Uncle Thor's Lessons, Anecdotes and Humor

Were the Fe Rune to have a motion, it would be meandering and dissipating. I mean this in the sense of breaking off into smaller bits and wandering apart aimlessly. Fe needs to be controlled, corralled and directed. On its own, it will meander and scatter. This is not the scattering of Hagal, which is more focused. This is a slow scattering that spreads apart until nothing is left.

This is common in livestock. If the cows get outside the fence, they tend to wander until the herd is split into little clumps. The same happens to groups of subordinates. Soldiers are the Fe of an army. The troops have to be led and supervised. This is why armies have a regular training schedule. Without a task or supervision, soldiers tend to wander off. Just ask any NCO.

Fe has to be maintained, controlled and directed. It cannot be left to itself. If you leave it on its own, it may not be there when you get back.

Assets have to be managed. Money has to be invested. Livestock has to be corralled. Workers and soldiers must be supervised. The point is that Fe cannot act alone. It needs care and direction. Used wisely, assets bring benefits many times over.

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Fe is both the cattle and the milk they produce, just as it is the chickens and the eggs they lay. Since ancient times, various means have been used to preserve milk. Cheese is one such method. Many older forms of it keep well. It is easier to transport and trade than raw milk. Making cheese also tends to increase its value.

The same goes for eggs. Various products can be made from eggs. These products are more valuable than the eggs themselves.

Eggs and milk are like many another investment. They come in their own time. Attempts to rush them do no good. I am reminded of the tale of the Goose that laid the Golden Egg. Impatience can destroy a good thing. For anyone who wants to learn how to benefit from the Fe Rune and all that it represents, get a handle on the lesson contained within the tale of the Golden Egg Goose. I have seen people kill opportunities by sabotaging their source of good.

Much of the good we enjoy comes at a pace rather than in a single windfall. It flows our way as a stream rather than a tidal wave. Patience and an appreciation of the source of good are essential if we want to keep it coming. An appreciative person will maintain that source any way he can. A person who is hasty, greedy or disdainful of his source of good is likely to lose it. I have seen that happen, too.

We do not all win the lottery, hit the jackpot or discover the treasure hoard. For most of us, our good increases gradually. Patience lets it happen. Appreciation assured that it will keep happening.

Johnny Cash wrote a song about an inmate whose crime was to kill a person just to see someone die. Cash explained that he wanted to portray the person as doing the most evil thing possible. The sad fact is that there are thrill-killers who are little different than the man in the song. Serial killers and street gangsters come to mind. There are also bizarre cases such as Leopold and Loeb who murdered as part of a supposed philosophical experiment.

Aleister Crowley and several other esoterocists had advised forays into wrongdoing under certain circumstances. Some teach it as a means to throw off the old concept of right and wrong, or to separate themselves from an old moral code or religion. Several of them make convincing arguments. However, when examined in the light of simple, unvarnished reason, such advice is seen as horribly flawed. It either promotes a rebellious attitude or provides justification to those who have criminal impulses. For instance, telling the person with larcenous tendencies that stealing would promote his spirituality is like handing a loaded pistol to someone with suicidal tendencies.

By the time we are eight years old, we know enough of right and wrong. We know what things are wrong and why they are wrong. Most wrongs do someone harm of one sort or another. It may be physical harm or harm to their property. The wrong may deprive them of some good or cause them distress. Whatever the result, we know that things that hurt others are wrong. That being the case, how can a search for spiritual growth or a religious experience justify injuring innocent parties?

There are rare occasions when harm is necessary. One is the defense of another person and another is action against the enemy in time of war. There are also self-defense and self-preservation. These are all extreme circumstances.

What lessons would wrongdoing bring? As someone who had done his share of mischief in his younger days, only one thing comes to light. The lessons are all reasons why not to do wrong.

Doing wrong just to prove a point is a dangerous thing. It means crossing a line. Once crossed, it is easier to cross it again especially there are no unpleasant consequences. Even if one is not caught, he might feel regret for harm he did to someone else. Guilt is another thing, not to mention the fear that one may eventually get caught. There are people who spend many years “looking over their shoulders” in the aftermath of an otherwise successful crime.

And what if one does not get caught, either by the authorities, those who are wronged, or his own paranoia, guilt and regret? He may very well try it again, or take a chance on doing some other unfortunate act. Maybe it is the feeling of impunity or the thrill of doing it just for “kicks.” A weird thing about persistent wrongdoing is that the longer you get away with it, the worse it will come back on you later. For instance, a fellow who gets caught later than sooner may face a larger penalty. This might not be true all the time, but it happens often enough to be noteworthy.

I had done my share of wrong back in the bad old days. The whole experience is why I can tell the difference between right and wrong. More important, this is real right and wrong as opposed to a set of theological or philosophical or even societal right and wrong.

For someone to intentionally do wrong so as the gain the experience is unproductive. There is no lesson to learn by that approach. My best advice is that if you never did it before, don’t start doing it now. And if you are doing it now, stop!

There is another level of right and wrong that involves higher principles. It is a placed from which we can ask questions that go beyond the usual good and bad. We ask if something normally good can be bad, or if something normally wrong can be right. For instance, is one being kind if his actions enable another to continue an addiction? Is there a time when the right thing is the thing that seems meanest? Can love and kindness kill? Or might we say that there might be a time when the truly kind thing is the mean thing?

I have experienced this dealing with people in the throes of addiction and other self-destructive patterns. The usual kind thing often enables them to continue their wrongful actions. These will eventually lead to their demise if left unchecked. The thing that saves them, or at least slows the process of addiction, is to refuse them what they want. Perhaps letting them suffer without our help will be the thing that motivates them to seek help. At the very least, it limits the victims by one. The person who refuses to help an addict feed his behavior is not another victim of the addict’s illness.

Things get very tricky when it comes to love. For instance, is there a time when the right thing is to cheat on one’s committed relationship? In a monogamous relationship, is such a thing ever justified? There are as many answers to this as there are attitudes toward committed relationships. Each must find his own way. To be fair, each already knows what rules apply to his or her own relationship. Our modern times have added new factors to some relationships. Along with traditional commitments, we come across such things as open marriages and swinging. I believe we each know down inside which of these are right for oneself and which are not.

Then there is the problem of sex as a bargaining chip. If one spouse refuses the other sex, whose fault is it if he or she decides to find satisfaction elsewhere? There would be no cheating if there was no use of sex as a weapon. Whatever blame can go to the offending spouse, the plain fact it is that the one withholding sex who started things rolling. Without that provocation, cheating would have been unlikely. There is also the problem of whether the other spouse is seeking sex out of need or because he feels he can get away with it under these circumstances. On the other hand, can a spouse justify cheating if the sex is not being refused by choice, but the other spouse is sick and cannot provide?

I mention these things because they illustrate how issues of right and wrong can be very complex. There is no one answer that fits everyone. Each must use his own discretion to make the choices that are right for him. That can get very tricky when it involves relationships. (My goal here is not to promote a specific morality, but to look at some of the factors that make moral decisions difficult.)

Monotheists tend to think that wrongs require some kind of compensation. They incur a spiritual debt, according to their doctrines. One version of their favorite prayer reads “..forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors…” Christianity implies that the wrongdoer must buy off guilt through some kind of penance. As they regard all wrongs as spiritual offenses, the monotheists feel that lapses in behavior incur a spiritual debt. Perhaps it is a divine fine. It certainly gives a new twist to the phrase “sin tax.”

Heathenism does not regard wrongdoing as a spiritual offense. The idea of debt or owing a God is as alien to us as the twenty-seventh asteroid southeast of the Planet Pluto. There are wrongs that might require making amends to the victim. One may need to make financial restitution or take some other action to right the wrong. However, most wrongs do not incur that kind of responsibility. There are many cases where amends are not in order. In a few, amends seem nice, but they would be impractical. We cannot go on a penitent mission of making amends for every ill deed and unkind word. The only necessary thing to redress wrongdoing is to stop doing it.

I think of a couple of cases involving persons who had fooled around with their siblings’ spouse. The mischief stopped, the affair ended and all was well again. To confess or offer amends would cause more harm. The siblings had no idea that it happened and the spouses had cleaned up their acts. A similar case was a fellow who diddled around with his wife’s best friend a few times. The dalliance ended and things went back to normal. Had the wife not known, nothing would have come of it. Instead the man felt guilty and told her everything. He also ratted out her friend. You can imagine the trouble that came of it. His wife would have been happier had she not known of it.

Another case was a fellow who had pulled a few crimes. He felt guilty and decided to turn himself in. Fortunately, he mentioned his plan to someone who was wiser. The friend told him that he had a responsibility to his family first. There was no need to turn himself in, as nobody else was blamed for the wrong. Assuaging his guilt that way would deprive his children of a father and his family of an income.

It all comes down to the main thing: stop doing the wrong. The Heathen view is that wrongdoing does not incur a burden of debt or a need for penance. Even if a person wants to repair the damage, he might not be able to do it without hurting someone else. Amends might be justified in a few cases, but even then, they are no good if they hurt someone else. The main thing is to stop the wrongdoing. Penance is not our way. Positive change is the Heathen way.

People will strive very hard when there is a good, solid reward for their efforts. What happens if there is no reward, or worse, if winning feels lousy?

I have mentioned this one adventure before. Many years ago, a pregnant ex-girlfriend came and asked for my help. She was alone and in a pretty sad situation. The whole thing started with my getting her to the hospital. Things snowballed from there. I decided to get her through her troubles, which seemed at the time to be of relatively short duration. I figured a month, at most. Ha! It lasted on and off for over a year.

This was the kind of situation where there was nothing for me to gain. There was no prize, no reward. It was just a thing that happened and no matter how it came out, I had nothing to gain.

My family – adoptive, not blood – heard of it and decided to offer their unwanted advice. They advised that I drop the whole thing. I did not heed their advice and frankly, I thought the worse of them for it.

When the thing ended, the ex-girlfriend was on her feet and able to take care of herself. The child was okay. I was out a good amount of money throughout this adventure. At the end, the ex-girlfriend and I were barely on speaking terms. I did not get as much as a thank you. I may have helped keep mother and baby out of trouble and get them to the place where they were okay, but there was no victory here. I was well aware it might end that way when I started out.

I went on to the next thing and put it behind me. It was only later that I realized the importance of not winning. There is a spirit of winning to gain a goal or get recognition. There is also a spirit of winning that has no benefit to oneself whatsoever. It is easy to take on a quest when there is tangible benefit, the favorable recognition of others or both. But what of striving to succeed in an endeavor when the end is likely to get neither? Is that somehow more worthy? Does the absence of a benefit to oneself make the endeavor a better one? I wondered about it.

This is not the only episode where succeeding had no merit other than success. It is one of the few that I can explain briefly. In effect, one gets the desired result but comes up worse for it. Such things have given me much to ponder.

The Japanese Zen archer shoots according to a precise routine. He focuses more on the routine than his aim. Thus, doing a perfect routine is the goal and hitting target comes second. One might equate hitting target with getting a reward. The emphasis is not on reward but doing the task properly. It is a loose analogy to striving but not gaining a reward. This is not the same as losing. Even so, I call it “losing to win.”

The thing that is important is not the end, but the reason. You may have heard the saying “Doing the right thing is its own reward.” That is a cheap saying. There is a reward for some who like to think they are a good guy for doing a good thing. They get to think themselves a wellspring of righteousness. People will go to great lengths for that warm, fuzzy feeling.

The issue of rewards and warm fuzzy feelings is not the point. The point is being the right person and doing the right thing because it needs to be done. There is no reward here. It is simply being the person who does right. When folks do right because they seek a reward, recognition or the feeling that they are wonderful, that is okay in itself. However, those who do right even if it means feeling lousy afterward are people who are truly emulating the Gods. These people partake of that same divine essence because they are doing right by virtue of being right. This is not to say they are perfect or right in all things. A matter of being human is that each of us is more right in some things and less so in others.

One thing that can ram home the truth about being right is losing. There are occasions where one can be right and do right and still not prevail. The point is that many of the situations we have discussed come with a fair chance of losing. Otherwise, there would be no issue. Doing the right thing is a choice made despite the odds of success or loss.

We have to consider another aspect of right and action. Monotheism teaches its people that doing right extracts the benevolence of their God. They gain a spiritual commodity known as “grace” plus other benefits, according to their doctrine. Grace is a confusing thing. Some Christian sects treat it like a spiritual currency. In other words, grace might be the Fe of Christendom. This stuff can supposedly buy forgiveness and even buy a better place in the afterlife.

Any way you cut it, earning grace works like gaining profit. While it may appear to be a side product of doing the right thing, it is nonetheless a reward. To those who believe in it, gaining grace is gaining a spiritual commodity, whether that is the favor of the God, assuaging guilt, buying forgiveness or gaining a better place in the afterlife.

When Christians talk of a person doing a selfless act in secret without reward, they are not exactly correct. Maybe no human person is looking, but they believe their God sees all. They also believe that in some way or other, their God will reward all good acts, be they selfless or not

For a Heathen to talk of the same thing means a very different set of spiritual circumstances. Many of us believe the Gods see all. They do not offer a spiritual commodity such as grace. Unlike the Christians, we cannot save up Divine favor in some Astral soul-savings bank. Our secret acts of well-doing may be seen by the Gods, but we do not gain grace or any other special favor. Wyrd holds the ultimate payoff.

In the end, Right is not always rewarded and need not be. Accepting a reward is fine if one is offered. It has more merit if none is offered nor expected. Equally so, if no reward were expected but one was offered afterward, the intention was greater because of no expectation.

One may ask himself: “Am I doing this because it is right or is it because of the possible gains I can get?”

The issue is not going to be settled in a brief discourse. It is far deeper and deserves far more reflection by each individual. Herein we find truths about ourselves. We also see the contrast between Heathen attitudes of Right and those of the monotheists. Consider these many things.

Most of you know that one of my favorite sayings is”: “Life is Unfair.” I find it a very liberating thing. In my life prior to age 35, there was very little that could be construed as fair. Being adopted into a family of dysfunctional morons was just the beginning. I leaned at an early age what it was like to be hated just for existing. Life is unfair. And on that note, there is the other half of that tale. I became better than my upbringing and better than the cretins. The harshest test was a harrowing and lengthy adventure from which I could just have easily walked away. At the center of it was someone for whom I felt responsible and who needed my help. The so-called family heard of it and advised that I get away from it. The idea of cutting and running on someone who was virtually helpless was repugnant to me. It is repugnant to most people. That was the last piece of evidence I needed to realize that despite the unfair circumstances of youth, I had become a stand-up man. That family who raised me would only stand up if it meant no risk and no effort. If it cost anything, had any chance of causing trouble or if it required more than minimal effort, they found an excuse to weasel out of it. Even worse, they believed their own excuses. Thankfully, they are all out of my life and have been for several years.

I have dealt with a lot of unpleasantness in my life. The chances are that you have, too. That is just an occupational hazard of life on Earth. Things happen for good or worse. Right now I am getting hit with a different kind of problem. I had a heart attack a few years ago. It took its toll and changed the way I live. However, it was a manageable malady. The changes were no problem and the adjustments were not so big, in the greater scheme of my life. That would have been it except that another round struck. Last Winter I was in the hospital on two occasions for work on the heart. They were only overnight stays, but still not my idea of fun.

In November, I discovered I have an additional problem: blood sugar. Part of this new problem requires poking a hole in my finger every day to test my blood. There is also a change in diet. I was just getting used to that when the next thing came. I had a test of my carotids about the same time. That led to my having to take a Cat scan, which revealed that one of them is 70% blocked. Next month I see another specialist. I got that news two day after New Years Day.

For many years of my life, I was able to get by medically with ditch medicine and spellcraft. I was able to stand and do the needful things, even if I were sick or injured. I could live on Coca Cola and Saltines for days when things were moving fast and I had neither time nor opportunity to grab a decent meal. There were times I was called out in the middle of the night to help get someone to the emergency room. A couple of times I spent all night talking down some confused soul who was ready to commit suicide, and then go from there straight to work. The cure for exhaustion was a few cups of coffee. Any injuries or such were easily handled with a few bits of guerrilla medicine or a good spell.

This stuff I am facing now are not treatable with the usual assortment of field medicine and home-made potions. Spells may help, but so far they have not knocked these problems out. This is the new monster and I do not like it. As they say, better a devil you know than on that you don’t.

It comes down to one thing: a new battle. I am facing a fight I do not know on a battlefield that is not of my choosing. That is nothing new. I’ve done that before. New troubles in an unknown arena are not formidable when one takes these thoughts. Here is some advice if you have come into a new and unknown situation that is causing you a problem:

You are not responsible for the problem. You are responsible for the solution. You have to deal with it regardless of how you ended up with it.

Believe that as bad as things appear, there is a way through them. You may not like the journey you have to take or the things you have to do to get through. However, if you keep at it, you will get through. You might not emerge in the same shape as when you entered, but you will emerge. Once you get through, you will have opportunities to make it better.

Don’t be stupid.

Keep to the goal of getting through. Do not get sidetracked and do not surrender.

Use common sense. Think before you act.

Change is inevitable. You can cry about the change or you can adjust yourself to it. Adjust, adapt and improve.

Blame is a game you cannot afford. No matter whose fault it may be, you are the one who is dealing with it. Put the focus on yourself and your efforts. Blame can come after all is said and done.

No matter how bad you think you have it, someone has gone through it and someone else has had it worse. Life is unfair. Like it or not, but it’s your ball of wax and you have to deal with it.

These things are drawn form my experiences of getting through other crises in life. The plain fact is that life is tough and you have to get on with the business of living. Where there is life, there is opportunity. The only time it all goes down the tubes is when you draw your last breath in this life on Earth. Until then, live triumphantly!

Christianity has a concept known as sin. In it, any wrongful act or thought a person can do is also a spiritual wrong. In effect, it is considered a personal offense against their God. Sin accrues a stigma. It is spiritual corruption, according to Christian doctrine.

According to the sin lore, sin comes of two things. One is a sin that a person commits by actions, words, inaction or thoughts. The other is one that comes before birth. It is called original sin. The myth of Christianity traces the lineage of original sin to its first man and woman, Adam and Eve. They committed the first sin and it has been inherited by humankind ever since. At least, that is the religious doctrine.

Original sin must be erased by a different process than that used for practical sin. Much of Christianity believes that baptism erases the stigma of inherited sin. Baptism is a rite of purification that involves water. Some sects pour a little on the head and some dunk the whole person into a pool, lake or river.

Here is where logic flies out the window when it comes to these people. The fulcrum of their belief is that their God is the deity of the entire Universe. It is perfect, infallible, all knowing and all wise. As such, it can create no imperfection. That being the case, then how did they get original sin? Sin is a blemish and an imperfection. How can this perfect deity create a being capable of sin? If this perfect being creates only perfection, then from whence could come sin?

Christians believe that life in this realm is a test for the afterlife. Those who sin go to a fiery punishing place they call Hell. Those who please their God go to a place of bliss called Heaven. They believe that immediately after death, there is a judgement passed by their God. That is ridiculous if you take it in context of their beliefs about their deity. If a perfect God created people, why make them so they have flaws? Why make a malfunctioning product? Why make them so they have to be tested? None of this is reasonable. Human inventors and scientists have to test their products. They try not to include any flaws in the mix. A God who could make a flawless product would not have to make it earn its place.

Heathenism makes no claims of perfection or imperfection. Life unfolds and goes where it will. By that reason, perfection versus imperfection is irrelevant to our appreciation of the Gods, our own nature and the Universe in which we abide. Our acceptance of the inexorable force and principle known as Wyrd settles any notion of judgment, rewards and punishment. Life is not a Western movie where the hero gets his reward and the villain goes to prison. Life is balanced by Wyrd. Matters of good, bad and otherwise are resolved in their own way.

At the end of the day, we are free of the game of “our God is greater than your God.” We are also free of such bizarre concepts as sin, atonement and penance. Knowing that this plane of life is as spiritual as any other, we know that the spiritual solution is a practical solution.

There is no stigma attached to us by being born. Superstitious concepts such as original sin are as alien to us as the twenty-seventh asteroid southeast of the planet Pluto. We are good as we are. We are worthy. We can stand tall before our Gods. Groveling is for those who do not understand the benevolent nature of divinity. Heathenism stands proudly. We understand.

In the ancient times, rites and ceremonies were not isolated. They were held as part of a larger event. There was always a meal afterward. At large events with many people, animals were butchered just prior to cooking. Naturally, this meal was as much a part of the event as the rites. As such, butchering the food animals came under religious auspices. It was done differently than normal butchering because of the added religious element.

The availability of refrigeration and other methods of food preservation has freed us from the need to butcher our own animals. We acquire our meat from the supermarket and butcher shop. As the Gods are spiritual beings, they do not need us to sacrifice a living animal. That all started as a way to bring the first step of food preparation into the religious ceremony. Over the centuries, the sacrifice may have become something else, but its original intent was to bring all phases of the larger event into a religious context.

We do not need to harm animals to get the Gods’ attention. Granted, some folks like to butcher a hog prior to a pig roast. If they want to add religious significance, so be it. That does not change the intent for the animal to serve the people as food. Sacrificing animals just to accommodate some bizarre sense of spirituality is ridiculous. There are religions that do it. Ours ought not be one of them. The need to butcher an animal at the beginning of a religious event has long since passed.

Today, the very word sacrifice has accrued an implication that one is somehow depriving himself for a religious purpose. Whereas the old sacrifices were prelude to sharing food, the current interpretation is one of depriving oneself of a thing as a gift to the deity. It comes from the JudeoChristian tradition. Self-denial and self-mortification are part and parcel of that tradition. They are among the means their adherents use to conform to their belief of unworthiness. Such things also feed their doctrines of penance, sin and atonement. Jews and Christians believe that self-deprivation is a sure way to atone for their concept of “sinfulness.” Contrast this with the Heathen belief that dealing with wrongdoing means stopping the problem and replacing it with the solution. Penitence does not solve anything. Positive action does.

A Heathen sacrifice is more symbolic than anything else. Once one gets past the idea of Gods as great big magickal men and women who live in Astral throne rooms, reason indicates that superior spiritual beings do not need anything from us. Our sacrifices do not prosper or empower them. Sacrifices do more for us. The act can make us feel more connected to the Gods. For instance, my wife and I use a variant of the old Nine Coins sacrifice. The traditional sacrifice was to cast nine copper coins into a waterway as a symbolic gift. We save our pennies for the year and then go out and cast them into a waterway connected to the ocean. There are many other simple sacrifices, such as casting a gingerbread man or a cookie into the ocean. They are symbolic and they are effective for some people.

Does the needless suffering of an animal honor the Gods? No. Does self-inflicted suffering or self-denial or other self-imposed discomfort benefit the Gods? No. Does humiliating yourself impress them? No. Joy, happiness and gratitude are a welcome expression to the Gods. Expressions of well-being honor the Gods. Acts of unworthiness do not.

Our Gods are vastly superior. They are also supremely confident. They are well aware of how we stand as compared to them. They do not need to rub our faces in the fact that we are the lesser. Being superior and secure in everything, the Gods do not regard us as unworthy. We are not worms. If the Gods wanted us to act like worms, they would have made us worms. We are worthy and worthwhile in the eyes of the Gods. As such, our sacrifices are symbolic gifts that recognize our good relationships with the Gods.

Think of it this way. Do those who love you benefit when you are hurt or needy or feeling worthless? Do they gain something by it? If they really love you, then the answer to both questions is a resounding NO! So why would it be any different with the Gods?

Human civilization is an evolving thing. Our present society has changed and improved over the centuries. Ironically, it did this in spite of religion. The Christian churches opposed many of the things we accept today. Empirical science and secular governments were condemned by the churches, for example. The idea of a government in which the church held no power was abhorrent to the men of religion. If you think about it, many of the things accepted in our society today would have come much sooner had the dominant religion been Heathen.

Part of growth means discarding that which is useless or counterproductive. It also requires changing the way our institutions operate. The world of our Heathen ancestors was very different from that of today. The needs and factors affecting their lives are different from ours. Civilization has adapted to accommodate the changes from a rural, regional civilization to a national one that has international connections.

Heathenism has to address the conditions of today. We cannot expect to succeed in modern conditions by using the solutions of a bygone era. The conditions of the last Heathen society are extremely different from those of today. We can succeed using the same principles as our ancestors, as the underlying principles never change. What changes is our application of them.

Our society is specialized. It requires individuals with special knowledge and skills far more than that of our Migration Era ancestors. Back then, most folks used the same basic set of skills depending on their region. Coastal folks were fishermen. Inland folks were farmers. The average fisherman knew all the skills of his trade, and the same with the farmer. Things were simpler.

As our technology became more complex, so did our need of specialists. We see it today in the many occupations which require some degree of training or skill. Brickmasons, plumbers, carpenters and electricians are all specialties in their own right. We also have such varied trades as stock brokers, policemen, research chemists and typesetters. These trades were nonexistent in the Migration era.

I recently came across a modern example of specialization requiring changes in the way things were done. Back in the days of sailing ships, most of the crewmen were sailors. Specialists were few. Along with the captain and navigator, there might be a ship’s carpenter, armorer, chief gunner and ship’s surgeon. The rest were sailors. The coming of steam-powered iron ships required more specialists.

The Navy occasionally had to get armed men on land to complete a mission. The small contingent of marines carried aboard ship might not be a large enough force. A common practice in most navies was to issue sailors with infantry weapons and organize them into companies. They would act as temporary infantry.

At Veracruz in 1914, that is just what the Navy did. After all, it worked in the days of sail. The problem was twofold in the era of steam. For one thing, modern naval vessels require many different kinds of specialists. Arming the sailors meant depriving the ship of essential personnel. Whole crews of specialists were requires to operate the boilers and other essential shipboard systems. Secondly, infantry methods had also become more specialized. Men not trained fully as infantry were at a disadvantage in infantry operations. Both sea and land combat had become specialized to the point that arming bluejackets was no longer practical. The Navy managed to take Veracruz with bluejacket infantry, but it called in the Army to take over the ground situation as soon as possible.

The roles of ancient Germanic and Viking society were appropriate in their time, but most do not carry over to ours. Take the waging of war and public safety. The local war chief has been replaced by the police chief and the state’s National Guard commander. The fyrd, or ancient militia, has been replaced by the organized units of the National Guard and Reserves. The war chief’s full time warriors have been replaced by the standing Army and the police department. One unit does not do two things. Where the local fyrd may have been called to handle a military invader or a bandit problem, those things now require specialists. The army and militia handle military things while the police force takes on criminal matters.

Heathenism has to take account of the specialized occupations of our current world. We need to adapt our principles to effectively dealing with our times and the things that matter in our lives. Our future involves science, space exploration, improved technology, computers and so many other things that were beyond the ken of our ancient ancestors. The telescope and electron microscope are the special tools of our civilization, much as the blacksmith’s bellows and tongs were specialist tools of theirs.

Again, once again, we need to remember that the right solution to the issue of faith is to put our faith in reason. History shows that the greatest success is a matter of applied intelligence. It is not the hardest worker or hardest fighter but the smartest worker and smartest fighter who prevail. The last of the Pagan and Heathen cultures emphasized the use of reason over faith in superstition. We need to make the same commitment to reason as we deal with the things of this place and time.

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The truest worship is in action.

We honor Odin when we use wisdom.

We honor Tyr when we use intelligent planning to focus our efforts.

We honor Thor when we put ourselves into the most advantageous position before we make our move.

Think. Plan. Adjust.

Most of the world reckons January 1st as New Year’s Day. This would be the secular New Year, as opposed to the various religious and cultural reckonings of New Year’s Day. The Gregorian calendar is the international calendar and the official calendar of most nations. It has been so for Western nations for centuries.

The symbols of New Years Day are an old man and a baby. The old man carries a scythe and an hourglass. Both can be symbols of the Roman Saturn and Greek Kronos. The old man represents the year that is ending. The baby is symbolic of the year that begins. One could say they represent Demise and Death on one hand, and New Life on the other.

Our reckoning of the New Year really does not matter in the grand scheme of things. The reckoning of years is a matter of numbers and marking time. Its practical use is for law, accounting and record keeping. We can use these numbers as mile markers for the events of our lives. They are recognized worldwide. In ancient times, a thing was reckoned in terms of a major event, such as an extremely bitter winter, the start or end of a war or some other distinct incident. “He was born three summers after the big flood,” or “Jacques built his farm two years after the Danes raided the valley.” These events would have no relevance outside the region where they occurred. The internationally-accepted numbered years provides a way to mark time that is relevant almost anywhere on Earth.

What does the New Year really mean? Is it a clean slate? Are the bad things of the past year erased? Normally, no. Life just continues as it will and numbers are just a set of numerals.

Time is the milieu in which we live on this plane of existence. A very loose analogy is that we are like fish and Time is the water in which we abide. We move through time. The motion is always forward. We cannot go backwards in time, much as a tiny goldfish cannot swim against a powerful current. The time we know here is different than it is on the next plane of existence. It is as if our time moves North to South and their time moves East to West, to use a crude analogy. You can flatline here for a few seconds, and it would be as if you were there for forty minutes.

Musashi, the Japanese warrior sage, said: “There is a timing to things; a rising and falling. You must discern this.” He was right. Life has a timing. Though we move from a beginning to end, our passage through time takes us through many recurring cycles We move through the passage of Sun and Moon, the four seasons and the greater and lesser cycles. For instance, the hurricane cycle runs about twenty years. There is the time of stronger storms and the time of weaker ones. This past winter we had a very hard year with excessive snowfall. That runs in cycles as well. Some of them may be a hundred years long or longer.

Our economy is a matter of timing. There is a rising and a falling. We are now in an economic downturn that has lasted a few years. A similar set of dire circumstances happened eight decades ago. Our economic fall began with a mortgage crisis and failing banks. In 1929, it was the crash of the stock market. They had them in the 1800s, as well. Is it a regular cycle or a flexible one? Either way, the economy has always fluctuated from highs to lows over time. There are boom times and recessions. Every so often a depression comes.

In the mythic tale of Utgard Loki, Thor wrestles an old lady and loses. The lady turns out to be Time. That is the one thing we cannot overcome. Time weighs on all of us. We change through time, our aging being both a physical thing and a maturing as we gain experience and insight. We all know that no matter how well we do as we go forward, each one’s life on this plane will run out of time.

There is only one recourse: live now, where you are. Live today. Make it a point to live a life that makes a difference. You have the power to decide how you shall live. The only thing standing between misery and joy is YOU! Look at what you have, rather than focusing on what you do not have. When you focus on what you have, you are looking at something that exists for you. It is real for you. Looking at your assets, you can use them.

When you emphasize what you have lost or what you have not yet gotten, you are focused on things that do not exist for you. You do not have them and you cannot use them. It is okay to dream of having something, but not good when the dream takes the place of tangible reality. Forget what you lost and stop pining over things that are not yours. Take a good look at what you have because that is what is real for you. You can build on something real. You cannot get anything done with something that does not exist for you.

Look at what you have and look at what is available to you now. This is what you can use. It is what you can do here and now. As the saying goes, “A dime in the hand is worth a thousand promises for the future.” The opportunity that is yours now is a thousand times more valuable than one that is out of reach.

Time moves inexorably forward. Do not wait until time runs out. Start today. Begin by looking at what you have. Do this either before going to bed or before going out for the day. Make a list of the things at your disposal. Take about five minutes to do this. Next, list your own personal assets and skills. Take five minutes. Once you have finished, look over the list for a moment or two, then put it in a safe place. Forget about it and go about your business.

When you get home or sit down to breakfast, take out the list and look over it. All of the things on the list are yours. They exist for you. They belong to you. Think of practical uses for your assets. Consider how your innate abilities and your possessions can create an opportunity or take advantage of an opportunity that already exists. Think of the advantages you have. You may just surprise yourself.

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The Magic Story by Frederick van Rennselaer Dey is an interesting little tale. The first half deals with how the book was found, and the second is the book itself. This is a fiction story, but the message is profound. There are a few quotes in there that make a lot of sense. It’s not tied to any religion, per se, and the advice is practical. Here is the link:

http://www.thortrains.com/UncleThors/Rensselaer_Dey_-_The_Magic_Story.pdf

There is a white, blue eyed cat with a calico tail named Isa who has taken residence under our porch. She is the sister of our housecat Penny. Cricket, the large fluffy calico who eventually came into the house and stayed, is the mother of both. We found homes for two of Cricket’s kittens. The third, Isa, stayed outdoors.

Isa had a kitten back in the Spring. She was a white cat with brown tabby spots. We referred to her as the Kitten. Like her mother, she was an ace at begging for food. She would allow us to pet her and even pick her up. Our hope was to find her a home.

An hour ago, I found the Kitten dead in front of the house. She likely got hit by a car as she dashed across the street.

Once again, we are reminded that Life offers no guarantees to kittens or people or any other living thing. Life can be long or short. We ought not live in fear of the end. It will come whether we live briefly or for a prolonged time. We ought to live as we will, right now, for that is the only time we have. We have to consider the length of life as contrasted with the quality of life.

Quality is all in one’s perspective and choices. There are people who have much and enjoy great health, but are miserable. There are others who have less and may have an ailment, but are happy. It is somewhat curious that those who are miserable become more so on the holidays, while those who choose happiness are more elated. It is not the season or anything else that makes us miserable or content. The deciding factor is within each of us. We are the authors of our sad attitudes and our glad attitudes.

Appreciate what you have. Take a hard look at the things in your life and appreciate them. I am not talking just about stuff, although that counts, too. Look at the things in your life that cannot be bought, measured or weighed. Look at the assets in yourself. Do you have yourself? If so, then all else falls into place.

Quality in your life begins with you. Make the decision. Whether long or short, every life can be fulfilling. It all begins with that decision. Nobody else can do it for you. The time to do it is now. Whether your life will be long or short or otherwise, you always have time to choose. Whatever time you have on this world, you have the power to make it wonderful.

Do it now!

You honor the Gods when you use the good things of this world.

The Gods are spiritual beings. This world is as spiritual as any other. The separation of the world into material and spiritual is a misunderstanding. Spirit coexists with matter. The laws governing the physical universe have spiritual equivalents. In fact, natural laws are but one manifestation of spiritual principle.

The things of this world are good, each in their own way. Everything has its place in the order of things on Earth and in the wider Universe. Of these good things, there are things that are good for us and things that are not good for us.

We honor the Gods when we use the good things of this world. We honor the Gods when we appreciate good. By making our best use of things, we are acknowledging the good.

Here are some facts:

It is good to have plenty of good food for yourself and your family.

It is good to have good, comfortable, clean clothing

It is good to have a comfortable, safe and healthy home.

It is good to live in a place where you are safe, happy and able to live as you wish.

It is good to have the means to acquire abundant good.

It is good to have opportunity and the use the good in your possession to create opportunity for yourself and others.

It is good to enjoy entertainment and recreation.

Every time you use something good, you are saying Thank You to those who provided it.

When you deny yourself good, you deny the generosity of the Gods.

The way to approach good can be summed in three words: ‘Take and use.”