Latest / Random Heathen Ramblings / Random Heathen Ramblings: S4, EP06 - Are There Altars In Asgard???

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Random Heathen Ramblings: S4, EP06 - Are There Altars In Asgard??? · Random Heathen Ramblings

0:01
Hello everyone and welcome to the random Heathen ramblings
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podcast, where we discuss all sorts of things.
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Dramatic, Heathen re related. My name is Jessie.
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I am your host. Let's get into it.
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Well Halen. Hello everyone.
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Welcome back. Welcome back to the deepest
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Coming at you. Once again, from here in Middle
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Across midgard. Thank you for tuning in today.
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those various platforms and do the thing, do the needful, as we
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say in the tech industry for those that are in the
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asia-pacific region, kindly do the needful and revert the same.
3:14
so yeah guys, it is mid-February now, some kind of a neat thing
3:23
is my wife and I you know like so many people I'm sure.
3:29
End up proposing to one another, you know, like the commitment of
3:32
a lifelong relationship happens, right?
3:35
Around mid February because there's this whole Mark holiday
3:39
called Valentine's Day, right? And on, you know, not unlike a
3:44
lot of people I proposed to my wife on Valentine's Day.
3:47
Very original Greek, Jesse, right.
3:50
I know. But anyways, it is what it is
3:53
and we've been together now dating, you know, since 2015 8
3:58
years that my wife and I have been together, I did ask her to
4:05
marry me, you know, just a About a year or two into our
4:10
relationship and we've been Trucking along ever since, you
4:15
know. So that was kind of like a an
4:17
anniversary or whatever of the time that she said, yes to us.
4:24
So we've just recently, celebrated that we had a great
4:27
family dinner, she cooked an amazing.
4:31
She does is amazing oven cooked, ribs, pork, ribs, They slow cook
4:37
in the oven like all day and just fall right off the bone.
4:41
Delicious amazing had some family over her parents and some
4:46
of her other relatives so we got to enjoy that this week.
4:50
But yeah, man, mid-February guys were already, you know, a month
4:53
and a half into 2023. It's crazy.
4:58
Crazy. How fast time is flying.
5:02
So today's podcast, today's episode is actually was
5:06
unplanned for to be on this particular topic of discussion,
5:11
but it just so happened that, as many things do the randomness of
5:15
bounds, you know, you never know when certain things might pop up
5:21
in a group chat or in a, you know, friendly conversation
5:25
between Friends, colleagues, whatever. and then next thing,
5:30
you know, it's it's sparking conversations elsewhere and You
5:36
know, drawing inspiration to investigate, and to learn, and
5:42
to, to educate and be educated. You know, so that's where this
5:49
this week's podcast episode is, is coming off of this was a
5:52
question, you know, the topic of the of the of the podcast this
5:57
week is the results of a question being asked by
6:00
somebody, you know, like a closed group chat and next thing
6:05
you know, it's I know I didn't have an answer and I thought
6:08
this is an interesting question. I've never been, you know, Posed
6:14
with this question before and I didn't have an immediate answer,
6:17
I thought, let's open it up to the larger community and lo and
6:22
behold in a very relatively short period of time.
6:25
You know, less than 24 hours later.
6:27
We had a lot of discussion circulating around it.
6:30
So the question is going to be right up here.
6:37
The screenshot, I should say of the questions going to be right
6:39
up here. and it's going to be about the gods, the aesir god
6:48
specifically in Asgard, having an altar, or a temple or
6:55
something that they sacrifice to or did blow to or something and
7:01
who were the Gods, The gods themselves, who why would such a
7:06
thing exists? Amongst the sacred?
7:09
You know, so here's the question, I'm just going to jump
7:12
right into it because it's it Bears, no further.
7:18
Delay, right? No further Ado so the question
7:21
is so I may have asked this question before but who do you
7:25
think the altars and I'll score there were four who are the god
7:30
sacrificing to or asking for guidance.
7:33
Could it be their dead ancestors or the greater being that
7:38
created the seed? Well which is yggdrasil. now
7:46
again, I was a bit perplexed by that question because, you know,
7:55
I had never read or I didn't recall reading specifically in
8:00
the lore or anywhere in the sagas.
8:02
Not that I've read all the sagas of, actually not read a lot of
8:05
them. I know front to back, just a lot
8:08
of excerpts and various key parts of a lot of different
8:11
ones, but I still have a long way to go to consider myself,
8:15
well versed in, you know, Source material that are in The
8:21
predominantly in the, you like the Icelandic sagas and whatnot,
8:25
and that doesn't even cover, you know, Regional folklore.
8:28
That just gets kind of passed down orally, but, ya know, I had
8:34
never recalled reading anything that made reference to their
8:38
being Alters in Asgard. The realm of the Gods of the
8:42
aesir, God's, you know? So when I read that, when I saw
8:45
this question being posed, I was like, Do you recall where you
8:50
read this from? Like again was that like a
8:52
regional folklore? Story or something that maybe
8:58
was just passed down orally that, we don't have Source
9:01
material to reflect on and to see what is said about it to
9:06
draw a conclusion here or or was it, you know, maybe perhaps a
9:11
more modern. Is this a scholarly work or
9:17
something of a much more modern and recent publication.
9:23
You know, maybe a maybe a professor may be a, some other
9:27
academic work that publish something somewhere else.
9:29
On a forum elsewhere. Where do you remember this?
9:32
Is this person and they couldn't quite remember they.
9:34
So I got assaulted so many sagas floating around in my head which
9:37
I get it you know like especially when you when you go
9:40
down that that path man you're going to end up in some You
9:45
could potentially end up going down, some rabbit holes and then
9:47
forget where you where you left off in.
9:51
But I thought there was a very interesting question and it made
9:54
me go out with her Alters, you know, are there alters and
9:57
Asgard or any something something of that of, that
10:02
likeness, you know, a place for the sacred to go to sacrifice to
10:07
harass, guidance from something kind of, like, how what we have
10:10
maybe now in the profane. Right?
10:14
We have altars in our living spaces, a lot of pagans will
10:20
dedicate a space in their home. Whether it be a bookshelf, a
10:24
table in a corner, maybe a mantle, or a fireplace or
10:27
something, or any other sort of just dedicated space of an altar
10:34
for those that have The, the outdoor space and this is
10:40
something very particularly seen in Germanic the dramatic variant
10:49
of paganism. The, the outdoor altars called
10:54
hoger Which is basically just like a pile of stones erected to
11:00
have for gifts to the vet are gifts to the local Spirits,
11:10
Guardian Spirits, whatever name you want to put to them, the
11:14
whites, right whatever. And of course you know there's
11:20
there's the temple and Upsala and old Upsala Sweden And that
11:26
was a dedicated hope or, or Heathen Temple which had, you
11:32
know, walls and a roof. And it was a, it was a like a
11:36
church, you know, say a temple erected for the aesir and vanir
11:44
gods, or at least to some degree.
11:47
So, was so far as we know, but to think that something like
11:51
that would have a place in the realm of the Gods themselves,
11:55
right? Is why are why do we and as
11:58
humans? Why do we is as individuals and
12:01
as a sentient beings and profane space have Alters is to give us
12:07
this Focus point. Of dedicating, an action or
12:12
deeds to our sacred beings to the Divine.
12:19
You know, it is where we leave our gifts to, whether it be the
12:22
gods or a lot of times. Again, the localized Spirits our
12:28
ancestors, you know, it is a central Focus point for us to go
12:35
to to put us into that. Frame of mind to interact with
12:40
the Unseen. So the question posed right was,
12:45
do you think who do you think that the altars in Asgard are?
12:49
Therefore, I think the bigger question is, why are they there?
12:52
Why does that even exist if they existed first of all right,
12:56
again, if there's multiple questions in this question that
12:58
get raised when you talk about this kind of thing, because
13:01
again, if we understand the purpose of what an altar is and
13:04
or what a hooker is or what the, what the VA is, what the hope is
13:09
in those context, and then what Would that purpose serve for the
13:14
sacred themselves? They are not the ones that need
13:18
to sacrifice to something greater than them, right?
13:22
They are already great. They already are what they are.
13:26
As the Divine, you know, at least in a lot of our frames of
13:31
Mind thinking is is, you know, it doesn't get any greater than
13:34
the gods. It doesn't get any greater than
13:37
in terms of You know, ranking may be a weird way to put it,
13:45
but it doesn't. You don't get much higher than
13:46
that. In terms of like you say the,
13:49
how you, how you, how you look at things.
13:51
So why would they even need to be an altar?
13:53
There if there was there where what are our sources that
13:56
suggests such things? So I did I put this question out
14:01
there. Got a lot of responses and
14:03
almost immediately some of the response points to a stanza in
14:10
the Attic poem voluspa. and as many times as I dread voluspa,
14:18
and Have a copy of it, myself and read different translations
14:26
of it and whatnot. It shocked me that I got.
14:29
Wow man, like something like this.
14:30
Just Right over my head, you know, like I hearing this
14:36
person's question didn't. Trigger a response for me.
14:40
That made me think. Yeah, it's probably something
14:43
from the voluspa or it could have been something from the
14:45
Blue Spoon and having reread the stanza A few times.
14:50
I think that this person's question is largely inspired
14:56
from this particular stanza. So for those that maybe don't
15:00
have a translation of the voluspa or any of the attic
15:06
poems of, there's going to be a link in the description and in
15:09
the show notes of the podcast wherever you're catching it to
15:14
the website voluspa a.org. I think it is but it's going to
15:18
be linked down here and it's and it's going to give you an
15:22
English translation of each stanza of the voluspa.
15:26
Some commentary of maybe not every single stanza but a lot of
15:32
the stanzas Some some feedback, some some commentary about the
15:37
meaning, or the, or the sequence or the order of the stanzas, as
15:42
well, as the old Norse. Translation of the stanzas.
15:50
And again, it's not, it's not a hard thing to come by.
15:52
It's not something that you're going to be struggling to get a
15:56
translation of. So if you already have one and
15:58
you maybe are reading along or you're looking at it and you go
16:00
that doesn't say exactly what I'm reading, it could just be
16:03
that that's a variant to the translation that you have.
16:07
But whatever it is that voluspa. Dot-org is getting from a don't
16:11
remember the The English translation where who translated
16:15
but here is going to be some stuff popping up here on the
16:20
screen of the specific stanza, that was referenced a number of
16:25
times as a response to this person's question of whether or
16:29
not or who the gods. Or first of all, is there an
16:35
altar was there an altar etcetera in Asgard?
16:38
And then once we figured that part out, go into the Discussion
16:42
of what were they there for? Who were they there for?
16:46
So first thing, that you're going to see up on the screen is
16:48
stanza, seven of the poem votive Spa.
16:53
This is stanza seven. I'm going to do my best to read
16:59
it in Old Norse first. And then we're going to go to
17:03
the English translation of it. So stanza, seven of the loose
17:07
but he took a severe or E ee. There are who could possibly
17:13
fathom ruler of flug der out smoothly tungus?
17:20
Cooper walked, all good. Which in English is translated
17:28
as at eatable met, the mighty Gods shrines and temples.
17:33
They tempered High forges they set and they smooth heed or
17:39
tongs. They rot and tools they
17:42
fashioned so either roll Which could possibly mean field of
17:49
Deeds. You know, it's it's a it's a
17:56
compound word in Old Norse with that could possibly mean field
18:00
of Deeds. But this is where we read about
18:03
in various me. I mainly the voluspa where the
18:08
gods meet, where they Gathered for Council.
18:16
And in the again and here in this very stanza, says that that
18:18
shrines and temples they timbered hi.
18:20
Now again various translations might say things differently for
18:24
what those words who talked hoof.
18:29
But again, hoog or Huger was the He even alter and outdoor alter
18:38
specifically hergert is an outdoor thing and it's
18:41
essentially just a pile of stones, erected to be the place
18:48
where gifts are given and acts of benevolence to the sacred are
18:56
performed holf, that word, hope that we heard in the first North
19:03
Old Norse. Translation is what we talked
19:05
about earlier as this Temple. So shrines and temples, who both
19:12
is, how this particular, English translation translates it to.
19:19
So you can say, herg, is an altar, or you can also use the
19:22
word shrine. I think they're similar in
19:24
enough enough of a fashion to not change the meaning so much
19:30
from Old Norse to English and then the whole again being
19:32
Temple. So, Shrines and temples they
19:35
timbered. Hi, they were there.
19:38
They were erected. They were present at least in
19:41
this, you know, in the, in this part of this time, frame of this
19:48
being reckoned. Now I do just want to say, write
19:52
that as we talk about things of the metaphysical, as we talk
19:56
about things like this, you know, we're looking at lore,
20:00
we're looking at myth, we're looking at a story.
20:05
We're not looking at archaeological evidence, we're
20:07
not looking at, you know, anything to that granular level.
20:11
So a lot of this type of stuff can be left.
20:15
Open to interpretation and individuals UPG.
20:21
All right, and you've heard me talk about UPG enough on this
20:25
channel, hopefully, on this podcast, enough to know what U
20:28
PG is but for those that maybe our new EP G is unverified
20:31
personal gnosis it is. The it is the The thoughts of an
20:37
individual. I hope what we come up with our
20:38
cells based off of our own experiences of things of that
20:43
are of a nature which cannot be supported or backed up by
20:48
archaeological and historical evidence.
20:50
So yes, while we are reading about shrines and temples being
20:54
timbered high, erected built what have you in the realm of
21:00
the Gods and Asgard. yeah, this is again a poem that was
21:09
Definitely published somewheres in the you know they it was that
21:12
was 10th or 11th century something like that.
21:16
Probably one of the older primary sources of lore that is
21:20
available but there's you read the valois but enough you
21:24
aren't, you know, read it a few times.
21:26
You're going to, you're going to see some evident influences of
21:31
Christianity bleeding in. Especially when it comes down to
21:35
like, you know, Ragnarok and it's, you know, the, the, the
21:42
Doomsday equivalent or whatever the end of times for the gods,
21:46
right? Like there's some equivalencies
21:48
that you can make to the Christian apocalypse, Armageddon
21:54
or whatever. So, With that being said, we're
21:58
going to be leaning into this. Knowing those things.
22:04
And I'm going to be sharing with you guys.
22:07
My thoughts on some things that are based off of conversations
22:11
that I've had since this question was posed and since
22:14
I've looked into some of these things based off of my own UPG
22:18
and some of the UPG of others don't take what I'm saying here
22:23
and say, well, that's the way it is because Jesse said it on a
22:25
podcast and so that must be what it is.
22:29
I would encourage you guys if you're interested in pursuing,
22:31
this further to To examine it yourself, think about things
22:35
yourself, maybe look into some things, some more and share it
22:39
around, maybe in your circles and your communities, get some
22:42
feedback and some conversation stirring around this and share
22:44
back. What'd you guys find out about
22:47
it to tag me in the in the post, if you have a platform that you
22:50
going to want to share it on, it's just an idea, just a
22:53
thought. Okay, so once again here is our
22:59
quote unquote evidence, right? And I use that term loosely and
23:03
I put big great are quotation marks over at evidence that
23:07
alters shrines and the temple or temples exist.
23:14
How to place have a place in the realm of the Gods?
23:21
So then we go back to what? The original question of was
23:26
What, or who were they, therefore, what were the altars
23:30
and these sacred places? Therefore, could it be that they
23:35
were being used as places of sacrifice or giving to ancestors
23:44
dead as a person post dead ancestors or a greater being or
23:48
greater beings? That have to do with the
23:53
initial, you know, the creation myth.
23:57
Something greater even than the gods, you know.
24:03
So we kind of chipped away at this.
24:05
This big Iceberg as it were we've reached the point where we
24:09
can probably collectively. Agree that what the stanza
24:14
envelopes. Bows.
24:15
Talking about, is actual temples, actual Alters.
24:18
So why are they there? Who were the god sacrificing to?
24:22
Who were the gods seeking? You know, counsel from well What
24:29
could possibly be greater than the gods themselves?
24:34
It's hard for us to wrap our minds around things like that,
24:36
especially being Mortals being beings that exist in this in
24:40
profane space and having our minds and and everything limited
24:43
to two that without really exploring, some of the mysticism
24:51
side of things. The the metaphysical side of
24:53
things and understanding also the concept, it's that these
24:58
ancient heathens had Archie this had before Christianity.
25:02
If there's even a place for that, in this context, I think
25:04
there could be just knowing some of the, you know, Archie the nor
25:10
ancient Heathen concepts of life after death.
25:14
Their, their understanding of their world views of things like
25:18
that, you know, it was very complex.
25:23
And so I think that At some point in time, you know, there
25:30
was this time where there were movement where the gods as we
25:37
know them. Now started off as being
25:39
something of a More relatable to humans.
25:44
Because and the reason I say this is that you read about the
25:50
various adventures in the various tasks and all of the
25:54
stories in the myths of the various gods and goddesses, and
25:57
they have very human-like qualities, you know, things that
26:01
that put them in a very relatable position for us as
26:06
mortal human beings, we can relate to the fury of Thor.
26:10
We Can we can relate to the, you know, incessant trickery of
26:17
Loki? We can relate to the, you know,
26:20
bravery and just selfless actions of tear.
26:25
And I'm just, you know, rattling off top my head to some of these
26:28
things, right? Like these are relatable traits
26:30
and when we read some of the stories and the myths, it's like
26:33
huh. Yeah.
26:34
The gods aren't so much different than us.
26:36
I think personally that, you know, a lot of that is due to
26:43
the stories of people of perhaps Kings and other great Heroes of
26:52
the times that the sagas, these these not the not the stories of
26:57
the Gods but the, you know, the sagas of actual people whether
27:00
it's Kings or Warriors or various Famous right people from
27:08
the time I think that especially when it comes to like the the
27:12
nobility royalty that sort of thing, they were deified.
27:17
And so you know, especially true when you read through like the
27:22
England, The Saga you know, where Odin is a king and you
27:28
know, balder is his son and all these things and it's like
27:33
almost at the end, may not be angling.
27:35
This our guy might be thinking of a sax, programmatic is but
27:37
either way, right. All of these figures all these
27:43
names. All these stories had start from
27:46
somewhere and so, I think again, that at some point, it was
27:49
something even greater than that because you, you had to come up
27:55
with these figures. These Relatable.
28:00
Figures. Dave that were perhaps deified
28:05
and now all of a sudden they are being venerated and worshipped
28:11
but what about who they venerated?
28:15
Who did those kings and all that one up there venerate and if you
28:18
want to look at it from that angle and The Lure kind of helps
28:24
fill in those gaps when you read the creation myth and you know,
28:27
like where the gods came from they came from Um, emia this
28:34
primordial Force, you know, that was the result of Ice and Fire
28:42
clashing in the the the vastness of the cosmos, the new Gap, you
28:49
know, Iron me, fire meets Ice and click boom, you know, all of
28:53
the, you know, it's a great story.
28:54
It's a great You know, exceptionally Vivid telling of
29:02
how everything came into being, you know.
29:06
But those forces those primordial forces Hadn't had,
29:15
you know, we're given names and stuff through the lore.
29:17
And so when we look at this example, of there being a
29:21
temple, or shrines or altars in Asgard in the realm of the Gods,
29:27
you know, and who would they be using these these things for, I
29:34
think that it's probably a bit more, there's more detail than
29:39
what we might think. Sure.
29:40
It could be that they are there for Where they came from the
29:46
these, these ancient primordial forces of nature that.
29:52
Are the reason why they're there and so, you could look at that
29:55
as being a sort of form of ancestor veneration.
30:00
Because again, it's their Source where that, you know, where
30:03
their Roots lie, where the gods originated from their origin
30:06
story. But then another thing that I
30:09
get to thinkin about and this this is thanks to some again
30:12
dialogue and conversation that gets Sparked because of these
30:17
types of things is the role of the Nora near the norns.
30:25
And how important they are and how You know.
30:36
The How the Gods themselves? How Odin himself how the, you
30:39
know, how they are viewed by the sacred?
30:43
And I'm going to reference another stanza from voluspa and
30:50
this is stands at 20 and it's going to be up here in the
30:53
screen. So if you're reading along, you
30:55
got your own copy. It's going to be probably around
30:57
stands at 20 or so might again the order of things could be a
31:02
little bit different. But Anyway, in this translation.
31:08
It stands at 20. So the first part I'm going to
31:10
read is is the Old Norse. Translation it's best.
31:15
I can so stanza. 20 thought--and coma.
31:20
Media marks. Vitamin D3 r or Same Soul wound
31:26
police tender. You'd hit two in Audra.
31:31
Very handy. Skaro.
31:33
Ascoli was austerity. Skilled in a three.
31:38
Do there look. Luke de Ser lift Guru.
31:44
Aldebaran. Mm.
31:45
You look, Sega And in English since come the maidens Mighty in
31:54
wisdom 3, from the dwelling down neath the tree.
32:00
Earth is one named Vera Dandy the next on the wood, they
32:06
scored and schooled the third laws, they made their and life
32:14
allotted to the sons of men and set their Fates now right before
32:22
this stanza, you know, so around like stands in nineteen give or
32:24
take again depending on the translation.
32:26
It's talking about yggdrasil, the world tree.
32:29
Tree where all the nine Realms are connected. through yggdrasil
32:38
and, you know, so the norns R. You know, their dwelling is at
32:48
the roots of the world tree. So three from the dwelling down
32:54
the tree. You have food, very handy in
32:58
school. So Earth is what was, or
33:01
whatever? What has happened?
33:03
So the past voted on D, is, what is becoming or what is
33:09
happening. So, the present and then screwed
33:13
is what shall be the future. So you've got your past present
33:18
future representations in the norns.
33:24
And on the wood they scored. So you know, we hear of this and
33:29
I think most of the time we come up with this imagery of of them
33:34
describing the fates or the or the lives of every living thing,
33:39
Gods and Men. So everything is allotted,
33:44
everything is destined. If you will everything is made
33:49
out as decreed by the norms. and this this is also true of the
33:59
Gods because we read more stories and throughout the miss
34:02
that you know that the what the norns decree is Not outside of
34:10
the gods. Don't control what the norns.
34:13
Decree Odin himself, can't change.
34:16
The Fate that was descent. Decided him through the norns
34:21
decree, right? and this raises, the Concept or
34:31
the or the thought that? The altars and the shrines and
34:37
in the temple, what have you that we hear about earlier and
34:40
voluspa that are in US guard? Were for them for the norns to
34:48
appeal, to the Norms to seek wisdom through through gifting
34:52
through the gift exchange through sacrifice, maybe to
34:56
appeal to Them in a way of changing fate, in a way of
35:04
changing the decisions that were made.
35:08
When they scribe them, you know, we're score them in the roots of
35:14
yggdrasil in and whatnot, so, And you know, it makes you
35:21
think. At least makes me think the role
35:27
of the norns in our modern Pagan practices for Germanic pagans at
35:31
least. And do we acknowledge them
35:35
enough? If big, if again this is heavily
35:40
if not entirely it you know based off of my UPG and the UPG
35:44
shared UPG of others having conversations, right?
35:52
If these were the Things that had Sacred Space again,
35:58
something greater than even the gods, you know, because how can
36:04
you be great if you can't. Decide the fate of the sons of
36:10
men and gods alike, you know, how great can you be if that if
36:13
you're limited? To what something else decrees
36:18
or what something else decides for you.
36:22
That to me. Through deductive reasoning
36:27
makes good sense. And so if we think about Our
36:34
involvement, write it. If the gods themselves had
36:38
Sacred Space have Sacred Space dedicated to the norms for
36:42
dealing with them. Where does it?
36:44
Where does that fit into our practice?
36:46
Do we have that? Link, can we have that link and
36:53
can there be a link established between us and them?
36:55
Or are the gods there? Are the Gods in place right
37:00
through the are the gods as we know them, do these great and
37:05
sacred, and divine beings exist. As a I don't know mediary
37:12
between because we got to get to them first before we before it
37:16
can get to the norns. I, I don't think it's quite
37:19
that, that granular, you know what I mean, but it's something
37:22
interesting to think about, you know, if you want to appeal to
37:27
the Supreme Court, you know, do you get an audience with the
37:30
Supreme Court or do you have to go through all these channels
37:34
and all these, you know, bureaucratic steps to get there
37:37
first? If you were an ancient times and
37:39
you know, sought an audience, The king, did you get a chance
37:43
to see the king first and foremost or were you instead put
37:46
through other, you know, subjective channels to vet that
37:53
process first and then made its way to the king and if it was
37:56
deemed appropriate then you were granted the audience.
37:58
So again you think about like maybe some of the timeframe of
38:02
things or least I do, you know when the when the myths and the
38:06
stories of the lore and the sagas were written and when it
38:09
was all documented, and And you know it's this is late Iron Age,
38:14
you know Scandinavia when all this stuff was written down, the
38:21
information is largely being influenced by the spread of
38:27
Christianity at the time. You know, what is, what is the
38:33
Christian worldview of things? You know, at that time I think
38:40
the church in England and in the Catholic church was a pretty
38:45
influential power, you know, and that branch of Christianity and
38:50
was very big on, you know, you pray to the Saints, you pray to
38:55
the this, you pray to that and they, you know, you don't
38:59
necessarily pray to God directly assure you.
39:01
You pray to God, you go to church, you do all these things,
39:05
but do you get that immediate audience with the highest the
39:08
boss, basically, you know do you get that?
39:12
You get granted that audience just yourself or do you have to
39:16
go through these other channels? First.
39:23
So as I talked about and as I ramble on about it, I get to
39:28
thinking that Why were the Alters their, why are they
39:33
Alters there? probably for the norns because
39:40
they are greater than the gods, they have that power of shaping,
39:47
the fates of all gods and Men alike Now, you talk about that
39:55
you start thinking about fate, right?
39:57
As a thing. It's, you know, a set in stone
39:59
thing. You cannot change your fate, you
40:02
cannot change. The Fate that has been written
40:05
for you. And we look at some of like
40:11
other etic poems, right? The whole them all that says
40:15
that your wealth will die or cattle die but it's they are
40:20
face 0. Phase is a word for wealth.
40:22
It means cattle. But Cattle, wealth will die.
40:25
You will all cattle. Die Kinsmen Die.
40:28
You yourself will also die. One thing that I know will never
40:34
die is. Reputation or the fair Fame of
40:38
one who has earned it, right? We see that.
40:43
Fate. And in the dramatic context is
40:47
like your fate is is written to the degree that this is when
40:51
you're born, this is when you die. but everything else in
40:57
between I think is left open for us, too.
41:05
To make it or not, we will often times be given the necessary
41:13
tools to achieve certain things. Some people will have a better
41:18
chance of achieving said thing than others and this is largely
41:25
in at least, in my views on things due to the inherited
41:29
luck. I mean, you that has been passed
41:32
down through Family Lines, You know, so there's there's certain
41:37
things that I would be able to accomplish with greater ease
41:41
than somebody else. And then that somebody else is
41:44
going to be able to accomplish things with greater ease.
41:46
Perhaps then I would be able to because of that inherited luck.
41:50
It's not the, it's not going to it's an again, it's not that I
41:54
am fated to be less great than somebody else, but the things
42:00
that have been passed down to me, Lay down in the well, in or
42:06
log or late, whatever you call it, whatever.
42:09
However, you pronounce it inherited through that and
42:13
special luck that coming year, Puts people in a better in a
42:19
position to accomplish those things.
42:21
It's not that we are fated to be less or more than everybody
42:26
else. It's, are you going to take
42:29
what's been given to you and Use that for your advancement or are
42:35
you just going to not even try? Or are you going to say, you
42:39
know, the hell with what I've been given?
42:40
I'm going to make it my time going to make things myself,
42:42
right? Because that's that's clearly a
42:46
thing that happens, right? Not everybody is that
42:49
everybody's Delta, great hand, you know, the things that that
42:53
some people get passed down to them.
42:55
Some of the things that get that they inherit our are pretty
42:59
crappy. And some people will use that as
43:04
you know, well and I've talked to some friends of mine in the
43:08
past at least over the years that have been like you know
43:10
what, this is just my lot in life.
43:12
This is just this is my fate I'm just gonna forever be a slave.
43:18
I'm forever going to be you know destined to just work myself to
43:23
the Bone. The only way that I'll be able
43:26
to get through. It is to, you know,
43:29
Self-medicate with through the use of whatever, you know,
43:33
substances to just numb myself, to the point of being able to
43:37
turn around, and do it again, the next day.
43:39
Until I just eventually expire I know people like that and it's,
43:47
you know, I have a really hard time.
43:54
I have a really hard time buying that stick, you know.
43:58
I don't think that Anybody is just automatically faded to suck
44:06
at life and be destined for disaster.
44:10
I think that some people have more going for them than others
44:14
and it's going to be more challenging and more of a more
44:16
of an uphill battle over a longer period of time.
44:21
But I firmly believe that we change our Fates to the to the
44:26
extent that what happens before in between of our birth and our
44:32
death day that we die is up to us.
44:35
We can make it as great as we want it or we can settle for,
44:41
just whatever it is and not do anything, you know.
44:48
And and, you know, looking at this question, that's posed.
44:55
Seeing some of the ways that the stories of the Gods play out,
45:00
especially the ones that involve Odin, he's always trying to
45:06
change his fate. He's hell-bent on changing.
45:11
The inevitable destruction that he's facing, right?
45:18
You know, so he's he's almost delusional when it comes to
45:22
that. If you think about it it's like
45:24
dude. It's going to happen.
45:27
Can't change it. Can't stop it.
45:30
And he's so mad and with the ability to try and change it,
45:35
that, you know, he's gone through very extreme methods in
45:41
order to do so. And I think that there's an
45:44
important lesson in that to write because you can, you can
45:47
go to hard in the paint. You can drive yourself into
45:52
this. you know, state of Madness.
45:59
It is. It's a state of Madness.
46:02
You know. No matter what you gift, no
46:05
matter the sacrifices that you make.
46:13
If that's what's been faded for you.
46:14
If that was, if that is what the norns have scored in the wood,
46:21
Then There It Is. But do we even know what that
46:28
what that particular thing is what is scored in the wood?
46:31
I believe that what is scored in the wood is you are born in
46:36
certain time and you die a certain time.
46:40
Now, there are could be an argument made that there are
46:45
things out of life of our of our immediate control, right?
46:49
You don't wake up one day and people just don't wake up one
46:52
day and, you know, accidents that happen of a tragic nature
46:57
that drastically change a person's life in a negative way.
47:03
Whether it be an untimely death or an injury or other sorts of
47:11
Catastrophic occurrences. I think that those things are
47:18
part of the Fate that is scored in the wood, right?
47:22
I think those are certain key things that have been put down
47:26
into the annals of history as it were for every living creature.
47:32
Every person. Every God, every man, every
47:33
woman, every child by the norns, but it's not that.
47:38
Well, because of this. Now you're just destined to Just
47:43
suck the rest of your life, right.
47:45
I think that those are things that are put in the mix along,
47:51
the way to present ones with the ability to be great, overcome
48:00
defeat the challenges, you know, The Christians have this you
48:07
know, mindset of you know God doesn't give you anything
48:11
greater than what he knows you can handle, right?
48:15
And people put that into a People get bitter.
48:21
You know, I've seen a lot of people in life.
48:23
Lose their faith in there. In their God.
48:29
Because of the challenges that have been put in for them.
48:31
Right? Well, if you know, if God was so
48:33
great, if God loved me so much, and why would he let this happen
48:36
to me, you know, yeah, I can't handle this, the screw that, you
48:40
know, they get better, they get angry, it's easy to put the
48:47
blame on a higher power and and to say, you know, why would you
48:51
do this to me? Can't you see?
48:53
I've already, I'm already struggling enough. maybe there's
48:58
something similar that's going on with a lot of us as pagans,
49:02
where we try to offset our The things that happen to us in our
49:09
life. We we try to take, we put the
49:11
blame off of ourselves not that there's, you know, not that
49:13
weird to blame but we we take the responsibility off of
49:18
ourselves of doing something about it, and we just blame some
49:22
higher power or some greater force of some unseen.
49:27
Power that that well, I guess this is just, this is what the
49:30
gods intended. This is what the norns decided.
49:35
I'm just destined to suck the rest of my life.
49:39
Oh well, you know how easy is it for us to get into that frame of
49:44
mind? How easy is it for us to just
49:46
lay down and be defeated? You know.
49:55
Life's not fair. Is it?
50:00
I don't think any one of us listening today watching today,
50:05
I don't think any of us are exempt.
50:09
From things that have happened in our lives.
50:12
Where we go. Yeah, I've had it easy or I've
50:15
never had it hard. I've never had it difficult.
50:19
I've never been tested. I've never been pushed to my
50:23
Breaking Point. I've never endured ordeal I
50:31
mean, if you can, if you can sit here today and say that I got
50:35
two things to say, one, just wait, it's bound to happen.
50:44
And two. You know.
50:50
Show me how to show me, how, how have you lived in such a way?
50:55
Teach me your ways because if you have lived any length of
50:59
time on this planet, you know, and have not experienced things
51:04
of a challenging way of of a Adversity of ordeal.
51:10
It has tested you as pushed you to your breaking point in.
51:15
If you're not there yet or if you have and you've made it
51:19
through, then I want to know I want to learn from you.
51:22
I want to hear what you have to say about ways of dealing with
51:26
that and working through that and overcoming it and not just
51:30
letting it. Be the thing that destroys you.
51:36
Because if you've got that kind of a resolve and you've got that
51:41
part figured out then so many people could benefit from that I
51:45
could benefit from that, you know.
51:48
Because once again it's an easy thing to do to just get to that
51:53
point and just give up you know or just be resorted to thinking
51:58
that there's nothing else for you to do you.
51:59
You've done all you can. It's it's It's easy.
52:08
But life is hard. Adversity breeds worth.
52:12
I've said it many times ordeal breeds worth.
52:16
This isn't something that I came up with.
52:18
It's not a phrase that I want to take credit for matter of fact.
52:24
For anybody that's listen to me for any length of time.
52:26
Knows the great amount of respect and admiration that I
52:29
have for Eric word, Weaver shervin, who was the over at the
52:34
Ravens call. He's got the YouTube channel,
52:35
the Ravens call, or that's his show, the Ravens call, he was
52:39
doing a podcast for a while. To I know a lot of things in his
52:41
life changed and he's not able to produce regular content much
52:46
anymore, but he's still doing things.
52:48
He still keeping you know, some connection with his Greater
52:52
Community and that was the one thing that, you know, I heard
52:56
him say one time is, you know, adversity breeds worth It's the
53:04
hard times that. prove our grit that that that really show what
53:12
were made of, you know, it's not in the easy times that we're
53:17
going to be able to You know. Prove how great or how worth we
53:24
are. It's in the worst of times, it's
53:27
in the hardest of times. It's in the it's in the mud, you
53:30
know, it's in the in the muck. So we have to struggle and prove
53:36
that we can get through it. you know, that's where that's how
53:43
people are remembered by, it's not.
53:45
You know what they did? That was easy.
53:46
It's what did they do? That was so hard that they made
53:48
it through in that, you know? That's, that's how people are
53:51
remembered. That's that's the fair Fame.
53:53
That is one that does not die. You have to earn it to work hard
54:00
for it and if the things along the way that get quote, unquote
54:05
scored into the wood that get decreed by the norns, you know,
54:09
that's not the end of it, you're not dead yet, right?
54:14
You still got a ways to go? You've still got steps to take,
54:18
you still got work to do and what's happening right now?
54:24
That's making it difficult. That's making it a Pain in the
54:28
ass. You know, you can either You can
54:33
either run from it. Or you can learn from it. and I
54:40
just I laugh because I remember growing up as a kid watching
54:44
that Disney movie, The Lion King, you know, and Simba ran
54:50
away He ran away from from his life that he was destined for
54:57
that. He was faded for because he was
55:00
pushed into a very catastrophic life-changing experience, right?
55:06
Uncle killed his father, he didn't know it at the time, but
55:09
his father was dead. The king is dead.
55:15
And he's a young prince, and what am I going to do?
55:17
And he's told they're just run away.
55:19
Because because people are going to think that you did it run
55:22
away. Run away from your problems.
55:26
Guess what? He had to come back and face it.
55:28
And that's that whole line where I see, you know, you can either
55:31
run from it or learn from it Rafiki.
55:33
You know, that old baboon that shows up there and was was was
55:37
with Simba from the day that he was born, you know?
55:43
and you know he's in there and Simba doesn't remember of but of
55:46
course, Rafiki remember Simba because he was there and he
55:49
smeared the gourd on his for he was there from the moment, the
55:51
kid popped out of, you know, his mom and Symbols like, you know,
55:59
hurts the past, you know, these memories, all these things, they
56:03
hurt. If he kisses yes, yes, the past
56:08
can hurt. But you can either run from it
56:12
or learn from it. So what are we going to do?
56:18
What are we going to do today after talking about UPG and
56:21
altars in Asgard and good gracious, man?
56:25
Like the gods are sacrificing to things that are greater than
56:28
themselves. I even saw a comment on the page
56:32
that said, look can we can we as it's a said something along the
56:37
lines of what can we can? We just agree that Odin is the
56:43
type to have had a altercation. Good for him to sacrifice to
56:46
himself. And I go, you're not wrong.
56:48
I mean, the guy, you know, gouged out his own eye to take a
56:53
drink from a well, he he, he hung from the root he hung from
56:58
yggdrasil for nine days and nights to receive the knowledge
57:01
of the runes as it were. And he, you know, during that
57:05
whole ordeal, he's pierced himself on his own spear
57:09
sacrifice of himself to himself. You know?
57:13
So somebody's like well the altars in Asgard Odin, probably
57:15
erected it, you know, just for his own.
57:18
To sacrifice to himself and I go.
57:22
That sounds like a really Odin thing to do.
57:24
But again, U PG and all right, we talked through it, we
57:30
analyze, we, we come up with some things and I think that
57:35
with it all, you know, one of the things, one of the I think
57:40
most important things to take away from this is There are
57:45
things greater than even the gods and the gods have
57:47
acknowledged that from, you know, if you want to, if you
57:51
want to take mythology and lore into the equation, if you want
57:57
to work that into the, to the mix of things, and we should
58:03
too. We should realize that there are
58:05
things by design that are greater than our perception of
58:10
the Gods, and who, and what they are.
58:12
And that they like, and us Us are all subject to that greater
58:17
force that greater thing that primordial Powers.
58:22
Those primordial Powers, you know, the things that have been
58:26
there. Things that are being manifested
58:31
now and the things that will be manifested its ongoing, it's
58:34
never-ending cyclical, right? So I'm anxious to hear what you
58:40
guys think. This was, this was again, not a,
58:43
not a very long planned in advance sort of thing because
58:46
this conversation stemmed from a chat that happened earlier in
58:50
this week, So thank you to the folks at the fireside chat that
58:55
I'm in. I won't go ahead and name names
58:58
just out of respect of privacy and people's lives but you're
59:02
going to see this hopefully and you know who you are.
59:04
So thank you to all those who were involved in this
59:10
conversation and this discussion and let me know what you guys
59:14
think. Let me know where your mind is
59:17
on this whole subject and where else you may have seen this
59:21
particular. Allure topic.
59:23
Come up. I know some other people along
59:26
the way have made reference to an author named.
59:29
I think he's a, he's either, it's either got a master's
59:36
degree or a doctorate. Neil price has a book called The
59:42
Viking Way. I believe, somewhere in that
59:46
book, he references may be something like what I'm talking
59:50
about. What's in the voluspa?
59:51
I haven't read it. Maybe you guys know anything
59:53
else? Anywhere else you've seen or
59:55
heard? I've seen some really
59:56
interesting comments pop up, that I can't recall off the top
1:00:00
of my head right now. But yeah, whatever you guys have
1:00:02
heard seen red, cite your sources if you don't mind please
1:00:07
because I would love to research it further.
1:00:10
You know. That's one of the things it's
1:00:12
like people say, well, I think I read somewhere one time about
1:00:16
this and they go off on and I'm like man, that sounds really
1:00:20
interesting. Can you give me a lie, because
1:00:21
how do Do you where do you go from that?
1:00:23
You just start googling words or you know asking questions I no
1:00:27
idea where to go with some of the some of the commentary that
1:00:30
I get on some of these things. So if you do mind, if you don't
1:00:34
mind, I should say. When you have a source that
1:00:37
you're going to try to reference if you could cite it.
1:00:42
So that way, myself and others can can do our own digging
1:00:45
because like I forget there was one particular thing that was
1:00:51
said that made me think, man, if you just had a source on that, I
1:00:54
would love to read more about it.
1:00:56
But here we are, we asked some questions.
1:01:00
We got some answers, had some dialogue, open it up to
1:01:04
everybody out here to listen and hear.
1:01:06
So yeah, let us know what you guys think.
1:01:10
I would love to hear your thoughts on it so that concludes
1:01:13
this week's episode of the random heathen ramblings.
1:01:17
If you do, like, what I do and you enjoy, and want to see and
1:01:20
hear more, be sure to like, or upvote this episode.
1:01:26
Share it around in your various communities, subscribe to this
1:01:30
Channel on YouTube, the midgard musings, YouTube channel.
1:01:32
If you're not yet already be sure to have notifications
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1:01:39
on all devices as well. So if you're a mobile user make
1:01:42
sure that your notifications for the app or turned on.
1:01:43
So you get notified every time that I Load new content because
1:01:48
I do short form content as well throughout the week.
1:01:50
When, and as I can, sometimes it's funny.
1:01:52
Sometimes it's educational. Sometimes it's a little bit both
1:01:56
but yeah, if you want to see and hear more, be sure to do all
1:01:58
those things. Thank you for listening and
1:02:01
tuning in to this week's episode until we talk.
1:02:04
Again May the gods continue to notice you and may your
1:02:08
ancestors smile upon you.