From: Manny Olds Subject: Ordinary People "I recently was published in *Idunna* as comparing a Heathen's period relationships with wights and such as thus: a Viking Age Scandinavian would go to the wights (di'sir, a'lfar, landwights) on a daily basis, as s/he would to a neighbor; to the god/esses occasionally, as to a chieftain (and much more often if the two were close friends); and to the greater beings (such as Earth) very rarely, as to a king or queen. This is a very class-oriented analogy, which may beg a lot of argument on specifics, but I think it makes my general point." -- KveldulfR Gundarsson I think that Kveldulf Gundarsson had two main points *about the practices of our predecessors* when he made that statement. First is that they took a balanced approach: family disir and alvar, gods, and major land wights were *all* be honored. And second, ordinary people generally gave most of their regular attention to their family spirits and to the wights of their own land. They tended to center their *active* interactions with the gods (offerings and requests) on holidays and major crises. I think Asatruers now can use this as a guide to what kind of system you get when the religion stablizes into a "normal" state (referring here to the definition of "normal" that Kuhn used to describe science between revolutions). Practically speaking, I think that most ordinary believers, in their everyday lives, can't or won't invest a lot of their religious energy on talking to the gods as personal friends or relatives. Some people can't hear. Some could, but have not developed the skill. Some are not particularly interested. Some think it is risky or a waste of time or that their troubles simply don't merit pulling out the Big Gun. This has nothing to do with sincere belief or devotion; it's just that people are different and have different skills and interests and needs. Right now, Asatruers are probably not composed of the typical mix of god-friends, community leader types, and "ordinary Olaf"s that we will end up with. How could we be? We are the ones who have been motivated to make a commitment to a (relatively) new religion that gets grief from both the traditional religious world and the Neo-Pagan religious community. *Something* had to give us the push to actively begin to practice Asatru--and to invest the energy to develop it into a viable religion for the long term. Some of us have cultural/political motivations; others are motivated more by their direct relationships with the gods. But in that long term, Asatru will probably end up with a mix that is much more like the real world, and that means a lot more regular folks whose primary concern is their regular lives. And we can observe that most regular folks are much more in tune with the "spirits" (disir, alvar, wights) associated with their own people and places. You can see this in almost any religion--think of the Guardian Angel thing that is so popular with USA Christians now or think of how saints get started. It is easier to make an emotional connection with your locals for most people, and it is easier to see why the disir of your family would take a particular interest in your sick son or why the wights of your own land would care whether you use pesticides. And besides, there is no guarantee that any god will *want* to be your special friend, but the home wights *have* to pay attention to you. ("Home is the place that, when you go there, they have to take you in.") I expect that over the next decades we will see a shift to more emphasis on disir, alvar, and local wights in *everyday* observation. Not because current Asatruers will change, but because we will be drawing in more people who will find that more appropriate for themselves. And so I expect that we will (in time) end up with a balance a lot like the historic system described by Kveldulf Gundarsson. And I also do believe that we could *all* benefit from developing good relationships with the disir and alvar of our bond-groups. I do not advocate that anyone abandon the gods, however. -- Manny Olds of Riverdale Park, Maryland, USA "Religion is almost always a social phenomenon. Or, as an economist would put it, religion is a *collectively produced commodity*. It is obvious enough that many religious activities require group participation...But it is no less true that religious faith itself is a social product, collectively produced and maintained." -- Rodney Stark