An Asatru Version of a Hindu Prayer
“May heaven and earth make me glorious. May lord Frey and the wise sage god Odin make me glorious. May I attain the glory of divine light. May this great glory never abandon me. May it never abandon my people, among whom, let me be a speaker of truth.” ~ Found on Reddit.
A modified Hindu prayer. The author supplanted Indra with Frey and Bṛhaspati with Odin. It is taken from the Vedas.
Brigit’s Garden
A contemporary garden created in honor of a Powerful Celtic Goddess
There are parallels between this Garden and Brigit’s cross.
Much like Brigit’s cross, this garden was created with four aspects: the four aspects or four seasons of the year.
A public garden devoted to an Ancient Goddess would be unthinkable a few decades ago.
In the modern era, much reverence for all things Pagan has taken place at home altars or secretive groups. Yet as pagans come out of the broom closet and make their way into everyday life, there is becoming more tolerance for projects like this, for our ability to create public spaces which revere the ancient Gods.
Much of modern life is very linear and we mainly focus on progress. Yet the purpose of this garden is to attune visitors to the cyclic aspect of life, to attune the visitors to nature. Nature is a wheel and the most ancient representations of the divine, whether it be Brigit’s Cross, a sun wheel, (or the Hindu Swastika that later became controversial), depict all life as a sort of sacred spiral, an eternal cycle.
When We Once Lived As Gods
By Niflfarinn
“Once we were strong; we lived as gods in nature; but we became arrogant and greedy. we consumed other cultures, instead of killing them, we enslaved them in our arrogance only to let them falsely assimilate and poison us with age old hatred; we forgot to listen to the winds and to watch the world grow; we fed ourselves with lust not born of flesh, but rather the lust of possession. Once we were strong; we lived as gods in nature’s bosom. Our folk and faith we believed, were from heaven and soil. Our heaven so far away, our soil we could and did.. kneel upon. Once we were strong in the hunt and in the harvest, slowly and surely we will starve and die. and in the final words of our generations not yet born they will wonder and cry ‘how did we ever have anything.'”
Destruction of Library of Alexandria and Hypatia’s Murder
One of the most emblematic moments of Christianity’s destruction of the Ancient World lies in the ruins of Alexandria.
The Library of Alexandria was a crowning jewel of knowledge in the Ancient Pagan world.
It represented a place where multiple ideologies on the Gods, Culture, Knowledge and Science could co-exist on the same shelf.
Hypathia herself is a personification of this destruction. She was a wealthy, well educated woman who was a professor in this academic city. Yet a woman who tried creating her own Astronomical instruments to study the heavens was equivalent to a “witch” to the Christians.
An angry, Christian mob dragged her out of her cart to their church. They stripped her of her clothes and flayed her to death with any object they could find. They ripped apart her body and burned the remains. This is exactly what these people tried to do to the life and blood of the Ancient Pagan World.
While many priceless texts were lost, much of the knowledge of the Ancient World was preserved by Islamic scholars in the Middle East. Eventually this knowledge came back to Europe during the Renaissance and brought Europe out of a dark age.
Now the internet is a new library, a new place where knowledge from all corners of the globe can once again come together and co-exist. The Christians tried in vain to destroy the ancient knowledge and as a result brought an age of darkness and ignorance upon themselves. Yet the Ancient Ways remain and grow stronger everyday. Our ways are thousands of years old, connected to unshakable truths about nature and reality itself. They will not be destroyed.
DIY: A Guide to Recording at Home
Feel like you can’t record your album because you’re not a millionaire?
Don’t be held back by the limitations of money.
There are plenty of cheap ways to capture your creativity via technology.
Even something simple like your phone or laptop can help in the process.
Varg’s Arrest in France and “Terrorist” Allegations
Varg’s personal account of events
Update: 7-19-13: Varg Released From Jail. No substantial evidence for terrorist plot. Charged for inciting racial hatred.
Today I’ve noticed a lot of people coming to my blog, looking for details on the story about Varg’s arrest in France – so let me indulge you. Varg was recently arrested at his farm in Corrèze France after his wife bought four rifles. The authorities claim that he was planning a “large scale act of terror.” The origin of this investigation, according to the DCRI, was that Varg was one of the 530 people to receive a manifesto from Anders Behring Breivik, the man who committed two attacks in Norway that left 77 dead. However, Varg has publicly condemned the actions of Breivik.
The details of Varg’s condemnation of Breivik can be found at Metal Sucks.
The original story about the arrest can be found at the following French News Source.
About Varg’s Past…
Varg Vikernes (for the few of you who don’t know) is the mind behind the one man black metal project Burzum. He was arrested in the 90’s for the murder of Mayhem’s guitarist Øystein ‘Euronymous’ Aarseth as well as the arson of at least three Christian Churches. In 1994 he was arrested for these charges and sentenced to 21 years in prison. He was released after serving 15 years of his sentence on parole in 2009. Afterwards, he settled in France with his wife and children on a farm.
During his time in prison he became heavily involved in the Heathen Front and the promotion of what he calls Odalism and Volkish ideas on European Ancestry. After prison he continued his involvement in these activities. He has produced a vast trove of writing, books, music and even a Role Playing Game.
Did he deserve to be arrested this time?
Honestly, much of the details of his recent arrest are very unclear. I think it would be quite bogus if he were arrested simply for the purchase of four rifles and a past correspondence with Breivik – a man he has denounced. As one commenter said on Metal Sucks, “buying four rifles on a farm in America is baby’s first birthday.” Yet, there could be a vast number of circumstances in this case that we have no idea about.
However, given the nature of France’s laws on Hate Speech, it is actually surprising that he hasn’t been arrested already. In France certain types of hate speech can get you landed in prison or require you to pay a fine. For example, according to the Gayssot Act, one can go to jail for five years or pay a fine for denying the existence of the Holocaust.
Given the nature of Varg’s writings – many of which happen to be Anti-Semitic, it is probably not wise for him to live in France.
A word about Hate Speech Laws…
While this blog is firmly against ideas of racism, sexism or targeting specific groups for hate in general (see my Paganism and Racism post), I do firmly believe in the Freedom of Speech. Here in the United States, Hate Groups have the freedom to express their views openly. Yet even with the freedom to promote their ideals – such hate groups are still a minority that have little influence on the public mainstream.
It is important for us to be able to discuss views we disagree with openly so that we can find their flaws and devise the best possible system for all peoples. Throwing people in prison for hate speech won’t make them less hateful, if anything, it will add flames to their fire. It will create a martyr complex or cause a situation where certain groups will resort to large acts of violence to make themselves heard.
Rise of the “Terrorist” State
Criminalizing hate speech is criminalizing thought. One of the key dangers in this policy is that it is becoming easier for governments to arrest people on grounds of terrorism, especially if this particular individual happens to own weapons and disagree with the government’s point of view.
Some really retarded arrests have been made recently in light of terrorism fears: such as the 19 year old boy who was given a felony and ten years for writing a sarcastic Facebook comment. Yes, this is a rare case, but definitely a negative portent of what is to come.
Fears of Terrorism are also causing the United States government to gain massive surveillance rights into our private lives in order to “protect us” from terrorism: i.e. the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping of millions and PRISM’s backdoor access into our electronic communications. I could go on with this topic for a while.
But let’s get this conversation back to Varg! The news story says that he was arrested for planning a “terrorist plot.” All we know is that he bought four guns, had past contact from Breivik and happens to do a lot of anti-semitc writings. Could it be possible that he was involved in something sinister we don’t know about? Maybe. But right now, from a media standpoint, that is speculation until further facts on the case are revealed.
Paganism Apparently on the Rise in Britain
A Slide Show and More Details Included in Article
[Fun Note: One of the people in the slides is someone I’ve met in person at a local Druid Seed Group. Small world]
This article in the Examiner discusses the rise of Paganism in Britain.
However, as Pagans, we must be careful not to be sensationalists.
I did a previous article about the rapid rise of Paganism HERE.
The problem with the Examiner’s article is that they don’t actually link to a poll with real statistics and numbers. Their “poll” link just goes to a series of Examiner’s British articles.
They say that 38% of British people don’t believe in a Christian God, but that doesn’t automatically lump these British folk into Paganism. That’s like saying all people who don’t like Vanilla Ice Cream automatically love Chocolate – a gross over simplification of the facts. Many of these Non-Christians could be Atheists, Agnostics, Buddhists or Muslims. As Pagans, we are definitely a rapidly growing demographic, but our numbers are still quite small for now.
Also, it is a well discussed fact that the number of Pagans has doubled in many polls since the 90’s. Yet part of this recorded growth simply be because more Pagans are coming out of the broom closet so to speak. The internet has also played a liberating factor here. Before the internet, many Pagans practiced alone and generally didn’t discuss their practice with those in their community – if they couldn’t find an appropriate coven/group. Yet the internet has drastically amped up Pagans’ abilities to meet those with similar beliefs in their area.
We can recognize that there have been gradual changes in society that reflect our growing numbers: such as the increase in workplace rights for British Pagans, a recognition that students and workers should be allowed to take off on Pagan Holidays and symbols like the Norse Hammer and the Wiccan Pentacle have been accepted as symbols of faith in the U.S Airforce. The growth of our numbers and acceptance in society makes my heart swell. But let’s be careful to depict the facts of the matter accurately please.
Nature’s Fury With Man – Shiva Gets Washed Away
Are last month’s floods a sign of the Gods wrath?
In this day and age, climate disasters are unfortunately becoming a new normal.
However, I think this event is highly symbolic.
Some say the Goddess Ganga, associated with the Ganges river, has something do to with the way the river has been acting.
It is said that this Goddess is so powerful, that she had to be brought to Earth in Shiva’s hair, and in his hair she sits in this statue.
Now the statue of Shiva has been carried away by the river. Houses and buildings on the river bank have been destroyed. Could it be that Ganga does not want to be tamed? Whether you believe in the spiritual aspects of the story or not, the symbolism is quite uncanny.
Free Metal Education
Check out episodes of That Metal Show
A free, online source for metal videos and interviews.
Includes interviews with Dio, Heart, Tony Iommi and more.
10 Societies That Practiced Human Sacrifice
This article is not necessarily an accurate source,
but a basic overview on some sacrificial cultures.
Metal Gaia 