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2012, About Me, Asatru, Atheism, Aubs Tea, Freyja, Gods, Heathen, Heathenism, Hel, Islam, Magic, News, or Are the Gods Actively Recruiting for a Reason?, Pagan, Paganism, Religion, The Ultimate Reset Button, Thor, vikings
So it’s late, and finally really check my email, and I find this:
The Ultimate Reset Button, or Are the Gods Actively Recruiting for a Reason?
I recommend everyone go and read it, but the basics are that apparently the Iwa (I think those are the Voodoo spirits) and the Kemetic Gods, have been cross recruiting, and this has led the author (Aubs Tea) to talk with others and discover that it’s not just them, it’s pretty much every Pagan Pantheon that’s been stepping up the recruiting. Perhaps, in relations to the reported existence of a “Growing Darkness” that is coming (some believe this will hit about the end of the year).
I haven’t really talked about this before. I can’t say I’ve tried to keep my blog rational (I hardly believe in rationality as the be all end all that some people do), it’s just that it isn’t something I’ve felt like writing about. But I’m going to come right out and say it, I’ve been feeling that darkness coming as well.
Of course, for me it’s a bit more complicated as to how I get there. I can’t really talk to the Gods, not like some people can (I don’t know why, though I have a few theories). I’m not as sensitive to energies as some (I used to be very, very sensitive, but ten years of being surrounded by rage and abuse, devouring that, and using that power alchemically on myself has left me with a large number of burned out receptors that haven’t really healed yet. This might be part of why I have trouble communicating with the spiritual). But even I can sense that something is coming. And it’s not just hitting the spiritual world, it’s hitting the physical one at the same time.
And it’s hitting it big.
And I too have noticed that the gods seem to be stepping up on their recruiting. I’ve been told that many, if not most, of the Norse Gods and Goddesses have a very strong interest in me, though they are apparently sitting back to see more of what I become (another reason I may have difficultly “hearing” them). But they are interested in me, and they are interested in others. Some prep those that have caught their eye for a waiting game. Some, like Skadi, hardline like I do at my most vengeful and bloodthirsty, crying for vengeance against that Eastern God who has stolen kin, and our desire to restore them to the fold. She’s in the top four that I worship.
I’m also a bit more plugged into the mundane world. I see elements that lay people consider nothing (or try to ignore) and piece them together with the spiritual. Sometimes (okay, most of the time) this leads to some rather unpopular realizations and theories.
Such as about a certain group that follows a faceless, formless being whose visage causes madness and death, and whose image may never be produced. A being as supremacist as his followers, whose bloodlust drives them to mass murder and the slaughter of those who do not convert. A being who I believe is making his move.
I think the Gods and Goddesses are making their moves as well. And not just the European ones. No, others as well. When Buddhist monks, long known for their peaceful ways, lead the charge of their followers to destroy mosques and reclaim long (and not so long ago) stolen holy lands, you know that the center not only isn’t going to hold, it’s going to explode.
The Gods, I believe, are coming. I believe that soon, they will walk this land of Midgard as they did in days of old. Godsworn, Godchosen, Godkin, and all manner of like are appearing, and appearing in numbers before now unknown, perhaps even in Pagan days of yore. They may have stepped back, but they’re stepping forwards again, and investing their wisdom, power, and perhaps even their fury, into their followers once more.
How fervent will be their followers, when the Gods of Old step out? How will the Atheist react, when faced with Physical Gods. How will the Christians fare, when their Divine Ancestors come forth, and prove that there is not One God, But Many? How furious will be the rage of the servants of the faceless one, when confronted with the things they hate most?
I think things will come to a head soon. The end of the year, most likely. What happens then?
I don’t think even the Gods know.
Son of Hel 
A quick note… it’s Lwa, with an L. I prefer this version of spelling to the loa. Either one works, but I don’t know… I have a thing for w’s I guess. 🙂
I see where you’re coming from. I’ve never really thought about the recruiting thing as them going to come amongst us. When I wrote that post, I was thinking more along the lines of they were recruiting to keep some of their followers around and to keep their power up while they fight the battle on our behalf. But, now that I read this… and I remember that you’re not the only one who has had a thing for various gods (and I think of the people who have mentioned that battle gods and goddesses seem to be stepping up their game the most), it makes me wonder. It really makes me wonder. And scared.
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Ah, thank you for the correction. I picked it up off your blog, and I guess on yours the I and L might look the same (it gets confusing sometimes, with our variations of script :P) So it looked like Iwa, but now I see it is Lwa. I will try to work on remembering it.
Idk, as far as I’m concerned, the spiritual and physical aren’t as separate as people tend to treat them. I see the radicalization in the Middle East and I see the hand of a God hungry for domination as I do the power and greed of mankind. So it makes sense that if the Gods are moving about and collecting people, it’s for a Physical thing as well.
And your right, it is scary. There’s no buffer anymore, assuming there ever was one.
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I’ve been feeling something too. And it doesn’t feel good. I haven’t yet managed to talk with Loki about it (having hit a bit of a spiritual block recently… *sigh*) but I plan to. The only way I can really describe it is that it’s instinct. Gut feeling. If I tried to explain to my friends they’d think I’m crazy. Yet I really do think something is going to happen, either in the spiritual or physical world. Or perhaps even both. I’m so glad you’ve written about this, seriously.
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Your posts reminds me of a lot of apocalyptic nightmares I have, about the “Nameless One.” I think there’s a being beyond Yahweh and Allah, who I view as loving Gods. The Nameless One embodies all the backward things done in God’s name: oppression, slavery, the Inquisition. He’s a kind of brainwashing force: complacency, the flock mentality, what happens when good people do nothing. They’re odd nightmares: he’s formless almost, like an infection that rules the masses, and the worst nightmare of the gods. It can erase them from existence.
I think we’ve slipped into a period where it’s so easy to just do nothing: not actively try and change the world, to not question our beliefs or ways of life. There’s a backlash against materialism and selfishness, and that’s the search for genuine experience, and a meaningful life. From hipsters turning to defunct fashions and literature to the Sapeurs of the Congo who embrace anachronistic European dress, humanity’s undergoing a massive soul searching.
But of course, they could just be dreams…
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Clearly, you don’t know Allah. 😛
Yes, the “nameless one” could be a being beyond YHWH and Allah. It could be something like Cthulu or another Eldrich abomination. But as it sits, I think it is Allah. I’ve studied him (and his religion) from an outside perspective. Frankly, any being that refuses to let any image of it be in existence is a being who most likely is something horrific and untrustworthy. The way his religion works, and its rules, and the fact that looking upon him brings madness and death.
It was Lovecraft before Lovecraft.
Honestly, the nicest guy in all the Abrahamic religions I know of is Lucifer. He’s so Pagan and Accepting. 😛
And you’re right, people are searching for something.
Never discount your dreams.
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Really? I’ve always thought Islam was beautiful. At it’s core, it’s a very peaceful religion. It’s the culture, not Islam, that is at the heart of the misogyny and radicalism of Middle East. The Bedouins were war-like long before their conversion to Islam. But regardless, Islam is the reason we still have Classical texts and higher mathematics. They preserved classical knowledge and pursued scientific inquiry when Europe was stuck in the Dark Ages. And much of it, like Newton’s invention of physics, stemmed from the desire to understand God’s creation.
Look at the Persian and Ottoman empires. Before the Western world ravaged the Middle East and exploited it for our own ends (mostly oil), before our collective actions decimated their culture and made it easy for radical groups to flourish and take over, Muslim countries were often much more peaceful than supposedly Christian ones.
As for Islam’s “rules,” Sharia law and female genital mutilation is actually an ancient pagan practice that existed long before Islam’s conception. The culture and community, not the religion, perpetuates it. The Koran never actually says veiling of women is mandatory, it actually states that the women were “dressed black like crows in the desert” during a sandstorm, as they’d wear protective garments in their harsh environment. Less than 10% of Muslims worldwide belong to the very reactionary, conservative groups that wear the hijab and restrict women’s liberties. While there are sorry places like Saudi Arabia, there are a plethora of liberal and modern Muslims, from the exiled Iranian intellectuals that fled during the 70s rise of Ayatollah Khomeini to Azerbaijian, which gave women the right to vote before the US.
Just like Catholicism, people use religion to justify backwards practices. But it’s not religion that denies people basic health care (regarding the current Republican War on Women) or to kill their daughters for “honor.” It’s people. It’s not something we can blame on Allah, gods or devils.
Islam doesn’t inspire terrorism, just as historical Norse religions and Odin aren’t to blame for Viking invasions. Religions are a product of the people, not a cause of it.
As for not depicting Allah, it’s done out of respect and to encourage Muslims not to focus on the material world but to move beyond it and focus on the heart of their religion. Allah is not depicted because it would defeat the point of what He is- he is everything: nature, the air, the sea, the beauty of all Creation. The idea is not to focus on an image of Him, but the lessons Allah imparts. Instead of pictures, they decorate mosques with beautiful script and geometric designs. Islam is very word-oriented and number-oriented and is often described as a “religion of words.” Most Muslims are encouraged to read the Quran and interpret its teachings for themselves.
As for being driven mad by Allah, I’d argue that looking upon any god’s face would bring madness and death. Do you really think they’d fully reveal themselves to humans? Look what happened to Semele. We wouldn’t be able to comprehend gods. As Rilke states in the Duino Elegy “Beauty is just the beginning of terror.” I think everyone needs a healthy fear of gods… we can’t forget our humility, and that we are specks in comparison. Important specks, of course, but specks nonetheless. One of my favorite Muslim folktales is about Azrael, the Angel of Death. He is supposed to have the most beautiful face in all existence, but hides it under his hood, as nothing can look upon him without flying to him like a moth towards a flame. When people die, he shows them his true face, and souls are ripped from their body out of love for his beauty. I think the beauty of gods, if revealed before the proper time, really would drive someone mad. It’s like being fairy-struck.
I love Lovecraft, but the man scares me to death! XD I got nightmares when I read my first story by him.
And yes, Lucifer is awe-inspiring. I absolutely love him, but he reminds me of Odin, in his cutting intelligence and shrewdness. You never know just what he is thinking, and the man, like Odin, probably sees everything. I sometimes wonder if they can read the workings of Wyrd and fate. To me, both sacrificed themselves for knowledge, are sorcerers in their own right, and fearsome guardians of knowledge.
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At it’s core, Islam is a religion that underwent a very radical evolution. Yes, the beginning is beautiful, peaceful, and loving. That which came later, however, is all about blood, death, and Islamic supremacy. Did you know that, according to the Islamic religion, those passages that come later in the Koran Overwrite those that came before? It’s true, and well known to Muslims, though not all that well known in the West, where in Judaism and Christianity the whole of the holy text is considered valid.
Yes, Muslim countries like the Persian and Ottoman empire were more “Peaceful,” at least internally. But did you also know that said empires nearly constantly were working to invade and convert their neighbors? Or that these invasions didn’t stop until the last couple centuries, when the Europeans finally had the militarizes to go in and take them over? I believe it was the Crimean War, in which the Ottoman Empire lost to the British, that finally marked the end of Muslim invasions into Europe at large, again, only because the Europeans started taking over everywhere.
Oh, btw, those Crusaides which were all about “Taking back the holy land.” True fact, they were. That territory had been under the control of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. But it was invaded and concured by the Muslims. The area hadn’t even had an Arab or Muslim presence before then. It was Roman and Jewish, with some others. But the Arab Muslims came in and forcably converted those they could, and were making second class citizens of the Christians and Jews, forcing them to pay insanely high “taxes” and systematically destroying their churches and temples. The reason Western Europe powers came to the Middle East was because the Byzantine Empire needed them to take back territory they’d held for literally Centuries.
You’d be amazed at just how much the violence and invasions of Islamic Empires has shaped our Modern world. For instance, the reason the Mediterranean nations collapsed and commercial power moved north into France, Germany, and England was because Muslim pirates were so ravenous in the Med that no trade could really go on there. As for the Preservation of knowledge, yes, the Muslims did save some texts, but a lot of the knowledge that came to Europe from the Middle East was actually developed in India and China, not by the Muslim Empires. And often enough, those that brought said knowledge back to Europe were those fleeing more radical Muslims who wanted that knowledge destroyed. True fact.
Is Islam responsible for terrorism. No. Terrorism is a tactic. However, the Violence, is, in my humble and studied opinion, started by Islam. Their religion is based on the idea that Islam is supreme and must be the Only Religion in the Universe. It often amazes me that people (perhaps not you, I don’t know) so easily believe that Christianity is a supremacist, violent religion intent on world domination, but refuse to believe the same about Islam despite it’s long history of actions that often put Christianity to shame in their brutality. Certainly, no Christian kingdom kidnapped the children of non-believers, converted them, made them slaves, and kept them around only as an army. Muslim empires did. there was even a Muslim empire based purely on that practice.
And they both come from the same source!
Btw, those Iranian intellectuals were Western Educated. That’s right. They weren’t even that religious. I’ve even seen images of Afghanistan from before the Taliban and Islamists took over. Guess what, you could barely tell it was different from the US in the 60’s and 70’s. Record stores, men and women going to university together, etc. Guess what. It wasn’t Western Imperialism that turned it into the mud hovel craptastic vacation spot it is now. It was hard core religious Muslims.
And I’m going to disagree with you on people going mad from seeing any god. The sagas of my people (and yours) are filled with stories of the gods and goddesses meeting people face to face with no problems. So are the myths of every people except those of the Abrahamic religion.
Also, I (and some scholars) do believe that the Norse religion caused the Viking age as a response to the forced Christianization of the Saxons, who were close to the Danes. The Conversions were a war against our Divine Kin. I do believe our ancestors went to war for the gods. Just as I believe that the Muslims go to war for theirs.
I don’t buy this “religions are made by people” crap. That’s atheist talk. “there are no gods, it’s all make believe by people to justify what they want to do, whaaaa.” No. Religions come from the people And The Gods of those religions. If Muslims act and believe the way they do, it is because their God intends it to be that way. Just as Heathens act the way we do, because our Gods laid down the laws and helped us build our culture and our ways.
whew. Sorry, do not mean to tear off like that. But the fact is, we have these illusions about Islam. Most of them are given to us by Muslims who want their religion to look good (and actually believe that Islam has done no wrong, ever). And by people too scared of being called “racists” and “Islamophobes” to actually stand up for the truth and the reality of what is happening, and what has happened. We Pagans give the Christians no slack. I think we really need to smarten up and realize that Christianity isn’t the only supremacist, and violent, religion out there.
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No problem- somehow I didn’t see you’d posted a reply! To be honest, my bone to pick probably lies with all the Abrahamic religions. 😛
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Pingback: Worshippers to the Front-Lines: Another Pagan on 2012, God-Recruitment, and the Growing Darkness « Hemlock & Hawthorn
I really wish I could get behind this. It’s like when Christians mention some of the same things, but with their God has the recruiter. Sadly, I can not. I just don’t believe it’s logical to assume or believe that the Gods are actively recruiting followers. Why would they? Why would an omnipotent being, supernatural, care about what we do or do not believe in? Are they so vain that they must have followers to validate them?
I think this kind of idea sort of cheapens the aspect of supernatural, omnipotent Gods. Given every single planet, star, solar system, life cycle out there, the Gods (if they truly exist in a sentient manner) would far, far too busy to care what little old human beings are doing,. thinking, saying, believing. Are they also recruiting dogs, cats, polar bears? Why not? If they care so much about our form of life, what about all the other forms of life out there who will be frightened by things to come? Are they not just as important? What gives us that seniority?
On the contrary. The reason I just can’t buy this is because I feel it’s entirely self serving. Human beings are the only life on this planet with the thought processes enough to fear the unknown. So therefore, we insist that the Gods must be taking an active role in our success…..or demise. Not fully understanding the larger picture, the universe is vast, far too vast for any of that to make any sense whatsoever.
And then, if the Gods are just aspects of nature, then that alone pretty much debunks any sort of recruitment.
Again, I REALLY wish I could get behind this type of thinking. Because I feel the darkness, too. For other reasons though, I don’t believe the Gods are coming. But, my fears are totally unaided because I just can not abandon all logic and take that particular fork in the road.
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Why would God omnipotent power concern themselves with the affairs of mere mortals, so small an insignificant?
Well, I can think of a few reasons.
1) They made us/are our blood relations.
The Norse Gods created Earth, and they created mankind. Then they interbred with us. We’re literally blood related. So of course they’re going to be concerned about us, and take an interest in our affairs, and work to build relationships with us. Now, I understand it’s different with some of the other Pantheons, but considering that in the past the Gods and Goddesses have gotten themselves involved in mortal affairs, I don’t see why now would be any different.
2) One or more of them are screwing with the balance, and so they have to step up.
I think the whole Islamist thing going on in the Middle East isn’t just a bunch of crazy people. I think Allah is taking a hand in affairs there to make people worship him, and gain a power base to further expand, as he and his has since Islam began. Thusly, to ensure the freedoms of other people to believe as they will, the other Gods must step up and gain mortal allies of their own to affect changes here more easily.
3) Just because they’re omnipotent doesn’t mean there aren’t rules.
Who knows what treaties and methods the Gods have to try and keep balance. I think there has been some cheating in the past, which is why the Pagan religions were suppressed, and I think the Gods are working to redress that within the system of rules that may exist.
I don’t think it cheapens them to think they care about us Mortals. The legends and myths are full of stories about them caring about us mortals. I don’t see how a mere thousand years can change that for them, or for us. 🙂
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My personal belief is that life is a cycle. It’s basically a dry run on what works and what doesn’t. I just don’t see the Divine stepping in to correct something like this. Why not step in to save the dinosaurs? What about the rest of the extinct wildlife? And then there’s the question of, are they stepping in for life on other planets as well?
I just can’t, and don’t, see it. It makes no logical sense at all.
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Ah, I think I see your problem. You’re relying on logic.
Everyone these days is so into the idea that things have to be logical. Science is based on logic. On Rationality. On the idea that all things are reasonable and work for sensible reasons.
Somehow that holds up in a world with a platypus…
The fact is though, that not everything in this world is logical. After all, if there has to be balance in the universe, then for every “logical” thing there has to be an “illogical” thing. Never mind the fact that one can make a logical argument for just about anything (well, except for the “illogical,” and having talked to a few philosophy majors, a logical argument doesn’t even have to make sense…)
How often do people act logical in your life? In my experience….they don’t. People are incredibly irrational. They care about children that are sick and lame and broken when the logical thing would be to kill them as evolutionary dead ends and drains on healthy individuals. We care about dogs and cats and birds, beings who really can’t do that much for us (or don’t anymore, since we rarely use dogs to hunt or cats to mouse).
Why would not the Gods be the same? After all, they’re like people, just more so. Hel, the sagas and epics have tons of examples of the gods being irrational. And if human parents can care for their children who are broken, why not the Gods? Surely if they are greater than we are, they would have just as much, if not more a capacity?
As for the dinosaurs, no idea. That’s either an issue for dinosaur gods, or perhaps they had to go so we could be? 🙂
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Pingback: Crossroads « Biblebelt Witch
Call me crazy, but I have a feeling something is going to happen pretty soon, the strangest thing, See how many Heathen folk are rising, why now? I am compelled over the last two years to a calling i never had even once contemplated, vikings found me and I was home, blades have found me, and something besides the mild mannered me has awoken and gazes out from behind my eyes. I knew its impossible for my life to have no purpose til now, I have never been part of this place, never been part of my peers, I fear not man nor beast, And im not the only one which is why i dont think im just crazy from a life of solitude amoungst millions., my beard grows, thunder rages in my once submissive eyes, Im here for greater things than my 7 -7 job, money means nil, for 29 yrs i feel all i have been doing is waiting, but for what? interesting times my friends, interesting times.
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Yes, that does seem to be a growing feeling. I too have spent the last 9 or so years going through a similar evolution.
Who knows what will come.
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Praise Odin
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