Norse Paganism

Norse Pagan Gods
November 18, 2009

Trell and I have snippets of conversation during the day – yesterday about polygamy for some reason. Well, I guess the reason might be that residually it is on my mind as I go over what I hear at the Victoria Polygamy Workshop. So I am the driver on that topic. What was going through my mind to start with was a former newly-wed grief I used to have. The solution for me was begging Kelvin, “Promise me that you won’t marry another woman for eternity”. The sorrow for me was in him replying, “I can’t make that promise for I don’t know what God will ask me to do.”

I would cry and cry. I have always not liked it when God trumps me.

At any rate, I was sharing with Trell the social horror we have of the Islamic belief that if you give your life for God, there will be 7 virgins waiting on the other side for you. I was telling him the Mormon belief does not limit a person to seven women for I don’t see a cap on the question of how many polygamous wives a person can have.

He laughed and we began to talk about religion. He was saying that time immemorial there has been in every religion the idea – this religion may not be right, but what if it is? Then you will be in trouble for not following it. Thus Kelvin’s reluctance to make that promise to me.

I don’t know how we segued from those ideas to Trell’s own religions practice, Norse paganism.

“Do you believe that?”, asked.

“Religion is not about belief, for me,” he said, “but it is about being in the community of my friends. There are no harms in their practice. I will leave it at that.”

When I asked him to tell me more he said, “Well, I really can’t for you are not in the community of believers.”

I laughed again for all religious practice has so much in common, even with all of its differences.

Of course, I always want to know more. So he told me that in the Norse mythology there are no Gods, only people who are superhuman, or who have distinguished themselves in ways that the ordinary human has not. I have to say that though I have name recognition of Thor and Odin, and I don’t know much about them, so I slipped out to the font of all knowledge, all earthly knowledge, Wikipedia, this morning to learn a bit more.

When I asked about the practice of his friends, he said that they sit around and share the stories of their own present, the exploits of their recent ancestors and the exploits of their ancient ancestors. When I asked whatever he might share he said, for example, when I want tell the Ivan/Loran story about the pocket knife under the hat and the race in the field to retrieve it, I am telling a story about lust for something a person doesn’t own. And sometimes I share stories about B.F. Johnson, stories about people giving up everything to eke out a living in a desert.

There is more for me to learn about the practice of Norse paganism. I hope Trell passes through my environment again today.

Arta