Bucking the Dominant Paradigm

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

This is the first test post of something that, with any luck, I will neglect as successfully as anything else I've started.

...

OMG IT'S GODZILLA!

*throws a smokebomb and runs*

8 comments:

little light said...: Hey! I didn't want to repeat myself in front of the other folk in my comments thread, but I wanted to say hi and thanks for coming around.
Having read your comment, I think you might be interested in this:
http://takingsteps.blogspot.com/2006/09/on-cartography-and-dissection.html; January 2, 2007 at 12:52 PM
little light said...: Okay, in my browser, the URL gets cut off. Here it is, split with space:
http://takingsteps.blogspot.com/2006/ 09/on-cartography-and-dissection.html; January 2, 2007 at 12:53 PM
Renegade Evolution said...: heya D; January 8, 2007 at 11:41 PM
Deoridhe said...: Thanks for the link, Little Light. Very interesting post. I read it ages ago and never made it back to my own blog. Opps. ;)

Hi Ren. Welcome to the wasteland. ^^; January 9, 2007 at 11:01 AM
Anonymous said...: Hello, since this is a test post, I thought I'd put my question here. I was wondering if you could possibly recommend a book that gives at least a good overview, and perhaps a bit more than that, of Asatru? I know very little about it, but I've always been interested in faith of all kinds, though I practice none myself, and I'd prefer a recommendation from someone more knowledgeable to a google search, but if I'm being obnoxious, I'm sorry. Thank you.; January 11, 2007 at 7:07 PM
Deoridhe said...: Nah, no problem.

Asatru's pretty young - about seventy years - so the "best" books are heavy acedemic texts on the Norse and Germanic cultures and the Eddas (the stories of the gods) and Sagas (the stories of some of the ancestors). That's a bit much for someone who just wants an overview, though.

If you keep your salt lick handy, and remember Asatru is a developing religion not a developed one, I have the following recommendations:

Ravenbok (google it; it's online)
Our Troth (ibid)
Norse Religion and Norse Magic by Kveldulf Gundarsson.

Ravenbok was written by the ofunder of my kindred about what he hoped to create. Life has rendered some of it moot, but it's a decent start.

Our Troth is a compilation of essays on different gods and practices via the Ring of Troth, which isn't an Asatru organization but which contains many Asatru.

Kveldulf Gundarsson is a gentleman who studied Norse and Germanic anthropology, though not under that name, and wrote popular books about what the religion might be like in modern time. His books are heavily Outer Court Wiccan influenced, meaning the rituals tend to be very similar to Ceremonial Magick (which, ironically, has Christian roots) but his history is fairly solid and his understanding is decent.

Amusing side story about Mr. Gundarsson - his books are the ones which introduced me to Asatru. He has a chapter on Valkyrie in one of them which outlines how everyone has a "personal valkyrie". I remember reading that, me all of twenty, and thinking, "That just doesn't SOUND right. Ok, ignoring that." Less than a decade later, I read a post of his on a mailing list and he's saying (paraphrased from memory), 'I really want to get the rights back on those books a re-edit; there are some chapters where I just don't know what I was thinking. I mean, personal valkyries?' I snickered for days.

Oh, and feel free to ask questions. ^^ Of course.; January 12, 2007 at 7:57 AM
Anonymous said...: Thanks so much. Actually, my pagan boyfriend is very interested in and uses norse magic and at least ideas from Asatru in his practice, which is one reason I'm interested. Also, I identified as pagan not so long ago myself, and while I found that it's not a faith I can truly practice, all it's different traditions and directions are still fascinating, and of course it's history. Every time I hear some idiot calling pagans Satanists, I giggle because of the ceremonial magic thing. (Especially since they all seem to think that Wicca is the name for the "whole thing".); January 16, 2007 at 6:15 PM
Deoridhe said...: Forgive my ignorance, but what in the nine worlds is meant by "norse magic"?; January 19, 2007 at 12:01 PM