Do You Practice Your Belief?

[Ewergrin]

You probably read a lot about heathendom, about the religion of our ancestors. You know the Edda and all Gods. Maybe you've already attended a Blot or a midsummer celebration.

But do you really believe in the religion of the Norse?
Do you really practise it?
Are you still a member of the christian church?
Just intrested in what's Heathendom all about?

Please drop a few lines about your personal connection to the Norse Gods.

What about you, hmmm?

[Gorm the Old]

It seems to me that any thinking person must experience awe in the presence of the might and the aching beauty of the powers of nature, and if he reflect upon the wonders and mysteries of the human soul, how can he escape feeling awe ? This said, I avoid saying that I believe anything. Belief or faith is too often a disguise to conceal the reality of self-deception. I think that the reasoning behind it, if we were honest enough with ourselves to admit it, would be something like this : "I do not know if this is true. I cannot prove that it is true. However, I want it to be true, therefore it is true. I BELIEVE that it is true." If I don't know if a statement is true, I admit it. To me, this is the only honest thing to do. I may assume that it is true for the sake of argument or as a thesis for investigation, but I recognise that that is what I am doing. This position, of course, is agnosticism and it is the position which I have held for all of my adult life. One body of beliefs which appeals to me æsthetically and intellectually and which I often assume to be valid as a working hypothesis for philosophical speculation is the advaita Vedanta, a school of Hinduism which assumes that an entity called Brahman is the only reality, the one without a second, and, therefore, the final, formal, efficient, and material cause of all that is. The personal aspect of Brahman, called Ishvara, can be an object of worship if so desired. So, do I take the Norse gods at all seriously ? Well....in a way. I practise rune-casting and always invoke Odinn as the Master of the Runes. If such an entity exists, his blessing and cooperation would surely be essential to success in casting the runes. Rune-casting doesn't always work no matter how it is done, so the fact that I have never casted the runes without invoking Odinn tells me nothing of whether it would work without my having done so. Note that this is still consistent with my agnosticism. I don't know whether invoking Odinn is necessary to successful rune-casting and I have certainly never said that I BELIEVE that it is.

[Imperator X]

I practice paganism as well as Sakta Hinduism because I see them as being perfectly reconcilable. IMO, Hinduism is an organized, structured, and vital form of paganism which has maintained itself for hundreds of years againt the onslaught of Islam and Portuguese Catholic missionaries. Hinduism encompasses many different compatible philosophical ideas and doesn't conflict with science. Yes Hinduism has mythology like any other pagan pantheon, but those were made to illustrate certain deities or aspects of Brahman's attributes.

Recently, I have gotten more serious about Hinduism, I have read the Bhagavad Gita and the Rig Veda and I will read the Upanishads and the Laws of Manu soon. I have even adopted vegetarianism (while I still make allowances for sea-food), not only because of Hindu principles, but also because I am against the meat industry's causing deforestation and destruction of the Ozone layer. Also, the treatment of fowl by the industry is also inhumane, it rivals that of the Russian gulags in animal terms.

Hinduism, unlike Buddhism, makes quite practical allowances for self-defense and justified militarism. Whereas the Buddhist kingdom of Ghandara (present day Afghanistan) was wiped out by bloodthirsty Muslims, the Hindus will not lay down and die. In the Bhagavad Gita, the warrior prince Arjuna is conflicted in whether he should fight back againt the evil clan of the Kauravas. Krishna instructs him thusly:

"Do you think you are being wise by grieving for those who do not deserve grieving? The wise do not mourn for the living or the dead. It is impossible that there was ever a time when neither I, nor you, nor the kings were not, and there will never be a time when we shall cease to be." - The Bhagavad Gita, 2:11-2:12

[Sifsvina]

"But do you really believe in the religion of the Norse?"
Yes! Not as an absolute truth but as an absolute way of life. While I do not necessarily believe in Thor as a corporal being with red hair and a hammer I think that belief is an important thing. To play them down as simply "archetypes" of nature is to do them a disservice. But I do try and look at them in all ways, to see it from many angles, that bit of agnosticism I shall always have:-) What I have found most useful is studying how our ancestors treated the religion. Believing in the Gods/Nature as deity helps to show us our correct place in the scheme of things. To see religion as an invention of man for the use of man is to put man above it all when we are really just a small piece of the fantastic puzzle. We fight to come out on top but this is the place of the greater beings not us. Am I making sense?:-)
"Do you really practice it?"
I practice it with every breath, with every time I look at a plant closely, with every time I feel the texture of a rock, with every time I look out on the ocean. I do not do Blottar as often as I should and I rarely celebrate the "festivals" (strangely a special Ostara Blot is the only one that always happens). Part of this is my own laziness and partly because I do not have access to a grove or even a private patch of land. When I have a community (it will happen some day) I will celebrate much more of the festivals as I see them more as a community oriented thing. I know people I could celebrate these with but I would have to put up with more disgusting liberal neo-pagans that I really care to;-) I rune galder most every night before sleeping, I touch a kiss to our Freyr statue that guards the door every time I come in, I wear my hammer everywhere except the shower, so I suppose that when I add it all up I do more than I think:-)
"Are you still a member of the christian church?"
Never was!
Wassail!

[imported_Beowulf]

I am a practising Heathen. I have not yet established my shrine properley so I do not carry out the blot I would like. Of course how you perform a blot is a matter of choice. I will soon be a member of the OR, and have joined a Hearth.

My personal connection to the gods? I have a close connection to Thunor and Woden. I have had two interesting dreams, but I do not believe I have ever been in the presence of the gods.

The Christian faith to me is alien. It was born in the Middle East and, to me, has no relevance to our people.

[Sigurd]

Very devoted Odinist, to the point that my age allows that. That should answer all questions about which option I chose.

[Praetorianer]

Iám really beliving inour all religion.
I love my way to think about live in seeing it out of the heathendom.I´ve read the EDDA and many other books about this theme.I believe into the nordic Gods and do (I think more than the most) to show my respect to them.

[Leofric]

You probably read a lot about heathendom, about the religion of our ancestors. You know the Edda and all Gods. Maybe you've already attended a Blot or a midsummer celebration.

But do you really believe in the religion of the Norse?
Do you really practise it?
Are you still a member of the christian church?
Just intrested in what's Heathendom all about?

Please drop a few lines about your personal connection to the Norse Gods.

These are fascinating questions for me, and the responses have been even more fascinating.

I believe in all the gods of our ancestors as corporeal beings. I believe that they, like all gods (including Christ, whom I do worship), are men and women who have reached such a high level of spiritual perfection (though I don't think any of them — including Christ — is completely perfect) that we call them gods. I believe it is important for us to understand how all the gods think and act so that we can realize our own inner potential to become like them.

My religious practice is almost entirely Christian, and I am a member of the Christian church. My spiritual practice, on the other hand, is much like what everyone else has described. That is, the rituals and ceremonies I perform and attend are almost all Christian (when I am in Catholic areas, for example, I try to attend Mass daily), but my spiritual outlook is more focused on the earth, my family, my body, all the plants, animals, and people around me, the sky, and so forth. I have never attended a heathen religious ceremony (though I have attended Hindu ceremonies, Dylan y Gwallt Du ), but I would very much like to.

My father, also a firm Christian, always taught me as a child that it's important to recognize our innate heathen tendencies and to never discourage them in any way, because they are in important element of spirituality. He taught me that it is appropriate to want to thank Thor, for example, when we see a beautiful and stirring thunderstorm — if doing that is considered a heathen ritual, then I suppose I do perform some heathen rituals when I feel it's needed. But I guess that I consider such things to be part of my Christian beliefs.

I don't really know where all this puts me in terms of the poll. I do practice what I believe, but my beliefs don't fit into the traditional orthodoxy of either heathenry or Christianity.

[freya3]

You probably read a lot about heathendom, about the religion of our ancestors. You know the Edda and all Gods. Maybe you've already attended a Blot or a midsummer celebration.

But do you really believe in the religion of the Norse?
Do you really practise it?
Are you still a member of the christian church?
Just intrested in what's Heathendom all about?

Please drop a few lines about your personal connection to the Norse Gods.

I believe in the Gods and Goddesses and pray to them on a daily basis. I feel a close bond to Freya and Frigga and look to them for guidance. I also have been teaching my daughter to pray to the Gods before meals and at bedtime.

I have incorporated some of the ritualisitic styles the Catholic church taught me(prayer and practicing the Faith at home by reading the Eddas and Havamal), but do not go to church or believe in all the teachings they believe in anymore. I was shocked in learning though just how similar the Pagan and christian religions are. I do not want to disrespect the christian religion, since I feel that is what helped me find what has brought me peace in finding the faith of Heathenism.

We have not found a kindred here where we live, but are stronger in our Faith now than I think we have ever been. I do feel it is important to take time out to thank who has brought you here and would love to go. But I want it to be the place I find the most comfort in and will keep looking. I have A LOT to learn, but am beginning to feel more comfortable in what I know and feel I am on the right track !

[Sigurd]

I must however say that I am still a member of the Catholic Church. My family won't let me exit. They tell me "when you are 18, then we won't impose on you, but..."

Well OK, on all fairness, my mother accepts the fact that I am Heathen, so, well just have to live with still "officially" being classed as a catholic...