Wane Wyrds

I belong to several online groups and forms dedicated to heathenry or Asatru in general, even though as a Vanatru most of my belief and practice is not very "acceptable" to more hardcore types. Anyway I wish I could remember the conversation and place, but not long ago someone was discussing blots and how,when,why etc. they should or should not be performed. Hyndla and Freyja by Hanz Frolich, public domain In the simplest sense of the words, a blot is a ritual sacrifice to the gods. Once upon the time these sacrifices could have been the sacrifice of an animal or in some cases even human sacrifices. Other precious objects such as gold, food, or drink were also common offerings to the gods, along with other things of great number. Today's sacrifices can take any number of forms similar, minus the human sacrifice part of course. At any rate, a blot to the gods or a particular god is a fairly common modern day heathen ritual. In this particular conversation, there s...

( I wrote this for an assignment in one of my new classes, spirituality and medicine. I thought it would make a great blog post as well, since this is at the core of my beliefs. Hope you enjoy.) It is my belief that for human beings of different religions to peacefully live and work together, there must be a collective human recognition of the individual right to self-determination. This would require a letting go of doctrines of absolute truth, and negate the existence of a religious code of morality which asserts the concept of moral duality, right versus wrong belief. We need to be rid of doctrines which harm the human dignity of anyone, or attempt to enforce the beliefs of one group on another. Though my own spiritual beliefs are pagan in nature, I always say I am a humanist first and foremost, particularly when it comes to the social relationships between human beings. Ultimately belief requires individual action, and this leads me to believe that spiritual matters should be...

It seems my mind is being pulled in so many directions, I feel like I can't focus it on just on topic, and when I try my mind strays towards something else of equal interest. I'm trying to get back in the groove of working again and I just can't focus on anything for more than a few seconds. So maybe I will just post some things of interesting and updates on what's happening. A recent offering to Nerthus for helping me with a spell to relieve pain I'm back to school, this time for my last semester. In December I will FINALLY be finishing my Bachelor's degree and HOPEFULLY finding a decent job which is close to home. Fingers Crossed. I am now working on a couple electives, both of which focus on religious topics, as well as starting the first draft of my final Study-In-Depth project for degree completion. The topic is on Ritual kinship functions in Geisha life. I chose this topic because of my love for Japanese art as well as my own fascination with the ge...