new blog entries

today it was suggested that i started writing a blog about my experiences  as a driver of public transport and possibly about the colourful insults i come up with . Mention of a blog made me remeber this place and the fact that i have not written much in here . so from now on i shall try to update this at least once a week with humour , rants and tales of life

what to do

Much of what we know about the myths of Heathenry comes from the later Scandinavian/Icelandic sources written down by Christian monks and most likely embellished with Christian themes . Anglo Saxon and Germanic lore was also written down by either Christian monks or Roman scholars . The pagan Romans had a annoying habit of comparing and adding the attributes of their own gods to other peoples deities who shared similar areas of dominance ( I.e. Jupiter and Thor ) and as already said , Christian monks added to the myths with their own Christian world view

A typical example of this is the Goddess Hel , whom According to the myths written down by Christian monks was cast into Niflheim/Nifhel/Helheim, to rule the underworld of the dishonoured dead . Furthermore the Vikings , been rather keen on raiding and fighting believed that unless you died in battle , you would go to Hel's realm and be dishonoured . But what about the Anglo Saxon and Germanic people . Its easy to understand the Scandinavian view . After all the land was cold and poor for farming compared to Britain and Germany . But when a lot of your people are part time warriors and full time farmers , it does not make sense . Most people in these lands were most likely not to die in battle . Some surviving folk lore and information does suggest that Hel or Hella was considered a more benevolent deity , that those who did not die in battle still received a happy afterlife and only those who dishonoured themselves and their kin , who committed acts such as rape and murder , would end up in a joyless cold afterlife with the worst been punished by the horrible experience of been eaten by the dragon Níðhöggr , only to be wake up the next day fully intact , just to get eaten again . This took place in Náströnd , the corpse shore , a region of Helheim where the dragon made its home . Furthermore many heathen authors have written of experiencing Hel , not as a half dead evil goddess but as a beautiful benevelant mother like goddess who judges the dead , giving those who have lived a good life a god afterlife and punishing those who who haven't . It has laso been said that she only appers in shadow or half dead to those who fear her . Other writers have said rather than banish her into Hel , Odin willingly gave her charge of that realm .

And what about Ragnarök . In Early myths when Odin is Woden , Loki does not exist and the whole end of the world is never mentioned . But because more is known of later Scandinavian myths , they are used to fill in the blanks in Anglo Saxon and Germanic myths. So we have a Ragnarök where it may never have existed . Ragnarök and incidentally Odin’s ascension to head of the pantheon seem to coincide with the rise of Christianity in the Roman empire and its influence spreading . Perhaps seeing the Christian god as a god of magic , the idea to have a god of magic as their own head deity slowly spread amongst the northern European tribes . Certainly the Vikings have been shown to have traded and raided all over the place , reaching India and America on their travels , so suggesting that other religions influenced their own is not out of the question . I have spoken to a few heathens who claim that Loki , far from been a murderous malicious deity , has in fact helped them in their lives and is not the heathen “Lucifer” that he is made out to be . Certainly even in the myths , it is understandable why , after he escapes been chained , he would fight against the gods in Ragnarök . He caused Balders death and in return , the gods turned one of his sons into a wolf and made him rip the other son to pieces , then they killed the first son as well . Also even though Höðr was blind and tricked by Loki , the gods killed him anyway . So how exactly can one exclude Loki from their faith , claiming he is evil and lacks honour when the gods reaction to him is to murder and act with total dishonour as well

 I tend to prefer the earlier versions of Woden and Hella and as there is no Ragnarök recorded in Anglo Saxon or earlier Germanic myth I will not worry about that . As for Loki , while he is not recorded in earlier myths , I can't deny his existence without calling my fellow heathens liars so I will acknowledge him and even accept that he is not as bad as he is made out to be . But I follow Woden and Woden , unlike the later Odin , bears the attributes of a trickster so I have no need of Loki in my life . But that been said , I will not deny him or other heathens the right to worship him

So the big question is do I allow my religion to alter and change based on what i feel is right and what other heathens have experienced or do I stick almost dogmatically to poems and stories written down over 1700 years ago by Christian monks and Roman Scholers ?

the ice bucket challenge and the people complaining about it

Over the last few weeks , I have seen a lot of posts on face book saying that the ice bucket challenge is wrong for the following reasons . A) ALSA tests on animals , B) It is not a significant enough disease to warrant all the donations and publicity , C) ALSA only spends 7%-20% of the money on actual research and D) people should not waste water when people in Africa and other third world places do not have access to clean water or have to walk miles to get it . Here is my response to all those points



A) Testing on animals
In principle I am against testing on animals , especially since many biologists say that even with animals that share similar DNA the effects of different drugs can vary considerably . I am a meat eater and I wear clothing made from animal skin such as leather . However I am also of the belief that animal skin/fur used in clothes should be from an animal that either died of natural causes or was killed for food and the rest of its carcass gets used . However the only alternatives that I can see to testing on animals are

1) Testing on criminals . We apparently cannot do this because human rights activists think criminals , even those who rape and molest and murder , have the same human rights as the rest of us that don't and to suggest over wise results in accusations of been a Nazi , despite the lack of racism or belief in the superiority of a single type of human . Now I think child molesters and rapists do not deserve to be treated the same as the rest of us but as with the death penalty , I can see the possibility of getting it wrong and testing on an innocent man/woman . So this is a no no

2) Testing on volunteers . The problem with this is that the charities and pharmaceutical companies wont do this because either the scientists involved don’t like it when their victims scream or the company is worried about been sued when the experimental treatment makes the subject go insane , their condition worse or turns them into the hulk

3) Testing on paid subjects . The same reasons as above plus the companies and charities don’t want to add to the cost by actually playing people



B) ALS is not as important as other diseases such as heart disease or cancer
This is an easy accusation to make if you do not suffer from ALS . But tot hose poor sods who do suffer from it , or any other medical condition that impacts on their ability to lead a full and normal life , nothing is more important . If my heart was healthy but I was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s , then I know which charities would be getting my money . In the end it is up to the donor whom they choose to donate too and not the masses on social network sites who think they have the moral high ground with whom to donate too



C ) ALSA only spends 7%-20% of the money on actual research .
OK I can understand this one and not donating because they don't spend all the money on actual research may seem valid but before you say sod off , check to see what the money does go on. Equipment , premises and staff salaries are all important if the charity is to keep going . Not everyone who works for a charity will be a volunteer , especially the scientists with the degrees and doctorates who conduct the research .



D ) people should not waste water when people in Africa and other third world places do not have access to clean water or have to walk miles to get it
I live in a country with an abundance of water but no matter how much of it I try and save , none of it will see a child in Africa unless it is through the natural process of evaporation and precipitation . What will do it is donating to water aid . The logic of not doing something because some one else somewhere else can't is ridiculous . I drive to work every day to do a job on a reasonable wage but going by this because molly in the Sudan has to walk miles to do a job in a sweat shop on stupidly small money , I should refuse any pay rise and walk myself , despite having a working car . Should I stop eating as much because some poor sod in Africa is starving , should I stop watering the garden because some poor bugger in Africa is living in a desert because of a drought . Of course not . Should I donate to charities that help these poor people if I am concerned . Yes of course , should I contact my MP and try and get the government to do something . Yes I should . Should I punch the self righteous arsehole killjoys who want people to do only what they think should be done . Maybe

The beautiful thing about life in the United kingdom is that a whole lot of crap that affects other parts of the world does not affect us . Another beautiful thing is that we can choose whom to donate too and why . So inform people by all means but stop telling me who I should be donating to and what I should be doing . Just for the record I wont be dumping a bucket of ice water on myself and I won't be donating to ALSA . Not because of people in Africa without water and not because I disprove of the charity . I wont be donating because I have other charities that deal with diseases and issues that have affected family members and I prefer to give what little money I have to them and I wont be pouring ice on myself because it Bloody cold .

Female Thor . Oh dear me Marvel comics

. OK so recently Marvel comics announced that Thor would be losing his power and a woman would gain it, becoming Thor . A lot of feminists have applauded this but lets just stop and look at it first OK the first problem here is that rather than choose to make a comic series out of the many Kick arse Goddess's of asgard , they have changed the gender on a established character . This is not a victory for female comic book fans because marvel are saying they cant make a series with a lead female character without using a established male character first . How is this supposed to attract woman readers ? What about using Sif , Freyja ( also a powerful sorceress and warrior ), Hel , Frigga , Skadi , Thrud , Nerthus or any of the others . Secondly , they have given her a totally impractical breast plate which is stupid because A) Male Thor never wore a breastplate and b) having a breastplate with boobs channels any chest hits to the sternum and will most likely result in a fatal wound Lastly , weather you think they are right or wrong to be upset by this move , many long term fans have been offended by this and what’s the point of trying to attract new female fans if you are going to alienate the fans who are spending money on your products already Now as a heathen I am not bothered by this because Marvels Thor is only loosely based on the real god anyway . in real Mythology Thor was always a god , never lost his power when he lost Mjölnir ( which was stolen , not lost because he was unworthy), never drew his power from his Hammer , was married to Sif ( who had golden hair) and was a red head . Yes Thor was a ginger , not some blond tosser who looked more like a model than a god . I also follow a lot of goddess's who are kick arse, strong and powerful . Freyja for example , who is a goddess of love and sex is also a goddess of magic and of war But its not a victory for diversity , neither is making the falcon the new captain America . If you want to embrace diversity and equality , create characters that are female or a ethnicity other than white from the start . Don't take an existing character and change it because any intelligent fan will see it for what it is . A half arsed attempt to look diverse rather than making a proper effort