Hello

[Dumuzi]

Re: Re-introduction (or, The Second Coming of Rok)

Welcome back Rok!

As for everyone else:

Hide your kids, hide your wife (and also your goats)

[thalassa]

Re: Re-introduction (or, The Second Coming of Rok)

Welcome back!!


...it seems I'm late to the party, lol.

[Ryne Vine]

Re: Hi

thank you for the welcomes

[Lokabrenna]

Hi!

Hi!

I'm Lokabrenna (but you can call me LB, Loka, whatever). I'm 26, from Ontario, Canada, and I've been jumping from Pagan path to Pagan path since I was around seventeen. My birth religion is Roman Catholicism, and from there I went to (eclectic) Wicca, Dianic witchcraft (the Z. Budapest version), then Goddess spirituality in general before making the jump to Asatru, then Northern Tradition Paganism, and finally Vanatru. I will answer to any of the following: Vanatru, Norse Pagan, Vanic Pagan, Northern Tradition Pagan, but not Heathen because I personally associate the term with reconstructionism, and I'm definitely not a reconstructionist.

In my spare time (when I'm not living on the internet) I like to read (mostly fantasy, but I've recently been dabbling in sci-fi) and play video games. I'd love to get into tabletop gaming, but I don't have very many friends. I'm a librarian-to-be (once I actually get a job as one), liberal by way of politics, and I now feel comfortable enough to identify as a feminist.

As far as my more Pagan-y interests. I'm interested in devotional work, seidr, sex magic, neopagan totemism (as described by Lupa), non-Wiccan witchcraft and tarot (but not runes, strangely enough). I've recently tried my hand at making prayer beads. My first couple attempts have turned out okay, but I don't think I would ever sell them.

So that's...basically it, I think. I'm terrible at introductory threads!

[Raphaeline]

Re: Re-introduction (or, The Second Coming of Rok)

Welcome back! Looking forward to seeing how much of the old Rok is still there

We've all changed so much... man, I hadn't really realized it until now... Crazy.

Anyway. This is a good time to ask you a question - just today I was trying to remember the quote you used to have in your sig about God being omniscient and/or omnipotent and I can't remember where it came from. Do you recall?

[FantasyWitch]

Re: Re-introduction (or, The Second Coming of Rok)

Hey Rok Welcome back! XX

[Roknrol]

Re: Re-introduction (or, The Second Coming of Rok)

Welcome back! Looking forward to seeing how much of the old Rok is still there

We've all changed so much... man, I hadn't really realized it until now... Crazy.

TIme flies

Anyway. This is a good time to ask you a question - just today I was trying to remember the quote you used to have in your sig about God being omniscient and/or omnipotent and I can't remember where it came from. Do you recall?

Epicurus:
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?”

[spirit infinity]

Author of 777 Vehicle Transference Theosophy & Sorcery Arts.

Hi, I'm the Author of 777 V.T.T.S.A. I'll be posting portions of my manuscript at this forum, feel free to provide constructive criticism.

[Juniper]

Re: Author of 777 Vehicle Transference Theosophy & Sorcery Arts.

Please read the forum rules before posting topics of this nature. We encourage all members to participate in the community before pushing their own products on the members. It is considered a cutesy to get to know your audience before advertising.

[Ryne Vine]

Re: Hi!

Hi and welcome

[Juniper]

Re: Hi!

Welcome to Pagan Forum.

[ConnollyCelt]

Re: Hi!

Welcome, I was wondering when a Vanatru would join the board

Hope you like it here!

May I ask what eventually lead you to Norse paganism?

[lotr1967]

Hello I'm New here

Hello,

I'm a deconvert from christianity. I chose Paganism for various reasons which are personal to me but am still on the road to finding the path in Paganism that is the best for me. So, I am new at much of this. I have recently met a few people who are Pagan and they are all so warm and embracing which is such a welcome thing for me because of the harsh judgment and condemnation I left when I left the christian religion. So, I thought it best to join a forum to find those who have healed from that and who are also healing from that as well as to discover what the different paths in Paganism involve. Please forgive me for being naive at this point in my walk. I'm a little nervous because I don't want to sound silly when I do ask questions. Thank you all and have a wonderful week!

[Juniper]

Re: Hello I'm New here

Welcome to pagan forum.

[Lokabrenna]

Re: Hi!

Welcome, I was wondering when a Vanatru would join the board

Hope you like it here!

May I ask what eventually lead you to Norse paganism?

Sure! I love answering questions about myself! I started reading Norse mythology in elementary school, and it kind of felt like my own private "thing" that I knew about while the rest of my class was studying Greek mythology. When I decided I wasn't Catholic (for various reasons) I went looking for a new religion and I found (eclectic) Wicca, but I tried doing a couple rituals and it just didn't feel "right" to me. I didn't have access to a coven, either, because I was still a minor and my parents definitely wouldn't have given their permission for me to study with one.

For a couple years I sort of went between declaring myself a "philosophical Pagan" and exploring Dianic witchcraft and Goddess spirituality, but the things that really drove me away from that path were a) transphobia b) gender essentialism and c) bad history. Up until this time I had shied away from Heathenry because it seemed very "masculine-oriented" and very "conservative" and I honestly didn't know whether my liberal politics would "fit".

Anyways, to answer your question (finally!), the first book I ever read on the subject was Diana Paxson's "Essential Asatru" which is still one of my favourite books, but I wasn't really interested in reconstruction, and, to be frank, I had some run-ins with Heathens who....weren't very nice people (not white supremacists, thank gods) and I found that some were a little too lore-focused for my taste. It was kind of like the pendulum swung the other way: one side didn't have a lot of good research, the other did too much research!

I actually found Northern Tradition Paganism by accident (it was mentioned in an issue of PanGaia magazine, just briefly) and it definitely seemed to have what I was looking for (more of a focus on UPG with a somewhat solid grounding in lore) but I kind of shied away from the label because people had a tendency to assume that I was involved in criminal activity when I used it. I can't remember when I first heard of Vanatru, but it seemed to me that it was exactly what I was looking for in a religion. That probably sounds kind of odd, but so far the gods haven't come knocking on my door (I'm agnostic on bad days, lol), so I'm basically on my own when it comes to determining where I "fit" and I think Vanatru best "fits" who I am.