I'm stuck in a 3rd world country pls help

I see many Neopagans who are unable to separate themselves from Christian ideas of "Grace" in that divine favor or blessings are something that are bestowed upon or withheld from you for a specific reason or as a reward or punishment, when that is not at all how ancient peoples thought about the Gods and their Providence.

Providence is, simply, the goodness of the Gods emanating outward, flowing out naturally from them to all corners of the world to each according to their individual ability to receive it. Providence is a spring that overflows and reaches all indiscriminately, unlimited and eternal.

The key here is our individual ability to receive it. If you don't notice the water flowing all around you, you go thirsty, and if you don't have a sufficient vessel for collecting it, you will only get tiny handfuls of water at a time. Blessings are received when we make ourselves a suitable vessel for them: We make ourselves more receptive to their goodness by improving ourselves through piety and cultivating virtue.

This is an attitude that I don't find very often in Neopagan spaces: Far too many people are preoccupied with offending the Gods, as if such a thing were possible, and being "cursed" or "abandoned" by them, when in reality the Gods are everywhere: There is nowhere that they cannot be, no corner of the universe that they do not reach. To fret about whether the Gods will curse or punish you is to wonder if the water from that spring won't like you: The question is silly, just drink when you're thirsty.

Providence is something we are solely responsible for making ourselves more receptive to: Anything else is superstition and latent Christianity.

Oooh, I like this. I subscribe to the concept of our individual ability to receive the gifts of each deity. Personally, I think it's why so many people don't seek Loki for help that he could so clearly give. And, as always, I appreciate analyzing the latent Christianity present in so many Pagan spaces. These things must be examined in order to grow as individuals and as sacred community.

writing advice for characters with a missing eye: dear God does losing an eyes function fuck up your neck. Ever since mine crapped out I've been slowly and unconsciously shifting towards holding my head at an angle to put the good eye closer to the center. and human necks. are not meant to accommodate that sorta thing.

other things I'm bitching about but which could still be useful as writing advice for 1 eyed characters:

2. they're going to favor their sighted side, obviously, but it doesn't always manifest in the way you think. when I walk down a hall I walk much closer to the wall on my sighted side than on my blind side. which is the opposite of how it might seem logical to do that bc it means the world at large is on your bad side, but the reason is I can't fucking See the wall if it's right next to me in the blind side and I end up knocking into it.

3. door frames and poles are my enemy. If your character is smart this will not be a problem but for me it is. I am King of walking into shit I could absolutely see but couldn't tell how far away from me it was. on this note, their blind side hand is getting bashed into every jutting out thing in a 5 mile radius.

4. having 0 depth perception is less of a big deal than you'd think it is. Especially with driving. I've become a Much safer and more wary driver because I can't tell how far the other cars are from me. however I fucking suck at parking now. because I can't tell how far the lines are from me either.

5. you know how people who lose limbs get phantom pains? that happens with eyes too but like. phantom sights. for me it's like. a lot of bugs. like every so often my brain will just put something suddenly skittering beside me there. hate that.

6. it is completely possible to "get stuck" somewhere because your ability to tell how wide a space is is just Gone. shopping isles especially where bumping something or Someone is matter of embarrassment or potentially breaking something. it can be legitimately paralyzing and also irritate everyone around you because they can tell there is Plenty of space for you to get your cart through even if you can't.

7. if the eye is still in their skull it can still be the normal kind of painful. Glares off of shiny surfaces causing weird sharp pains you can't figure out the cause of are genuinely one of gods greatest tests of my patience.

I saw a post for the Hellenic pantheon by @sarahsspirits and really liked it and had to make my own versions for the Norse pantheon.

Part 2

Runic illustrations from the runic oracle card set by Dilyana Bozhinova.

This was originally part of another post where I rambled on and on about not really liking the MCU Loki because he has been turned into a type of character that’s extremely boring to me, but I’d much rather talk about Thor’s actual adopted Jotun brother (or half brother, the texts doesn’t agree) from mythology, Tyr.

Tyr is best known from the story about the Fenrir wolf. Just to refreshen everybody’s memory, Fenrir was one of Loki’s many bizarre children. He started out as a cute pup but as he grew bigger the gods started fearing him. Not even Loki dared go near his own child. Only Tyr was brave enough/loved Fenrir enough to keep playing with him.

Eventually the gods decided that it would be safest to tie Fenrir up but no chains could hold him so they got a magic rope that was impossible to beak. Fenrir suspected trickery was afoot and said he’d only put it on if someone put their hand in his mouth. If he couldn’t break the rope he’d bite the person’s hand off. Again only Tyr stepped forward, put his hand willingly in the wolf’s mouth and lost it as a consequence.

Tyr appears again in Lokasenna where he defends the god of peace, Frey, from Loki’s insults.

Tyr is one of my favorite Norse gods. As a child I had a very surface level view of the Fenrir story. I thought Fenrir was stupid because he knew the gods were tricking him but let them put the rope on him anyway, but I also thought Tyr was mean for being part of it.

It does explain Tyr’s role through. He’s a god of war, but also law and fairness. When he put his hand in Fenrir’s mouth he knew he was going to lose it. He accepted that he would have to make that huge sacrifice for tricking his friend. Losing his hand was fair. He knew he deserved it.

And as a god of war I think it’s endlessly interesting that he’s the person who defends Frey, god of peace, defender of women and freer of the imprisoned. Thor is god of mindless war, Odin is god of smart warfare, but Tyr is god of fair, righteous battle. He doesn’t want war for war’s sake, he only wants war to right wrongs. He’s the god who’s on the side of the downtrodden and abused. Basically, even though he’s a god of law, if the police isn’t fair he’d be one of the people on the ground throwing shit at the police.

He’s the god you pray to if you want things to be fair, but there’s a risk you might not be the wronged part even if you see it that way. Tyr was willing to lose his own hand in the name of fairness so if your prayers to him backfire on you you’ll know you were the real asshole in that situation.

Just, Tyr is great okay? He knew he was the asshole, not Fenrir, and he thinks the best god in a pantheon of war gods is the god of peace.

GoddDAMN look at those thicc thighs mmm

“The Norse Conspiracy Chart”

Aka “a spell to locate people you need to block”.

Like to charge, reblog to cast.

Broke: Loki, God of Mischief!“

Woke: Loki, God of Nothing in Particular

Bespoke: The paradigm of referring to deities in the format of ”[Name], God of ________“ is insufficient to encapsulate the nature of any of our Gods. This is because it is a paradigm with its root in a bad faith argument used by christians as a means of opening up theological discussions for them to get to say “Ah-ha! But while Jovis may be the God of Lightning, the White Christ is the God of Everything!” The tendency of modern neopagans, including myself, to sort our Gods into this reductive framework is itself a symptom of the lasting Cultural Christianity which exists in our communities. In this essay, I will-

Look at how heathens interact with our gods. A common epithet for Odin in a lot of circles is "That Old Bastard" and a lot of us call him that to his face.

Christians in 1015: "Look at these scandanavian heathens and how they treat their violent, irascible, and uncouth gods."

Vikings in 1015: "I know right? I love this angry motherfucker."

Remind Yourself:

1. Things end, and that’s okay. 2. Tough times are temporary. 3. Trust your intuition. 4. Healing starts with accepting the truth. 5. This, too, shall pass. 6. Never give up on yourself. 7. Focus on growing with clarity.

“Heathenism is, that men worship idols; that is, that they worship heathen gods, and the sun or the moon, fire or rivers, water-wells or stones, or forest trees of any kind; or love witchcraft, or promote ‘morth’-work in any wise; or by ‘blot,’ or by ‘fyrht;’ or perform any thing pertaining to such illusions.”

This excerpt from The Law Codes Of King Cnut, written by Archbishop Wulfstan (on behalf of King Cnut) in approximately 1020, serves as a fantastic outline for exactly what constituted “heathen” practices, from the time at which they were trying to ban such practices.

Thorpe Translation, Winchester Laws Volume 1, p.162

Check✅

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Tens tens accross the board

Hey," said Shadow. "Huginn or Muninn, or whoever you are."

The bird turned, head tipped, suspiciously, on one side, and it stared at him with bright eyes.

"Say 'Nevermore,'" said Shadow.

"Fuck you," said the raven.

i dont see why i cant start a trend, so here goes. lets try to build back our attention spans. lets try to focus on just one thing for as long as possible. lets not watch those "asmr for people with adhd" videos where they fuck up adhd folks even worse. lets resist the urge to reach for our phones when watching a movie. lets read the articles we reblog, even when theyre boring. i know its hard, i have adhd too, but its worth it. i also know that this hard work doesnt always seem super impressive to other people, so id love for yall to tell me in the tags or replies if youve done something, no matter how small, for your attention span. you deserve to feel like youve taken back some of what social media has ripped from you

this art by david horvitz changed me as a person. we're attentionmaxxing this fine hot girl summer

I am not taking a risk

Not risking it pals

U know what I want potato of luck

Damn right I’m reblogging. See previous post re wrath of whatever from high atop the thing.

potato I will never ask you for anything else in my lifetime please potato for fuck's sake

That's right Odin. What you see right in front of you is the future. A man betrayed by a trusted friend, nailed to the cross and left to die, yet beloved by millions worldwide who worship and pray to him. As this man doesn't judge them for who or what they are. Willing to forgive all their sins and asking for nothing in return.

While your kind, including you and your sons, are becoming forgotten and unloved. No longer worthy of even a passing acknowledgement, much less a fleeting thought in the minds of others.

Throngs of people from around the world will flock to worship the man, constructing grand cathedrals as sacred spaces for his devotees. Hundreds, even thousands, will gather in these hallowed halls to sing songs and hear sermons extolling his name and the remarkable deeds of his life, before it was cut tragically short.

That man's name being Jesus Christ. Amen!

Oh fuck off you daft cunt, there's many who still believe and worship Odin

I don’t think we are meant to fear the Gods. Not even Gods of storms, death, or war. To believe in them is to accept them as they are. Don’t let anybody convince you that polytheists should fear the Gods. Be awe-struck, be humble before them if it feels right, but in this modern day and age, spirituality shouldn’t feel unsafe.

Jackson Crawford, old norse specialist who shares his knowledge about the old norse language, myths, poems, literature and much more for free on youtube, has recently made a post, explaining that soon he will have to stop and look for a different job.

if you like his stuff and can afford it in this economy, now would be a great time to consider supporting someone who wants to share his knowledge and make it accessible for people outside of academia!

Day 29 - Psychosomatic Bullshit

Found the post!

fun fact: tigers also contract their muscles to make a slow tiger into a fast tiger

harrumph