Finding your traditions

[EyeofOdin]

How did you find the traditions you practiced?

When I found mine, I was simply in a shower, I needed something, was very stressed an torn, and asked for it from a particular deity and (s)he gave it to me (I'm not going to go into too much detail). So that's how I found the Northern European gods.

Part of me was extremely excited. Gods who were worshipped by the majority of my ancestors, who obviously exist and revealed themselves to me and answered me when I sought them out.

Another part of me was rather disappointed. I now know that not all Heathens and Asatruar are Folkish and not all are racist. At the time, I saw a community that I would probably struggle with. Whenever I looked into the world of polytheists and pagans, most of them were so liberal and progressive, so I was very compatible with them, being a progressive myself. The heathens that make themselves most known appear to be quite conservative, "country" if you will. These people seemed to be just as homophobic and racist as the Fundamentalist Christians I was seeking refuge from. Being gay, to be frank, I was a little afraid.

Now I'm just fine with the gods, and I think that I'm starting to find community as well. Yeah, they're country, but they seem to be down to earth. I haven't brought up sexuality or race with them, but I hope that it all goes well.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

There are many Asatuar groups who explicitly reject bigotry like racism, sexism and homophobia. You just have to do a bit of searching. I found one group like that in my area. Was going to meet up with them but I changed my mind. The guy I emailed a couple times was very nice.

 

[Sees]

I have always done a lot of reading on religion, philosophy, psychology, etc. since I was young. I would take a little New Testament, Tao Te Ching, Dhammapada, etc. with me wherever I would go and do a lot of pondering/soul-searching - even at 7 or 8 years old lol. For a time even visiting all the different churches within walking distance of my house to bug them and ask 101 questions. I ended up finding the early Ásatrú books available and reading/studying them between '94-97, working with some runes, having experiences, awakenings, visions, putting things against struggle through practice and becoming part of the greater community.

There is a hell of a lot more to it and I will put a good bit in a book I decided to go ahead and begin putting together over the next 4 or 5 years

Free copy of course for any religiousforum brothers, sisters, friends, family if they remembers and remind me. :thud:

 

[Jainarayan]

I'm posting here and throwing in my 2 cents because my interest in Norse mythology (mythology not used in a pejorative fairytale way, but as 'stories') is being rekindled. I was always interested in it as a kid. I was also fascinated by the Hindu deities. In my studies, searching, and journey, which has become an evolution of my beliefs, I see many similarities between deities of different traditions. I am drawn to some of them, though they be of different traditions, i.e. Hindu, Norse and some others. After all, Hindu and Vedic, Norse and many other deities share common (Proto)-Indoeuropean roots. The deities I am drawn to are those who speak to me for one reason or another. There's the Indian saying, I don't know if it's Sanskrit or Hindi, that loosely translates as "God shows himself in a way meaningful to the believer" or "Everyone see God in their own way". I am still evolving.