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Published On: Apr 26, 2006 10:02 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Apr 26, 2006 10:02 PM
Family, Revisited.
A while back I tried to explain something that
just never came out right. I realized at the time that I was doing a poor job
of it, and thus it was a very short
entry:
Remember Family?
Basically I was trying to explain something that I only vaguely understood myself. I'm probably about to repeat history, on that score.
Family holds a special place in heathenry; a statement made obvious by the presence of ancestor veneration (worship might be taking it a bit too far). The value of the family is the sum of its members. Whatever divides the family, weakens it.
The concept of the "rugged individualist," so common in modern heathenry, is in actuality not historically accurate -- such characters are rare even in the sagas, and when they do appear there, it is often as a main character because they are so unique in their society.
The cost of lost family members is seen at every funeral. The value is seen at every reunion.
Why am I revisiting this now? Well... Katrina. Many of the evacuees have lost family members, and in some cases links to their ancestries. Houses, cars, furniture can all be replaced, but some of these people have lost fathers, mothers, granparents, siblings... Tragic is too light a word. The pain of not knowing must be a torture to make the knowledge of death seem almost sweet in comparison.
Something I said in "Family"
"Each of us is separated from our family right now, and we all know how painful that can be. I want you to imagine, for just a moment, that you don't know where your family is; that you have lost touch with all of your relatives, and you don't even know if a single one of them is alive or dead."
That horror seems just a little bit closer tonight. Take care of yourselves, and hold your loved ones close. Pump the oldsters for your family stories, because the winds are gonna blow and the rain's going to wash us all away, all at once or one at a time.
Treasure those stories, and pass them on. Once the gravemound is entered, it is only those words and memories that will hold dear those that are gone. Pass on what you know, and seek more. Talk to the dead; and tell them your stories, and bind their luck to your own.
Whoa. Think I got a little heavy there. Still, it's not bad advice.
Remember Family?
Basically I was trying to explain something that I only vaguely understood myself. I'm probably about to repeat history, on that score.
Family holds a special place in heathenry; a statement made obvious by the presence of ancestor veneration (worship might be taking it a bit too far). The value of the family is the sum of its members. Whatever divides the family, weakens it.
The concept of the "rugged individualist," so common in modern heathenry, is in actuality not historically accurate -- such characters are rare even in the sagas, and when they do appear there, it is often as a main character because they are so unique in their society.
The cost of lost family members is seen at every funeral. The value is seen at every reunion.
Why am I revisiting this now? Well... Katrina. Many of the evacuees have lost family members, and in some cases links to their ancestries. Houses, cars, furniture can all be replaced, but some of these people have lost fathers, mothers, granparents, siblings... Tragic is too light a word. The pain of not knowing must be a torture to make the knowledge of death seem almost sweet in comparison.
Something I said in "Family"
"Each of us is separated from our family right now, and we all know how painful that can be. I want you to imagine, for just a moment, that you don't know where your family is; that you have lost touch with all of your relatives, and you don't even know if a single one of them is alive or dead."
That horror seems just a little bit closer tonight. Take care of yourselves, and hold your loved ones close. Pump the oldsters for your family stories, because the winds are gonna blow and the rain's going to wash us all away, all at once or one at a time.
Treasure those stories, and pass them on. Once the gravemound is entered, it is only those words and memories that will hold dear those that are gone. Pass on what you know, and seek more. Talk to the dead; and tell them your stories, and bind their luck to your own.
Whoa. Think I got a little heavy there. Still, it's not bad advice.
Posted: Wed - September 14, 2005 at 08:50 PM