The Spooky Plum @thespookyplum - Tumblr Blog

lokahjarta

"there is no clear evidence of Loki's worship in ancient times"

But stories were told of him - yes?

And did they make people laugh?

Did they make them squirm?

But a hearth stone was carved of him, yes?

Someone's love and time emptied into little mouth stitches and a curly mustache

They imagined him, right?

And someone looked at the sky

Saw Thiazi's eyes

And the old dwarf's toe

And saw the red one, burning bright

And named it Loki -

Right?

Does a lack of worship mean

A lack of love?

What about a million scintillating threads tying the web of stories, great and small?

What about kindling the imagination

Like wildfire

Like dandelion seeds

Blowing across a northern sky

Why does worship not mean

Deeply Beloved?

I am with Them - They are with me

Everyone who once heard a story who heard a story of a god called Loki

And told it to someone who told it someone

Until it got to me. To you. To us. That's worship. That's love to me.

recaptchalater

You can worship all of the gods

There seems to be this perception online right now that a god has to reach out to you personally through signs and omens and mysterious dreams before you can start praying to them.

There's also this idea that you have to establish a close personal relationship with every god before you can ask them for anything.

People ask things like "I want to work with [deity], but they haven't reached out to me. What can I do?"

I'm not saying this modern version of worship is wrong, but it's vastly different from how gods were worshipped in the past. You don't need a close relationship with a god to pray to them. People who were closer to specific gods were closer to them due to their lifestyles, and the things they were prone to pray for.

Sailors prayed to the Dioscuri for safe passage because they were sailors.

Soldiers prayed to Mars for strength in battle because they were soldiers.

People prayed to gods based on the things those gods were in charge of, the things they did.

You might wonder, if there's no pre-established relationship between myself and this god, why would they help me?

The answer is offerings. Offerings are a transactional relationship, given and received. A gift for a gift. And they didn't always take place before the gift was given, either. It was equally common for a person to pray something like;

"Mercury, if you deliver me safely on my journey then when I arrive I will pay to have an altar raised to you in the town I find myself in."

We know this because there are a great many plaques on offerings and even buildings devoted to the gods, describing the debt owed to the god, by whom it was owed, and what was given in payment.

If you want to worship a god, just do it. You don't need anyone's permission. Just start praying to them. If you want something from them, give something in return. It's far more straightforward than many people make it seem.

jonquilclegane

And the Sigyn erasure goes on...

So I found this very beautiful Norse mythology book at the Forbidden Planet shop in London.

And I couldn't wait to read it.

And it was rather good… Except for two things:

Loki being called a "wicked god" (Lol. Is Loki Elphie? XDXD Well, we can't all travel by bubble XDXD )

Sigyn being erased ONCE AGAIN from the cave scene. Oh, but it seems that Loki was bound next to Fenrir in this version, so yay? I wonder if these writers realize what they're saying, because if Sigyn is not there to hold the bowl and allow some relief to Loki, it means that the poison drops non stop on his face.

And do you know what happens when Loki screams from the pain?

EARTHQUAKES IN MIDGARD.

Sigyn protects her beloved, yes, but by doing so, she also protects us, mere mortals, from earthquakes.

The pages in question... The "Loki deserved it all" line really made me scream... May I remind you of Odin's crimes? ^^'

Some writers only read two books on Norse mythology before writing their own (and proudly say so in their prologue). Well, if the books they read are like this one, then no wonder they have a very bad opinion of Loki, and completely ignore who Sigyn is ^^'

creature-wizard

When people are like, "The gods won't help you with your problem! They're too important and busy for that!" I gotta wonder why they think people bothered interacting with deities in the past in the first place.