Subject: Re: Is it the gods or us who choose? Newsgroups: soc.religion.paganism References: <01bc6a50$ac00e900$cc60fccc@nicole> <5o8v6q$ddi@sf18.dseg.ti.com> <5objvp$1fb@clarknet.clark.net> <5ochbi$r16@sf18.dseg.ti.com> <5ok106$2rl@lightning.swansea.linux.org.uk> <5osu6u$fht$1@news2.digex.net> Organization: Persiflage Press Distribution: Lines: 46 X-Newsreader: TIN [UNIX 1.3 950726BETA PL0] Mike Hammond (hosi@access2.digex.net) wrote: > Telsa Gwynne (hobbit@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk) wrote: > : I don't know many people to talk to IRL about this, and it's > : on the net I've seen the most people who identify themselves as > : priests, followers or devotees of particular gods. > : > : I'd be very interested to know how much choice people feel > : they have in this - do we pick them or do they pick us? > Does it matter? It could be said that you thought you picked your deity > when in fact it was the deity who made the choice. To me, the discussion > is pointless. Claiming it was the gods who did the choosing is akin to > christians claiming to know what's on their God's mind. I think that in Asatru there are generally two models for signing up with a god. In the first, the god shows up and announces in the most unmistakable terms that you have been chosen, either long term or for a particular project. Most Asatruar who I have heard talk about it seem to describe experiences such as Odin showing up and carving a Valknut into one's chest. You don't have to sign on, but in this case the god usually persists. Vigorously. The other model is more like mutual shopping. The Asatruar feels the need to work with some particular god for a while and asks if it is okay. If the god is willing, you cut a deal. If not, you can still study, but there would be no special arrangement. > Of course, I've never encountered belligerent pagans telling me that this > is what this god thinks and if you believe otherwise, you're wrong! You must not have met many Asatruar, then. When a god tells me clearly what he wants or thinks, I pass it along as far as seems appropriate. OTOH, that doesn't mean I have lost my manners. I am perfectly willing to let people be wrong in ignorance if it is none of my business. Manny Olds of Riverdale Park, Maryland, USA "Historians have learned to treat historical evidence differently from archaeological or paleontological evidence, to acknowledge that the gaps in historical evidence often have something to do with the fact that humans write about what interests them and what they think is important." -- Michael Shermer