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Random Heathen Ramblings: S4, EP40 - Do We Serve The Gods? · Random Heathen Ramblings

0:02
Hello everyone and welcome to the Random Heathen Ramblings
0:05
podcast where we discuss all sorts of things Germanic heathen
0:08
re related. My name is Jesse, I'm your host.
0:12
Let's get into it. All right folks, How are you
0:40
doing? How is everyone doing this week?
0:43
Thanks for coming back in and hanging out with me for a little
0:46
bit this week to ramble on again as we do here every so often.
0:56
Getting my incense lit here. So y'all, just bear with me a
0:58
second. There we go.
1:03
Got a good show lined up for us today.
1:05
I think I've gotten a lot of feedback on the topic of
1:11
discussion for this week. So thank you all so much for,
1:16
you know, being engaging and and all that fun stuff on the
1:20
various social platforms that I shared the question or the topic
1:24
on really wasn't a question. It was, well, I guess it was
1:26
kind of a question, right? Because I was soliciting the
1:29
responses of everybody out here kind of see what you know is on
1:36
your guys's mind. So we're going to be sharing
1:40
some of those responses to to the topic this week, which is
1:49
are we in service to the gods, you know, or do we serve the
1:53
gods? And some of the some of the
1:57
things, some of the conversations that can circulate
1:59
around this particular topic specifically.
2:03
So we're going to be talking about it this week, and I'm glad
2:06
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I am coughing. Trying not to let this wacky
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North Carolina for the weekend to partake of the second annual
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readings for the month here while I am in Appalachia.
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All right. So it'll be kind of a special
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know, looking forward to that. So if you are again a Chieftain
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to your or above Patreon, on Patreon, you get a monthly rune
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draw. And I, I wanted to make this one
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special for you while I'm out here doing this very, very
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exciting retreat here for the year.
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So be on the lookout for that coming to your emails, you know,
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over the next few days or so. OK.
4:45
And another thing that I wanted to mention to everybody as well
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contained in there. But because we are approaching
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But I am running a sale or or or discount or promotion I guess
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So now until December 31st, which means if you go to my
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So you got until December 31st to redeem that code.
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So when you go there and you shop at checkout, use code Yule
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23, that's Yu LE2 3AT checkout to redeem your 50% off discount.
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I hope you guys enjoy that. Thank you always for your
6:32
support. And yeah, that's pretty much all
6:34
I wanted to to share with you is, you know, before we get into
6:40
this, this discussion about service and are heathens in
6:46
service to the gods, do we serve the gods?
6:52
And so I've been thinking about this and again, kind of
6:59
solicited responses from from people on various platforms.
7:03
I got some responses on almost everywhere.
7:05
But I'm going to kind of share with you guys different ones
7:08
from different folks, some of whom I know personally in my
7:11
life and and others who have I felt shared some really great
7:17
insights or or opinions, you know, because ultimately what
7:20
this comes down to, at least for this episode, I think is, is is
7:23
mainly just opinion, you know, UPG, if you want to call it
7:26
that. And there's really nothing that
7:28
I can determined for sure that definitively says that Arch
7:33
Heathens viewed the world in a way that suggests that they
7:38
adopted this idea of service to the gods in the sense that some
7:43
of us probably think of when we hear that term right.
7:48
As a matter of fact, one of the first things that I think I will
7:51
be sharing is is a comment from let's see here.
8:00
Yeah, this comment right here from the Wizard's Den Apothecary
8:06
and more on Facebook. I believe his name is Liam.
8:10
He's in the Pacific Northwest and he says that there is no
8:12
historical evidence of us serving the gods.
8:19
So I would, I would tend to agree with that and I mentioned
8:23
in the post that I shared you know last week about this or
8:27
earlier this week whenever I'm saying you know, doing some
8:30
research checking into it and I can't can't really find anything
8:33
definitive of that. That again suggests that Arch
8:36
Ethan's had this as part of their worldview idea, at least
8:41
on a larger scale, what we have in in terms of, you know,
8:45
historical source material that that supports the idea that they
8:48
were servants to their deities or service or servants to the
8:54
divine. Now I do just want to mention
8:57
with regards to that, that I think the answer and and and
9:03
whether it's the answer or a answer, you know, a singular
9:06
answer to are we servants of the gods?
9:09
Do we serve the gods? You know, I think that the
9:12
answer is a bit there. There's some duality to that.
9:14
I think that there are, at least to me, responses that would say
9:20
yes to some degree, and it's all.
9:23
There's also going to be some contingencies to that.
9:26
But and then then also, no, we are, we are not servants to the
9:29
gods. We don't serve the gods.
9:31
We're not in service to the gods.
9:33
Again, in in a sense that a lot of us may think of.
9:37
Now what do I mean by when I say, yes, we are or or or there
9:43
are maybe in in certain contexts, right, that we are
9:47
servants or in service rather to the gods or in any sort of, you
9:53
know, turn how you want to say it's as a servant to the gods or
9:55
in service to the gods, or what do I mean by that when I say
9:59
yes? So again, I think it goes back
10:02
to individual approaches and also to what degree you as a
10:12
person or we as people are acting upon in in in our
10:20
religiosity And the way that we approach this path, right, this
10:25
Pagan path, this, this this way, as it were, everybody's going to
10:29
be a little bit different and we're going to see some of that
10:31
and throughout some of the comments, right?
10:35
Matter of fact, I think, let me see here.
10:37
I think one comment that I'll share is it this one?
10:43
Nope. We'll come to that one soon.
10:45
I know you guys may have seen that, but this one, this one,
10:49
Richard Mccune, who I know in person and is a by all intents
10:54
and purposes a brother of mine. He is not heathen or Pagan in
10:58
the in the sense that he doesn't follow the same pantheon of gods
11:00
or worship in the same, you know, as I do.
11:03
But he is. He has partaken in ritual
11:06
together with me and and we've established a bond of kinship,
11:10
you know. But he says that he thinks that
11:12
it's up to individuals. You know, it should be up to
11:18
each of us when it comes to serving our gods and goddesses
11:23
and and how we do it and that there is no right or wrong way,
11:28
you know. And again I, I, I would say that
11:32
to to, you know, echo that rather that yeah, there there's
11:36
no right or wrong answer here. Right.
11:38
So if you're coming here and and you're expecting like a
11:42
definitive answer that yes we are or no we aren't, sorry,
11:45
that's not what this is about. This is just again, kind of
11:50
talking through some of the responses that the community
11:52
gave when I put that question out there.
11:57
And again some of my responses. So when I, when I when I say yes
12:00
and when I say, you know, to the to the degree that a person or
12:04
persons find themselves in their respective path, You know, I
12:11
look at examples of individuals who have, for whatever reason,
12:18
right, Whether it's been a calling that they felt through
12:23
their ancestors or whether it's some sort of omen that they
12:27
received. You know individuals are going
12:31
to rise to the occasion and find themselves performing tasks and
12:37
doing things that are in in in every sense of the word a
12:42
service. You know for the most part those
12:47
types of things that I'm talking about, whether it be you know
12:50
positions of leadership, right being gothis geethias.
12:56
The Chieftain chieftis right. Whatever position of of
13:00
leadership that you might idle, you know that you that you would
13:05
put to things like that. Those are positions of service.
13:09
You know you are serving first and foremost the people.
13:13
You know. When I look at or when I hear of
13:16
like titles like the Go, the you know, Gothar, Githya, right,
13:21
whatever male, female equivalent.
13:24
That particular title to me carries with it connotations
13:29
that you are not just serving the people, but that you are a
13:33
servant. In a way you are of a you are
13:35
less than the gods. You are not equal to the gods.
13:39
You are of service to the gods through the people, right?
13:43
There is a degree, There is a something about that position
13:48
particularly right, that elicits in me these these visions of a
13:54
server, right. Someone who is benevolent and
13:58
and holds in high regard the status of the divine, of the
14:03
sacred and that the things that they do are in service to their
14:06
people, service to their tribe, service to their kindred, what
14:09
have you, but that they are in a way, you know, providing service
14:15
to the gods. They are, they are that
14:18
intermediary party, you know what I mean?
14:20
They are kind of that connection between the divine and the
14:25
profane, the sacred and the profane, right.
14:27
When the people need connections to the gods, when there are
14:31
things going on with the group of people that you know, hey, we
14:35
need somebody to kind of be that point of contact.
14:38
That that person that, you know, Gopi and Gidya, what have you,
14:43
is in a position of service to perform that action and to be
14:47
that mediator, right. Not to say that the individuals
14:52
of the community, of the, of the tribe, of the group, whatever
14:54
the collective is that those individuals can't connect to the
14:59
gods in their own way. But that when it comes to
15:03
collective experience, when it comes to that tribal experience,
15:08
that there is this designated person, there is a person who is
15:11
designated to be that spiritual leader, as it were, right?
15:17
And then be that point of contact between the people and
15:22
the sacred. And so I think that, you know
15:27
there is connotations that suggest that you are serving not
15:32
just the people, but there, you know, you are of service to the
15:35
gods in that way. There's also I like to think of
15:41
you know like in some of the sagas you know I I I think it's
15:47
one saga where you know there's there's a guy who is a he is a
15:51
Frayer's go the Frayer's go thee Frayer's go thee rather and he
15:56
is a go thee to Frayer specifically you know at least
16:01
in that saga and so you you can't help but walk away reading
16:06
something like that or hearing something like that and going
16:09
why devote your life why have a devotion of your of your time of
16:13
your energy of everything to one specific figure of of a pretty
16:19
diverse pantheon of gods right. And other spirits as well, the
16:24
both, you know the the local spirits of the land and
16:28
ancestors and all that. But to be a go thee to be a
16:31
again that that that spiritual leader of a specific God or
16:36
goddess. Right sort of a priest or
16:38
priestess sort of role. Again, it kind of conjures up in
16:44
me these these ideas that to for whatever reason and to whatever
16:48
degree, you know, those individuals answered a calling
16:52
answer, a call of a position of service.
16:56
You know, And that's one comment that I want to share from Papa
17:02
Olufsen, who you guys know I've known for years and years.
17:06
This is this is as you're listening or watching this on
17:08
the podcast today. On on Thursday, I'm heading to
17:12
North Carolina for Fire on the Mountain with Papa and and
17:15
others, my tribe included, you know.
17:18
But he says that he thinks that we may be or that we may
17:23
dedicate our lives. Actually I'm going to do this
17:30
here real quick. Hold on me get myself organized
17:35
here a little bit. He is you know saying that he he
17:39
thinks that we dedicate our lives or a part of them to the
17:42
service of a deity, but that he doesn't believe that we are of
17:45
service to any of them. What could the divine want or
17:50
need for that we as humankind could provide in service?
17:55
Let's use Odin for example. I may dedicate my path on a
17:58
portion or or a portion to the noble, admirable ideas and
18:03
traits associated with the God. So I learn, teach, share, wisdom
18:08
and knowledge. But this isn't something that is
18:11
needed of Odin. So although a complimentary
18:15
gesture on my behalf, I wouldn't consider being of service to
18:24
that God. And I like that notion.
18:29
You know, I mean, I like the fact that again, we're talking
18:31
about being servants or being of service or or or holding a
18:37
position of service. But then when it comes to the
18:40
divine specifically, right, what use could they possibly have of
18:46
us? Because the way I see the the
18:50
gods, and the way a lot of other heathens may see the gods, is
18:53
that we are not equals, right? They are not our friends.
18:59
We don't approach them as friends.
19:01
We approach them with piety. We approach them with
19:04
benevolence. We approach them with respect.
19:06
We come into sacred space with again, that that, that
19:13
benevolent, pious approach. As a matter of fact, there were
19:17
times that if you did not kneel or did not bow or did not
19:22
prostate yourself on the ground as others would have when you
19:27
were entering sacred space, Sacred Grove, right there, are
19:31
there are documented sources that that the the result of
19:37
which if you refused or didn't do those things, you were
19:39
outlawed, you were cast out. This was this was something that
19:43
ancient civilizations, ancient peoples, these ancient tribes
19:47
looked upon as as very important, so much so that you
19:50
don't if you didn't do that, you were out, you were you were
19:53
outlawed at that point. Right.
19:57
And so with that in mind and again I'm gonna get, you know if
20:02
you don't see it that way this isn't, this isn't any like kind
20:06
of, you know, well you should. I'm saying that some of us do
20:09
and and and some of us don't. Right.
20:11
Clearly some of us out here. Some people out here.
20:15
Consider themselves at least close enough, equal to the gods
20:18
that they can talk to them as friends, right?
20:21
Or they they'll say such things as I I don't kneel before my
20:24
gods. I stand before them as equals.
20:26
I mean, hey, you do you Boo Boo. I'm not here to tell you that
20:30
you know one way or the other. All I'm saying is that for a lot
20:36
of us, we don't see the gods as equals to us.
20:40
We are not. We are.
20:41
We are. We are mortals in in the sense
20:45
that we are living profane space.
20:47
We are. We do not have the the the power
20:50
or the the the powers, the might, the main of the Divine.
20:55
We have our own might and main and we build and and we and we
20:59
do things to to increase and enhance our main.
21:04
But we are not divine beings. We are not we.
21:06
We do not exist in sacred space or time and so we are not
21:10
equals. And so in that context, right
21:15
you think right, well what could what could the profane offer to
21:18
the divine as a service, you know, beyond what they already
21:25
have. But to to, to his point, right,
21:31
we we are doing things that are a service to those around us.
21:35
We are doing things of service by learning more about the gods
21:38
perhaps. Right.
21:39
We are doing a service by honoring them, by, by being
21:45
cognizant of of the things that they are known for and and
21:48
sharing with our people those those types of characteristics
21:52
and ways. But what is it that we are
21:56
doing? Is it is, is it is it of any
21:58
service to the gods, you know. So there's another, there's
22:06
another few comments that I'm going to share here as well.
22:09
I think that kind of line up well with this who's who and and
22:15
this is another comment on Facebook and this is from Lynn
22:20
who says that we are absolutely in service to the divine.
22:24
And there is something to be said about holding power in
22:28
service to self or service to the divine.
22:32
Sacred service is life's true pleasure.
22:36
We need to serve the true divine.
22:43
Now that can go into some pretty heavy duty stuff too, right?
22:45
You're talking about philosophical ideologies and and
22:48
things that don't necessarily have a place in you know
22:53
traditional arch, even world views of of these these types of
22:57
things. You know, serving the true
22:58
divine and the divine within us and all these types of things
23:01
which I'm all about talking about too.
23:03
You know, I think that I think that there is a I've discovered,
23:11
you know, it's it's not just I think I've discovered this is my
23:13
truth. You know that there is a degree
23:16
of divinity in all of us and that it just takes time for us
23:20
to realize that, find that divinity within us and explore
23:32
that divinity within us. But it is, it is an act of
23:35
service. I think you know that.
23:36
I think there is an act of giving again in that, in that
23:43
sort of benevolent, pious sort of way that again conjures up
23:50
these ideas of of this isn't, I'm not just doing this or that,
23:54
you know, I'm not just behaving this way for my own good.
24:01
I feel like I owe it to you as the divine being that you are,
24:05
right, Right. I owe it to the gods, my luck,
24:08
my my fortune, my this, my that right.
24:11
I think that again these these types of things conjure up ideas
24:15
of we owe it to them whether it be through past religious
24:21
experiences prior beliefs. You know the baggage that we
24:27
carry with us going into new and and and other belief systems.
24:32
Right that they are that that that it that you know they are
24:38
owed our service. Right.
24:40
That we should give to them in thanks.
24:42
Right that we should do things. That we should dedicate our
24:45
path. We should dedicate our lives.
24:46
We should dedicate this. We should serve.
24:48
We should come into this as as a you know, idea of of I'm I'm in
24:53
service to you now but again I don't think it.
24:56
Look, I don't think it's the same thing as you know like
24:59
let's say you know the Christian world view on things.
25:06
You know, Chris here says it says it really well.
25:13
He says that it is a great question when looking at how
25:17
Christians view things view sorry view.
25:20
Being in service to their God usually exemplifies by their
25:23
actions in their community, to their family and at work.
25:30
Since Christianity nor any of the other Abrahamic religions
25:33
don't develop within a vacuum in our extensions of Middle Eastern
25:36
Pagan religions, which is also true, it's not unfathomable that
25:40
the concept of service to their gods ended up being filtered
25:44
down to today's monotheistic religion.
25:46
So from that context, context, is that really a bad thing to
25:52
consider within one's UPGI? Don't think so.
25:57
And ultimately, that's the beauty of paganism.
25:59
We have no strict dogma, but the ones we oppose impose sorry on
26:03
ourselves and not others via UPG.
26:10
Outside of the divine aspects, there are instances where we
26:13
find ourselves in service to fellow human beings.
26:16
We've talked about that earlier, sometimes voluntary and
26:19
sometimes involuntary. There's no need to get into the
26:22
worst case scenario, which is the involuntary.
26:26
The voluntary, however, is where great good comes from.
26:30
Such a such as being in service to the homeless at soup
26:34
kitchens, etcetera, right? There's even instances of being
26:38
in service to animals, such as animal rehabilitation,
26:40
volunteering at local shelters. The negative connotation of
26:42
being quote in service comes from the association with
26:47
Christian doctrine. Be in service to God or go to
26:50
hell or whatever. So yeah, there's like this
26:54
again, there's this the baggage, you know that that that comes
27:01
from other belief systems that we've arrived from.
27:08
You know, that that we either grew up being told or taught or
27:13
that we found along our way. You know that now that we're
27:16
pagans and and heathens and stuff that there's like, Oh
27:19
well, I need to adopt this idea or you know, or this concept or
27:23
this worldview and just change the mechanics of it.
27:26
But, but leave the the, the, the framework there.
27:35
But like Chris's point, you know, being in service to people
27:38
and being of service to people, you know, I think it goes back
27:43
to those arch, even world views of of of the you know, if if
27:48
you're not doing anything, if you're not doing work for the
27:51
community, if you're not, if you're not being a contributing
27:55
factor of that, of that collective, you're useless.
28:00
You're worthless. I guess is the better term.
28:02
Your your, your worth is now 0 and if you're not contributing,
28:08
if you're not doing anything, then you're of of little or no
28:12
worth. And so you might as well just be
28:14
outside of this inner inner yard structure of things, you know.
28:22
And that's where it comes down to is, is when I, when I always
28:25
go back to like how how I see Heathenry really working well is
28:28
at the grassroots level, right? You're you can experience these
28:32
types of things that we're talking about here today.
28:36
If all you're doing is is staying online and talking to
28:42
people on Facebook, groups, Discord servers, message boards,
28:47
comment sections, whatever, you can learn about all these
28:51
things. You can get a you can get a
28:52
really strong I guess concept of it through the discussions, but
28:57
there's no understanding of its of how it works if you're not
29:02
doing it. You know, I talk all the time,
29:06
all the time, but I talk enough of the time about what I'm doing
29:10
with my tribe and what the tribe is doing with us and and how we
29:14
have, you know, this thing coming up or we're going to do
29:16
this thing that or the other. You know, that's because we're
29:20
living it. We're we're we're breathing it.
29:22
We're behaving in in that way and it and it and it doesn't
29:26
override the day-to-day obligations and responsibilities
29:31
that we have in our own respective hearths and homes.
29:35
It's included in that. It's part of those things.
29:39
You know, we each have our own separate responsibilities and
29:41
obligations in our own separate huts, our own separate hearths.
29:48
But we also have shared obligation to one another that
29:52
we make sure to to fulfil as the tribe, you know and that it
30:00
comes down to being in service to one another.
30:03
You know, and and that's what I love about our, you know, my
30:08
tribe specifically is that you know, just because we have a
30:11
Chieftain, just because we have a goalie, just because we have a
30:13
fuel, you know none of us are running around here thinking
30:16
that you know, we're hot shit because we got this title.
30:19
The we have responsibilities and we have obligations that are
30:23
associated with those, quote UN quote titles, right.
30:26
Everybody has a job. Everybody has responsibility and
30:29
some of those responsibilities are more than others but they
30:32
are ultimately responsibilities to serve the people, right.
30:37
And just as small or big or however size that the the group
30:41
is, we are obligated to one another to fulfill those
30:47
positions. You know, the lead is to serve,
30:50
you know. So I feel like you know if
30:52
anybody is out here listening or watching this on the on the on
30:55
Patreon and you whatever. And you, you know you're
30:57
thinking of of maybe you're not a part of a group yet and you're
31:00
looking to become a part of a group.
31:02
And it's, you know, not in your, not in my area, but it's in your
31:06
area and you and you find a group and you know you've got
31:11
people who are, you know, trying to throw their weight around
31:17
because of a title. I mean be careful, you know, I
31:21
mean again there is, there is roles and responsibilities and
31:25
there are, there are customs and there are traditions and there
31:28
is ways that that need to be upheld and maintained.
31:30
And nobody should be out here just, you know, browbeating
31:34
people on on. You know you serve me now
31:39
because I'm your Chieftain and and you owe me your allegiance
31:42
and all this kind of funky stuff, you know, Sure the a lot
31:49
of tribe structures and ours included, will will show in in
31:52
their in their bylaws perhaps you know that you know when you
31:58
when you are coming into this tribe, you are you are oathing
32:02
yourself to the tribe and you're owing yourself to the Chieftain
32:05
much as it would be in ancient times.
32:09
But that oath is is a is a reciprocal oath, you know.
32:13
You know, yes, you may be oathed to this group, but that group is
32:17
now oath to you and there is a shared responsibility of service
32:22
to one another, you know. And that's where I think that
32:26
the the the lines change with service or serving the gods
32:30
versus serving the people. You know to what degree can we
32:36
really and truly enter into a a social contract like an oath
32:41
between the divine because again there is obligation involved.
32:46
You know we can say that if I don't fulfill this obligation,
32:49
if I fail to keep my oath and there is repercussion, there is
32:52
consequence. There are those kind of the the
32:57
wear Guild or the shield that needs to be paid for failed owes
33:01
you know owes failed to be kept or responsibilities and
33:05
obligations failed to be upheld between people.
33:08
That's easy enough. I I don't really see how that
33:16
works too well with with between the gods you know and we can set
33:22
that ourselves one sided but how are the how are how are the gods
33:28
expected to how are we how can we again have that relationship
33:33
between the divine when they are existing in their sacred space
33:36
and time. If it works super you, if you
33:40
had a, you know an experience if there's something that works
33:42
that you know for you and your and your practices say
33:47
otherwise, then you know who am I to disagree.
33:51
I'm just saying that under the the social contract that is what
33:56
I'm talking about between people that's tangible that's that's
34:00
manageable. You can.
34:01
You can run with that. Not really so much, at least to
34:05
my, you know, with with, with the the gods, with the divine.
34:13
Here's another one we got from from Jonathan, who says that he
34:16
believes that we pull our energy from the gods and in return we
34:22
give energy back to them, just as the eternal wheel is to keep
34:27
turning. We are in service to the gods
34:29
along with our ancestors, and they are also in service to us.
34:39
And it's interesting to hear people's you know, feelings,
34:43
right. And if you feel a certain way,
34:46
if you felt a certain way for so long and then if anything I says
34:48
causes you to think differently or change your mind, I would
34:53
encourage you, as I always do to you know, don't just abandoned
34:58
your, don't abandoned the thing that has worked for you for so
35:03
long just because now I said something right.
35:06
Give it time. Give it, give it its due
35:08
diligence to to spend time meditating on it if need be, you
35:13
know. But I don't.
35:15
Again I don't. I don't personally.
35:17
I feel again like it's service to the gods, service to our
35:21
ancestors, you know what I mean? Like again it's the reciprocity
35:29
thing. You know the the these are I
35:32
guess if you want to get technical about it there there's
35:35
you have to be in of a of a mindset to serve to to engage in
35:41
that gifting cycle right. Because you want to present a
35:45
gift you're you're you're kind of humbling yourself to the to
35:48
the gift recipient at that point.
35:52
But a gift ever seeks a gift in return you know so the cycle
35:55
continues in the end the gift that I give to someone in in in
35:59
to whatever degree right. They presented me one first and
36:03
I present them one again. You know it doesn't end there.
36:08
The the cycle continues. It's not like to me you know or
36:13
or maybe to to to a lot of folks, you know, when you think
36:16
of service as like this never ending give, you know, you're
36:21
always giving. You're always in this position
36:24
of giving and never the one to receive.
36:30
And that type of imbalance can can really skew things.
36:33
I think I've cautioned people before.
36:37
I've had to caution myself before about how much you give
36:41
right out of the goodness of and.
36:42
And there are a lot of people out here that you know are just
36:45
genuinely that good hearted to always want to be the one
36:48
giving, always be the one to provide either a service or or
36:54
friendship or you know, an ear to bend, you know, a shoulder to
37:00
cry on, right. Oh, you know if you ever need
37:02
anything you can always, you can always rely on me.
37:06
I'll always be there for you, you know, that sort of thing.
37:09
And I get the sentiment and I and it's a beautiful thing to
37:14
have, you know as as you know a trait to possess as a person is
37:19
to always be willing to to to be there in that capacity for
37:23
people. You know, I just think that it's
37:29
it's it's treading on on dangerous territory.
37:32
It's it's, it's, it's you got to be careful, you know, because
37:35
people will take advantage of stuff like that in a heartbeat,
37:39
You know, it will take the slightest, the slightest bit of
37:42
kindness, the slightest bit of generosity.
37:46
You know, the smallest amount of giving and they'll, you know,
37:53
they'll run with it. It's like that old story.
37:54
You know if you give a mouse a cookie, he'll ask for milk.
38:00
And if you give him milk, he'll ask for a bowl to put it in.
38:05
And if you ask for and if you give him a bowl, he's going to
38:08
ask for a table to set it on. If you ask, you know if you give
38:11
him a table, he's going to ask for a a room to set it up in and
38:16
give him a room. He's going to ask for a, a house
38:20
to build it around, so on and so forth, right.
38:23
You get the idea. It's and and unfortunately now
38:32
in today's world, that is the majority, you know, of what you
38:41
of what you get. You know, I've had people be
38:42
like, hey, man, you know, you think you could spare me this
38:44
thing, that or the other. And if I have it, I will.
38:48
You know, in many cases in the past I have.
38:49
You know what I mean? You got like, you know, 5 bucks,
38:51
10 bucks. I just needed something to get
38:52
me here and there. Like, yeah, man, you know, I'll
38:55
pay you back. And I never.
38:57
And that's The thing is, you know I never go back to those
38:59
people. Be like, hey, man, you owe me
39:00
that 5 bucks. You owe me that 10 bucks.
39:02
Where's my money? That kind of thing?
39:03
I'm not petty when it comes to that.
39:04
I'll be like, look, you know what you're asking me?
39:08
And I know that if you need it, then you need it.
39:10
And then if you're telling me that you're going to pay me
39:16
back, then I don't need to hold you that you need to hold
39:20
yourself to that. Because my luck isn't on the
39:23
line here at this point. I've I've done something out of
39:25
the kindness or the generosity of my heart and and in giving
39:29
you what you've asked for. But just realize that should you
39:33
fail to reciprocate, if you should fail to meet me back on
39:38
the level with it and then you want to come back to me and ask
39:41
for more again, I'm going to be like, I can't help you there,
39:44
man. You got one you know, can't help
39:47
you there. But so many people will will be
39:52
of that service or or or have that kind of servant mentality
39:57
or that or be of that service nature where they just, oh,
40:00
yeah, you need something. Oh, yeah, I got you.
40:02
Oh, yeah, I, I, I, you know, and they'll put themselves out for
40:08
the good of others. I think there's a fine line that
40:12
needs to be followed there too, you know.
40:13
You don't want to put yourself out so much for others that your
40:17
own inner hearth suffers because of it, you know?
40:22
You can't feed your family because you've given your last
40:25
dollar to your friend who is begging you for it.
40:29
Well, how good really, is that gesture then?
40:32
How you know? Shouldn't you be of service to
40:34
your nearest and dearest before your service to those outside of
40:38
that inner yard? I think so.
40:42
You know I wouldn't. I wouldn't if if my inner yard
40:47
was was needing of something and somebody outside of that inner
40:51
yard was also needing of something and they came to me
40:54
and said hey can you know that person outside?
40:56
Hey, can you can you help me? And I looked at my inner yard
40:59
and I said I need to tend to the.
41:01
I need to tend to the hearthfires first you know then
41:04
I would have to decline. So I'm sorry, I can't.
41:07
You have to find another way. So yeah, I think, you know when
41:14
it comes to, was there anything else that we were going to
41:16
share? Nope.
41:16
That was everything. We got everybody's comments that
41:19
I thought were worth sharing. If I didn't share your comment
41:23
or talk about your comment, please don't think less of
41:25
yourself for for sharing it. I do appreciate it.
41:28
But you guys can follow me on on you know, YouTube, subscribe to
41:32
my YouTube posts, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, you know,
41:37
wherever I shared it and wherever I post it you can see
41:39
more of those comments. But yeah, that's, you know
41:44
again, are we in service to the gods?
41:46
I don't think so in the in the sense that we don't come into
41:51
this path and now all of a sudden we are the gods demand
41:58
our fealty, the gods demand our service, right That now the
42:02
things that we do are somehow needing to be done to and for
42:07
them. I think the relationships that
42:10
we build between our people and the divine through bloat,
42:14
through ceremony, through ritual, through things that we
42:17
do on the day-to-day. I think that strengthens our
42:20
bonds and strengthens our relationships and enhances the
42:25
the the main of individuals, the main of the tribe, the luck of
42:32
individuals, the luck of the tribe are are increased and
42:35
enhanced through stuff like that.
42:38
But we're not like you know in the in in in the majority of
42:44
senses obligated to to do anything one way or the other
42:47
for the gods. Now again in the context of the
42:51
majority of people right I said earlier in the in the show are
42:54
you know yes and no are are you know do we serve the gods.
42:58
Some of us are in positions of closer service to the gods,
43:02
because again that that go the that give you whose job it is to
43:08
serve the spiritual needs of the people that they are tied to.
43:11
In that way I feel like they are of service to the gods for that
43:16
reason. You know they are that person
43:19
for whom the people can feel closer to the gods through.
43:22
Because they know that this person devoted their time,
43:25
devoted their life, devoted their existence to learning the
43:31
ways of tending to the spiritual health of their of their of
43:36
their kindred, of their tribe, of their people, you know, so
43:39
there's that connection there. And so I think those types of
43:44
individuals, those Gothico Geethia, what have you titles
43:48
that you want to put. I think that those people
43:52
probably out of everyone else that we're talking about would
43:55
be more inclined to feel like they were of service to the gods
43:58
and they would say things that would suggest that view.
44:02
I'm not a go thee myself, I don't know.
44:04
I'm just saying that's what I think.
44:09
And yeah, that is what I think. That is my opinion.
44:12
It is, again, nothing here about today's episode or any other
44:18
times that would, you know, tell you know, me to tell you that
44:23
you know, you should think the way I think.
44:25
This is just my opinion, right? This is just my thoughts.
44:27
This is kind of one of those episodes where we're not going
44:31
to be leaning too back, too heavily back on any historical
44:35
sources about stuff. This, this touches more on like
44:38
I think the UPG side of things, which are valid things to
44:41
consider as long as we're mentioning them and making clear
44:44
that that is what they are. And we saw a bunch of people's
44:48
UPG tonight, you know, different people, some of whom are not
44:50
even heathen themselves, sharing their thoughts on the matter.
44:54
And we saw responses that kind of touch on the spectrum of yes
45:01
or no or no, whether we are in service to the divine or service
45:04
to the gods and and all of that. So out of all of these things
45:09
and out of hearing all of the the responses or seeing all the
45:11
responses, if you hadn't commented already, if you have
45:16
any additional thoughts about this, I'd love to hear what you
45:19
think about it. So for you guys watching here on
45:21
Patreon, you know where to comment.
45:23
That's right down there below in the comments section of the
45:25
video for those of you that are listening, you can write into
45:30
the to the podcast. It's a Midgard Musings TN at
45:36
gmail.com and you can also call into the hotline that's
45:39
615-671-9832. You can leave a voicemail there
45:45
and share your thoughts. You can e-mail me or you can DM
45:48
me on any of my socials, you know?
45:50
So Facebook and Instagram, I can get message.
45:54
Well, yeah, I get messages on Instagram, but I don't use the
45:57
app. So those are those are going to
45:58
be slow to respond, but Facebook is definitely the quickest one
46:02
as far as social media platforms.
46:03
Twitter. You can DM me there too, but any
46:06
of those socials that you see in my link tree link that you want
46:09
to reach out to me on. I'll do my best to get back to
46:12
you, but please feel free to share your thoughts.
46:15
There will be a poll on the audio version of this podcast,
46:19
so if you are listening on the audio version, specially Spotify
46:22
specifically, check out the the poll and in Q&A sections of this
46:31
of this episode and engage there as well.
46:34
It helps with getting the the audio podcast out on Spotify out
46:40
to to more and more people. So I hope you all enjoyed
46:43
today's episode. If you did, be sure to upvote it
46:46
wherever you're listening to this on.
46:49
For those of you watching on Patreon, give it a like or a
46:53
heart react. Whatever the thing does now, I
46:54
think it's a little heart react now, but yes.
47:00
Once again, Chieftain, tier and above patrons on Patreon.
47:02
Be on the lookout for your rune reading for the month, for the
47:07
for the previous month here, coming up in the next few days
47:10
while I am in Appalachia in North Carolina for the fire on
47:13
the mountain retreat and until we talk to each other again.
47:19
Thank you all so much for your support.
47:20
May the gods continue to notice you and may your ancestors smile
47:25
upon you. See you guys next one.