking ill of the dead, runs contrary to the principle, embodied by Odin, of seeking wisdom, knowledge and truth no matter the cost. After all, if one is meant to seek truth no matter the cost, then that must surely include seeking the truth about one's ancestors. 7: Moreover, no one's ancestors are likely to have been perfect. Therefore how can anyone find the truth about their ancestors, if none is free to say anything about said ancestors, which casts said ancestors in a negative light? If it is forbidden to speak ill of the dead, then surely there will be certain things about the dead, which will be true but which it will be forbidden to say. Will that not impede the learning of the truth about those who have died? My response to that objection is that yes, of course one should seek the truth no matter the cost. 8: However, for all intents and purposes, it simply isn't possible to get a truthful account of the life and deeds of one who has died. You see, people are ever tempted to tell lies about one another, in order to improve their own reputation in the eyes of others, at the expense of one-another's reputations. In other words, people are ever tempted to take credit for good deeds which others did but which they themselves did not do, and to blame others for bad deeds which they themselves did but which others did not do. 9: Likewise, people are ever tempted to make others appear less competent than they actually are, in order to make themselves seem more competent by comparison; and also to speak endlessly of bad things done by the dead, and never of good things done by the dead, in order to make the dead seem less moral, and thus make themselves seem more moral by comparison. Now, as long as someone remains alive, then although people may spin all sorts of lies about them as I've described, at least that person can answer those lies with the truth, and thus defend his or her reputation. 10: However, once someone has died, they are no longer available to answer the lies of others, with truth. Thus once someone has died, it becomes all too easy for the living to lie about them, maliciously and for their own personal gain, and there's nothing a dead person can do to defend his or her reputation from the ensuing slander. Thus once someone has died, one can't ever truly expect to hear from the living, an account of the life, deeds or character of the dead person, which does not dishonestly malign the dead person's reputation in some way or another. If you doubt that that's the case, then I challenge you to think how often people say bad things about you which aren't true, and compare that with how often people say good things about you which aren't true. 11: Moreover, this is not only true at the individual level. It is also true at the broader, racial level as well. There is a constant temptation for people to dishonestly credit the ancestors of their own race with the good deeds of the ancestors of other races; to dishonestly blame the sins of the ancestors of their own race on the ancestors of other races; to dishonestly portray the ancestors of other races as having been less competent at various things than they actually were, in order to make the ancestors of their own race seem more competent by comparison; and to speak only of the bad deeds of the ancestors of other races and never of their good deeds, in order to make other races seem less moral and to make their own race seem more moral by comparison. 12: This people are tempted to do in order to dishonestly improve the reputation of their own race at the expense of the reputations of other races, just as they are tempted to improve their own reputations as individuals, at the expense of the reputations of others as individuals. This then is where the subject of this chapter relates to the subject discussed in the chapter on how the modern fiction industry is a perversion of the purpose of storytelling. You see, in the modern world, a professional storyteller sells their wares not just to people of any one race or any one religion, or living under any government, but instead to people of all races and all religions, living under all governments. 13: Moreover, people of each and every one of those races want to see the ancestors of their own race portrayed as having been better than they actually were, and want to see the ancestors of other races portrayed as having been worse than they actually were, in order to make their own race seem better by comparison. At the same time, countless religious organizations have an incentive to bribe modern storytellers to portray their religion as having historically been more noble than it actually was, and to portray other religions as having historically been less noble than they actually were, in order to make their own religion seem more noble by comparison. 14: Likewise countless governments have an incentive to bribe modern storytellers to portray them as having historically been more noble than they actually were, and to portray other governments as having historically been less noble than they actually were, in order to make themselves seem more noble by comparison. Thus when tales are told for a profit in the modern world, there are an immense number of groups of people who all seek to distort the portrayal of persons both past and present, in order to improve their own reputations at the expense of the reputations of others. 15: Moreover, the number and variety of people with an incentive to try to distort portrayals of people of other races and religions, and to distort portrayals of other governments, is just so great, and the incentive is just so strong, that for all intents and purposes, it simply isn't possible to find an account of the ancestors of any given race of people, which someone or other hasn't willfully distorted for political advantage. Thus for all intents and purposes, it simply isn't possible to hear truthful accounts of the dead. Any account one hears of an individual dead person, or of the dead ancestors of a race of people, is bound to be at least somewhat distorted by the biases of at least one person or another. 16: Therefore although indeed truthful accounts of the lives, deeds and characters of the dead would be ideal, the reality is that it simply isn't possible to hear anything of the dead which isn't, to some degree, a deliberate, willful, and oftentimes malicious, lie. Therefore because what is spoken regarding the dead will always be to some degree a lie no matter what, the best one can hope for is to ensure that at least the lies which are told regarding the dead, will not undermine the roles of the dead as role models for future generations. Moreover, the taboo against speaking ill of the dead, accomplishes this, because it suppresses the saying of things about the dead which besmirch the reputations of the dead. 17: Thus the taboo against speaking ill of the dead ensures that the reputations of the dead are untarnished, and thus ensures that the dead can serve as good role models for future generations. If anything, because the lies told of the dead are far more likely to be malicious, tending to cast the dead in a negative light, rather than benevolent, tending to cast the dead in a positive light, therefore if anything, the taboo against speaking ill of the dead would probably tend to make the tales told of the dead, more truthful than they would otherwise be, because it will suppress the telling of lies more than it will suppress the telling of truth. 18: Therefore I would strongly suggest that you neither speak ill of the dead, nor associate with one who does so, for whenever you speak ill of the dead, it is an attack against their living descendants. Now then, one might object that one needs to remember the mistakes of others throughout history, both so that one can avoid making them one's self, and also so that one can learn to protect one's self from the mistakes of others. How then can one learn from the bad things done by the dead, if none are permitted to speak ill of the dead? The answer is that it is fine to mention the mistakes of someone who has died, if the tale one is telling is of how that person learned from his or her mistakes and became a better person as a consequence. 19: The myth of Freya and the golden torc, and the myth of Thor and Utgarda-Loki, are examples of such tales. In the former myth, Freya errs grievously by betraying her husband, but as a result, Freya learns that she alone is responsible for her actions and for the consequences of them. By eternally suffering for her misdeed, Freya, who initially represented the freedom to do as one pleased, also becomes a symbol of personal responsibility. In the latter myth, Thor vastly overestimates his own strength, and as a result, is utterly humiliated when he finds out that he isn't as strong or capable as he thought.
Pt.1 There's a far more important pillar of paganism which you've left out. It's the one pillar from which all pre-Christian European religion ultimately originated: the pillar of honoring the dead. Allow me to explain: CHAPTER 1: HOW RELIGION ARISES FROM RECOUNTING THE LIVES OF THE DEAD 1: Here I wish to discuss the means by which religious belief arises. The full importance of this knowledge may not be readily apparent, but it will become so in time. Imagine a population of people living primitively, perhaps in the stone age or whatever. Suppose that initially, they have no deities, no mythology, and no religion. Well, as time goes on, some of them are bound to discover certain truths which tend to be good to know, and also certain morals which tend to be good to follow. Then naturally, they will want to convey those truths and those morals to their children, so that their children can benefit from understanding those truths and from following those morals. 2: However, it's often difficult for children to understand abstract moral or cosmological principles. Consequently their parents will tend to find it more expedient to convey the desired moral and cosmological principles to their children, by means of entertaining, metaphorical tales which their children can more easily understand, and which their children will tend to enjoy listening to. Thus through their attempts to convey moral and cosmological principles to their children, generations of parents will over time develop a body of traditional folklore for the purpose of helping their children learn various moral and cosmological lessons. 3: Now, the metaphorical tales can arise from various sources, such as the behavior of animals, the changing of the seasons, and so forth. However, perhaps most commonly, the metaphorical tales begin as factual accounts of the deeds and experiences of real persons who were the ancestors of the persons telling the tales. However, rarely ever does a factual account of any deed or experience of a real person, perfectly illustrate any given moral value or cosmological principle. 4: Reality is always filled with complexity and nuance, often a factual account of an event does not fully illustrate the moral value or cosmological principle one wishes it to illustrate, and often it also includes many other details which distract from the moral value or cosmological principle one wishes to illustrate. Therefore when one ancestral figure has different aspects to their life or personality, which illustrate different moral values or cosmological truths, people will tend to split that ancestral figure into multiple different ancestral figures, so that they create a different, imaginary ancestral figure to embody each of the different moral values or cosmological principles which their original, real ancestor embodied. 5: Likewise, they will tend to split different aspects of the life of their original, real ancestor, which each illustrate a different moral value or cosmological principle; into multiple different lives, with one life to illustrate each of the moral values or cosmological principles illustrated by the actual life of their original, real ancestor. They will then ascribe each of those different, fictitious lives to the fictitious ancestor who embodies the moral value or cosmological principle which that fictitious life illustrates. 6: Thus one real ancestor who embodied several moral values or cosmological principles, and whose life illustrated those several moral values or cosmological principles, becomes several different fictitious ancestors who each embody a different one of those several moral values or cosmological principles, and whose life illustrates that same moral value or cosmological principle. Moreover, often one such fictitious ancestor will arise from an aspect of one real ancestor, and another fictitious ancestor will arise from an identical aspect of another real ancestor. 7: Thus people will end up with two different fictitious ancestors who both embody the same moral value or cosmological principle, and whose lives both illustrate it, albeit often in different ways. When that occurs, people will tend to combine both fictitious ancestors into one fictitious ancestor who embodies that moral value or cosmological principle even more so than did either of the two previous fictitious ancestors. In doing so, people will also tend to combine the two fictitious lives of those two fictitious ancestors, which each illustrate the same moral value or cosmological principle albeit each in a different way. 8: Thus the two different fictitious lives of the previous two fictitious ancestors, become merely two different adventures had by the single, new fictitious ancestor in the course of that new fictitious ancestor's one individual life, and those two different adventures likewise each illustrate the moral value or cosmological principle embodied by the new fictitious ancestor, albeit still each in a different way. Thus first there are many real, flesh and blood ancestors who each embody, and whose lives each illustrate, many different moral values and cosmological principles, albeit each only in a small way. 9: Then as time passes, those real ancestors, and their real lives, are divided into their constituent parts, with a different part for each moral value or cosmological principle which the people wish to teach to their descendants. Then as more time passes, each constituent part of each ancestor and his or her life, is combined with the constituent parts of other ancestors which embody the same moral value or cosmological principle, and with the constituent parts of the lives of other ancestors which illustrate that moral value or cosmological principle. 10: Thus over time, what was once a plethora of different, real ancestors who each embodied many different moral values or cosmological principles but none of whom embodied any moral value or cosmological principle too strongly, and whose lives illustrated many different moral values or cosmological principles but without illustrating any too well; becomes a small handful of different, fictitious ancestors, each of whom embodies only one moral value or cosmological principle, but who embodies it very strongly, and each of whose lives illustrates only the corresponding moral value or cosmological principle, but which illustrates it very will; with each fictitious ancestor embodying, and his or her life illustrating, a distinctly different moral value or cosmological principle. 11: At this stage, the fictitious ancestors can not yet rightly be considered deities. At this stage, the fictitious ancestors are merely a group of folkloric characters who embody the totality of the people's real, flesh-and-blood ancestors as a whole, but without any of those fictitious ancestors embodying any individual real ancestor specifically. Likewise at this stage, the fictitious lives of the fictitious ancestors are merely a group of traditional folktales which embody the totality of the experiences of the people's real, flesh-and-blood ancestors, but without any of those folktales embodying the life of any one real ancestor specifically. 12: However, although the traditional, folkloric characters can not rightly be considered deities just yet, the transformation of real, flesh-and-blood ancestors into fictitious, folkloric characters, each of whom embodies, and each of whose lives illustrates, a different moral value or cosmological principle, is the first step in the transformation of the real, flesh-and-blood ancestors into deities. How then to the real, flesh-and-blood ancestors, after having been transformed into fictitious, folkloric characters, go on to become deities? 13: Well, when such a body of folklore initially develops, it usually isn't very good. The cosmological principles they teach, aren't necessarily always true; and the moral lessons they teach, aren't necessarily always correct. The reason why is that when such folk tales are initially created from the lives of the real ancestors, they don't necessarily represent anything which is empirically true or empirically correct. Instead, they merely represent the private opinions of the parents and grandparents who invent them, and no matter how much they like to think that their opinions are correct, the reality is that everyone is fallible. 14: Moreover, at this stage, the body of folklore can't rightly be considered an actual religion. It's just a bunch of stories about various fictitious characters having various fictitious adventures, which are designed to teach various moral and cosmological lessons which are sometimes correct but sometimes incorrect. However, as time goes on, each generation will tend to retain those folktales which convey moral and cosmological lessons which they find through experience to be more important and/or more universally correct, and also to create new folktales, also derived in the same manner from the real lives of their ancestors, to convey moral and cosmological lessons which they feel are important but which aren't covered by any of the previous folktales. 15: Also as time goes on, each generation will tend to discard those folktales which convey moral and cosmological lessons which they find through experience to be less important and/or less often correct. Thus through the constant abandoning of folktales which convey lessons which are less important and/or less often correct, and the constant replacing of them with different folktales which convey lessons which are more important and/or more often correct, and the retention of those latter folktales throughout the generations, the people's body of folklore becomes an increasingly better and better source of cosmological wisdom and moral guidance.
I totally feel you on celebrating more. My local group, love them as I do, often talks about getting together and says things like "And we don't HAVE to do heathen stuff! We don't even have to Blot! We can just hang out and have a cookout or something." And, while I get what they're saying and you don't want to burn yourself out, I feel like there is SO much to celebrate and to be proud of for us modern day heathens / pagans. Hopefully a day will come when I'm not always making offerings to the gods and my ancestors by myself.
couldn't have worded it more perfectly. just wish i had a local group that shares my passion.
It is said you can't come into Valhalla if you didn't die a warrior. But you are a warrior, Jacob. You are a warrior in your cause and spreading the word of the old gods, and I look forward to drinking with you in the hall and in Valhalla.
Hel is not depicted as a bad place in the sources we have. It could be assumed that those who have shown great deeds will serve in the halls of other gods after death for those deeds.
Your most important video. There is much on which i would debate you but i can, despite our differences, salute you as a brother. HAIL
I have been studying shamanism for 15 years. I like searching out new (to me) pagan voices.... I enjoy listening to you talk about your faith in the old Gods.😊
One of my favorite things about Paganism is the choice it gives you. I have never even once seen a pagan say I HAVE to be a pagan, of course, they would like you to be, but they will never (from what I've seen, and all the pagans I know would never) try to MAKE someone be a Pagan.
I love Paganism, my life, I love the Gods, my mighty yet loving Gods, I love the spirits, the watchers of nature, and I love the Folk, my brothers and sisters.
Hail to you all, Skål!
Very very very new to Norse paganism or paganism in general. As corny as this sounds what drew me into this was shows about Vikings and stuff 😂🤦🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
But I just felt drawn to it. Most cultures that worship nature have always drawn to me also having multiple gods has also. It never stuck to me one god stuff but anyway enough rambling love your channel ❤️🙏🏼
You're not alone.
Norse religion was NOT about nature. Norse religion was about religious structures and ancestral worship. And vikings has little to do with it. While viking is a norse word and part of norse culture as a description of seafarers, it has become a common word for people living in Scandinavia and Iceland during the late iron age. I definetly prefer the term norse, as it covers the cultural aspects of the period. As a Norwegian and direct ancestor of the norse culture, with constant reminders of this time period all around me, in the landscape, in my language, in my everyday life and in the folklore I've grown up with, I find the modern norse paganism to be at best naive, at worst directly disrespectful. The norse considered their gods to be the gods of the land. The norse considered the gods a mean to keep connected to their ancestors. While I am proud that my ancestors culture is admired and attractive, I feel sad when it is popularized, simplified, changed, treated with disrespect and made into something it was not by people that seem to know very little about it. At the same time I see big cultural differences between our norwegian culture today and american culture as our culture is still very rooted in the norse.
@geir you sound to have some opinions I think you should start a channel and explain your culture more in-depth and what it means to you. I would watch it
@@tony_ofthe_north6604 I am actually considering it, just to weigh up a little. :) I'll let you know. I don't mean my culture should be exclusive or that the norse heritage should be, but at least understood in the right way. I have the same fascination for japanese culture as many seems to have for norse culture, but I don't worship any japanese deities or claim to know anything in depth about japanese culture.
@@geirarnehelland7271 I would be thoroughly interested in hearing what you have to say, I have only been studying the Norse culture and religion for about 2 years (not incredibly in-depth) but have always loved the culture and what it has to offer. I do somewhat believe in your opinion about the Americanized version of the culture being differ from the original but I also do believe it's because of a .ore lacking proper education in the matter. I also truly believe the incorporating of nature in the religion may be for the best here in America even if it is a white lie.
For me, I think that pagans of all paths need to support each other. While those in the same path should absolutely support each other, it’s the whole “alone we are strong together we are stronger” mentality. Around the middle of the month, there had been an article from The Independent that got a number of pagans defending those who practice witchcraft. It was so comforting knowing that a large portion of the pagan community came to the defense of one of the many paths the pagan umbrella encompasses
Y did the end give me huge chills?! Hail Odin, Praise Freyja !!! Skal
Worship of the earth strikes a chord with me
I know that this video is literally three years old, but I just started my research on this religion, and your channel is one of the first channels I have come across while researching. Obviously, I'm going to continue my research before I just decide that this is the religion for me because I truly don't know yet. But I must admit that I think I found the religion that I most relate to. At the end, when you were shouting to Odin, it gave me goose bumps. It sent shivers all over my body. It made me tear up with this euphoric feeling that I was not expecting in any way. I don't know what it was or what happened honestly but it did something that even know minutes after watching I can still feel that euphoric feeling just lingering around.
Great video! I absolutely love the idea of the people being an important element of pagan practices. I’ve always thought of the 3 pillars as the land(spirits)/ the ancestors and the gods. Would you say the people fall into ancestors? As we should all be striving to live a life of honor and become ancestors worthy of a saga?
Yeah I would say the “folk” is people alive now, and then the people who lived before us. I believe our main goal in life should be to live life with honor, and to build our reputation so that our story lives on!
I came here because you started following me on instagram (@Radogo7) and I'm really glad. Through Odin and the Aesir I found a faith I never thought I had and the gods have become a big part of my life. It makes me happy to find pagan brothers and sisters who follow the old ways, but I totally agree that we need to shape them to the current state of the world. For the gods and for us, the folk of Midgard.
A big hug for you, brother. Hail Odin!
This guy is wise as fuck. New Heathen and this content is great knowledge.
Excellent thank you for sharing and helping with studies and life paths
I know this is an older video but, I am so thankful that I have found your channel, and I knew I had to subscribe! I've been stuck at the crossroads lately not knowing where to go from here until now!! I'm for sure the gods led me here! I'm not going to go into detail on why here in the comments but, maybe I'll share with you one day details on the what,where,why,and how I was or I think I was!! So for now I'll just say thank you!!!
Thank you so much for these videos. I'm part of many groups on Facebook that just don't help out when it comes to how to venerate the gods and what to offer. You shine a bright light on it all.
Blot, sumbel, and divination!
I appreciate all your videos and your passion for sharing your beliefs with us to help all of us learn and understand. I can’t thank you enough. I was also raised Baptist, and never felt a connection. I have been searching years for something to connect with, and I connect with Paganism, and you have helped me connect even more. Thank you Jacob❤
Thanks for the great video. I found your channel yesterday and am greatful to have found someone who shows and gives ideas for ways to honor the Gods. I'm new to Norse paganism. The short of it i was raised Christian, became Wiccan many years ago. Things happened in and in the end become atheist. Until spring of 2019 when I was trying a guided Norse meditation and Odin came to me in the meditation. I have never had that happen before. I have been warned of bad things coming from crows, but never had such from a God. I got feelings. So I greatly appreciate your videos.
By the way, in the last part when you were discussing the Gods, aftwr the bug on your hand left you had a butterfly on your right shoulder. 😉
When yelling out to the Gods, always that scene from Coming to America pops in my head. "Good Morning My Neighbors...."
lol...i'm in! thanksgiving is my favorite holiday also...i've been searching for my roots and the closest i've come is germanic/dutch/english...it was amazing to me how it clicked...heilung is my new favorite group...not going to ramble but i'll be bingeing your channel ;)
Fantastic video I agree we definitely need to unite and bring our practices more openly and aim to make a great hall one day. Keep up the good work brother. 🙂👍
I am very very new to Norse Paganism, and this video helped me a lot, and this TH-cam channel in general has helped me a lot. What drew me to Norse Paganism are the gods themselves, while yes I have always been drawn toward the old ways in many cultures, the Norse Gods always got my attention way more
I know content creators don't generally respond on older videos, but as someone from KY, near the Cumberland Falls area, I am new, and I am going through some of your introductory videos as I start my journey. A friend of mine is also on this journey with me. I pray the gods and norns allow our paths to cross at some point. Until then, may you walk with honor.
Watching this in 2020 hits different. Thanks for helping with this odd time by reminding us that we can come together without being physically there
I know this isn't a "gathering" video but sir, I'm located in Southern Ohio and would love to come and learn from you, my wife and I are new to Paganism but I've always had an interest so I know more than her but we're both learning and you're helping me learn and I thank you for that!
I wanted to say thank you for this video. There is a very old tree right by house that I have always felt something there and I have given my respect. But I'm going to give it a offering now. This channel has helped my on my journey.
Thank you for this! I love that those little bugs came to land on you as you were talking about the Gods. A lovely sign :)
Glad to find there is another great source of information available. I struggle being extremely rural and surrounded by no one who believes/celebrates how I do. I try to teach my children, but they each have their own set of beliefs (daughter is similar to me, son worships the Greek pantheon). Wishing there was more of a group in the middle of Missouri!
I just received the same T-shirt from Descended From Odin last week 😳❤️ Thanks for sharing, hail Odin!
Hi I know this video is a year hold but I just wanted to thank you for all your video's they have been very helpful for me and the start of my journey I am also from Kentucky and i am fairly new into this religion for me it started off with me trying to be a supportive friend but some were it blossomed into so much more so one more time thank you.
This video is nearly two years old actually! And I still live by these tenants today!
Sorry it showed a year but I completely understand and I would not have it any other way. I plain on taking this seriously and understand that I have much to learn and that I will never stop learning. I am taking it one day at time and doing my best not to overwhelm myself.i payed close attention to some of the books within your videos and I have chosen to start myself off with the prose Edda and the poetic Edda. I plain on getting my hands on more books down the road but for now slow and steady.any how thanks for the reply you have a great day.
I must confess I'm not norse pagan. But my boyfriend is and I want to support him and his beliefs as much as I can. So this channel coming into my recommended is a godsend. Thank you for making this :)
Love the video! I'm new to Norse Paganism and these are helping so much! 🖤
Made a comment on your first video about how I just moved from Lexington, this is 2nd comment. Dude. I camt count how many times I went to Raven Run and visited my spirit friends and sacred spots. This is insane. I wish id known you!!
I know the spirit you are talking about, ive met them.
Raven Run is an amazing place. I have explored just about every inch of that place lol. I have filmed quite a few of my videos there over the years.
It really struck me when you said about gods "having someone saying their name gives them strenght". I immediately thought what kind of divine beings are these if they depend on people honoring them for strenght ? How are such powerless beings worthy of veneration? They seem like some very week beings that can't even help themselves
I'll admit I was skeptical when I first read "Pillars" because it gave me echoes of the Nine Noble Virtues, which as you probably know has been pretty damaging to the Norse Pagan community, but these these three you've brought up are so well thought about and forward thinking. I love how practical these ideas are as well. For example the "teaching kids about nature spirits might make them less likely to litter" and having a bigger appreciation for nature will mean we'll really think about destroying nature before we do it. So dude, again well done, I think what you're doing is great.
You are going from the very beginning I see 🍻 this video feels like a lifetime ago. But my belief in putting these three things above yourself has not changed
@@TheWisdomOfOdin I am yeah! I feel like even in older videos there will be a lot of value to be had 🍻 not to mention it will be very interesting to see your growth in realtime over the year you've been posting videos
I do have a question though, do you watch Ocean Keltoi's videos?
throat singing their names over vales like that is always an experience
Something that our ancestors had right was the connection with the Folk, celebrating all the time, eating and drinking the spoils of their hard work and struggle through the year. There has never been a more close to nature and family time then when our ancestors still worshiped and celebrated like they did. Modernism and destruction of the moral compass has led many young people away from the greatness of being in tune with nature and respecting our wonderful planet, many other things have occurred thanks to the modern world, social media has made a vast majority of young adults shy and have very bad communication skills with other humans, social media was supposed to open us up to the vast and endless nature of making friends across the world and for some it has and this is exactly what we as a pagan community are doing or trying to do, wake up the masses to the beauty of the culture of our folk, or showing them the nature of there ancestors and what they believed. One day everything will be better I hope and we will all have large communities taking part in Blots and sitting around a campfire eating the reward of our hard work to the gods and this earth! Keep making great videos my friend!
I'm coming to paganism because I'm yearning for that connection and guidance. Sometimes it's hard to find the path, and I feel stuck, trapped maybe?..
I don't know much, but I feel a connection with my ancestors and this faith. I think I'll start with literature and vlogs like these 🌄
Adding a ! spoiler alert ! here ( 4:19-5:15 ) for those who haven't completed Vikings yet (like me, though i knew about that particular spoiler already but muted you for the minute, sorry 😁, want to here and feel the words when I'm at that point in the series).
Wonderful video, glad i found you.
A thought of mine as of recently: why do we ourselves often continue to say Norse Mythology but not Christian Mythology? It's either that or Norse Faith and Christian (etc) Faith. Just a personal thing/preference since i don't want to keep the big religions on a pedestal with words because, well, they're the big ones. Stopping myself here before losing myself in a rant 😁
The Folk, celebrating. The Spirits, respecting. The Gods, honouring. Love it!
Thank you so much for these videos! I'm new to paganism, just started worshipping Njord, so this is all super helpful. Would love to chat with you and hear about your experiences but that's probably a somewhat unrealistic expectation! Regardless, have a great day and thanks for sharing your knowledge
Thanksgiving is the true American holiday, for it is designated by time not a numerical date. It is the true American solstice.
Ravens run is a beautiful place and I hope to go there someday but another truly magical place is in berea and it’s called The Pinnacles, I think you’d love it
I want to start up my own tribe here in Chilliwack B.C. Canada (West Coast),I mean we have a few Universal Heathen Norse Pagan groups up in my Province but they are to far to get to so I am sol. But i could start my own here......my anxieties are dealing with the local KKK and white supremacists idiots who use our ancestors symbol's for hate and they are loudest up here. This is an opportunity to turn this religion into our favor if I do this right. We will be authentic, will not turn people away just for petty reasons, universalists are welcome, but mostly the local kindred who are also called to by the gods and are serious. I eventually will want to buy land and build a community village and mead hall and temple in it that all who use the property are equal unto it and can pitch in also to help keep it running. It will be a big deal to most or some depending on how many pagans here stand up and support vocally this idea. I don't subscribe to the Universal, folkish really really as yes most are going to be white people, but who is to say that Odin has not shown interest to someone of skin color other than white or yea...….It is the person that matters not their appearance or flaws as long as they can function, I do not care not. Just don't harm others people children or animals against their wills. And be sure this is for you and you knw your heart is in it, helping others learn as I learn is even better. Id say maybe Trialist?? its my folk my kindred who come first, also friends are family too blood sisters and brothers extended lol and other Norse Pagans. Society I am very very very weary of, I don't think society has much time left to change itself for the better and if things get a lot uglier as they are starting to get now where I am I do not want to be around here much longer; and neither should my friends and families I would want to bring with me. Im just being safe and want to ensure a safe place or get away for our folk in need when things get to stressful and need a breather/ time out/away. But I hold no hope for society though and intend to be a survivor of whatever happens next. Maybe then we will be the re builders or the positive impact this town desperately craves while fighting themselves religiously and politically.
It is a big goal, it be the biggest thing I have ever done all my life and I must finish it with the gods blessings, we open to the public on weekends and put on mock battles for families and children, open the mead hall and temple to the public to drink with Pagans. You know what, I think the gods would be for it, I am sure of this I just need the moral support =D
Hail friend I am from a small town in Alberta. I so share those feelings and emotions from trying to find a place or group to truly belong to. You are not alone and I wish you the best. BC is such a spiritual and emotional place so I hope you find your path.
@@theaurorawitch Happy Yule friend:) yes we will eventually find our tribes and we will then meet up and throw great blots together:)
@@theaurorawitch thank you for the kind words Alice:) i wish the same for you aswell. Who knows ahat yule could bring this year.
I'm in Arizona I would love to relocate to Canada or even just Alaska. Theres no norse groups near me.
Pt.5
20: However, in the process, he learns to be aware of his limitations, and not to overestimate himself. Thus Thor, who initially represented strength, power and ability, also becomes a symbol of humility, and of knowing one's own limitations. It is fine to mention the shortcomings of the dead in such a manner, to illustrate how the dead overcame their shortcomings. However, if one must speak of the misdeeds of someone who did not learn from their mistakes, or overcome their shortcomings, then one may speak of the misdeeds of that person, but one should refrain from specifying just whom one is speaking of.
21: Instead, the misdeeds of those dead who did not learn from their mistakes and did not overcome their shortcomings, should not be ascribed to any actual person, but instead to some mysterious villain separate from any of the actual ancestors of any actual people. In this manner one may illustrate the evils of humanity, without tarnishing the reputations of the ancestors and thus undermining the roles of those ancestors as role models. Then as time passes, and people's real, flesh-and-blood ancestors are transformed into deities; and the real deeds and experiences of those ancestors are transformed into the myths of the deities, in the manner I previously described; the deities will become the summation of the ancestors of everyone, without being the specific, individual ancestors of anyone in particular; and the one deity who becomes the summation of all that is evil, won't be anyone's ancestors at all.
22: Thus no one will stand to gain anything by falsely tarnishing the reputations of the deities, and nor will anyone take offense at the deity who is the summation of all that is evil, being portrayed as such. Thus there will be far less incentive for people to dishonestly pervert the myths of the deities, than there will be for them to dishonestly pervert the accounts of the lives and deeds of real, individual people. Thus the myths of the deities, which everyone freely admits are fictional, will over time come to have far more truth in them than any tale which was presented as a truthful account of any real person or event, ever could.
23: Thus for the reasons I've described, one should never speak ill of the dead, or associate with one who does, if it can be avoided. Likewise for the reasons I've described, one should always seek to honor the dead and preserve the memories of their virtues and their good deeds, so that the dead may serve as good role models for future generations. Lastly, if there is a certain dead person about whom you simply can't say anything good, then you should simply not speak of them at all, and if you must make mention of the bad deeds of a dead person, then you should not specify who it was who perpetrated them.
24: Indeed, even though the taboo against speaking ill of the dead doesn't teach you anything which is directly useful in and of itself, it may nonetheless be the most core, fundamental principle of the indigenous, pre-Christian religion of the European peoples. The reason why is that so long as a people refrains from speaking ill of their dead, their dead will always come to serve as good role models for future generations. Then their dead will always over time evolve into deities in the manner I afore described, and those deities and their myths will always over time evolve into whatever forms teach the people the most valuable moral and cosmological lessons possible.
25: Thus so long as our people refrain from speaking ill of the dead, then no matter if every other part of our native religion be forgotten, and no matter how many times it be forgotten, our descendants will always eventually rediscover the same deities and the same moral and cosmological lessons, yet again.
Most Germanic pagans did not expect to go to Valhalla. Only half of slain warriors went there. And that isn’t a lot of men. It’s possible that they believed that some who performed different deeds worthy of remembrance went to a different hall of the gods. But as Crawford reminds us, Slain Hall (Valhol) really is only for those slain in actual battle.
Would absolutely love if there were halls around the country to gather in for the weekends or weeks at a time and enjoy the life we all yearn for
Thank you for viedo New too Norse paganism.
2:00 This has angered me so much. People that work retail are now forced to not participate at all due to the need to prepare for those shoppers that come on Thanksgiving. Please don't go. Wait until the next morning.
HAIL ODIN!
Jacob you are a smart man! Skál💀🍻
I find there are Three Rules of Norse Paganism.
1) The Gods Come First
2) The Ancestors come next
3) When in doubt, see rules one and two.
I would love for their to be a safe place built like a long house for celebration and meeting like minded and different people. With an untainted library and I would even like to see new poems and sagas placed their.
I couldnt agree more with your views!
I agree
I’m from New York state. I want to talk to more pagans.
Ok so I started watching you....do you live in KY??? Bro...I believe Odin just brought me to you!!
Wow the nearest pagan is 2 hours away from you, i live in a small village and there are quiet a few.
I have a couple of questions for you. What is a good offering to the Gods? How do you know if you're really talking to Odin and not just talking to air? I took your advice and chose to just talk to them while I was outside for a smoke break. I felt something, like a connection and a gentle breeze as I spoke with Odin, Frigg, Freya and Thor. But how do you really know you're actually talking to them and not talking just to talk? I'm asking for advice and I'm not trying to offend anyone. I'm trying to learn and grow in this way of life just like you.
Look for signs. If you ask for something or try to ask questions, look for signs later throughout the day.
Beer
Specificly mead real strong good taisting beer
I follow Odin I've seen Odin in visions along with Hail
I dont want to fight so I guess valhalla isn't for me and I'm ok with that. I want to go where I'll be in peace, I'll be happy, and I get to feast, drink and relax eith friends and family. I want zero stress in the after life.
Yes!!! Shout it front the rooftops!
Let's build a hall!!! Skall we will not fall haha let us build a hall!!!!!!!!!!!
❤
It sounds like you took your camera and threw it into a lake and then brought it back out and filmed 😂😂😂 great video!
I live with my grandad and tbh my room is proven to have atleast 1 maybe 2 spirits. I've tried to make peace with it but it doesn't seem to be friends
I really liked this video. From what you’re saying, it appears that they don’t believe in reincarnation then? In any case, I really got a lot of food for thought from this video. Thank you for sharing and Blesse be.
I was drunk one time and screamed for Odin for about a hour and then the day after I lost my voice lol
There is a temple in Iceland now
Really!?!
Are you ethnically Scandinavian?
does it matter?
@@TheWisdomOfOdin cope
@@TheWisdomOfOdin I'm sorry if that sound rude I'm just curious.
@@TheWisdomOfOdin I really don't mean that people who are Scandinavian can't be Norse pagan. I'm so sorry if I made it seem like that is what I meant. I have always thought that question marks are aggressive.
When I grow older, (I'm only 14 so yeah ) I want to build a longhouse and invite you folk to a big feast
Soo... I'm a very new pagan and I don't really have a support group or anything like that. Any advice or anything for me would be amazing!!
Late comment on this vid but is their a 10 commandments from Christianity in paganism and what is it
Started watching vikings and havent finished. Gnarly that you just spoiled ragnar dying 🤣
Everybody dies 🍻
I'm down in Tennessee brother can we meet?
Thanksgiving is the greatest American holiday? Come on dude. #youreonnativeland
Pt.2
16: Moreover, just as people will over time tend to throw out folktales whose lessons are less important or less often correct, and replace them with folktales whose lessons are more important and more often correct, so also people will over time tend to throw out folktales which aren't that much fun to hear, and replace them with folktales which teach the same lessons but which are more fun to hear, such that the children will be more inclined to listen to them, again having been created in the same means out of the real lives of the people's real ancestors.
17: Thus over time, not only do the lessons taught by the people's traditional folklore become more correct and more important, but also the folktales themselves become more and more fun to listen to. There's also a strong Darwinian element to it as well. You see, suppose the parents in a given family are good story tellers, and their children like listening to stories. Suppose also that the family's traditional stories are fun to hear, and teach moral and cosmological lessons which are both profoundly important and universally correct. Well, that family's children will be quite well aided by those traditional stories and the lessons they convey, in living their lives.
18: Thus they will tend to prosper to a great degree, and to produce many children themselves. On the other hand, suppose the parents in another given family are bad story tellers, or that their children don't like listening to stories, or that their traditional stories aren't that much fun to hear, or that they teach lessons which aren't that important or which are often false. Well, that family's children won't be well aided by those traditional stories or the lessons they convey, in living their lives. Thus they will not tend to prosper as much, or to produce as many children as they otherwise would have.
19: Thus through Darwinian natural selection, the people will over time evolve to be good at telling stories and to like listening to stories; and their traditional stories will likewise evolve through Darwinian natural selection, rather than merely by parents throwing out certain stories and replacing them with others, to teach lessons which are more important and more universally correct, and likewise to be more fun to hear. Moreover, if the people's folklore is permitted to evolve with them long enough, there will over time emerge certain stories whose moral and cosmological lessons are extremely profound and important, and absolutely always correct.
20: Once that occurs, the characters in those stories will simply be deified and worshiped as gods, generally with each moral or cosmological lesson having just one deity associated with it, and with each deity having just one moral or cosmological lesson associated with it. Then the stories about those gods, which illustrate the associated moral values and cosmological principles, become the myths which provide the basis for the people's religion. That's how you end up with things like Norse mythology, where you have a small pantheon of deities, each one representing a different moral or cosmological principle, with the moral and cosmological principles being illustrated via various entertaining tales about the associated deities.
CHAPTER 2: THE PERVERSION OF STORYTELLING
1: Now, unfortunately, in the modern world, our natural, healthy instinct to listen to entertaining fictitious stories, which exists in order to help us learn valuable moral and cosmological lessons, has been completely and utterly hijacked by a class of parasites motivated not by a love of truth or morality, or for us or our people, but instead merely by a love of money. The parasites of whom I speak, are all of the people, largely Jews, who work in the industries which provide entertaining fiction for the public to enjoy. By that I'm referring to everyone who works in the motion picture industry, or as a writer, editor or publisher of fiction books, or in any similar occupation.
2: Why do I call them parasites? Well, if you earn your living by selling fiction to the public, then the public simply won't pay you for fiction which teaches them truths or morals which they dislike, and it makes no difference how correct those truths or morals may be. Instead, people will only pay you for your fiction, if the lessons your fiction teaches them, agree with whatever they already wish to believe anyway. Consequently, whereas the folklore and mythology which arises organically among a race of people in the manner I previously described, will tend to come in time to convey all sorts of moral and cosmological lessons which are both very true and also very valuable, that simply isn't the case with fiction which is produced professionally for a profit.
3: The unfortunate reality is that if you're a professional producer of fiction, then no matter how correct any given moral or cosmological lesson is, your audience simply won't pay you for fiction which teaches that lesson, unless that lesson agrees with them. Thus the very fact that a work of fiction earns money for the producer of it, is itself proof that said work of fiction has nothing of value to teach, and that you should therefore avoid it. The only works of fiction which you should read, or watch, or listen to, are those the producers of which have never sought to earn any money from.
4: Of course, the reason is simply that the only people who can afford to tell the truth unconditionally, are people who don't care about getting paid for what they say. Thus all those who produce and/or sell fiction for a profit, are parasites, because they take people's money, and in exchange give them only works of fiction which teach them things which, at best, they already know anyway, and which, at worst, simply aren't true. Thus those who produce and/or sell fiction for a profit, are taking advantage of a healthy instinct which nearly everyone possesses, the true purpose of which is to aid them in learning valuable moral and cosmological lessons.
5: Moreover, they are manipulating that instinct for their own material gain, and in return they are giving their audiences only things which are, at best, pointless, and in many cases, harmful. Indeed, I would argue that professionally produced fiction is analogous to pornography. You see, the true purpose of your sexual instincts are to encourage you to produce offspring, and not just to produce any offspring per se, but specifically to produce the most healthy offspring possible, and of as large a number as you can feasibly take care of, in order to ensure the continuation of your family lineage.
6: However, pornography takes advantage of your sexual instincts in order to make you watch mere videos. Of course, unlike the actual sexual act, those videos can't actually give you any offspring. Moreover, their true purpose is to take your money and give it to the purveyors of said videos, either directly by getting you to pay directly for the videos, or else indirectly by tempting you to view associated advertisements which tempt you to buy things from other persons. Either way, the true purpose of pornographic videos is to hijack your sexual instincts, in order to enable the purveyors of said videos to take your money without giving you anything of any actual value in return.
7: In truth though, I don't think pornography is nearly as harmful as is most professionally produced, non-erotic fiction. I've heard all sorts of claims made about how pornography ruins people's social relationships, ruins their ability to relate to members of the opposite sex, destroys their careers, and so on and so forth, but I don't truly believe any of those claims. If a man is so addicted to pornography that he doesn't have time for his job or for meeting real women, or if watching pornography causes him to forget that women are people and not merely sex objects, then clearly the problem is with the man and not the pornography.
8: Also, I find the idea that pornography destroys marriage or family to be utterly absurd. There are a great many reasons for a man to desire a wife, or for a woman to desire a husband, and the opportunity for sexual gratification is but one of them. A porn video can't give you children, it can't listen to your problems, it can't give you advice, it can't pay your bills or do chores around the house, it can't take care of your children or raise them, it can't take care of you when you're sick, it can't cry on your shoulder when it's sad, and it can't be your soulmate.
9: All a porn video can do for you, is help satisfy your sexual urges for a while, and nothing more. If someone is so soulless that they only care about the sexual act and not about any of that other stuff, and so as long as they can watch porn, they aren't interested in actual people of the opposite sex, then as far as I'm concerned, humanity would probably be a lot better off if that person didn't breed anyway. Indeed, I would actually argue that some exposure to normal pornography in adolescence is actually beneficial, because it helps one's sex drive attach itself to the appropriate body parts and to the appropriate physical acts, and because it can teach one how best to sexually pleasure someone of the opposite sex.
Does someone have to be of scandinavian descent to practice norse paganism?
No, to my knowledge you don't have to be
Define "offering". I know a decent amount about Norse mythology and Viking history but I can't imagine the rituals are as... Bloody in the modern age.
@Xiuh I am eager to learn about the subject matter from some who actively practices so thank for the nugget!
“Odin talked to me earlier” 🤔 LOL
Pt.3
10: Without some exposure to pornography, and without any actual sexual activity, one's sexual instincts are likely to find other, less appropriate things to attach themselves to, leading to any of various unhealthy sexual fetishes, and one is also not likely to be able to sexually pleasure one's future spouse as well, at least initially, than if one had taken the opportunity to learn by watching pornography. At any rate, something else which I would argue is somewhat similar to pornography, is modern computer games. Whereas pornography takes advantage of your sexual instincts in order to waste your time and take your money without giving you anything of any great value in return, computer games take advantage of your desire for a sense of accomplishment in order to do the same.
11: They provide you with challenges which are utterly pointless to overcome, but the overcoming of which does nonetheless require much practice and skill. Thus much work and effort is required in order to do well at a computer game, and thus when you do well at it, doing so gives you a sense of accomplishment, but once again, in reality, you haven't actually done anything useful. Instead you've merely wasted a great deal of time, and likely some money as well, overcoming a purely pointless challenge. Now, one might argue that certain computer games, especially 4X games, simulation games, and military themed games, do teach some useful tactics of war, as well as other useful skills.
12: However, I personally haven't found that to be the case. At best, the rules of any given computer game are completely arbitrary, the product of the whims of the designers of it. Thus the strategies which end up being the best strategies in the game, don't necessarily have any relation to the strategies which are the best for accomplishing things in real life. At worst, many computer games are deliberately designed to ensure that the strategies which the stupidest players will most tend to favor, will end up being the correct strategies no matter how stupid they are. The reason for that is that the designers of the computer games know perfectly well that it's specifically the stupidest young men who are apt to spend the most money on computer games, and that that is therefore the most important demographic for them to please.
13: Thus they go out of their way to ensure that the strategies employed by those young men will end up being the correct strategies one way or another, because it helps those young men to inflate their egos by playing the games, and thereby encourages them to keep playing and thus keep giving money to the creators of the games. Thus you really can't expect to learn the correct strategies for anything, by playing computer games. At best the strategies you'll learn from computer games will be completely random and arbitrary, and at worst they'll be completely idiotic.
14: In neither case will it much benefit you. Thus if anything, I would consider computer games to be more harmful than pornography. The latter wastes your time and money, but can't really do you any further harm unless there is already something seriously wrong with you anyway. However, the former not only wastes your time and money, but may also teach you all sorts of ways of doing things, which just don't work well in reality. However, I would argue that professionally made works of fiction, such as movies, television programs, novels, etcetera, are actually far more destructive than are either of the aforementioned things.
15: You see, whereas pornography takes advantage of your sexual instincts in order to waste your time and take your money, and computer games take advantage of your instinctive desire for accomplishment in order to do the same, professionally produced fiction takes advantage of your instinctive desire to hear entertaining stories in order to do the same. However, the true purpose of your instinctive desire to hear entertaining stories, isn't to make you pay money to Disney, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Barnes And Noble, Netflix, Kindle or the like. It's true purpose also isn't to make you buy products advertised on television.
16: Rather, it's true purpose, as I afore described, is to help you learn moral values and cosmological truths which you need in order to live a good life. In other words, the true, proper purpose of your love of entertaining, fictitious tales, is to help you learn to recognize what is true and what is false, and what is right and what is wrong. It isn't to make you give your hard earned money to producers, writers, directors, actors, publishers, advertisers or the like. Thus just like pornography and computer games, the fundamental nature of movies, television programs, fiction novels and the like, is to waste your time and take your money, without giving you anything of value in return.
17: However, as I said before, I actually consider the latter things far worse than the former. The reason why, as I afore said, is that in order to be well paid, or even to be paid at all, for producing a work of fiction, one has to ensure that one's work of fiction agrees with the values and opinions of one's audience no matter how wrong they are. The result is that whereas pornography wastes your time and takes your money, but doesn't really do you any other harm unless you already have something wrong with you anyway; and computer games waste your time and take your money while at the same time teaching you all sorts of strategies of war which may or may not be the ideal strategies; movies, television, novels and the like will waste your time and take your money, all the while teaching you all sorts of moral values and cosmological principles which will be, in many and perhaps even most cases, utterly wrong.
18: Of course, the trouble with that is that having a proper understanding of how the world works and of how you should behave, is far more important than merely not wasting your time, or merely knowing the ideal strategies of war. Thus spending time and money to learn false lessons about how the world works or how you ought to behave, is far more harmful to one's self than is merely spending time and money to accomplish nothing at all, or spending it to learn strategies of war which may not be the ideal strategies.
19: Therefore if you wish to live a good life, I would strongly advise you to not listen to the tales of anyone who tells tales in exchange for money, or to any tales which are new and untested. If a tale was created for the purpose of earning money, then even if you may hear the tale free of charge, I would still strongly advise you not to listen to it, for it will surely teach much decadence and folly. Likewise, I would also strongly advise you not to listen to any tales which have been made-up in recent times, without having gone through the long process of evolution which I previously described, by which there arises tales teaching good moral and cosmological lessons. You see, without having gone through that long process, no tale is likely to have much wisdom in it.
CHAPTER 3: THE IMPORTANCE OF HONORING THE DEAD
1: Now, the subject I wish to discuss in this chapter, arises naturally from the subjects discussed in the two previous chapters. Indeed, I included the two previous chapters, specifically because the subjects discussed in them laid the foundation for the subject I wish to discuss in this chapter. The subject I wish to discuss in this chapter is the importance of honoring one's dead ancestors, and also the reason why our people have long had a taboo, although we have in recent times forgotten it, against speaking ill of the dead.
2: The oldest expression I know of, of the European peoples' taboo against speaking ill of the dead, is the ancient Greek aphorism "Ton tethnekota me kekalogein.", which translates to "Do not speak ill of the dead.". I do not know of any historical evidence of that taboo having existed among the European peoples in the pre-Christian era aside from the Greeks and Romans. However, that taboo was once widespread among the European peoples during the Christian era, yet I know of no precedent for that taboo in Christianity.
3: There are passages in the Christian bible which admonish against speaking ill of one's own parents, but I can find nothing in Christianity which even approaches a broad taboo against speaking ill of anyone who is deceased. Moreover, even Christianity's admonition against speaking ill of one's parents, seems to have been intended more to enforce the strict social hierarchy which prevailed among the ancient Hebrews, than to ensure respect for the deceased. Therefore since the taboo against speaking ill of the dead was once widespread among the European peoples but does not appear to come from Christianity, therefore I have to assume that it comes from the indigenous, pre-Christian culture of all the European peoples.
4: We must therefore ask ourselves why, in the indigenous, pre-Christian culture of our people, we would have had a taboo against speaking ill of anyone who was deceased. Here then is where the subject discussed in this chapter, relates to the subject discussed in the chapter on how one's dead ancestors evolve into deities, and how the tales of the lives of one's ancestors, evolve into religious myths. You see, after one's forebearers die, they are meant to become role models for one's descendants. They are meant to come to embody important moral values and cosmological principles, and the tales of their lives are meant to change over time to illustrate those moral values and cosmological principles.
12:34 =)
Get ahold of me I am designing a hall i have some room on my land for a prototype
Definitely bring bad spirits offerings, they tend to not harm you
Great information but please spoiler Alert.
Pt.4
5: However, if you say bad things about someone who has died, you prevent that person from becoming, in death, a good role model for future generations. In other words, if after someone dies, you constantly complain about all the bad things they did and all the falsehoods they believed, you cause that person to come to embody not some good moral lesson or some profound cosmological truth, but instead a bunch of folly and bad behavior. Thus the memory of that dead person can not come to serve, as it ought to, as a means to teach future generations what is true and what is false, and how they should and shouldn't behave.
6: Thus by speaking ill of the dead, you impede the conveying of moral and cosmological wisdom to future generations, and that I suspect is the reason why our people have long had a taboo against speaking ill of the dead. Now, one might object that the taboo against speaking ill of the dead, runs contrary to the principle, embodied by Odin, of seeking wisdom, knowledge and truth no matter the cost. After all, if one is meant to seek truth no matter the cost, then that must surely include seeking the truth about one's ancestors.
7: Moreover, no one's ancestors are likely to have been perfect. Therefore how can anyone find the truth about their ancestors, if none is free to say anything about said ancestors, which casts said ancestors in a negative light? If it is forbidden to speak ill of the dead, then surely there will be certain things about the dead, which will be true but which it will be forbidden to say. Will that not impede the learning of the truth about those who have died? My response to that objection is that yes, of course one should seek the truth no matter the cost.
8: However, for all intents and purposes, it simply isn't possible to get a truthful account of the life and deeds of one who has died. You see, people are ever tempted to tell lies about one another, in order to improve their own reputation in the eyes of others, at the expense of one-another's reputations. In other words, people are ever tempted to take credit for good deeds which others did but which they themselves did not do, and to blame others for bad deeds which they themselves did but which others did not do.
9: Likewise, people are ever tempted to make others appear less competent than they actually are, in order to make themselves seem more competent by comparison; and also to speak endlessly of bad things done by the dead, and never of good things done by the dead, in order to make the dead seem less moral, and thus make themselves seem more moral by comparison. Now, as long as someone remains alive, then although people may spin all sorts of lies about them as I've described, at least that person can answer those lies with the truth, and thus defend his or her reputation.
10: However, once someone has died, they are no longer available to answer the lies of others, with truth. Thus once someone has died, it becomes all too easy for the living to lie about them, maliciously and for their own personal gain, and there's nothing a dead person can do to defend his or her reputation from the ensuing slander. Thus once someone has died, one can't ever truly expect to hear from the living, an account of the life, deeds or character of the dead person, which does not dishonestly malign the dead person's reputation in some way or another. If you doubt that that's the case, then I challenge you to think how often people say bad things about you which aren't true, and compare that with how often people say good things about you which aren't true.
11: Moreover, this is not only true at the individual level. It is also true at the broader, racial level as well. There is a constant temptation for people to dishonestly credit the ancestors of their own race with the good deeds of the ancestors of other races; to dishonestly blame the sins of the ancestors of their own race on the ancestors of other races; to dishonestly portray the ancestors of other races as having been less competent at various things than they actually were, in order to make the ancestors of their own race seem more competent by comparison; and to speak only of the bad deeds of the ancestors of other races and never of their good deeds, in order to make other races seem less moral and to make their own race seem more moral by comparison.
12: This people are tempted to do in order to dishonestly improve the reputation of their own race at the expense of the reputations of other races, just as they are tempted to improve their own reputations as individuals, at the expense of the reputations of others as individuals. This then is where the subject of this chapter relates to the subject discussed in the chapter on how the modern fiction industry is a perversion of the purpose of storytelling. You see, in the modern world, a professional storyteller sells their wares not just to people of any one race or any one religion, or living under any government, but instead to people of all races and all religions, living under all governments.
13: Moreover, people of each and every one of those races want to see the ancestors of their own race portrayed as having been better than they actually were, and want to see the ancestors of other races portrayed as having been worse than they actually were, in order to make their own race seem better by comparison. At the same time, countless religious organizations have an incentive to bribe modern storytellers to portray their religion as having historically been more noble than it actually was, and to portray other religions as having historically been less noble than they actually were, in order to make their own religion seem more noble by comparison.
14: Likewise countless governments have an incentive to bribe modern storytellers to portray them as having historically been more noble than they actually were, and to portray other governments as having historically been less noble than they actually were, in order to make themselves seem more noble by comparison. Thus when tales are told for a profit in the modern world, there are an immense number of groups of people who all seek to distort the portrayal of persons both past and present, in order to improve their own reputations at the expense of the reputations of others.
15: Moreover, the number and variety of people with an incentive to try to distort portrayals of people of other races and religions, and to distort portrayals of other governments, is just so great, and the incentive is just so strong, that for all intents and purposes, it simply isn't possible to find an account of the ancestors of any given race of people, which someone or other hasn't willfully distorted for political advantage. Thus for all intents and purposes, it simply isn't possible to hear truthful accounts of the dead. Any account one hears of an individual dead person, or of the dead ancestors of a race of people, is bound to be at least somewhat distorted by the biases of at least one person or another.
16: Therefore although indeed truthful accounts of the lives, deeds and characters of the dead would be ideal, the reality is that it simply isn't possible to hear anything of the dead which isn't, to some degree, a deliberate, willful, and oftentimes malicious, lie. Therefore because what is spoken regarding the dead will always be to some degree a lie no matter what, the best one can hope for is to ensure that at least the lies which are told regarding the dead, will not undermine the roles of the dead as role models for future generations. Moreover, the taboo against speaking ill of the dead, accomplishes this, because it suppresses the saying of things about the dead which besmirch the reputations of the dead.
17: Thus the taboo against speaking ill of the dead ensures that the reputations of the dead are untarnished, and thus ensures that the dead can serve as good role models for future generations. If anything, because the lies told of the dead are far more likely to be malicious, tending to cast the dead in a negative light, rather than benevolent, tending to cast the dead in a positive light, therefore if anything, the taboo against speaking ill of the dead would probably tend to make the tales told of the dead, more truthful than they would otherwise be, because it will suppress the telling of lies more than it will suppress the telling of truth.
18: Therefore I would strongly suggest that you neither speak ill of the dead, nor associate with one who does so, for whenever you speak ill of the dead, it is an attack against their living descendants. Now then, one might object that one needs to remember the mistakes of others throughout history, both so that one can avoid making them one's self, and also so that one can learn to protect one's self from the mistakes of others. How then can one learn from the bad things done by the dead, if none are permitted to speak ill of the dead? The answer is that it is fine to mention the mistakes of someone who has died, if the tale one is telling is of how that person learned from his or her mistakes and became a better person as a consequence.
19: The myth of Freya and the golden torc, and the myth of Thor and Utgarda-Loki, are examples of such tales. In the former myth, Freya errs grievously by betraying her husband, but as a result, Freya learns that she alone is responsible for her actions and for the consequences of them. By eternally suffering for her misdeed, Freya, who initially represented the freedom to do as one pleased, also becomes a symbol of personal responsibility. In the latter myth, Thor vastly overestimates his own strength, and as a result, is utterly humiliated when he finds out that he isn't as strong or capable as he thought.
Pt.1
There's a far more important pillar of paganism which you've left out. It's the one pillar from which all pre-Christian European religion ultimately originated: the pillar of honoring the dead. Allow me to explain:
CHAPTER 1: HOW RELIGION ARISES FROM RECOUNTING THE LIVES OF THE DEAD
1: Here I wish to discuss the means by which religious belief arises. The full importance of this knowledge may not be readily apparent, but it will become so in time. Imagine a population of people living primitively, perhaps in the stone age or whatever. Suppose that initially, they have no deities, no mythology, and no religion. Well, as time goes on, some of them are bound to discover certain truths which tend to be good to know, and also certain morals which tend to be good to follow. Then naturally, they will want to convey those truths and those morals to their children, so that their children can benefit from understanding those truths and from following those morals.
2: However, it's often difficult for children to understand abstract moral or cosmological principles. Consequently their parents will tend to find it more expedient to convey the desired moral and cosmological principles to their children, by means of entertaining, metaphorical tales which their children can more easily understand, and which their children will tend to enjoy listening to. Thus through their attempts to convey moral and cosmological principles to their children, generations of parents will over time develop a body of traditional folklore for the purpose of helping their children learn various moral and cosmological lessons.
3: Now, the metaphorical tales can arise from various sources, such as the behavior of animals, the changing of the seasons, and so forth. However, perhaps most commonly, the metaphorical tales begin as factual accounts of the deeds and experiences of real persons who were the ancestors of the persons telling the tales. However, rarely ever does a factual account of any deed or experience of a real person, perfectly illustrate any given moral value or cosmological principle.
4: Reality is always filled with complexity and nuance, often a factual account of an event does not fully illustrate the moral value or cosmological principle one wishes it to illustrate, and often it also includes many other details which distract from the moral value or cosmological principle one wishes to illustrate. Therefore when one ancestral figure has different aspects to their life or personality, which illustrate different moral values or cosmological truths, people will tend to split that ancestral figure into multiple different ancestral figures, so that they create a different, imaginary ancestral figure to embody each of the different moral values or cosmological principles which their original, real ancestor embodied.
5: Likewise, they will tend to split different aspects of the life of their original, real ancestor, which each illustrate a different moral value or cosmological principle; into multiple different lives, with one life to illustrate each of the moral values or cosmological principles illustrated by the actual life of their original, real ancestor. They will then ascribe each of those different, fictitious lives to the fictitious ancestor who embodies the moral value or cosmological principle which that fictitious life illustrates.
6: Thus one real ancestor who embodied several moral values or cosmological principles, and whose life illustrated those several moral values or cosmological principles, becomes several different fictitious ancestors who each embody a different one of those several moral values or cosmological principles, and whose life illustrates that same moral value or cosmological principle. Moreover, often one such fictitious ancestor will arise from an aspect of one real ancestor, and another fictitious ancestor will arise from an identical aspect of another real ancestor.
7: Thus people will end up with two different fictitious ancestors who both embody the same moral value or cosmological principle, and whose lives both illustrate it, albeit often in different ways. When that occurs, people will tend to combine both fictitious ancestors into one fictitious ancestor who embodies that moral value or cosmological principle even more so than did either of the two previous fictitious ancestors. In doing so, people will also tend to combine the two fictitious lives of those two fictitious ancestors, which each illustrate the same moral value or cosmological principle albeit each in a different way.
8: Thus the two different fictitious lives of the previous two fictitious ancestors, become merely two different adventures had by the single, new fictitious ancestor in the course of that new fictitious ancestor's one individual life, and those two different adventures likewise each illustrate the moral value or cosmological principle embodied by the new fictitious ancestor, albeit still each in a different way. Thus first there are many real, flesh and blood ancestors who each embody, and whose lives each illustrate, many different moral values and cosmological principles, albeit each only in a small way.
9: Then as time passes, those real ancestors, and their real lives, are divided into their constituent parts, with a different part for each moral value or cosmological principle which the people wish to teach to their descendants. Then as more time passes, each constituent part of each ancestor and his or her life, is combined with the constituent parts of other ancestors which embody the same moral value or cosmological principle, and with the constituent parts of the lives of other ancestors which illustrate that moral value or cosmological principle.
10: Thus over time, what was once a plethora of different, real ancestors who each embodied many different moral values or cosmological principles but none of whom embodied any moral value or cosmological principle too strongly, and whose lives illustrated many different moral values or cosmological principles but without illustrating any too well; becomes a small handful of different, fictitious ancestors, each of whom embodies only one moral value or cosmological principle, but who embodies it very strongly, and each of whose lives illustrates only the corresponding moral value or cosmological principle, but which illustrates it very will; with each fictitious ancestor embodying, and his or her life illustrating, a distinctly different moral value or cosmological principle.
11: At this stage, the fictitious ancestors can not yet rightly be considered deities. At this stage, the fictitious ancestors are merely a group of folkloric characters who embody the totality of the people's real, flesh-and-blood ancestors as a whole, but without any of those fictitious ancestors embodying any individual real ancestor specifically. Likewise at this stage, the fictitious lives of the fictitious ancestors are merely a group of traditional folktales which embody the totality of the experiences of the people's real, flesh-and-blood ancestors, but without any of those folktales embodying the life of any one real ancestor specifically.
12: However, although the traditional, folkloric characters can not rightly be considered deities just yet, the transformation of real, flesh-and-blood ancestors into fictitious, folkloric characters, each of whom embodies, and each of whose lives illustrates, a different moral value or cosmological principle, is the first step in the transformation of the real, flesh-and-blood ancestors into deities. How then to the real, flesh-and-blood ancestors, after having been transformed into fictitious, folkloric characters, go on to become deities?
13: Well, when such a body of folklore initially develops, it usually isn't very good. The cosmological principles they teach, aren't necessarily always true; and the moral lessons they teach, aren't necessarily always correct. The reason why is that when such folk tales are initially created from the lives of the real ancestors, they don't necessarily represent anything which is empirically true or empirically correct. Instead, they merely represent the private opinions of the parents and grandparents who invent them, and no matter how much they like to think that their opinions are correct, the reality is that everyone is fallible.
14: Moreover, at this stage, the body of folklore can't rightly be considered an actual religion. It's just a bunch of stories about various fictitious characters having various fictitious adventures, which are designed to teach various moral and cosmological lessons which are sometimes correct but sometimes incorrect. However, as time goes on, each generation will tend to retain those folktales which convey moral and cosmological lessons which they find through experience to be more important and/or more universally correct, and also to create new folktales, also derived in the same manner from the real lives of their ancestors, to convey moral and cosmological lessons which they feel are important but which aren't covered by any of the previous folktales.
15: Also as time goes on, each generation will tend to discard those folktales which convey moral and cosmological lessons which they find through experience to be less important and/or less often correct. Thus through the constant abandoning of folktales which convey lessons which are less important and/or less often correct, and the constant replacing of them with different folktales which convey lessons which are more important and/or more often correct, and the retention of those latter folktales throughout the generations, the people's body of folklore becomes an increasingly better and better source of cosmological wisdom and moral guidance.