"Polluted" Faith

Oct 5 00:33 UTC 1998

Does anybody else suffer from "polluted" faith?  I'm not talking about
pollution in the sense of misinterpretations or deliberate self-serviant
interpritations of holy writ (Bibles, Vedas, etc.).  What I am talking about
is aspects of faih polluted by such things as a another person's
interpretation of a work of fiction which represents whatever faith you might
have.  I feel that some of my faith is polluted by works of fiction rather
than strengthened through books of Norse Myth (since I do not have access to
the true Volsung holy writs).  When I touched my new Mjolnir pendant to my
forehead, in addition to feeling a spiritual bond reforming, I also
experienced a minor enlightenment.  Perhaps I should meditate on my religion
to gain more, and on specifc gods on the days for them (i.e. Sunday - Sol,
Monday - Mani, Tuesday - Tyr, Wednesday - Odin, Thursday - Tor, Friday - Frey
& Freyja, Saturday - Loki).  I believe it is time to drive the demons of
fiction from the construction of faith.

response 2 of 20:

Oct 5 15:16 UTC 1998

Simply put, by "polluted", I mean aspects of faith that aren't gleaned from
reading of Norse myths, but rather from fictional books which include the
Volsung faith.  Granted, pulling faith from myths isn't exactly going to be
right either, but it's a lot better than building my faith around the ideas
of fictious novel.

I, however, am not of the opinion that religions must remain unchanged.  Sure,
I can still CONSIDER ranged weapons to be the weapons of cowards, but in the
real world you survive longer in war with a ranged weapon.  Also, the religion
could still be based around war, but have that be a background aspect and have
the everyday lifestyle at the forefront.  But like I said before, I can only
access my faith through myth - I have yet to even SEE the Havamal.

response 4 of 20:

Oct 6 17:56 UTC 1998

Myth is often not an accurate representation of the faith of those who
originally followed the gods spoken of in the myths- by time they get written
down, they may well be considered "quaint" and "old fashioned".  More, often
the educated folks- those who can write things down or comment on them- are
influenced by other cultures they have experienced.  So we get stories in
Celtic lore, for example, which may well be retellings of bible stories. 
They're so "celticized" that it's pretty hard to recognize them as not
original.  Are they "pollution"?  Or "borrowings"?  Or cultural aquisitions-
things which have become part of the lore?  I think you need to look at how
the people seem to use/have used them to judge that.  Same with the Norse
material- some is clearly for entertainment, maintained as sagas for long
winter nights.  Some is clearly late in origin and derivative.  Some tells
us a lot about the culture and its influences.  And some of the material from
Christian times, or the Christian-hybrid material, may well be the most
"accurate" and living examples of how folks really did relate to their gods.

Regarding fiction- I guess you just have to know something about the author;
Diana Paxon does excellent research and is herself pagan- with primarily Norse
deities I *think* (not positive there), so I tend to respect her fiction. 
Problem is, sometimes she gets it so "right" that I forget what details I got
from her and which from mythology/folklore texts. <sigh>  I gather Morgan
Llewllyn isn't too inaccurate, but I hate her writing.  Marion Zimmer Bradley
writes compelling stories and has a grain of plausibility, but may go off on
her own tangents.  The stuff from TSR is a sloppy mix of original sources,
other fiction, convenient restructurings, fairy tales, etc. so that it's
almost impossible to use for real information.  And so it goes.  Keep your
eyes open for new material which uses the archeological record as well as the
myths, but even there sometimes it's very speculative without telling you
that.

response 6 of 20:

Oct 8 22:58 UTC 1998

That's usually the best way, bjorn.  ;)

response 8 of 20:

Oct 13 17:10 UTC 1998

If you're looking for Icelandic groups, we have one of the most active right
here in AA/Ypsi. Our current newsletter has a good 2-page article on it.

response 10 of 20:

Oct 14 05:09 UTC 1998

I also find that suprising, and would like to read the answers to Kami's
questions as well.

response 12 of 20:

Oct 17 03:06 UTC 1998

Oh well.

response 14 of 20:

Dec 19 04:33 UTC 1998

Knew she was Norse.  Didn't know she's Asatru.  Certainly, she's one of the
founders of Covenant of the Goddess.  Seemed a pleasant person, not ego
ridden, the one time I met her.

response 16 of 20:

Jan 11 18:41 UTC 1999

Modern reconstructionist Norse paganism, strongly Odinist in many cases, can
be conservative--both in positive (values, community support, real dedication
to faith) and negative (some tolerance for "neo-nazi" or extremist or racist
views by individuals although not by the tradition) ways.

response 18 of 20:

Jan 11 19:25 UTC 1999

Nope, more literally "the truth (way, path) of the gods"-- from Asa; Aesir
and Troth, Trua.

response 20 of 20:

Mar 4 06:45 UTC 2002

I think the tru-part is more related to belif or to be true
swedish 'Asatro', tro = belif, Asa as in Asar or Aesir - the gods 
of Asgard i think Asa also could have ment wood. Thought that is 
most likely xian bullshit, wanting to label it 'idolworship'. 

About tru=true, trohet in swedish = to be true.