Uncle Thor's Lessons, Anecdotes and Humor

This past Wednesday, the news reported that a worker at the Monmouth Battlefield State Park had been killed in an accident. Someone we know worked at the park, and I told my wife that I hoped it wasn’t Deny (pronounced Denny). We figured it probably was not him and put it out of our minds.

Today, I learned that the deceased worker was Deny. He had been killed by a falling tree. Apparently, he and a co-worker were cutting a tree. Another tree had been leaning against it. When the tree fell, the other came down on Deny’s head. Dead at age 36.

Deny and I had both been in he same model railroad club. He really loved trains. Deny was a big, congenial fellow. He was a mainstay of that club. From what I was told, the club members are shaken over his passing.

Also today, an Army major in Fort Hood went on a rampage. He killed 12 soldiers and wounded at least 30 more. We had been discussing that tragedy this evening over at my Legion Post.

Today was a weird day.

Hela was busy today.

Is the day of our death appointed? Is it pre-ordained? Does death have a justice to it? We know from the Havamal “…Cattle die, Kinsmen die, and so one dies oneself…” Sometimes death hits close to home. We must remember that death is something we do not control. That being said, it is up to us to live bravely. A life that is well lived is not a wasted life.

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I learned that Tuesday evening, Deny had been at the club running trains. He was one of the fellows who closed up the place that night. The man had lived as he wanted and enjoyed his hobby. There is something to be said for that.

The motion of the Thurs Rune is outward. It is like a projectile aimed at a target. The energy stretches forth quickly. It is hot and fast. It can also strike in an arc, like the motion of chopping with an axe.

Imagine that this rush of energy emanates from a central point. It can vary its trajectory. It can be like a thrust, a punch, or an arcing chop. Thurs can also rush out like a stream of fast, burning liquid fire. Were the Rune able to talk, it would say, “I lash out.”

The motion of the Urus Rune is not so much a motion as a tenacious standing still. Granted that Urus can move up and down. However, its main motion is to hold its place. Urus stands firm.

There is a secondary motion attributed to Urus which is like a breaking through. Think of it much like you would a wild bull charging through a flimsy fence. An aspect of this could be called “throwing your weight around.” It is not the blasting breakthrough of Thurs, but a lumbering thud.

For the most part, Urus holds its place. It resists attempts to move it. There is a reason we equate Urus with strength. The strong bunker which withstands enemy weapons is an example of Urus at work. Terms like “strong point” and “taking a strong position” are examples of the Urus motion. If Urus described its motion in words, it would say: “I stand firm. I hold!”

This past Summer, we covered the Runes as cycles. Let us look at another side of the Elder Futhark. Were we to think of Runes in terms of motions or tendencies, what might we find? Motion is the basic type of movement one might associate with a Rune. Tendencies are how and where it moves. Keep in mind that by its very nature, this kind of discussion must deal in generalities rather than specifics. It is only a starting point.

Some Runes have one perceptible motion. Some have two or more.

Fe is a Rune of assets and goods. Its symbol is cattle, which were the measure of wealth in ancient times. Fe is a Rune that needs to be guided. If untended, it tends to meander and spread and dissipate itself. On its own, Fe goes where it will, having neither direction nor guidance.

If Fe is managed, it tends to grow. Just as cattle must be corralled and money must be invested, so Fe must be managed. Good management causes Fe to gather together and grow. It encourages Fe to come together in a way that enhances productivity.

The absence of management leaves Fe to wander and dissipate. It spreads and meanders, all the while diminishing.

Think of a great herd. If it is directed, it stays together and grows. If it is untended, it scatters and roams. The herd dissipates as its members spread farther and farther apart. Take the example and apply it to other assets, from commodities to money. Fe itself is rather mindless. It seeks leadership to direct it. Fe needs to be told what to do. Like a bunch of recruits, Fe responds when commanded but “goofs off” when left alone.

Were Fe to make a statement, it would be: “I serve.”

(As the advertising and other promotions of the Winter Holiday season begin, now is a good time to remind ourselves where we Heathens stand )

There was a time when the Yule season started the day after Thanksgiving. Nowadays, the advertising and decorations start showing up right after Halloween. The shopping glut starts with a rush.

Do not be fooled. Many of the symbols, decorations and trappings of the season are Heathen. Though they have been slimed with a veneer of Christianity, they are intrinsically ours. We must not let the misuse of our symbols mislead us. Remember that the Nazis used Nordic symbolism to try to sell Nazism to the Norwegians. The Norsemen were not fooled. In a similar spirit, we should not be fooled about Christmas.

Christianity tried to usurp Yule so as to make it easier to convert Pagans and Heathens. The symbols and trappings had been co-opted for an easier sale of the alien religion to our Heathen forebears. They may be our symbols, but the intent behind their use is not ours. Christmas may look like Yule, but the fact is that Yule is NOT Christmas.

Yule is not Christmas.

Yule is OUR holiday. It is celebrated on a different day than Christmas. Take that as your cue. Different day, different event, different intent. We do not imitate Christmas. The main difference is that Heathens stress quality over quantity. Our Yule is about family, gratitude, and happiness. Let us keep our holiday separate and distinct.

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Many of us have Christian relatives who invite us to Christmas dinner. We can enjoy their generosity. After all, it is all about family. We are having a dinner with loved ones on their holiday. There is nothing anti-Heathen in that.

By the same token, you can invite non-Heathens to join your Yule celebration, if you so choose. Their presence will not make the event less Heathen. You will have to use your discretion when making such invitations. There are non-Heathens who will be gracious guests. There are also those who will be so caught up in their own beliefs that they might be very unpleasant guests. On Yule, the best policy is to put the happiness and comfort of Heathens first. Keep this in mind if you wish to invite non-Heathens to join your Yule.

What is the proper Heathen attitude toward affluence? Is wealth good or bad? Can poverty make a person more spiritual? Does wealth make a person materialistic?

Actually, those are all trick questions. One of the most liberating things about Heathenism is that we recognize that this world is as spiritual as any other. There is no separation of material and spiritual. We do not believe the nonsense that the spiritual realm is holy and that the material realm is somehow debased and wicked. We believe that they are not separate. Both are good.

Neither wealth nor poverty are indicators of a person’s spirituality. A person’s worth cannot be measured by how much or how little he owns. The only measure is by what he does.

Heathenism is one of the few religions which sees our material well-being as a spiritual thing. The Runes are symbols of the spiritual energies underlying our very existence. It is no coincidence that the first, middle and last Runes deal with the good things in our lives. Fe is the Rune of movable assets. Jer is the Rune of harvesting assets. Odal* is the Rune of those assets which remain constant.

Remember that the greatest form of gratitude is to use the gifts you are given. When we use the things of this world, we honor the Gods. If we profit from them, all the better.

The greatest way to honor a gift is to use it to your benefit.

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* There are occasions when the Odal Rune is placed at the end of the Elder Futhark. In others, Dag is the last Rune. I was taught that these Runes can switch places. My personal experiences bear this out.

Tomorrow is Halloween. It has become a very big holiday here in the USA. The day focuses on costumes, ghosts and monsters. There is also trick-or-treating, wherein costumed children go door to door asking for candy.

Halloween was nowhere near as popular when I was a child. There were costumes and trick or treating, but nothing extravagant.

The night before Halloween was known as Mischief Night. That was a night for flour socks, chalking up the neighborhood, throwing eggs, etc. Mischief Night was also a night for revenge. For example, our neighborhood had a spiteful old bag who earned the ill intentions of children and adults. During Mischief Night, her house would be chalked, floured, egged, etc. Perhaps Mischief Night is Loki’s holiday.

For Wiccans and many other Pagans, Halloween is known by its Irish Celtic name, Samhain. It is their day of the dead, when they feel the “veil” between this world and the next is at its thinnest. Wiccans count it as one of their major seasonal holidays, known as Sabbats.

Heathens generally include the reverence of the departed with our Yule celebration. Calendar wise, the nearest holiday we have to Halloween is Summer’s Ending / Winter Beginning, which is mid-October. This does not double as our day of the dead. Yule is when we see the worlds being closest to one another.

A few Heathens have asked what they should do if Pagan friends invite them to join them for Samhain. To reply, there is no “should.” If you want to join them, all well and good. If you prefer not to join them, that is also acceptable. Joining in a Wiccan event does not offend the Gods or anyone else. Do as you feel is right.

Because our beliefs are not dogmatic, and as we do not have restrictive theological doctrines, we can participate with others in their celebrations. Doing so does not make us less Heathen. It certainly does not make us bad Heathens.

Decide for yourself if you want to accept their invitation or not.
Remember that their invitation to join their celebration is a gift. If you choose to participate, be a good guest. A good Heathen is always a good guest. Have a good time!

The process of molding with molten metal is ancient and simple. Perhaps you have noticed that water takes the shape of the glass into which it is poured. Once the water is removed from the glass, it loses the shape. Molten metal pours like water. The idea of a mold is to create a cavity of a desired shape. The molten metal is poured into the mold cavity, where it assumes its shape. As it cools, the metal becomes hard. It hardens in the shape of the mold cavity.

The same process is used in making fancy candles and plaster items.

If the mold cavity is detailed and well-sculpted, you get a good looking product. There will not be much additional work needed to make it a masterpiece. If the mold is crude or defective, then there will be a lot of work afterward to turn the product into art. The better the mold, the less work needed to make a fine finished item.

Our childhood environment and experiences mold us into the adult that each of us will become. Family, school, neighborhood and other things shape our character, much as the mold shapes metal. Just as a good mold makes a finished product that needs less work, so a good childhood instills character. It only needs to be refined as the individual matures. On the other hand, a bad youthful experience might result in flawed character. Trouble at school, a dysfunctional family and a turbulent environment can leave parts of one’s character missing. Refinement will take a lot of effort and time.

The results of our molding are not written in stone. Having a bad childhood experience does not mean that a bleak future is inevitable. It only means that you have to work harder on yourself to improve. Molding only gives us a start. What we do with that molding is what makes a difference. Our childhood experiences may go a long way in determining who we will become, but they are not the end of the matter. We can each be better than our past.

Remember that principle is not bound by precedent., An example is flying. The principle of flight has always existed, but we could not use it until the Wright brothers came along. The fact that nobody ever flew prior to the Kitty Hawk flight did not stop the Wrights from flying. They were not bound by the precedent of non-flight. They flew.

You are not bound by precedent. You might have had an awful childhood. You might have been a crude person with some questionable attitudes and a flawed character. That does not mean you are bound to be miserable. You can put it all behind you and become the person you want to be. Your past is not an anchor that holds you to it. You can be better than your past. All it takes is the desire and the effort to make the change.

As many readers know, one of my hobbies is metal casting with non-ferrous alloys. These alloys are usually a blend of tin, antimony and lead. The alloys’ melting point is normally over 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Pure, unalloyed lead melts at 621 degrees.

One of the hazards of the hobby is fluid, especially water. A drop of water in a pot of molten alloy causes an small spray of metal, like an explosion. Pour molten metal into a pot of water, and you get a small explosion. It is a physical example which reminds me of a specific Runic conflict.

Thurs is a hot, volatile energy that can melt or break ice. When it hits an Isa situation, there is friction. Small outbursts of energy erupt until either Thurs breaks the Ice, or Isa resists Thurs with an overwhelming chill. If the incident concerns one’s everyday experiences, it can result in various clashes, delays, unexpected outbursts and a temporary “jamming the works.” Everything either freezes or gets volatile until the larger situation passes. You usually experience a little bit of both.

Perhaps it is no coincidence that metaphysicians recognize a similar phenomenon. They call it “chemicalization.” They believe that as a change for the better approaches, there might be a brief period of frustrating incidents and friction. The metaphysicians believe that this is the result of an adjustment wherein many of the old underlying problems are flushed out for good. They feel that it is the result of striking a new balance within oneself and one’s world of experience.

Obviously, this may be a case of people seeing and experiencing the exact same thing, but describing it with different words. It may also include the possibility that we see one part of the whole picture, and our metaphysical friends see a different piece of the same thing.

Call it an Isa-Thurs conflict or chemicalization, it is part of the process of change. It is neither to be feared nor expected. These little flare-ups do not happen every time. I believe they occur in varying intensity, and that they happen less than a quarter of the time. Should you experience them, be patient and let them pass. A laid-back approach works better than an aggressive one with this situation.

There are occasions when an incident arises which calls to mind a useful and time-tested idea.

I had an incident the other day with a belligerent little fellow at the parking lot of the hardware store. The little man was looking for a fight. I realized he was more mouth than action, or he would already have thrown a punch. The thing that kept me from kicking him in the belly with all my might was the idea that it was not worth it. I would not back down, but I would not escalate things. Words were exchanged and the little man skulked off. Because the incident was so bizarre, I know Wyrd was at work and I just happened to be the one person who would not lose his temper.

At the point I was ready to kick that man, I had to ask myself: is it worth it? The little man was all mouth, and he was not really a threat. My wife was in the car, and I know it would upset her to see what I do in a violent rage. Lastly, I always felt bad when I had a physical altercation because I always went too far. It was not enough to knock someone down. Finally, there are the legal ramifications. I would have felt bad later for upsetting my wife, hurting someone just because of words, and becoming that raging demon who gets a charge out of making someone suffer.

There may be a time to fight, but that was not one of them.

If more people thought things through and then asked if it were worth it, there would be a lot less regret. Many a rash decision has led to something regrettable. Just that one question – is it worth it – can prevent a lot of trouble. This episode is a reminder that we are responsible for what we do. We can assure a more responsible choice if we ask ourselves if doing something is worth it

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I mentioned Wyrd being at work. Sometimes Wyrd employs us for its own purposes. With that bizarre disagreement came a feeling that something bigger was afoot. Wyrd purposely put me there for a reason, and I am sure it was for the little fellow and not necessarily me.

Any one of us can be a temporary agent of Wyrd. One of the signs is when things happen in a very unusual manner that seems to defy logic. If you have to deal with a person or situation under those circumstances, you could vary well be a part of a specific work of Wyrd. It does not always happen, but there is a chance that some time in the future you might discover exactly which role you played in one of Wyrd’s peculiar dramas.