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Aslaug.eu blog comments
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Kristie_Kitty
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

very touching post there Asluag. And you are more correct on the current issue you addressed the Mr. Oboma, but from my own perspective, living as a US citizen, in the State of California (which the federal government of the US couldn't give a dam when the whole state catches fire, again); there must be dramatic changes in the government and how the American People are represented, with policies and laws that help out all people of the country and/or the world. If not, there will be drastic and dire consequences that will happen within the next 5-10 years...

The most scary thing that I have for seen what may come unless things start to change is that the United States of America will steep down as a world leader, become more isolationist with growing issues that the Bush administration has started with the election steel. Sorry, got a bit off topic, but in the end, it will tear this once great country into two sides and start the 2nd American Civil War (not like north & south, but more like East vs West... kinda like the brief mention in the movie "V for Vendeta"). This will be the final blow for the current US until things get resolved and settled.

For me, if this prediction comes true and I hope to whatever higher power out there (non evil in nature) that is wont happen. But if it does, I will no longer be a citizen of the US, but more a concern citizen of the world and start looking for a new home.
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Kellan Meig'h
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:00 am    Post subject: Yikes! I forgot ... Reply with quote

Oops! Embarassed

I'm just a little behind the curve here!

Sorry to miss it so badly but here's a belated Happy Fifth birthday!

Oh, Thanks for the comment on my blog!

Gotta run,

Kellan

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Nicolai Borovskaya
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 2:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A good post today, Filly. Introspective, insightful, thought-provoking, just a good post.

And I'm here. And I will remain here. I will read what you write, and look forward to many years of doing so. So please, do write Witchhammer (did I spell that right?). I'm afraid I'll have to go back and re-read T2, so I can recall the plot, but re-reading is not a chore. It's visiting with an old friend.

As to what you write in the future, it will be what it is. And I will read it, and comment on it.


Nicolai

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Nicolai Borovskaya
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

OOF! While unintentional, that was a low blow, Filly. I feel for you, I really do.

If it were in any way possible, I would be there for you for your blót. Unfortunately, it isn't possible. Sad

Nicolai

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Aslaug
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you Nicolai. I -very- much appreciate that.
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Karou WindStalker
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wish there was a way that I could show my support in more than words, Joan.

*offers a Zen hug instead*

(( I will explain Zen Hugs if anyone here has any lacking of knowledge of the concept.. ))

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Kellan Meig'h
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 4:00 am    Post subject: Your blog entry Reply with quote

Hey there filly ...

Well, despite your warnings at the beginning of your blog, I somehow felt compelled to read it.

I read your blog, twice in fact. Even though I am not of your faith, your story brought tears to my eyes (I'm still crying as I post this) and somehow I felt your pain over this issue. Don't ask me how, but I do somehow feel it.

While I was reading it for the second time, I put myself firmly in that mindset of someone writing my deity as a mortal. I know what that pain feels like.

I feel somewhat pained because all I can do is say I feel for you and give you whatever support in the matter that I can and a hug to comfort you.

*hugs*

I know you will find the words to tell Pia why you can't read the books. You have a gift with words and I know you will use it.

I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers,

Kellan

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Frazikar
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 9:40 am    Post subject: Eyes Reply with quote

Sitting here with a blank screen, all that came to mine is the 'eyes that will not see' bit which is quite apropo, as I do not see the world with your eyes, but with mine, my lenses are not yours (and all that)...

Of course with Loke, can you be sure?

So smile filly, smile, though you were not ready today, there is still tomorrow to try again to ascend...
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Nicolai Borovskaya
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Aslaug wrote:
Thank you Nicolai. I -very- much appreciate that.


You are very welcome.

If you tell me when, I will attempt to be there non-physically. (Best wording I could think of.) PM me if you prefer, for this.

Nicolai

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Yamara
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 3:48 pm    Post subject: Comment to "I need to say this…" Reply with quote

(The following comment is on your blog, but it still reads "no comments" in the corner of the "I need to say this…" post, so I'm reposting it here...)

Your reaction to the novels is very moving, and I'm curious as to why the mortality of the novel's characters has struck at your beliefs so strongly. I always felt that one of the great strengths of the Northern ways was the acceptance of the mortality of the gods-- that the gods were not aloof to man's plight, as the Olympians are often portrayed as being, because the finality of struggle was theirs to embrace as well. Quite possibly I've missed another post or writing by you on your beliefs that would clarify why you feel the Aesir are not mortal, but my understanding was they were widely regarded as fated to die.

As for Christians, they've been a mixed bag from the very beginning. Should the other cheek be turned, or should the Monophysites be destroyed for being fans of the wrong backstory? You may be interested to know that our silly diplomacy game, OMG! There's an Axe in My Head has been picked up by the same guys that helped publish the Blasphemy boardgame. In Blasphemy, you play one of four Jesuses, each trying to prove they're the real Messiah. The creator of Blasphemy told me at Origins Game Fair that his intent was to explore the gospels as literature... much as you're doing above. The reactions from Christians apparently have been generally positive, with the exception, of course, of fundamentalists.

It is not a mistake to say that fundamentalists' defense of their canon is no different than any trufan's defense of their favorite story's canon... except they are invested in it so deeply, they can't think of anything else. And because of this willful ignorance, and the conflicts in the pages of history, they feel justified to become violent about it.

Having one's core belief trivialized is a brutal feeling, and fighting these fights with dignity is a muscle I'd guess your patrons/esses want you to exercise. If it's any help, imagine what place the Aesir have among Shinto practitioners today, or what relation they have to the native Australian Dreamtime. It's not just monotheists, Buddhists and Hindu out there, y'know. Where does your heathen path lay in relation to all these others? There are good people along those as well.

My own belief--as guided by my patron and Barbara and her patron, since it is relevant to know where I'm coming from--is that we are in preparation in life (even as we enjoy and suffer it), and after death our existence continues, but without the training wheels of a body to manage and a brain to do the basic computing. It is familiar in that it is not a place of simple rest or torment, but a place of challenges, not certainties. Like life, but with a scope that will doubtless surprise us in many ways. The gods, by and large, are beings who have already been through this.

Back at the literary level, one reason we tease C.S. Lewis so strongly is that he plays light with matters of belief, even when he insists he isn't. Tolkien is on record for saying he didn't feel worthy to write a story about the Incarnation of God, and so leaves it aside in Middle-Earth; when he first heard the Narnia stories read at the Inkling meetings, he was aghast at their flippancy. As a self-designated "sub-creator", Tolkien thought the consequences of creation out, and so I tend to think he was on to something with his Valar.

As a final observation, I also believe that there is a One God, but with the proviso that this being is Infinite-- as much a Buddhist concept as anything else-- and so any philosophy regarding this oneness has to be worked backward from infinity... not upward from which wind god has the most followers or immortal parts... Either it's infinite or it isn't. All the limited, fallible beings are either facets or fans of what they hope to approach.

Chris Adams

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Aslaug
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 4:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

First of all, thank you very much for posting this, Chris.

To all the rest of you, Chris "Yamara" Adams added me to his list of facebook friends earlier today. In the past, we've written a few emails back and forth as I am the self-proclaimed leader of the Yocchi for President campaign in this reality.

If anyone doesn't know who Yocchi is, go to Chris's homepage, read the entire Yamara original series and see why I fell in love with that particular Drow many years ago. She's far too likeable in her own extremely off-colour way to not just adore.

Once you've read it, the words 'I get to wear the big hat?' will really mean something new to you...believe me.

To make a long story short, Yamara was a comic strip about a halfling FIGHTER/thief (don't forget the fighter part...you'll regret it), later turned barbarian, which ran in Dragon Magazine...the official Dungeons & Dragons monthly magazine, for a long time. Such notorious characters as Holy Joe, Yamara Tooke, Tim the Paladin-turned-undead-flying-squirrel, Persephone the kindly-but-rather-savagely-dangerous-vampiress, Ogrek the Undisciplined (who seems utterly civilized, yet has an entire drow nation quiver in terror at the mere mention of his name)...and...most importantly...Yocchi...appeared in this comic strip.

Anyway, to answer the main point of your entry, Chris...I want to explain why it affected me so strongly to see my Gods described as mortals. As I've often said, and as I said in the blog entry yesterday, I see the gods as fallible entities. Not perfect...but decidedly able to make mistakes.

When Gods do something good, it's a lot greater and better than anything humans can do. When Gods do something bad, it's REALLY bloody awful...

But what these books did was not to describe the gods...it described humans, carrying the names of the gods. Human beings who, by going down into legend, would become venerated as gods.

Freja in the first book is not a goddess. She's a mortal. A human being. Mortal is probably the wrong word, in fact, because immortality is not something even the gods get automatically and they can, in fact, be killed...that's not a problem for me. It wouldn't be for any heathen I know...

The problem lies in the fact that she describes the stories of the gods as stories of human beings. Njord was a lord from another tribe...Frej was Freja's brother but they were seperated at a very young age. Freja herself has been trained as a priestess of the old mother-goddess beliefs. None of the Gods are gods...they are ordinary human beings in this story. To a heathen, that's like ripping the guts out of the world. The Gods, Goddesses and spirits...what we usually refers to as 'Magterne' or 'the Powers' if you will, are the foundation of the world. In these stories, however...they are simply human beings, no different from you or I. No different at all.

Furthermore, and this is a bit complex and hard for me to explain (but I'll try anyway)...we do not believe that our 'sacred texts' are divinely inspired or given. The sagas and eddas are tales meant to teach us a bit of wisdom about life, but they are malleable and not only open to interpretation...they are MEANT to be interpreted. The best example I can think of, off the top of my head, is the story of how Frej comes to take Gerd as his wife and how he sleeps with her and impregnates her. That story is widely seen as being a tale about how the land is made fertile, year after year. But it's told as a story of how the god of fertility Frej, takes a woman he desires as his own...

One has to read not only between the lines but beneath them and behind them as well. Sometimes, they are just good, fun stories and they can be read as such. At other times, they are words of wisdom that can teach us something...it depends on the reader and the timing and reason why the story was read in the first place. But the one thing that I would never...ever do is disrespect my Gods. I can tease them...take the mick on them...because Loke teaches us we must be able to do so, lest the Gods themselves become too high and mighty, and think themselves more perfect than they are. But I would never...ever think little of them and I would NEVER present myself as their equal.

If they are just humans like you and me...I am, by definition, their equal. And to me, that's grossly disrespectful to Powers so much greater than me, that I can't even fathom their full nature.

Freja, to me, was not a young priestess, who lived and died an entirely mortal, earthly life some two thousand seven hundred years hence. She's my Goddess...the one I turn to when life is difficult and I need something solid to anchor me. She is the power I hold to, I pray to and I venerate because of all the good things that I have had happen to me in my life that I can't readily explain.

A deity...not a human being...

That's why it struck me so hard.

I hope that helps clarify things a bit.

And once again, thank you for coming here to take part...


Last edited by Aslaug on Sat Jul 05, 2008 1:44 am; edited 2 times in total
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Yamara
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 9:16 pm    Post subject: Re: Comment to "I need to say this…" Reply with quote

Um, I did just blunder in and not introduce myself, didn't I. I beg everyone's pardon-- that was thoughtless of me. Embarassed

Hi everyone, I am Chris, the guy Aslaug... describes thoroughly above, and lines of mine like these:

Yamara wrote:
"his intent was to explore the gospels as literature... much as you're doing above."
"one reason we tease C.S. Lewis so strongly"


--only make sense in context of the blog post and knowing about the Yamara comic... so please allow me to apologize for being scattershot and scatterbrained while I juggle work and social responsibilities on the same magic intertubinator box.

Aslaug, your trust in your patron gods is a welcome sight in a time of deep philosophical uncertainties, and I have no doubt they will guide you true, even the trickster. Thanks for answering some deep questions, and keep shining on your path.

Have a great weekend, everyone. I will be bumbling across the web from time to time.

Cheers,

Chris

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Aslaug
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 2:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just as an afterthought...

Chris, you did mention another question which I failed to address, and I'll do so quickly here...

You asked what role my gods and goddesses play in relation to Shintoists, Hindus and Aborigine beliefs. Or any other belief for that matter.

That's a very simple question to answer. You see, I do not deny the possible existence of their gods and goddesses either. I do not claim to be wise enough to possess the full and complete truth. No human being is that wise. No one. Anywhere. Ever.

What I usually to tell Christians, for instance (and this includes my good friends Tigermark and Silver Coyote, from this forum...with whom I have had many long and fruitful conversations on faith) is that I don't deny the potential existence of their God...but I do deny his omnipotence and omnipresence and particularly his monopoly on salvation. However, he's got a better Public Relations department than us Heathens.

The same goes for all the others. I know what is right for -me- and for me only. I must follow -that- path.

My main point of contention with many other religions is that a lot of them teaches that you have to behave in a certain way. That you must do so or the God(s)/Goddess(es) will be angry and smite you mightily (tm).

At the very least you'll eventually be judged and held accountable for your actions.

I don't subscribe to that. My only judge is myself. The Gods have better things to do than sit there and judge every soul that dies. But far more importantly, I believe that I must do the right thing...because it is the right thing. Not because of divine dictate. I must arrive, independently, at what the right course of action is, and follow it, come Muspelheim or high tide...

If someone behaves in a certain way, be it never so noble and kindly, because he fears the consequences if he doesn't...because he fears divine judgment...then I will call such a man a hypocrite. Such a man does not act in accordance with the greater good because it's the right thing to do, but simply because he's afraid of what would happen if he didn't.

It's not 'do onto others...', but 'Do what is right for that reason alone'.

I also believe this is a philosophy only the most fundamentalist of people would disagree with.
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Aslaug
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 12:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd like to point everyone to the blog again, and for everyone to consider what I've written there. I don't want to start a flame war against the person I refer to as X, and I want to make CERTAIN everyone understands that X has never posted on this forum, so no one has to start looking at each other funny...

I simply think it is necessary to point that out.

Thank you.
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Karou WindStalker
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 7:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Murf, Aslaug, you really seem to have hit the jackpot here.

If this individual keeps being an insensitive idiot, feel free to point them in my direction .. I'll be glad to clue them in. ^_~

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