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    I am not sure if I should continue this path?

    I thought for awhile that I might be a Norse Pagan, but I have been reading stories and not feeling connected to any of the Gods at all, I also don't like the idea of offering mead or an alcoholic drink to the Gods, for one I do not like alcohol and I am only 15 (almost 16) and it would be hard to get. I thought that maybe because I have some Germanic heritage that I may feel connected to the religion. Maybe I started looking at some more advance stuff... do you guys have any sites or books you would recommend for beginners? I do not want to rule out this religion as a potential path, it seems interesting. I may be going to fast, and that has been a problem of mine for awhile. Sorry for bothering you, but any advice?

    #2
    Re: I am not sure if I should continue this path?

    Take your time,wait for a bit for inspiration. You have time to choose whatever you want to do. It may come that you find another path. Nothing is written in stone.
    MAGIC is MAGIC,black OR white or even blood RED

    all i ever wanted was a normal life and love.
    NO TERF EVER WE belong Too.
    don't stop the tears.let them flood your soul.




    sigpic

    my new page here,let me know what you think.


    nothing but the shadow of what was

    witchvox
    http://www.witchvox.com/vu/vxposts.html

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      #3
      Re: I am not sure if I should continue this path?

      You may want to drop by the Heathen subforums with your questions or ask a mod or admin (anyone with Green or Red names) to move this post. We've got a number of people following various forms of Norse (or Norse related) Paganism roaming around the site and they're generally happy to answer Heathen related questions once they see them.
      life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

      Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

      "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

      John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper

      "You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."

      Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


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        #4
        Re: I am not sure if I should continue this path?

        I felt the same as you did when I went pagan. Because my ancestors were Celtic I felt I should head into Celtic polytheism. I thought I was interested at first, but as I read a bit about the myths and the gods I became disinterested. So I looked around a bit more and I found the Heathen path (which I had previously ruled out).

        What I suggest is that you just look at all the different pagan paths and research those that seem most interesting. Don't feel pressured into one path or away from another. If you like it, look into it. Research, research, research! is the best way to go.

        If you want to continue with heathenism, I can recommend the "What is Asatru?" YouTube videos by Michael Smith (aka Vinterulf). They teach you a lot, and don't take too much time to watch either. And also, in a blot (sacrifice) it doesn't have to be alcohol. The Aesir aren't alcoholics. I give them whatever I'm drinking at the time, because it seems more logical. Why give them something I don't drink? The best gift is one that means most to you, so I give them the drinks I enjoy most.

        Fire away if you have any more questions, and good luck!
        "Wealth is as swift | as a winking eye
        Of friends the falsest it is."

        Havamal, 74

        "The wolf that lies idle | shall win little meat,
        Or the sleeping man success."

        Havamal, 58

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          #5
          Re: I am not sure if I should continue this path?

          *moved thread* ...good idea MO!

          Anyhoo, in reference to the OP...

          Honestly, I wouldn't rush into calling myself anything. Just be Pagan for a while, look around at various paths and pantheons and see what resonates with you. It might change quite a few times as you go through life, or it might not.

          This area of the site (where I moved your post to) is the best place to find out more information, to ask questions and to find resources...just browse through and check things out!

          Although, I wouldn't worry about the alcohol thing, I personally know two Heathens that don't drink--one has adult-onset Type I Diabetes and the other is a recovering alcoholic...the first still uses alcohol, but the second doesn't. No one I know would ever dream of giving either one of them crap for it...but I don't really know how much they participate in the local Heathen community--I know them from my time in the Navy.
          Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
          sigpic

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            #6
            Re: I am not sure if I should continue this path?

            Just post on heathen forums, or sub forums such as this section, read and digest and question if not understood. I also post on this forum, it is slightly busier on heathen matters appertaining to the religion your expressing your interest in.



            Register and post an intro, but stick with it.
            Gunnarr Sandisson
            "A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be." Albert Einstein
            Five Boroughs Hearth

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              #7
              Re: I am not sure if I should continue this path?

              Originally posted by Aldersees View Post
              I thought for awhile that I might be a Norse Pagan, but I have been reading stories and not feeling connected to any of the Gods at all, I also don't like the idea of offering mead or an alcoholic drink to the Gods, for one I do not like alcohol and I am only 15 (almost 16) and it would be hard to get. I thought that maybe because I have some Germanic heritage that I may feel connected to the religion. Maybe I started looking at some more advance stuff... do you guys have any sites or books you would recommend for beginners? I do not want to rule out this religion as a potential path, it seems interesting. I may be going to fast, and that has been a problem of mine for awhile. Sorry for bothering you, but any advice?
              I'm heathen but I don't have a personal individual relationship with the gods. Most don't. It's a worldview, not a religion. The focus is generally more on your relationships with localized landwights, ancestors, family and community.

              The relationship between heathen and god is also based on reciprocal gifting. They won't be interested in Aldersees because they're not all-knowing and can't see inside your heart. They'll be interested in you when you begin gifting them and building a relationship with them. Especially since you're probably starting from scratch rather than coming from a long family line of heathens that have maintained your luck and relationships with them.

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                #8
                Re: I am not sure if I should continue this path?

                Yes a worldview, but a worldview as a heathen is still built on a beliefs, values and attitudes.


                Taking the Oxford dictionary definition of religion we have-

                1. people's beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of God, a god, or gods, and divine involvement in the universe and human life.
                2. a particular institutionalised or personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine.
                3. a set of strongly held beliefs, values, and attitudes that someone lives by.
                4. an object, practice, cause, or activity that someone is completely devoted to or obsessed by

                So heathenry and its offshoots are a religion, inmy opinion.
                Gunnarr Sandisson
                "A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be." Albert Einstein
                Five Boroughs Hearth

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                  #9
                  Re: I am not sure if I should continue this path?

                  Well, semantically, I suppose it can apply, but heathenry is not "a religion". There isn't any orthodoxy or orthopraxy that creates a united heathen belief. Germanic heathenry is different than Icelandic is different than English. And even those have it's differences within their own regions.

                  Another difference is that pre-christian heathens didn't see themselves as having religion, it was just life. It wasn't a "belief", it wasn't "institutionalised" or "personal", they weren't "devoted or obsessed". Only '3' can apply to heathenry but also to many things that aren't anywhere near religious.

                  Worldview encompasses a way of cultural thinking that includes aspects that we would now call religious, but that really exceeds the definition of such. The main point of calling heathenry a worldview and not a religion is the allowance for common philosophical ground without the need for common gods, beliefs, practices or devotion.

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                    #10
                    Re: I am not sure if I should continue this path?

                    I agree completely with what your saying, but reconstructing a worldview is and will always be tainted, where as reconstructing the religiosity of our ancestors will always be subject to fact not fiction.
                    With all that in mind our own evolution of modernity needs to find a balance in our locality and culture by accepting and working with the language and understanding of people today, although they are outside of our thew, to have an understanding of who we are commom words need to be used and so religion fits.

                    If asked my religion I say heathen, the intricacies of that within heathenry are for us to differentiate, but getting an acceptence in society at this moment should overide that.
                    Gunnarr Sandisson
                    "A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be." Albert Einstein
                    Five Boroughs Hearth

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                      #11
                      Re: I am not sure if I should continue this path?

                      Wouldn't that be reversed? Can't we build, rather accurately, a picture of the worldview while the religious activities remain uncertain? I'm thinking of the Nordendorf fibula, the significance religiously is unknown, but with several theories based on the overall WV.

                      I would also answer with heathenry if asked my religion in passing, but a question on a board like this requires a more accurate answer

                      Adapting your worldview to your locale and neighbouring cultures isn't a modern issue and is part of the essence of heathenry. Again, this wasn't a fundamental religion with set ways but a versatile and dynamic outlook that demanded acknowledgement and right relations with all influences of the environment.

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                        #12
                        Re: I am not sure if I should continue this path?

                        Great post, I would not argue any of your points, but would debate that there was a commonality within all approaches to heathenry based on locality, and with the migration factor particularly from Scandinavia to Iceland, Ireland and Britain, and also the reverse, that commonality was identifiable and various aspects of there veneration were similar. In areas of heavy Norse occupation and integration the impact was more identifiable and recorded, looking at the Anglo Saxon chronicle records show an increase in laws to prevent offerings at waterfalls that coincide with occupation especially along the Danelaw.

                        Many artifacts on re-investigation through up new evidence that impact on my knowledge and Worldview, an example would be Roskilde Museum Odin figure .

                        As for building that worldview I agree, but it so hard to do, It took me years to defragment myself of a underlying Christian influence even though I have never been a Christian.
                        Gunnarr Sandisson
                        "A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be." Albert Einstein
                        Five Boroughs Hearth

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                          #13
                          Re: I am not sure if I should continue this path?

                          Heh...as always, three heathens, five opinions.

                          /wry smile

                          This is why I don't call myself heathen; for me, the personal relationship came first, and I wouldn't have gotten involved in this sort of path at all if it had just been a way of life or a code of ethics. I would strongly suggest the OP figure out who is listening, then go from there. There are many people on this forum who have build beautiful relationships with deities that have absolutely nothing to do with their heritage or ancestry--nothing wrong with that.
                          Great Grandmother's Kitchen

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                            #14
                            Re: I am not sure if I should continue this path?

                            I was unclear. When I said it wasn't a religion but a way of life I didn't mean it was a formula for living. What it means is that when a heathen sees/senses/interacts with a wight in the woods they don't consider it a supernatural or religious experience. It was just normal, natural occurrence. The relationships between men and others wasn't abnormal or mystical...it was as regular as going to work, doing dishes, and paying bills. It was just the way life was, not religious.

                            ---------- Post added at 06:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:34 PM ----------

                            Gunnar, there were similarities and this is most likely because folk religions are world-accepting, with a strong focus on the solidarity of community, its traditions, and family. As a world-accepting folk, gods existed here and not in a better reality.

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                              #15
                              Re: I am not sure if I should continue this path?

                              I think that both Wednesday and Gunnarr are correct (depending on the when, and the area inside the ropes was hallowed ground. Activities in and around the make it nearly impossible to separate ritual activity from everyday activity in those that we know of. One particular at the village of Ullevi was probably dedicated to the god Ull, or Ullr. You can still see the god's name in the name of the village. Within the roped area, there are remains of 40 (yes, 40) hearths and cooking pits. Huge amounts of both burnt and unburnt bones from farm animals were also found. Again, sheer volume indicates that a lot of the cooking that was going on here was actually daily activity, rather than ritual. There aren't so many offerings here, which might indicate that at least some of the animals were used for that purpose.

                              Finally, as religious activity became more formalized, ritual houses and altars started cropping up. The ritual houses were usually wooden structures containing a stone slab, perhaps with an image of a deity. In particularly isolated farming areas, the largest building on the farm served as the ritual house. Some sites had just an outdoor altar; Ullevi is a good example of this, after the
                              "Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others."
                              -Thomas Jefferson

                              Let a man never stir on his road a step
                              without his weapons of war;
                              for unsure is the knowing when the need shall arise
                              of a spear on the way without.
                              -

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