That this is becoming rather a bit of a news group with me posting articles and so forth that I find interesting directly off the Heathen News Yahoo Group, I would like to have some input as to what you think(I know we have at least one person watching/who is a member...) Most everything I post is very much Scandinavian/Anglo-Saxon in it's intent/flavor to be sure, but still... There is no discussion going on at all. I would like to see some kind of discourse happen here. Let me know your thoughts. I don't want to be carrying this just as happened the last time on LJ... Obviously the material I am carrying it with is quite different this time around... But still...
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Ways Of Interpreting Myth
In a recent article on flood myths, Alan Dundes wrote: "Theories of myth interpretation may be roughly divided into two major groupings: literal and symbolic. Literalists tend to seek factual or historical bases for a given mythological narrative while advocates of one the many symbolic approaches prefer to regard the narrative as a code requiring some mode of decipher-ment. It is important to realize that the literal and symbolic exegeses [interpretations] of myths are not necessarily mutually exclusive" (167). As you read through what follows, you might want to classify each "way" of looking at myth as literal or symbolic. You will also want to remember what Dundes says about interpretations not being mutually exclusive: myths can be looked at in many ways, which often can be employed at the same time without contradiction. For example, in the story of Ra, Isis, and the snakebite, the possible political interpretation (Isis being advanced by her priests to position of top god) doesn't rule out a consideration of Ra as sun-god, or possibly seeing some ritual significance to his sickness and subsequent cure. As G. S. Kirk puts it, "a myth may have different emphases or levels of meaning." Since it often serves more than one purpose, "a tale about human actions [can] contain more than a single aspect and implication" (39).
To Read More Go Here:http://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/ways.htm
x-posted to ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif) fansoffolklore
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"Medieval Scandinavian Studies has lacked a publication to keep people in touch with what's going in the field. But no longer! Old Norse News aims to do for Old Norse what the OEN does for Anglo-Saxon Studies. There's no paper version, and our scope may be somewhat narrower than OEN's, but the aims are the same. It will be regularly updated, and will gradually build up into a comprehensive repository of information for the subject."
http://oldnorsenews.org/
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My name is Ayla Wolffe, I am 39 and I have been a practicing Heathen for somewhere around 15+ years. I am a gydthia of a Kindred in Columbus, Ohio called Kindred of the Nine Worlds. We are very accepting of folks of all kinds, as long as they do not practice hate, that is the one thing we don't accept. I am the non-custodial mother of two sons, one of whom has just graduated High School and is preparing for College. He went to France and returned with a lot of wonderful and not so wonderful experiences. My younger son is extremely musically talented, and plays 3 instruments go him! He is section leader for two different permutations of band on different instruments.
( this is rather a long intro so I have used a cut, proceed on if you will... )
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And in the process I have been getting more familiar with the kennings section of the Prose Edda. I think that it is amazing how we rarely use kennings for the varied deities in our daily observances unless we are reminded of them(except on special occasions). I originally started to do this regularly when I started a process of blotting the "Deity of the Day" and fell out of practice rapidly. I am somewhat ashamed at how quickly my resolve failed. This is something I want to re-institute as rapidly as possible.
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I have recently begun to do pictures of the Gods(and Goddesses) of The Germanic and Scandinavian lore, this also includes pictures of some the better known(and some not so well known)Jotunar. At this point I am primarily posting them to my personal journal, but if we get a larger membership or anyone expresses an interest I have no problem posting them to the community.
In Troth,
![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) valkyrieofodin
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I have just made sure we are the only rainbowbridge out there(at least to my knowledge) and deleted our counterpart on lj. Go us. Yippee Skippy.
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I am writing two entries here. One on why Lore is important and one defining what UPG is. The reason these are separate entries is that I think it will make things easier for the individual to see, and not to mix together or feel that they need to try and work through a bunch of stuff to get to the meat of one or the other. I hope that those who come to this community will take the time to read both entries.
Lore is important to us as a community because it gives us a common language. Without being able to find that point of reference we'd be, frankly, lost. I can always say that I found this in the Poetic Edda and what precise translation. I can then ask if other people find within it a certain meaning or whatever, or if I am jumping into unknown territory. I can find myself learning about Scandinavian culture through studying the sagas, the more sagas I study the more I find of the culture as to whether or not it is consistent. I can tell when a translation has more of the translator’s values over a period of time (especially if the translator is more modern) or whether or not the values reflect the period that is being represented if, I have a good basis in lore. But, I have to have really put the time and energy into it. Otherwise I'm going to be, for all intents and purposes, lost. So, giving yourself the opportunity to really immerse yourself in Lore is not simply doing so because 'everyone does it' or because you've been told that Heathenry is the religion with homework if in fact you are Heathen. But, it is a good way to find yourself becoming capable of treading that common ground. And, once you have taken enough information into yourself and processed it, you may find yourself making connections you never thought you would. But, without having that grounding, simply pulling ideas out of thin air is not going to get you very far because most people are going to not have any idea of what you are talking about, or where those concepts might have developed. Lore connects us with the past, and gives us a way of projecting ourselves into the future. It helps us to keep from making the same mistakes over and over again. Because without understanding history, we are bound to repeat it as the saying goes. As you progress you may even begin to see where many of today's laws have evolved from, and what customs have carried over. Many have not. But the facets are in fact terrific. So, Lore is more than simply reading a book and putting it down to forget about later. It is filled with the weight of those who have come before, making themselves known in a myriad of ways even today. This is what in fact Wyrd and Orlog are all about. So enjoy your Lore, don't thump people over the head with it as though the Eddas were a bible, and don’t talk as though each Saga were something that was absolute. But look at our world and see where the world of yesterday overlaps, look at the world of tomorrow and how we today are going to affect it. Imagine our history today as Lore. And realize that this is in fact the impact that Lore should have in your life. Realize that UPG grows in many cases from Lore Study and give some room for each to learn from the other. Let there be frith in this community. Let the interchange here be of such a nature that we benefit. And know that whatever interpretations you put forth are going to be listened to.
Frithfully Yours,
Frithfully Yours,
valkyrieofodin
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UPG stands for Unverified Personal Gnosis. This means that an individual comes to an understanding or revelation through an internal process. This process can be spontaneous as in the sudden light bulb going off over their head, or a lightening bolt striking them... (obviously I mean this in a metaphorical way) Or it can come over a slow period of time, because the individual has taken in so much lore that their understanding has gelled on an unconscious level and they begin to find an interpretation of their own that is not within the 'accepted' norm. This does not mean their interpretation is not valid, but simply that they have found this to be a personal one as opposed to one that is more community based. It is a given that as a growing movement, we are going to have individuals(hopefully a fair number) who apply themselves well enough to internalize the lore and find a point of gnosis that inspires them and takes them further than simply accepting what is laid before them as the 'accepted' interpretation. I am not saying that definitions are not valuable, because without definition how would find the nexus points, how would we give ourselves a common language? So each kind of experience has a great deal to offer. What I am saying is that to look down on an individual or discount an individual's experience because it comes from UPG is cutting our noses to spite our faces. So, within this community I would like for us to all get along, to have a balance of Lore and UPG. Thank you for taking the time to read this and hopefully to comment upon this.
Frithfully Yours,
valkyrieofodin
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Welcome to those who will become members of this community.
When I tried this experiment on live journal, this community pretty much turned into a creative writing community. Know that I have no problem with people posting modern day poetry to honor the Gods, wights,alvs,ancestors or Jotunar. I even think it's great that people generate modern day myths based on lore. But, here's the thing, this community is being founded to discuss lore, and I would like to see that happen in some way shape or form. So, if you join please, please keep in mind that we are going to try and discuss the Eddas, the sagas and those things which consist of the lore of the Scandinavian,Germanic and Anglo-Saxon peoples. Also, there is to be no bashing of people based on their ethnicity or for any other reason on this community, this is a zero tolerance policy. You bash you go. End of story.Thank you for playing. If folks think that because I am talking so much about Lore that UPG is not being honored here look again at the opening statement and see that personal work is welcome, and with personal work comes,at least in my opinion, a degree of UPG. UPG is not to be shunned in this community, but please folks try and keep it somewhat within a fair amount of bounds and don't do all of your work based simply on UPG, I would like to see some kind of references at some point to lore on this community.
Thank you again.
In Troth,
valkyrieofodin
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curious
impressed
contemplative
disappointed in myself
accomplished
geeky