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Published On: Apr 26, 2006 10:02 PM
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Published On: Apr 26, 2006 10:02 PM
Reflections of Growth and Change
Recently on the board,
someone brought back a blast from the past, an online quiz created by Tysgjald,
entitled What Kind of Heathen Are You, Anyway? I had
enjoyed it some years ago, and enjoyed it again now, when I achieved the same
results -- I am an Old School Heathen.
I don't know about the intrinsic value of the results of such quizzes, but I do like the introspection caused by them. I began to think of how I had answered then, and what I believed then, as compared to now. I remember at the time looking at the list of influential authors and trying to figure out how to respond if I'd never read any of them. Now, I was at least more familiar with the names.
We all grow and change in our heathenism, and we're lucky in that. Stagnation in a religion is a repugnant state of being. We ride the crests and ebbs of fads within the religion, and hopefully end up in a better place when the wave drops us off again. We learn from the good fads -- right now, ancestor worship is becoming a hot topic again, and we are reminded by this trend of those who came before that should be honored -- and hopefully become stronger by resisting the bad ones -- also right now there seems to be a rising tide of intermixing heathen beliefs with New Age beliefs, moreso than usual.
I recall at some point in the past I was having a discussion with someone on the board about Tyr. They had made some remarks about Tyr's personality or other characteristics which just seemed wrong to me, and I responded with "Tyr's not like that. I know because he tells me." I'm sure the incriminating evidence is long gone now, and I could deny it if I so wished. I don't need to deny it, though. I've grown since then (thankfully), and no longer believe that the gods speak to me like the voices of a schizophrenic. I never did, honestly. "Tyr talks to me" was the best way I had of explaining, shortly and succinctly, that I felt that through careful study and rational thought on the character of Tyr, I had induced more insight than most into his personality. Or something like that. I guess what I was really saying was that my Personal Gnosis didn't match the other person's, and that they were wrong and I was right.
I guess it's easy for all of us to forget where we've come from, and that what we have been is a large part of what we are and what we are is a large portion of what we will become.
So those quiz results? I guess I'm more of an Old School Heathen now than I was then. I guess if there is any accuracy in such a quiz result, then the seeds of such a style of belief had germinated in me then. I like to think that by now they're full-grown weeds in their own right.
I don't know about the intrinsic value of the results of such quizzes, but I do like the introspection caused by them. I began to think of how I had answered then, and what I believed then, as compared to now. I remember at the time looking at the list of influential authors and trying to figure out how to respond if I'd never read any of them. Now, I was at least more familiar with the names.
We all grow and change in our heathenism, and we're lucky in that. Stagnation in a religion is a repugnant state of being. We ride the crests and ebbs of fads within the religion, and hopefully end up in a better place when the wave drops us off again. We learn from the good fads -- right now, ancestor worship is becoming a hot topic again, and we are reminded by this trend of those who came before that should be honored -- and hopefully become stronger by resisting the bad ones -- also right now there seems to be a rising tide of intermixing heathen beliefs with New Age beliefs, moreso than usual.
I recall at some point in the past I was having a discussion with someone on the board about Tyr. They had made some remarks about Tyr's personality or other characteristics which just seemed wrong to me, and I responded with "Tyr's not like that. I know because he tells me." I'm sure the incriminating evidence is long gone now, and I could deny it if I so wished. I don't need to deny it, though. I've grown since then (thankfully), and no longer believe that the gods speak to me like the voices of a schizophrenic. I never did, honestly. "Tyr talks to me" was the best way I had of explaining, shortly and succinctly, that I felt that through careful study and rational thought on the character of Tyr, I had induced more insight than most into his personality. Or something like that. I guess what I was really saying was that my Personal Gnosis didn't match the other person's, and that they were wrong and I was right.
I guess it's easy for all of us to forget where we've come from, and that what we have been is a large part of what we are and what we are is a large portion of what we will become.
So those quiz results? I guess I'm more of an Old School Heathen now than I was then. I guess if there is any accuracy in such a quiz result, then the seeds of such a style of belief had germinated in me then. I like to think that by now they're full-grown weeds in their own right.
Posted: Sun - March 27, 2005 at 03:51 PM