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Eruonen
Half-elven
Mar 3 2015, 12:01am
Post #2 of 8
(531 views)
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It does seem "what's the point" if the head guy is just doing it for
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symbolic reasons.
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Annael
Immortal
Mar 3 2015, 12:47am
Post #3 of 8
(522 views)
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There have always been people who find a symbolic or metaphorical slant on religion to be the most meaningful.
People with soul can identify with another person's basic human struggle without either judgment or indifference.
-- Thomas Moore
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Eruonen
Half-elven
Mar 3 2015, 1:31am
Post #4 of 8
(515 views)
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True, but to me, that seems to be more of personal approach than
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what he is doing. It seems to be more of a costumed play ritual than anything with real meaning to him. His description as an "antiquarian" implies it is more of a hobby than having meaning to him.
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Annael
Immortal
Mar 3 2015, 1:54am
Post #5 of 8
(510 views)
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I've just been re-reading the first book of Julian May's Pliocene Exile series, and at the start there's a lot about how popular re-enactments of people's cultural traditions had become in the late 21st century - prophetic?
People with soul can identify with another person's basic human struggle without either judgment or indifference.
-- Thomas Moore
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Eruonen
Half-elven
Mar 3 2015, 2:05am
Post #6 of 8
(507 views)
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"But thanks to his position as high priest of Iceland’s neo-pagan Ásatrúarfélagið or Asatru Association, he has an authority formally recognised by the Icelandic state to conduct marriages, name children and bury the dead."
Business opportunity?
In the 12 years since he took over its leadership, membership of the Ásatrúarfélagið, which the Icelandic government recognises as a formal state religion,"
A tax break for a "religion" he does not actually believe in?
I guess I am skeptical of his motives.
"Hilmarsson says he doesn’t pray to the Norse gods or worship them in any recognisable sense, nor does he believe in the literal truth of the texts "
"“So yes, it’s partly a ‘romantiquarianism,’” he says of his faith."
Oh well, different strokes for different folks.
If he had started an Eru worship I would be all in! ;)
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Elarie
Grey Havens
Mar 3 2015, 2:43am
Post #7 of 8
(507 views)
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It's possible to believe in the meaning of the stories and to use them as a spiritual guide without taking them literally. Also, there was another article a few months ago about a road construction project in Iceland that had to be changed to go around a site where some people believe the "hidden folk" (elves) live.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27907358
These beliefs, or at least the stories, seem to be really deeply ingrained in Iceland's culture, and reading the articles about the temple and the road construction, I got the impression - and it's just a vague impression that I can't back up with any quotes or anything - that the people being interviewed didn't want to sound too "crazy" to outsiders and were maybe hedging a little bit.
__________________
Gold is the strife of kinsmen,
and fire of the flood-tide,
and the path of the serpent.
(Old Icelandic Fe rune poem)
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swordwhale
Tol Eressea
Mar 3 2015, 4:29pm
Post #8 of 8
(481 views)
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It's likely they didn't want to sound like "nutty neopagans" or something. Religious tolerance isn't practiced everywhere.
There is also the thing that in the past stories were listened to not for their scientific and historical facts, but for the deep truths the stories reveal.
So you immerse yourself in the ritual, in the story, and learn something from it. It doesn't mean that you don't believe that lightning is created by electrical charges...
I think it's a wonderful thing to bring back this bit of the ancient culture in a substantial form.
As a living history buff (having done a lot of Viking re-enactment) and a Unitarian Universalist (we listen to everybody) I applaud these guys for doing their bit to bring back a piece of a fantastic mythic cycle.
Also...Thor. Just Thor. 
Na 'Aear, na 'Aear! Mýl 'lain nallol, I sûl ribiel a i falf 'loss reviol...
To the sea, to the sea, the white gulls are crying, the wind is blowing and the white foam is flying...
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