Norse Art

Mid-30s. Graphic Designer and Illustrator; doing my best to live in the US. I love Norse Mythology & History, especially runes. White Supes/Nazis aren't welcome here. . —— ᛉ —— . INTJ - 5w4 - ♉︎ - Husband & Father. ADHD as fuck. Raised Mormon but Deconstructing. . —— ᛟ —— . Side account where I post all my non-Norse-related stuff is @sketching-conclusions Mineblr is @norsecraft . —— ᛏ —— .

[viking-illustrator]

My name is Joseph and I draw ‘Viking’ stuff.

[shymagnolia]

so I got into grad school today with my shitty 2.8 gpa and the moral of the story is reblog those good luck posts for the love of god

[shymagnolia]

okay so i just got my dream job??? a week after applying to it?? and now i’m thinking….maybe this is the good luck post

[flagellant]

…..not even six hours later i got an offer of a well paying full time long-term job with free room and board in queens in nyc, allowing me independence and a way to escape an abusive situation and an unhealthy environment

likes charge reblogs cast, folks, this is the good luck post

[coffee-or-hot-cocoa]

i need all the help i can get for finals

[finnglas]

Hey so

the last time I reblogged this post right before I got a great job, in a permanent work-from-home position, with benefits, retirement, and a salary literally 3x what I was making before, doing something I really like. 

So you know. 

This might be the real one, y’all.

[avhira]

I could use some luck

[monarobot]

The good luck post! \o/

[viking-illustrator]

You know what? I’m gonna do it this time. I’ve got an interview in 2 days. Let’s see what this baby can do.

[viking-illustrator]

Might fuck around & post about my Mormon-religious-trauma & deconstruction

[viking-illustrator]

The issue with high-control religions (but mormonism in particular) is that there is always some thought-stopping plot-hole-filler for those who are in it. There’s no amount of logic or factual evidence that will get them to wake up unless they are internally ready. I see videos & posts all the time where someone brings up something that “destroys” mormon theology. Except it doesn’t. Those who are already critical of mormonism already know that the theology is bogus—even though they are the main audience that will engage with that kind of content, you’re not changing anyone’s minds there because they already agree with you. But the devout believers will always have some kind of rebuttal that shuts down their critical thinking & preserves the symbiotic relationship with their religion & their self identity. You point out anachronisms or archeological evidence against the factuality of the Book of Mormon? “Well all that means is that we haven’t discovered the right evidence, yet” You mention literally any moral issue or logical fallacy taught by Joseph Smith (or any prophet)? “Well prophets are still imperfect men—you can’t expect them to be flawless all the time.” “He was speaking as a man, not a prophet” Book of Abraham being clearly not an accurate translation of verifiable Egyptian hieroglyphics? “It was an Inspired Translation—not a literal one” Mormon temple ceremony being very clearly inspired by Freemason rituals that Joseph Smith learned weeks before revealing the mormon versions? “The mormon rituals are the original ones that were partially lost & miscommunicated over time & the Freemason ones were derived from that” And anything that they have not come up with a specific answer to? “The Lord works in Mysterious Ways” “Everything will be revealed in The Hereafter” “Our mortal minds just can’t comprehend these Eternal Principles in this life” “That will be worked out in The Next Life” And above all there are personal anecdotal experiences that bind them emotionally to their belief & thereby the institution. Point is, there is no way to crack through the thought-stopping armor of a devout mormon with any amount of logic. If they are ever to wake up & make the decision to question, to think critically, to step back or step away—that has to start internally on their own.

[viking-illustrator]

The kind of texts I get from my wife across the house while I’m cooking dinner

[norsecraft]

POV: You spend 5 years building in survival Minecraft so you can live in Asgard

[viking-illustrator]

Sometimes I post shit on TikTok.

[brigitte-poetry]

I was thinking about controversial it is, even in pagan settings, to worship tricksters like Loki and Sutekh, and I think that I described it pretty well with

"Tricksters are inherently transgressive figures who literally embody what it's like to live in a socially unacceptable or taboo way, which is why members of marginalized communities flock to them while more privileged people find them distasteful. They are the personifications of chaos and social unrest, which includes how much strife surrounds people who are deemed socially unacceptable; they are literally the gods of minorities and people who suffer under bigoted unjust systems.

When tricksters do something bad in a myth, marginalized groups see a complex rebellious figure with their own motives while privileged people see a bad person doing bad things. And when tricksters are punished, privileged people just see a bad guy getting their comeuppence while marginalized groups see the harsh realities of living as a socially unacceptable person.

It's no wonder then that queer people, the mentally ill and other minorities have flocked to Loki's side, since he embodies the realities of their lives, even when others can't understand it."

[depsidase]

[animentality]

[viking-illustrator]

Might fuck around & post about my Mormon-religious-trauma & deconstruction

[viking-illustrator]

Mormon Resurrection Makes No Fucking Sense

For a quick low-down for those fortunate enough to not me familiar with mormon teachings—mormons believe that after Jesus’s return, everyone who has ever lived will be resurrected in a “glorified, perfected body” just like Jesus was after the crucifixion.

The church explicitly teaches what the whole “glorified perfected body” means— the Book of Mormon says that “every limb and joint shall be restored to its body… even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame” & Dallin H. Oaks, the current prophet/president of the mormon church, has taught that that includes “birth defects, mortal injuries, disease, or the natural deterioration of old age”.

So everyone will get a “perfect” body that apparently will be something like in the prime of your life, & not only any damage your body sustained during life be reversed, but any “damage” or “imperfection” you were born with will be gone, too. Which I know when they claimed that, they really thought they were cooking with people who were, for example, born without a limb or something.

Thing is, I’ve got ADHD, & around the same time I started deconstructing mormonism, I also started learning more about my neurodivergent brain (I’ve lived with ADHD my whole life, but wasn’t diagnosed until I was 11 & still was given basically no further information or support after that). One thing I’ve learned is that ADHD is the result of a difference in brain chemistry. My brain physically operates different. But also that affects my consciousness, my personality, how I perceive & interact with the world—ADHD is a piece of my identity.

But it’s also considered an “abnormality”. So (hypothetically) when I get Mormon-Resurrected, will my ADHD be gone? And if so, what does that mean about my identity & my soul? Does my spirit have ADHD? If I still have ADHD post-resurrection, what’s the cutoff for disabilities that get undone from Mormon-Resurrection vs. those that don’t? Is it just disabilities you can see? Do you keep disabilities that you’ve coerced to accept as part of your identity?

Like I know both Joseph Smith & Dallin Oaks thought they ate with this, but for people like me with neurodivergence, it’s just a metaphorical thread that I can’t stop picking at, until the whole sweater comes undone.

[viking-illustrator]

@niteclock

YES! And not to mention super white supremacist—because even though the teachings have gotten more subtle over the years & most members will rarely say/acknowledge it, part of having your body resurrected in a Glorified & Perfected State™ is that it will also be made “White And Delightsome”

[viking-illustrator]

Might fuck around & post about my Mormon-religious-trauma & deconstruction

[viking-illustrator]

Mormon Resurrection Makes No Fucking Sense

For a quick low-down for those fortunate enough to not be familiar with mormon teachings—mormons believe that after Jesus’s return, everyone who has ever lived will be resurrected in a “glorified, perfected body” just like Jesus was after the crucifixion.

The church explicitly teaches what the whole “glorified perfected body” means— the Book of Mormon says that “every limb and joint shall be restored to its body… even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame” & Dallin H. Oaks, the current prophet/president of the mormon church, has taught that that includes “birth defects, mortal injuries, disease, or the natural deterioration of old age”.

So everyone will get a “perfect” body that apparently will be something like in the prime of your life, & not only any damage your body sustained during life be reversed, but any “damage” or “imperfection” you were born with will be gone, too. Which I know when they claimed that, they really thought they were cooking with people who were, for example, born without a limb or something.

Thing is, I’ve got ADHD, & around the same time I started deconstructing mormonism, I also started learning more about my neurodivergent brain (I’ve lived with ADHD my whole life, but wasn’t diagnosed until I was 11 & still was given basically no further information or support after that). One thing I’ve learned is that ADHD is the result of a difference in brain chemistry. My brain physically operates different. But also that affects my consciousness, my personality, how I perceive & interact with the world—ADHD is a piece of my identity.

But it’s also considered an “abnormality”. So (hypothetically) when I get Mormon-Resurrected, will my ADHD be gone? And if so, what does that mean about my identity & my soul? Does my spirit have ADHD? If I still have ADHD post-resurrection, what’s the cutoff for disabilities that get undone from Mormon-Resurrection vs. those that don’t? Is it just disabilities you can see? Do you keep disabilities that you’ve come to accept as part of your identity?

Like I know both Joseph Smith & Dallin Oaks thought they ate with this, but for people like me with neurodivergence, it’s just a metaphorical thread that I can’t stop picking at, until the whole sweater comes undone.

[viking-illustrator]

Might fuck around & post about my Mormon-religious-trauma & deconstruction

[viking-illustrator]

The moment things broke for me for real for real was when the Ensign Peak shell-companies whistleblower scandal thing came out. If you don’t know what that is you can look it up pretty easily but to tell it briefly a whistleblower revealed that the Mormon church had billions & billions of dollars hidden in shell companies.

And when the church’s spokesperson was interviewed & asked about it, one of the reasons he gave for why the true wealth of the church was kept secret was because if the faithful members of the church knew how much money the church had, they might stop paying tithing.

After being raised to recite scripture verses like “we believe in … obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law”; being made to feel guilty through the entire 2 years of my mission for not seeing “the blessings of baptism numbers” because of my lack of being exactly obedient; having to promise to leadership that I was “honest in all my dealings with my fellow men”. Now I find out that the highest levels of leadership—to include the man/men that I was told & believed spoke for god—were dishonest on such a grand scale?? And one of their main motivations was because they wanted to keep chumps like me sending off 10% of my paycheck every month???

That violation of trust and ethics really, genuinely broke something in me.

[jotun-appologist]

For me it was being actively silenced by my ward when a member went to prison for murder. I was friends with his daughter. I slept in his house.

(And oh gods was getting my mother to agree to sleepovers again after that a nightmare)

But my dad helped too, he was already ex-mormon and he would constantly bring up things like that scandal, or the rampant racism, sexism, and bigotry. Or, his favorite to bring up that wasn't some weird "the demons did it" thing was that the LDS church has a worse track record with child abuse and CSA from clergymen than even the Catholics.

And thinking how I once was so excited about getting my endowments or some other stupid shit because I wanted to be perfect for my future husband

[viking-illustrator]

Fuucking Hel.

I'm glad you had people to support you through that. It makes a huge difference; I'm fortunate that both me & my wife have been on the same page through all this, too. Especially living in Utah & in a neighborhood that is almost entirely active mormons.

It can feel really isolating at times.

[viking-illustrator]

Might fuck around & post about my Mormon-religious-trauma & deconstruction

[viking-illustrator]

The moment things broke for me for real for real was when the Ensign Peak shell-companies whistleblower scandal thing came out. If you don’t know what that is you can look it up pretty easily but to tell it briefly a whistleblower revealed that the Mormon church had billions & billions of dollars hidden in shell companies.

And when the church’s spokesperson was interviewed & asked about it, one of the reasons he gave for why the true wealth of the church was kept secret was because if the faithful members of the church knew how much money the church had, they might stop paying tithing.

After being raised to recite scripture verses like “we believe in … obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law”; being made to feel guilty through the entire 2 years of my mission for not seeing “the blessings of baptism numbers” because of my lack of being exactly obedient; having to promise to leadership that I was “honest in all my dealings with my fellow men”. Now I find out that the highest levels of leadership—to include the man/men that I was told & believed spoke for god—were dishonest on such a grand scale?? And one of their main motivations was because they wanted to keep chumps like me sending off 10% of my paycheck every month???

That violation of trust and ethics really, genuinely broke something in me.

[a-brave-light]

Mysterious Asgard microbes may point to origins of complex life | CNN

Scientists are trying to understand how complex life emerged on Earth about 2 billion years ago. Our microbial ancestors could be the key.

This just tickles me:

Asgard archaea, named for the celestial home of Norse gods such as Odin and Thor, is a superphylum, or a group that evolved from a common ancestor.

A single phylum within this group was first discovered in 2015 near an underwater volcano in the North Atlantic Ocean known as Loki’s Castle due to its resemblance to the horned helmet worn by the Marvel Comics character — who also happens to be a god in Norse mythology. The microbe was dubbed Lokiarchaeota.

Other phyla of Asgard microbes have also been named after gods from Norse mythology.

When compared with microbes in other superphyla, Asgards appear to be closely related to eukaryotes and contain genes only seen in complex life.

“They were hailed as sort of the missing link in the evolution of life, from single-celled microbial life to complex life like plants and animals,” Baker told CNN.

[achillesinhighheels]

choosing to ignore my weirdly symbolic dream because i have a lot going on rn already

[viking-illustrator]

Might fuck around & post about my Mormon-religious-trauma & deconstruction

[viking-illustrator]

So I've been re-listening to Breaking Benjamin's 'Dear Agony' album as it's always been my favorite from that band.

Me & my wife have very similar tastes in music & love 2000's alt/emo/grunge rock; her favorite Breaking Benjamin album is 'Phobia' bc it was the album that first introduced her to the band. But the reason 'Dear Agony' is my favorite is because when I was a mormon missionary, I bought that album & would listen to it as often as whatever given companion I had at the time would allow (missionaries aren't supposed to listen to any music that isn't "spiritual", which largely amounts to pretty much just hymns 🤮 Clearly I didn't hold the mission rules & standards in very high regard, though).

Listening to this album was one of the enjoyable high points in a period of time where I was actually more depressed than I'd ever been in my life. Which is really saying something because 'Dear Agony' deals very heavily with some darker themes & topics like depression, anger, sorrow, loss, & death.

But hey, that's how mormon missions are, I guess.

[viking-illustrator]

Might fuck around & post about my Mormon-religious-trauma & deconstruction

[viking-illustrator]

So honestly I have to give a shout-out to tumblr for being one of the first catalysts to get me to actually start thinking for myself. I know that sounds ridiculous that The Brain-Dead Hellsite got me to start thinking critically but when you were raised mormon from birth the bar is on the literal floor.

I originally started this blog as a place to share my Norse mythology art bc Insta's algorithm is an uphill battle to get to the summit of Shit Peak so I thought I'd try my luck here. But because of the nature of my art I became connected to norse-pagans & people in other adjacent groups & I found out that these people who'd been literally demonized by the people who raised me (another story for another time) were actually pretty chill, & that we honestly had more in common than I'd thought.

Over the next few years I started to examine myself & question what I valued & if my beliefs & actions really reflected that. The 2016 election & it's aftermath, the Ensign Peak whistleblower scandal, the overturn of Roe v. Wade--all these things were just more moments where I looked inward, reevaluated my beliefs, and found myself pulling further & further away from the conservative mormon culture , beliefs, & values I'd been raised with.

I'm still on this journey or whatever you wanna call it. Don't know where I'll end up at the end of it or if there even is an end to it. But I am grateful for kind & accepting norse pagans out there who can show little republican mormon boys that there is goodness outside of their narrow group. Hopefully I can live the rest of my life in a similar way.