I recently saw a question on the r/heathenry on Reddit. I will paraphrase their post, but please give it a look yourself:
I will be answering this from my perspective inside an Anglo Saxon hearth. My views don’t reflect all of heathenry and I’m still finding my own way. This is just a reflective post on what I know, and what I’m figuring out.
Cherno_VM first goes into their background, explaining that they grew up in a Christian background but things didn’t sit right with them. They are not of faith anymore, but are looking for information and inspiration from polytheism, paganism and heathenry for writing a convincing world.
I love this idea. Most media I have experience with has a single god/goddess they worship, obviously based on the church. I don’t often see a more nuanced version of animism or polytheism, so its great to see this!
They asked: The question of why suffering isn’t prevented being a major one. The issue of injustice in the world is why I couldn’t be a follower of Yahweh.
The idea of divine love, how a deity loves us and what love is to them, is greatly debated.
Whilst the Christian idea is that God loves and performs miracles for his children, my viewpoint generally sits on the side that suffering is usually neither caused by, prevented nor fixed by the gods.
Their specific limits and forces they can work with are unknown. There is generally one thing that is agreed upon however: Wyrd is inexorable. All gods must abide by wyrd. If they change one thing, another might happen to ensure the weaves of fate are not interrupted or changed. This partially addresses the next question.
I understand the gods are not omnipresent or omnipotent, but they have power, no? Thor may not be able to decimate entire armies with a wave of his hand, but can he not strike a missile out of the sky before it hits a school and kills a bunch of kids?
The gods must act within the limits of wyrd. If wyrd is written that an action must take place to continue the cloth, the story of time, being woven then sadly it has to. Or, it simply wasn’t something that could have been changed. I see it that the actual effects from the divine are often minor things that wouldn’t even go noticed, but might drastically alter the course of a day or a life. If an outcome or action is human caused, then it is just as unlikely any intervention will take place as it preferences a single side over another.
This doesn’t counteract the feelings felt, however. Whether something was inevitable or not, the losses are still truly devastating, and gains are deserved. We can’t know if any action is a fixed point in the weave, or if it is a means to an end. Therefore anything that happens should be treated as if it wasn’t planned.
Some say the gods just do not care enough to interfere. If this is true, why should I worship them?
Waves and swells force ships to move off their paths. And yet we don’t expect it to hold our hand as we swim.
Storms and torrential rain pummel the earth, leaving it with vital water and unimaginable destruction. And yet we don’t expect the rain to avoid us as individuals.
One should worship an uncaring god as one worships nature or love. Gods rarely care about any individual person. Regular prayer and offering could set eyes on anyone, they might get a bit of protection or preference. They might be tested more. Or nothing might happen at all. It is at the will of the gods themselves and nothing states that they have to be nice to you.
Just like storm clouds. They could bless you with rain, they could pass over and block out the sun. Yet they are worshipped for nature itself. The sun is worshipped as nature itself. Simply the force and presence of it is what wills worship and faith.
The following is one of my favourite scenes from any media, its pretty and relates to love: from Vinland Saga (S1E18). Spoiler warning, though it’s not super central to the plot.
The priest Willibald who was accompanying Cnut, the Christian prince of Denmark, came to the following realisation. Contains spoilers.
The priest gestures to a dead man, slain in battle:
When he died, he became more beautiful than anyone among the living.
He’s love itself.
He’ll never hate others or steal anymore.
He was abandoned there.
He’s going to give his body with generosity to the beasts and the insects.
He lies exposed to the wind and the rain but won’t speak a single word in complaint.
Death perfects a person.
Cnut replies, picking up a handful of snow:
I’m beginning to understand.
This snow is love, right?
The sky. The sun. The wind. The fog. The mountains.
But then.. I can’t believe it.
The world. The creation of God is so beautiful.
But then why is there no love in the hearts of men?
The Angle Perspective 
Leave a comment