M. S. Edelson

Writer, college student, Norse pagan, Transgender (She / Her)

[timetravell]

[angelfrommontgomery]

Anybody else got like,, rlly random connections to famous ppl?? Like my older brothers were friends w Jennifer Lawrence when they were like 12 and I just found out I’m friends w the cousin of the girl who voiced honey lemon in big hero six like, idk what I’m supposed to do with either of these tid bits I feel like I was supposed to live my life in ignorance of them

[beepbeepboopbeepboopbeepbeepbee]

the tags on this are so funny because they range from “my neighbor went to school with tom cruise” to “my dad is best friends with macklemore”

[sonicrainbooms]

[msedelson]

Divination

To be divine, many believe that it must be ordained by God, and therefore good. But this is predicated on the presumption of an omni-benevolent God. If one were to ascribe neutral moral standing to God, then each and every moment could be considered divine. This in essence is what it feels like to be pantheist, to me at least. To align God perfectly with nature rather than our delusive ideal opens up a new array of understanding. Each and every moment, every tiny detail, is all placed with extreme precision by the rationality of Cosmos. Divination is the analysis of thosse details in the pursuit of deeper meaning. The value in this is not for truth or objectivity, rather it can be a useful exercise in shifting your perspective, giving new outlooks on rigid mindsets.

[bargainbinbisexual]

Ive been on the edge of being pagan for years and have finally decided to take the plunge, but as Im researching for decided what fits me does I dont want to fuck up and disrespect other peoples cultures and such and was wondering if people could give me tips on how to avoid that and what books to avoid because I can be oblivious

[msedelson]

For me, delving into what my biological and cultural ancestors practiced was the only way to not worry if I was disrespecting anyone. I’m a white American, so I focused on German/Norse and Roman paganism. Pretty much every culture has had some folk spirituality that resembles paganism, so wherever your ancestors lived there’s sure to be a wealth of lore that you can tap in to. Remember that no one can tell you how to be the best witch you can be, you must find your own path.

[msedelson]

What makes you unique is what separates you from others

What separates you from others is what makes you unique

[msedelson]

All we know is what we feel and what we can remember.

[msedelson]

The Clockmaker

I have this god in my head that I don’t believe in but could possibly exist; his name is The Clockmaker. He exisits outside of this universe, in a realm beyond time, watching the movements of his creation, the Cosmos.

He’s the one who set time into motion, wound the clock and let it go, calculated the intricate physics of the universe, put it all into balance, but for what? Just to watch? We could not comprehend the reason even if one exists.

He’s the part of the monotheistic God that I just can’t believe in, not even when I was a child. So much so that I couldn’t recognize the divinity in the other part, Cosmos: everything that exists in the universe.

The Clockmaker is scary, he’s a perspective from outside time that expects something from us but we could never know what and is constantly judging us on our performance. He encourages people to look at their lives from outside of time looking in, something that can cause immense anxiety and feelings of guilt if you don’t feel like you’ve lived up to your potential. His perspective focuses to heavily on the end of life and not the act of living. He sees the whole sum of your accomplishments listed as if from a history textbook, and I just don’t think that’s a healthy perspective for us most of the time.

[msedelson]

The Legacy of Thor

I’ve been thinking about Thor a lot recently and I’ve discovered a lot about him that I’ve never read by connecting things he’s associated with together; let me explain: Thor is the god of thunder, that’s literally what his name means, but I think it’s less that he’s just the sound lightning makes and instead he’s the force behind both and the thunder is like his voice. Similarly, Mjolnir (his hammer) literally means lightning, so if Thor is the force, consciousness behind thunder and lightning is his hammer how does that fit in to our modern understanding of the world?

Science tells us that lighting happens because of a chemical reaction within the atmosphere, the same chemical reaction, ionization, that creates the atmosphere itself. So can we say that Thor is a force/consciousness behind ionization? Thor is also associated with magnetism and blacksmiths; the norse connected the sound of the blacksmith’s hammer to the sound of thunder, and magnets were only encountered in the ancient world at blacksmiths because they’d be hammering away at iron, charging it with magnetism. We know now that magnets and electricity are beasically the same thing, the way we create electricity is by spinning magnets against each other. We also know that the force of magnetism is caused by the same force that creates the atmosphere, the churning molten metal and the core of the earth. Thor is know to have been the child of Odin and not Frigga the queen but Jord, the personification of the earth. So Thor is the atmosphere/ the natural products of ionization on earth.

This makes complete sense to me. Thor is said to be the protector of Midgard (earth) against the Jotnar. If we understand the Jotnar to be represented in the chaos of outer space, then the atmosphere really is our greatest protector against those colossal elemental powers (meteorites, radiation, cold).

So if Thor is the atmosphere, then what is Jormungand, the serpent that surrounds the world eating its own tail, fated to deal Thor a killing blow at Ragnarök? The ouroboros is a concept seen in many cultures that depocts a snake eating its own tail; it represents self destruction. Can we take this to mean that self-destruction itself kills Thor? If yes, can’t this be a potent warning for climate change? Our self destructive impulses are actually killing our greatest protector, the atmosphere.

Also, if Thor is the force that makes electricity possible, isn’t electricity and everything that uses it also the domain of Thor? I think so. Just because the Norse people couldn’t harness electricity doesn’t mean they don’t understand on some level the processes that made us able to. Personally I’ve grown very close to Thor after this line of reasoning, not only because climate change is and issue of extreme impprtance to me but because electricity is such a common part of our lives and understanding it as the gift of Thor brings a bit of magic into my life everytime I use something electronic. This to me is Thor’s legacy, not simply a loud noise from a natural phenomenon (lightning) that barely impacts me in the modern world.

[msedelson]

1/2/19

I feel like I don’t have a voice, like no matter what I think it stays trapped inside of me. I think that’s the sorta thing that starts people writing and communicating with the world, so here I am. Because that’s what all writing is, communicating, and that’s always been my struggle, but also that need to communicate is what fuels me. I’ve always wanted for other people to understand what I’m thinking, and eveyone who ever has seems to’ve enjoyed it.

I guess 2019 will be my year of communicating. I want people to understand me, and I guess I’ll just have to make them.