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REPORT COPYRIGHT VIOLATION IN REPLY
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Iceland to build first temple to Norse gods since Viking age
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It could be that some have not read the article.
Headline is:
A modern version of Norse paganism has been gaining popularity in recent years as followers see the stories as metaphors for life not worship of the gods
This is a celebration of their culture, which I fully support.
From the article:
“I don’t believe anyone believes in a one-eyed man who is riding about on a horse with eight feet,” said Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, high priest of Ásatrúarfélagið, an association that promotes faith in the Norse gods.
“We see the stories as poetic metaphors and a manifestation of the forces of nature and human psychology.”
This is respecting the roots of their culture and what motivated them to be who they are then and now.
I am a Christian and am not offput nor offended by the building of this temple. They could not have been clearer on what their intentions are.
I just don't think people are actually reading the article and are just responding to the thread title.
Quoting: Aspamce Oh I read the article alright, and I stand by what I said. If you were close to the Lord, you would see the error in all of this. Celebrating ones roots, if the roots are bad, isn't a good thing......spiritually speaking. And, it's not that "i'm" offended, or "you're" not offended, it's about what the ALMIGHTY CREATOR thinks and if HE is offended.........cause that's all that matters! No, I do not accept your thinking that unless I agree that this is a spit in the face of Christ then I am not close to the Lord. I no more find this wrong than I do Native Americans who celebrate their heritage and adhere to "old ways" yet go to church every Sunday. The builders of the temple are very clear on their intent. They are very clear in terms of not worshipping pagan gods. The only thing I agree with in your statement is that what matters is what God thinks. Whatever you think my relationship to the Lord is, whatever you think about how this offends you, does not matter in the least. Ultimately that is between me and God and not me and you. It is also not up to you nor I to determine whether or not their "roots" are bad. That judgment, again, is not up to you. You are certainly free to comment on it, but its value is in the eye of the beholder. The old Germanic and Norse folkways are indeed quite similar to Native American beliefs in many ways. The old north European Germanic and Norse divinities never required worship or sacrifice. They are better thought of in the Jungian sense as kinsmen -- archetypal and spectacular kinsmen -- but kinsmen nonetheless. They are like grandparents or great aunts and uncles we always hear stories about. People say someone is close to a Divinity, the same as he takes after an ancestor. Ancestors -- But larger than life. Very well said.. One thing I'd like to add.. The Norse believed that the Æsir possessed the greatest power of all..Magic.. From Heimskringla. "Odin carried with him Mime's head, which told him all the news of other countries. Sometimes even he called the dead out of the earth, or set himself beside the burial-mounds; whence he was called the ghost-sovereign, and lord of the mounds. He had two ravens, to whom he had taught the speech of man; and they flew far and wide through the land, and brought him the news. In all such things he was pre-eminently wise. He taught all these arts in Runes, and songs which are called incantations, and therefore the Asaland people are called incantation-smiths. Odin understood also the art in which the greatest power is lodged, and which he himself practised; namely, what is called magic. By means of this he could know beforehand the predestined fate of men, or their not yet completed lot; and also bring on the death, ill-luck, or bad health of people, and take the strength or wit from one person and give it to another. But after such witchcraft followed such weakness and anxiety, that it was not thought respectable for men to practise it; and therefore the priestesses were brought up in this art. Odin knew finely where all missing cattle were concealed under the earth, and understood the songs by which the earth, the hills, the stones, and mounds were opened to him; and he bound those who dwell in them by the power of his word, and went in and took what he pleased. From these arts he became very celebrated. His enemies dreaded him; his friends put their trust in him, and relied on his power and on himself. He taught the most of his arts to his priests of the sacrifices, and they came nearest to himself in all wisdom and witch-knowledge. Many others, however, occupied themselves much with it; and from that time witchcraft spread far and wide, and continued long."So in my view, their relationship with the gods, was their way of tapping into a great universal power to their own advantage..Whether it be for luck, bravery, wealth or fertility.
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