For me, paganism is about honoring the earth. I often write poetry about the land-spirits because I see life in the trees, wind, soil, rocks, moss, and every ripple of flowing water. In Freyr, I envision sprouting seedlings, autumnal showers, harvest-ready crops, and fields full of sunlight. In Baldr, I see the cycle of earthâs seasons, but especially spring, which is when the earth renews itself after the cold of winter.
There are, of course, gods who I associate with lifeâs pathâpersonal development, human characteristics, habits, and interests. In Odin, I see a wanderer who defies social expectations in his search for knowledge and experience. In Bragi, I see an example of how to craft words, use knowledge creativity, and produce works of art (music and visual, as well as speech).
In the end, we all see the same gods differently, each looking for what we need or desire from them, perhaps. Thatâs one of the beauties of paganism, I believe. The gods and spirits, whichever cultural lens one uses to give them names and character, are, in essence, about the natural world and human experiences we all endure. They are quite literally universally applicable to any person wandering through life on this world.
That said, I think itâs a tremendeous waste of spiritual energy to try and possess those gods and spirits, to contain and restrict their influence to a single, privileged people. Itâs narrow-minded, really, not to look at the broader picture of shared experience, home, and need.
Keep these views in mind when you follow me or reblog my content (both here and in my Hall @fjorn-the-skald, or even my tea shop @the-northern-herbalist). I really donât like seeing my posts about Baldr, for example, being used to âprotectâ whiteness and praise Nazi ideologies when I clearly write about him as the light and life of spring (a part of the natural world) that all living life on this earth experiences...
