Favorite Resources for Practice?
Mar. 22nd, 2022 01:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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sanepolytheismI'd like to share a few sources below that I have found helpful for shaping my individual daily and seasonal practice, and to invite anyone willing to do so to please share some of their own, ideally with a bit of commentary on what you've found helpful about them.
Personally, I'll be focusing more on individual practice, as I feel like most flavors of polytheism these days have books or websites available explaining how to do community rituals, and by definition, if you're participating in a group ritual, the group has some kind of approach to doing it! I suppose the one thing left out here would be if you are an individual trying to establish a group, so if that's your situation, feel free to share that as well.
The other thing I'll mention is that I have not included books whose primary value is for studying and understanding myth, or as many in my tradition like to refer to it the Lore. While fascinating and enjoyable, I feel like that's the least-transferrable kind of work, and therefore the least helpful for folks following other paths.
Most of my sources below are Germanic-flavored, but I'll try to point out what I think is helpful about them even for other traditions.
Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner by Galina Krasskova and Raven Kaldera
Despite the potentially depressing title, I have found this book rather helpful. It gives a number of different viewpoints of what daily Germanic polytheist practice might look like. It follows the framework from Dale Cannon's Six Ways of Being Religious (itself mostly focused on Christianity, with some inputs from Buddhism and other traditions) and gives suggestions adapted to Germanic beliefs. What I like best about this book is that it makes a strong case that "devotional" practice of various kinds is not the exclusive property of Christianity and can be usefully integrated into a polytheist worldview. Includes a lot of practical tips on setting up an altar and using prayer beads.
Viking Poetry for Heathen Rites by Eirik Westcoat
The specific poetry in this book is likely only going to be helpful if you worship the Germanic Gods, but if you do, wow is it helpful! Also helpful, it explains the conventions of traditional Germanic alliteration and stress, so you can compose Germanic style poetry in modern English, which I suppose might even be helpful for other pantheons. Even if this particular book doesn't do it for you, I'd say I've found it very helpful to have a ready source of calls to Gods/Goddesses and prayers to them in the form of poetry, so looking for something similar in your tradition might be helpful (like the Orphic or Homeric Hymns, if you follow a Greco-Roman tradition).
The Druid Handbook by John Michael Greer
This is likely familiar to most folks here, but this book gives a nice entry point to a nature-focused spirituality that is extremely flexible when it comes to the finer points of personal beliefs. For myself, I'm currently celebrating the 8-point year with the rituals given here, but with Germanic deities. See below for another work I might use for future ritual timing, but this is a great place to start if you don't have something else to follow. Oh, also has a fantastic explanation on discursive meditation.
Pagan Prayer Beads by John Michael Greer and Clare Vaughn
Written by JMG and his wife, I found this most helpful for the actual, physical "how to make a string of prayer beads" advice, less so for the example prayers or strings given, but maybe I ought to revisit them. Pairs especially well with sources of poems/prayers like I mentioned above (someone following a Germanic tradition might consider a string with one bead per rune and match it to the relevant Rune Poem, for example, or write your own)
By the Sun, the Stars, and the Moon and To Hold the Holytides by Thorbeortht Ealdorblotere
These two books kind of need to be taken together, as one discusses the calculation of holy days following what the author believes to be closest to what we can figure out about ancient Anglo-Saxon practice, and the other explains what rituals to hold on those holy days. As the title suggests, you can determine some days by the Sun, some by the Moon, and some by the Stars, and I like the attention it gives to integrating and balancing these cycles (for example, you might select a seasonal ritual date as the first full moon after the equinox). While the conclusions are likely not as relevant to most folks not interested in the Anglo-Saxons specifically, it is a nice example of a ritual calendar that isn't the Wicca-derived 8-points of the year.
True Hearth by James Allen Chisholm
I like that this focuses on integrating your beliefs/practices into your life and household. Includes some good advice on setting up a household altar and rituals for things like moving into a new house or naming a baby. Mostly pretty Germanic-focused, but again, some of the occasions marked might provide some ideas.
Path to the Gods: Anglo-Saxon Paganism for Beginners by Swain Wodening
One of many "intro to Germanic religion" books I read, this one sticks in my memory as providing a nice, flexible framework for ritual/prayer that works individually or for a group: 1) hallow a space, 2) call on/praise the God(s) to be worshipped, 3) make a toast to your ancestors with a hallowed drink, 4) share drink among those participating, 5) sprinkle some of that drink on participants, 6) give what's left of hallowed drink to the God(s) called on, 7) close hallowed space.
The Art of Divine Meditation by Bishop Joseph Hall
Recommended by JMG, this book is very explicitly Christian, and many of the specific recommendations for what to do or think about won't apply to many traditions, but the general approach of "how do I take meditation and find more things to do with it?" is helpful.
Edited because I accidentally posted before complete
Personally, I'll be focusing more on individual practice, as I feel like most flavors of polytheism these days have books or websites available explaining how to do community rituals, and by definition, if you're participating in a group ritual, the group has some kind of approach to doing it! I suppose the one thing left out here would be if you are an individual trying to establish a group, so if that's your situation, feel free to share that as well.
The other thing I'll mention is that I have not included books whose primary value is for studying and understanding myth, or as many in my tradition like to refer to it the Lore. While fascinating and enjoyable, I feel like that's the least-transferrable kind of work, and therefore the least helpful for folks following other paths.
Most of my sources below are Germanic-flavored, but I'll try to point out what I think is helpful about them even for other traditions.
Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner by Galina Krasskova and Raven Kaldera
Despite the potentially depressing title, I have found this book rather helpful. It gives a number of different viewpoints of what daily Germanic polytheist practice might look like. It follows the framework from Dale Cannon's Six Ways of Being Religious (itself mostly focused on Christianity, with some inputs from Buddhism and other traditions) and gives suggestions adapted to Germanic beliefs. What I like best about this book is that it makes a strong case that "devotional" practice of various kinds is not the exclusive property of Christianity and can be usefully integrated into a polytheist worldview. Includes a lot of practical tips on setting up an altar and using prayer beads.
Viking Poetry for Heathen Rites by Eirik Westcoat
The specific poetry in this book is likely only going to be helpful if you worship the Germanic Gods, but if you do, wow is it helpful! Also helpful, it explains the conventions of traditional Germanic alliteration and stress, so you can compose Germanic style poetry in modern English, which I suppose might even be helpful for other pantheons. Even if this particular book doesn't do it for you, I'd say I've found it very helpful to have a ready source of calls to Gods/Goddesses and prayers to them in the form of poetry, so looking for something similar in your tradition might be helpful (like the Orphic or Homeric Hymns, if you follow a Greco-Roman tradition).
The Druid Handbook by John Michael Greer
This is likely familiar to most folks here, but this book gives a nice entry point to a nature-focused spirituality that is extremely flexible when it comes to the finer points of personal beliefs. For myself, I'm currently celebrating the 8-point year with the rituals given here, but with Germanic deities. See below for another work I might use for future ritual timing, but this is a great place to start if you don't have something else to follow. Oh, also has a fantastic explanation on discursive meditation.
Pagan Prayer Beads by John Michael Greer and Clare Vaughn
Written by JMG and his wife, I found this most helpful for the actual, physical "how to make a string of prayer beads" advice, less so for the example prayers or strings given, but maybe I ought to revisit them. Pairs especially well with sources of poems/prayers like I mentioned above (someone following a Germanic tradition might consider a string with one bead per rune and match it to the relevant Rune Poem, for example, or write your own)
By the Sun, the Stars, and the Moon and To Hold the Holytides by Thorbeortht Ealdorblotere
These two books kind of need to be taken together, as one discusses the calculation of holy days following what the author believes to be closest to what we can figure out about ancient Anglo-Saxon practice, and the other explains what rituals to hold on those holy days. As the title suggests, you can determine some days by the Sun, some by the Moon, and some by the Stars, and I like the attention it gives to integrating and balancing these cycles (for example, you might select a seasonal ritual date as the first full moon after the equinox). While the conclusions are likely not as relevant to most folks not interested in the Anglo-Saxons specifically, it is a nice example of a ritual calendar that isn't the Wicca-derived 8-points of the year.
True Hearth by James Allen Chisholm
I like that this focuses on integrating your beliefs/practices into your life and household. Includes some good advice on setting up a household altar and rituals for things like moving into a new house or naming a baby. Mostly pretty Germanic-focused, but again, some of the occasions marked might provide some ideas.
Path to the Gods: Anglo-Saxon Paganism for Beginners by Swain Wodening
One of many "intro to Germanic religion" books I read, this one sticks in my memory as providing a nice, flexible framework for ritual/prayer that works individually or for a group: 1) hallow a space, 2) call on/praise the God(s) to be worshipped, 3) make a toast to your ancestors with a hallowed drink, 4) share drink among those participating, 5) sprinkle some of that drink on participants, 6) give what's left of hallowed drink to the God(s) called on, 7) close hallowed space.
The Art of Divine Meditation by Bishop Joseph Hall
Recommended by JMG, this book is very explicitly Christian, and many of the specific recommendations for what to do or think about won't apply to many traditions, but the general approach of "how do I take meditation and find more things to do with it?" is helpful.
Edited because I accidentally posted before complete
no subject
Date: 2022-03-23 01:34 pm (UTC)There's a book I recently picked up called Ritual Offerings which a few of you might find helpful for understanding the occult side of what happens at your altars when invoking or calling upon various types of beings.
https://aaronleitch.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/ritual-offerings-feeding-your-spirits-empowering-your-magick/
It's a compilation of contribution from 12 different practitioners, each who works with a different tradition. So everything from Golden Dawn type magic, to African Traditional Religions, to Roman polytheism, Iamblichan Thuergy, straight up ancestor veneration, ect. A few of the contributions seem to be ethically questionable and pointing to practices which are probably ill-advised, but as a whole the book offers a good (IMO) practical look at how altar activities work on the technical level. What I liked the most about this work is that most of the contributors write in a very personal and practical manner and stray away from the detached academic type of analysis we tend to find in so many works done on these topics.
Regarding my own practices, my go-to book at the moment is the Druid Magic Handbook by JMG. I know this is an occult, not a religious book. I mention this because I seem to be deficient in the devotional department; I just never feel very inspired to reach out toward a specific pantheon, even if I go through a period of deep intellectual interest in a particular tradition. However, through basic magical practices I seem to be able to bring at least a few glimmers of the Divine into my daily life.
no subject
Date: 2022-03-23 03:31 pm (UTC)And as for the DMH as a spiritual book, fair enough! I'm also working my way through that and the Druid Handbook, and with Alban Eiler (the Spring Equinox) this past weekend, I did my first combination of the DMH Grove ritual with the seasonal celebrations given in DH (modified to have Heathen Gods and Goddesses and invocations, but otherwise kept the same), and I found it to be quite effective. The other slight tweak I've made is to incorporate from The Way of the Golden Section the practice of a very short standard prayer at the beginning of meditation, and a somewhat longer ad hoc prayer to whatever deity seems relevant at the end of meditation. I feel like that has done a lot to help my magic and my prayer feel less like separate things, and more like parts of a whole.
no subject
Date: 2022-03-23 09:12 pm (UTC)Swain Wodening
Date: 2022-03-23 01:50 pm (UTC)I understand people leaving Polytheism and becoming Monotheists, and I do understand leaving the Gods. What is between Wodening and his Gods and the Christian Gods is his and their business. And I do know people who have done so. I do welcome them back as seekers.
However, in Wodening's case, he has claimed that even if he in public renounced the Gods, he really didn't. He has also claimed leadership again.
There is more. But Wodening for me is very problematic since I have read his book and owned a copy. Now, I wonder if I was caught in some misama with his writing.
As with all problematic authors, it is up to the reader to decide whether to divorce the book from the author and decide on the merits of the book alone.
Re: Swain Wodening
Date: 2022-03-23 03:42 pm (UTC)And it is certainly a vexing question about how much to apply judgments about the author as a person to his works in any context, but especially a spiritual one, where you might be most justified in applying the "by their fruits ye shall know them" standard. It's been several years since I read his books (Path to the Gods and Hammer of the Gods), and mostly I remembered the outline of an offering above, which I've since found in just about every Heathen/Germanic guide to religion. This certainly makes me reconsider whether I ought to check out any of his others, and/or if I ought to look at his work again to see if I might have picked up something questionable and forgotten about it (at the time, I was more of the "soft/agnostic polytheist" school, treating the Gods more as archetypes than distinct individuals).
Any idea if his brother Eric got caught up in the same mess? I had heard mixed things about We Are Our Deeds and had considered checking it out, as it touches on some interests of mine.
Re: Swain Wodening
Date: 2022-03-24 02:02 pm (UTC)But the discussion of who to read or not can be a sticky one since there are lists of don't read these people (Aelric named two of them who often appear on these lists.). I do object to that, as I believe the reader is the final authority on the usefulness of the book. In the matters of religion, it does gets vexing and threading the needle is difficult. I personally go by my own feelings of miasma.
What is opinion versus the old religious impulse of dogma? That is something to ponder.
Re: Swain Wodening
Date: 2022-03-24 05:49 pm (UTC)Re: Swain Wodening
Date: 2022-03-25 01:18 pm (UTC)What I gleamed from all of this is that there are texts which are made up or texts that make people uncomfortable or texts that people are uncomfortable about the authors. As well as texts that are well-founded and based. I had to figure out what was my bias, the author's bias, fact, or personal gnosis. I think that coming from a text-based Monotheism has Neo-Pagans more concerned about the validity of the text than whether it makes sense. People are still receiving dreams and insights from the Gods and they are reporting them.
My background is that I have had relatives jailed for being librarians during the McCarthy Era. They refused to remove Communist books from the shelves. Also, when I went to take out a book that was remotely Communist, I had to sign a register so they would have a record of "deviants." So these issues are important to me.
I have not thought about triangulation in regards to writers/seekers. I have thought about people's comfort levels and the impulse to be doctrinaire. I see it in myself.
Re: Swain Wodening
Date: 2022-03-25 03:24 pm (UTC)This is a bigger topic, one I am still working out, but in addition to most modern polytheists being raised as text-based monotheists, I think that a lot of the emphasis on "authenticity" (whether from reconstructed accuracy, lineage, or whatever) comes from many folks not really believing it works, and so they can't/don't judge by efficacy. If, deep in your heart, you suspect you are just playing pretend, then you're going to grasp for something "real" to base your "beliefs" or practices on.
I think this leads to the sort of thing where, in heathenry, for example, if it's not in the Lore or archaeologically attested, it can't possibly be real or valid. Add in comfort with different topics and personal politics like you said, and you get a big mess.
On the plus side, learning how to evaluate texts of various stripes on my own has been valuable.
Re: Swain Wodening
Date: 2022-03-23 09:06 pm (UTC)Do you really think his books are of no merit? I know very little about him or the drama involved but from what little I've read it sounds like he's had a very turbulent personal life. Does this mean ALL of his writings are of no merit? Or that he's an unequivocally a "problematic individual"? (sorry, I find this othering type of label to be rather distasteful) I think we have to sometimes separate someone's intellectual contributions from what they do in their personal life. Unless of course the person in question is presenting themselves as an authority on moral philosophy or life advice; then of course their personal conduct becomes entirely relevant.
I'd bring up another questionable figure in the Germanic Neopagan scene, Raven Kaldera. This is a very thorough exposition of the kind of behavior and "methods" he engages in:
https://archive.ph/TbVMW
"Abject Degeneracy" is the fist thing that comes to mind. And it really makes me call into question the sort of spirits he's communing with when he writes about his experiences in dealing with them. Having said that, I think we can still find value in some of his contributions.
Re: Swain Wodening and Raven Kaldera
Date: 2022-03-23 10:24 pm (UTC)I know you were likely addressing
On Raven:
Oh my. I had inferred some things by some of the titles on his website, but that was certainly explicit. A few things come to mind in response to the interview:
1) He seemed very much to emphasize the honesty and consent of everyone involved, so that's at least positive
2) he has a point that lots of religious traditions use sex and lots use ordeal, though I'm not as sure about how common the combination has been
3) combining your deepest, darkest sexual fantasies, the desire to do therapy, and spiritual seeking seems. . . highly likely to get messy. There's so much confused, twisted, emotional stuff involved. I can see how it might really help some folks, but how for others it might just reinforce patterns that might be better interrupted
Other than that, as I think I might have mentioned in another thread recently, in the stuff by Kaldera I've read (so far, only books co-authored with Krasskova), he has come across as calm, open-minded, and like he takes spirituality very seriously, but likely pretty weird. As I was first getting seriously into occult practice last year (after earlier, less-serious dabbling previously), I got a few of his books on Shamanism and was interested to see if they might integrate into my practice. I cast the runes to ask "Should I explore Raven Kaldera's works right now?" and got a decidedly "no" answer (counting all face up runes within a central circle as "yes" and all face down as "no", it was something like 75% face down). I didn't pursue further whether it was more "you need something else right now" or "he's bad news", but figured I'd share as a data point. I figure I might re-assess when I've got a higher baseline of magical competence to feel comfortable about exploring spirit work of any sort.
Re: Swain Wodening and Raven Kaldera
Date: 2022-03-23 11:25 pm (UTC)(1) from an energetic perspective, going by countless MM comments and JMG replies talking about the energetic messiness and miasma-generating nature of certain deviant sexual practices, especially when combined with magic or in a ritual context. Really, combining any sex with magic seems like a dicey proposition from what I've read. Otherwise, someone's own sexual orientation or fetishes/kinks doesn't bother me at all; as long as they are safe, clean, and consensual, I don't see much of a problem.
(2) The service provider / customer + sex dynamic involved here. Especially given it's a service performed under the auspices of helping the client "improve" .. all the while the person getting paid is clearly deriving sexual gratification for themselves while providing the service.
In general, I just worry about the kinds of spirits who hang around when these sort of activities are combined with various invocating (and whatever else might be happening). And I'm rather weary of modern practices being branded as "shamanism." I fear that the practitioner can be deluded by malefic beings who might misrepresent themselves as gods, demigods, spirits, ancestors, ect. from the tradition the practitioner is working with.
Re: Swain Wodening and Raven Kaldera
Date: 2022-03-24 01:56 pm (UTC)As for his private life, I really don't care.
I use the word "problematic" since that is what he is to me. He could be fine to others.
I have heard similar things about Kaldera and Krasskova being problematic. Again, as I have said, it is up to the reader to decide these things. You have expressed your objections to Kaldera (and I believe Krasskova) as spiritual ones, which will inform me when I read their materials.
Please note, I did not say "Do not read Wodening." I said, "I had problems with him." In an earlier posting about Roman sources on this site, the author had serious objections to the materials from Nova Roma. I took what he wrote under consideration as I was the one who suggested the Nova Roman materials to begin with. However, I do not consider what he wrote as "don't read" as much as these are the problems to be aware of when using these materials.
Re: Swain Wodening and Raven Kaldera
Date: 2022-03-24 02:24 pm (UTC)As far as I understand, Wondening's dodgy flip-flopping was due to the fact that he reverted to Christianity? Being good with whatever Church he joined would require him to "disavow" things Christianity unambiguously frowns upon, like the open worship of pagan deities. I guess I am somewhat sympathetic to the reasons he might have forsaken paganism and ran back into the clutches of the church; and funny enough this sympathy is mirrored in some things Krasskova herself has written about. Specifically the fact that not a single pagan organization today in the West provides the kind of social support services most ordinary churches have always provided their congregants. In my view, this is a massive problem with the entire neopagan paradigm, owning to the fact that its so individualistic and largely a hobbyist activity, as opposed to something entire families and communities are a part of. I apologize if I'm going way off topic here. I might just make a separate post about it at some later time.
But yeah I agree that SW coming back to paganism and attempting to get his old leadership role back comes off as rather cynical and transparent.
Lastly, is/was he a part of the Theodish side of Heathenry? (Maybe Jeff could elaborate more on this bit?) I've personally find Theodism to be very LARPy and not something that can ever really captivate entire communities. Is it any wonder that people involved with these sorts of hobbies (yeah, I called it that, lol) run back toward more established organizations once the novelty effect wears off?
Re: Swain Wodening and Raven Kaldera
Date: 2022-03-24 06:06 pm (UTC)2) My understanding is that Swain was involved in Theodism - He Wrote Theodisc Geleafa "The Belief of the Tribe" - A Handbook on Germanic Heathenry and Theodish Belief" and he's mentioned as being outlawed from the Vinland Rice (Garman Lord's original Theodish group, of which the Thorbeorht I mentioned in the original post was recently crowned "Cyning" (King)). You can find a fairly thorough history (written by Thorbeorht, so take with a grain of salt) here: https://winlandrice.org/theodspell-the-history-of-theodish-belief/
As a possibly off-topic aside, my own thoughts on Theodism:
a) For a variety of personal reasons (majority of family descent, aesthetic appeal, vague intuitions, et cetera), I try to ground most of my practices in the Anglo-Saxon side of things, and there's just not that many sources there, so I pretty much have to check out Theodish stuff to get what I'm looking for (that being said, my absolute favorite, most valuable source is Stephen Pollington's Elder Gods, and since he is English, I doubt he's involved in Theodism)
b) I agree that it feels pretty "LARPY", which is a bit of a turnoff
c) On the plus side of the LARPiness, they do very careful research and make rather fine distinctions, which can be helpful for understanding historical sources
d) I share their fondness for Old English-derived words in modern English, sometimes called "Anglish" (perhaps best demonstrated by Poul Anderson in "Uncleftish Beholding" - https://proedit.com/uncleftish-beholding/ ). Personally, I don't attach any religious significance to this, I just find it aesthetically appealing. Some folks go down a weird road of English "purity" that I think is counter productive and ultimately impossible
e) I find their insistence on the importance of sacral kingship challenging. On the one hand, as a modern American, I instinctively recoil from the idea of a king at all, much less one as an essential part of religious belief and practice. On the other hand, the religious significance of kings in societies around the world, including Germanic ones, is pretty undeniable, and so my personal/political instincts on the matter might be mistaken. I haven't really come to a conclusion here, but I try to acknowledge that they're not instantly wrong just because that idea seems distasteful on first glance
f) Whatever merits there may or may not be to a "king" as a religious figure, trying to run a small, niche of a niche, perhaps even "fringe" religious organization with a "king" strikes me as very likely to end up with weird cult of personality dynamics and petty organizational politics. See the history of declaring folks "outlaws" in the link above - including Winifred Hodge Rose, who from her appearances on JMG's Dreamwidth and from my own reading of her writings, is a calm, tolerant, thoughtful sort of deep spritiuality. If that's the kind of person who gets outlawed, it makes me wonder even more about the validity of the process and organization than my already skeptical initial take
Re: Swain Wodening and Raven Kaldera
Date: 2022-03-24 10:04 pm (UTC)a, c) Theodists do seem pretty solid as far as being a good source on accurately reconstructing AS cultic praxis. There's no denying that. And they go the extra mile by actually practicing these rituals in excruciatingly-full detail.
b) Yeah, to me it's a reenactment group with a religious dimension thrown in there. JMG might use the term "Society for Religious Anachronism" as reference to what the SCA does without pretending it's a living religion or political order. I say Theodism is a reenactment because what the group does is package up a time capsule from some far off place from a distant time (lacking any direct continuity to our own culture) and transplants that into contemporary America. This sort of thing to me seems to lack any kind of relevant context as far as our own lived experience as 21st century Americans is concerned. No attempt is made to adapt this cultus to the landscape of whatever American localities this is practiced in. Pagan religions are supposed to be all about the land and the families and communities that inhabit that land. This is my general problem with strict reconstructionist approaches to contemporary polytheism.
d) Hah, I've had a few Anglish-obsessed friends. It is pretty fun as a hobby and kind of quaint to speak that way for shales and giggles. But yeah seriously trying to change English along those lines is just plain silly and denies the way English has evolved over the centuries. I'd go further to say that contemporary "Anglo" culture is a blend of Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, and Latin influences, among other borrowings in the modern era.
e) In a purely ritualistic context, I find this kind of interesting; having a "king" serve a ceremonial role, something like a certain type of high-ranking officer in a fraternal order.
f) But to pretend this "king" is anything more than a ceremonial role specific to the religious order in question, get into super LARPy territory. There is no Rice (cognate: Reich) as any kind of actual political order today, nor is there a "king" in any capacity beyond the aforementioned. All in all (IMHO), Theodism is a cultic hobby club, not a serious religious order, nor is it a political order. None of these reconstruction cults are serious religions, in my view. I think they can earn that acknowledgment once they can show entire families and groups of families in local area involved in these religious activities, i.e. what any ordinary Christian church in the US does.
BTW, no surprises at all that someone of immense value to Heathenry like Winifred Hodge Rose would be purged from what is in actuality a petty fraternity.
Re: Swain Wodening and Raven Kaldera
Date: 2022-03-25 12:32 am (UTC)On Theodism specifically, one fairly extreme example of Theodism LARPing something with little relevance for most modern folks is their emphasis on sacrificing pigs. Now, is there an argument that maybe we ought to be more intimately connected to the killing involved in our meat-heavy diet? Absolutely. But it's one thing for a community of farmers who all raise and kill pigs on the regular to share around the responsibility of killing a pig for a community feast, and quite another for folks who get most of their meat from the supermarket to kill a pig a few times a year for religious purposes.
d) Yeah, I went through a phase of being resentful about Roman/Norman/Celtic "impositions" on Anglo-Saxon culture/language, but honestly, it's pretty silly, and it's not like we have a "control group" world where we get to see what the "real, unadulterated" Anglo-Saxons would have done. For better or worse, this is the cultural heritage we have, and we can maybe steer it one way or another, but any sort of myth of past "purity" is likely not a great guide.
e, f) I kind of see their point that the role of past sacral kings had inextricably linked religious and secular functions - the person who secured the land against invaders had authority over distributing the harvest, which had clear religious significance (and so forth). As you point out, though, the "Cyning" of the "Vinland Rice" has none of these secular functions in any way that actually matters (and if he did, whoah, scary cult territory), and so pretending as if he does, as if they are linked to the kind of function implied by your take on e), is going a bit far. To put it more succinctly: for a king to be open-handed with literal gold to the actual carls who will put their lives at risk to impose his will against political opponents is one thing, but for a "king" to be open-handed with vaguer "gifts" to "carls" who will in some sense support him in organizational politics and religious rites is quite another.
Re: Swain Wodening and Raven Kaldera
Date: 2022-03-25 02:44 pm (UTC)Axé,
Fra' Lupo
Re: Swain Wodening and Raven Kaldera
Date: 2022-03-25 03:17 pm (UTC)That being said, it's not an area I have any experience in, so maybe it was a poorly chosen example, and blood sacrifice is exactly the sort of thing you don't want to update!
Re: Swain Wodening and Raven Kaldera
Date: 2022-03-25 04:30 pm (UTC)Re: Swain Wodening and Raven Kaldera
Date: 2022-03-26 02:55 pm (UTC)Re: Swain Wodening and Raven Kaldera
Date: 2022-03-26 02:55 pm (UTC)From all the occult reading I've done on this topic, ritualistic blood sacrifice is something to be explicitly AVOIDED unless the practice is part of a well-established lineage that goes back to practitioners who actually understood the occult mechanics of what they were doing.
Otherwise, when done today simply for the sake of pageantry aesthetics (which I suspect is the case with Theodism), this practice will run a huge risk of inviting in unwanted spirits. Basically, spilt animal blood is etheric jet fuel to discarnate entities. Blood is the most etheric-rich physical substance and a spirit absorbing the released energy from bloodletting allows them to manifest and project into the physical world. We can use the term "ectoplasm" for the etheric appendages spirits can manifest; these appendages allow them to interface with physical phenomena in a limited manner; for example how a "poltergeist" can rap on hard surfaces or knock dishes off a shelf.
With these types of serious practice, orthopraxy is supreme. Of course historical polytheists weren't giving away free blood snacks to cruddy spirits. On the contrary, their rites were specifically designed to attract the kinds of entities that could bring benefit to their community. As an example, a sacrifice could be made to a Sylvan or Faun spirit that participates in the energy of a major god from the culture's pantheon (the major deity name would be invoked during the rite). The spirit would show up at the site of the ritual and consume the energetic food released during the sacrifice. In exchange, the spirit would repay the offering by helping the villager's crops grow big and vibrant; they would do this by infusing extra life force (etheric energy) into the crop plants.
Today, humans living in affluent, high-tech countries use industrial technology to do the things (like increase crop yields) we had to make deals with spirits in the past to do. So when some group of aesthetic reenactors sacrifice a pig, they are doing so entirely removed from any culture context where such a practice would have been useful and just. How many of these Theodists grow all their own food and do so without the aid of industrial technology? I would guess most of them procure 99%+ of their food from the local big-box supermarket like everyone else around them does.
Indeed, these practices are not to be taken lightly!