Norse ... well everything

[hypatia42]

I recently mad ea post about a webcomic I've been reading and upon rereading it. it sounds an awful lot like I have a low opinion of the Norse pantheon and people and myth structure. Honestly I doubt this could be further from the truth.

Ever hear a song sung in another language and thought it beautiful but not understood what it meant? Ever looked into the eyes of another creature and realized that, while you may understand the base motivations, you will never be able to truly understand the whys and hows of its life? It really does seem to come down to a language thing. I don't get it.

I've heard the stories. Both my teachers are connected to Norse diety. My main teacher through my Neophyte was heavily connected to Norse diety. My other partner thought seriously about not taking 1st because of his Norse connection and how close that is to his heart. I live in the land of all things Norse. I have a reasonable "understanding" with at least Norse diety.

I still feel like the wife from Green Acres when I come across them. I certainly am a city girl. I don't mind wandering around in the woods. I really like it. But I don't live there. If it were come to the end of the civilization, I'd be a goner. Not just because of my shitty immune system either.

I get they fey. Formal and not formal. What anyone can get from them I get. Perhaps I see them from a more Greek myth perspective. Might be why I have few problems with them overall.

I do get the Greeks. Through and through. They are part of my soul. Lots of people find them stuffy and too formal. I just don't see it. Some of them like their formalities sure, but overall they're a decent lot these days.

Maybe that's my problem. All I've really had to go on for the Norse is stories that are hundreds of years old. Nothing of the now and how they interact with their followers now. Maybe I need to quit reading and start interacting with their people...

Holda said I'm soft and they are hard. That the association would be good both ways. I'm trying to understand.

Comments

[ixtli-awakening.livejournal.com]

interesting...

my wee Dedicant self has had problems with the subject of specific divinities or pantheons. (i know i've complained about it on LJ before.) i'm starting to think that part of it may be that i simply haven't gotten in really deep with any - not in the modern, personal sense you're describing, at least.

at some point, given the opportunity and your inclination, i'd love to sit down and chat about exactly what you mean by "getting" the Greeks. if that's something you'd feel comfortable discussing with me, of course. it's a different perspective from the somewhat dry historical approach i've taken thus far...

[jeneralist.livejournal.com]

I don't know if this will help you understand the Norse (and for what little sense of them I have, I do much better to separate the Vanir and the Aesir rather than lumping them together as "the Norse)... think about Who They are now, not just Who They were, then.

What do I mean by that? Well, here's some of what I meant by that, when I was trying to figure it out in regards to the Celtic deities:

We look to original source material, when it exists, to get a sense of
the different deities and how They liked to be worshipped. The Greeks
kept the stories alive until they could write things down – I can read
the Illiad and get a sense of what people thought of Zeus, Hera,
Athene, Apollo, and the rest of the Olympians over two thousand years
ago. And that's a good thing.

The Celts didn't write down much about their religion and their
beliefs, but I can look to manuscripts written by Christian priests
trying to reconcile the local legends to the Bible and, yes, the
Illiad and get a more confused sense about the Tuatha de Danaan.

But that was then. We know, from the historical record, that worship
of the Olympians changed over time. We're pretty damn sure that the
worship of the Celtic Gods changed with time and place. Is Brid the
same as Briget? The same as Brigantia? And when the English came to
this place, and references started appearing to Columbia… well, who is
She?

"Now" is a funny thing, in myth and story. Brid tends the forge in
Tara, and sits with the laboring women, and writes her own poems and
inspires them in others – all in the present tense. If I look across
the Atlantic, and think of her, that's Who I see. But if I look
across the plains, clear to the other side of this continent, there's
land where the trees are tall and the land is lush and green and it
rains more days than not. The weather doesn't seem to get too hot or
too cold there, either. And somewhere, between the Pacific and the
Starbucks shops in Seattle and the forests of Vancouver Island and the
mountains of the Cascades, there's a proudly-built, red-headed
songwriter. She has quite the collection of stringed instruments in
her home: guitar, harp – nothing so big that she can't wrap her arms
around it, and all well-tuned, well-loved, and well-used. Maybe she's
a veterinarian; maybe she's a midwife; maybe she does Reiki. But at
nights and on weekends, she goes over to the studio space she shares
with some other friends and works on her glass, putting the sand into
the fire and drawing forth amazing forms and shapes. With fire and
her breath she shapes things of beauty…. And that's in the present
tense, too.

Hope this helps....

[hypatia42.livejournal.com]

I'm happy to sit and talk with you about this but it'll probably sound a bit like, "Well how do you breathe?" I'm at a bit of a disadvantage here because I never had to learn my connection with my goddess. I was born with it. She resides in her own space in my head. Took me a while to figure out where the lines were but we've go it sorted out now.

[hypatia42.livejournal.com]

Actually this is absolutely the connection I can't get to with most of them. 'cept for Odin whom I would mostly prefer to let be where he is and not much in my life.

Maybe separating them in my head would be a good place to start.

[fuzzy1313.livejournal.com]

Cultural context, cultural context, cultural context :-). That's the single most important thing when trying to understand the Aesir and Vanir. They are products of their environment like the rest of us.

If you ever want to chat about things Norse, just let me know. I'd be happy to babble at length in your general direction :-).

[hypatia42.livejournal.com]

That might help. I know I'd enjoy it. I like listening. I do know that I don't understand the cultural context. My primary associations are far far away from there.

[hypatia42.livejournal.com]

There also seems to be a difference between the Aesir and the Vanir and I'm not sure what that is or where it comes from.

In my experience, when there are two distinct sets of diety within one pantheon it is generally caused by two cultures merging or influences from another area bringing in new ideas that need to be incorporated spiritually. That doesn't feel like what happened here. Am I wrong?

[fuzzy1313.livejournal.com]

There are only theories... there is a myth about a war between the Vanir and Aesir, and usually those types of myths are a reflection of mortal society. But we have a lot less information about the Vanir, so comparisons are rough. I will say that the difference between the Aesir and Vanir are NOTHING compared to the differences between Aesir and, say, the Roman pantheon.

[fuzzy1313.livejournal.com]

Feel free to give me a buzz some weeknight... 973-790-0143. I'm usually home from work by 7:30 / 8:00, and up until at least midnight.