Question lemming
Aug. 20th, 2004 12:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hearthstoneFrom lots of people:
I want everyone who reads this to ask me 3 questions, no more no less. Ask me anything you want. Then I want you to go to your journal, copy and paste this allowing your friends (including myself) to ask you anything.
I want everyone who reads this to ask me 3 questions, no more no less. Ask me anything you want. Then I want you to go to your journal, copy and paste this allowing your friends (including myself) to ask you anything.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-20 04:44 pm (UTC)2. What is your favourite thing about having kids? Your least favourite?
3. What is the meaning of life ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-20 05:06 pm (UTC)That one I can blame solely on Aphrodite, who changed me into a hard polytheist overnight and led me gradually to Hellenic reconstructionism.
2. What is your favourite thing about having kids? Your least favourite?
Favorite--watching them turn into cool people with their own unique personalities. Least favorite--the fighting and the whining!
3. What is the meaning of life ;)
If there is one, I think it's fairly simple--to try to be a good person, and to do the best job you can at whatever it is you do.
I wanna play!
Date: 2004-08-20 04:57 pm (UTC)2) What are your favorite aspects about each of your traditions?
3) What's your favorite book of all time, for any reason?
Re: I wanna play!
Date: 2004-08-20 05:23 pm (UTC)It actually is not that difficult in general, I think in part because the two faiths are fairly different and because the way I interact with the two communities is very different. It's kind of surprising how my practice of each has evolved without blending.
I'd have to say that, really, the hardest part of being dual-faith is explaining it to others.
2) What are your favorite aspects about each of your traditions?
Gosh, that's a hard one! I'm tempted to say "the gods" for both and leave it at that--but I'll skip over that for now.
Heathenry has a strong and thriving real-world community--real people practicing some variant of the same faith--and that is inspiring. There is also a wonderful diversity--although some of these diverse types of heathenry are convinced that their own variety is The Only One :)--which I think is fantastic. Acceptance of diversity encourages growth. The fact that in many cases heathens who hold quite different views can work together on what is important to both.
Also, a great deal of work has already been done--research accomplished, prayers and liturgy written--so that a new person coming in can easily get started, instead of reading a bit and being afraid to "do something" for fear of doing it wrong. (Yeah, that happens with some folks anyway--but it doesn't have to!) And thirty years of Asatru practice has helped to form a recognizable group identity--which is not entirely a good thing but it's not all bad either.
Hellenic reconstructionism is newer, but the sheer volume of available information is likely to help it develop comparatively quickly. In some ways it is actually a disadvantage to have so much detailed information, but overall it is a good thing. There are a lot of good people involved, and while there has been some splitting I think (diversity = good, remember? :)) that it's a very good thing for a number of options to exist.
I also like the people--I hope that in another 10 years or so there may be the numbers to meet in person more regularly, but in the mean time folks seem to make good use of the internet.
3) What's your favorite book of all time, for any reason?
Life and Loves of a She-Devil by Fay Weldon is my favorite work of fiction. I reread it every so often and it's always thought-provoking.
Re: I wanna play!
Date: 2004-08-20 05:42 pm (UTC)Does how you interact with both traditions weigh in a lot in how you find them to be so different?
Re: I wanna play!
Date: 2004-08-20 06:10 pm (UTC)I think it probably does. Practing primarily with a group (as with heathenry) is quite different from primarily practicing alone (as with Hellenism). It is very hard for me to "do heathen" purely from a personal point of view (with a few exceptions) and I think that is because I have always been in a heathen group and I have always been one of the people who do a lot of the planning/performing of ritual. Most of my heathen prayers were written for use in a group setting (and generally for a particular purpose); my most recent prayer to Odin is probably the only exception to that. However, all of my Hellenic prayers were written for personal use--and to me, I can see the difference there, in how I approach the religions. So yeah, it's very possible that I see more differences because I am doing different things within each faith.
They are not really dissimilar enough to conflict, however. They ethics are pretty close--both cultures valued hospitality, both were very much concerned with keeping oaths, etc. The worldview is somewhat different, but I'm not sure that that is a difference that would make a difference, if you see what I mean. And of course the importance of all that depends on what sort of a reconstructionist you are.
I do know that I have a generally different "feeling" about the gods of each group, and I approach them differently--with a different state of mind. That may well be because of my own perceptions, of course.
My Turn!
Date: 2004-08-20 05:23 pm (UTC)2) (I know this isn't going to come out the way I mean it)
Would you (on a selfish level) prefer to be single trad? If so, which one?
3) What is one piece of jewlery you would create had you the money/skill to create it?
Re: My Turn!
Date: 2004-08-20 05:34 pm (UTC)To see my kids grow into happy adults, and to live a long and happy life with Dan. Anything else is gravy. (And there's a loooong list of things I want to do--it's just not in the same category.)
2) (I know this isn't going to come out the way I mean it) Would you (on a selfish level) prefer to be single trad? If so, which one?
Well, it would probably be easier in some ways, but no, not really. I wouldn't want to give up any of it.
If I was for some reason forced to choose, I really have no idea what I'd do. It would be like choosing one of your kids over the other--just impossible. Aphrodite, of course, is non-negotiable; I am not oathed to any other gods, but I am certainly committed to both of my faiths, albeit in different ways.
3) What is one piece of jewlery you would create had you the money/skill to create it?
I'm actually not a big jewelry fan. I wear my Thor's hammer most of the time, and I have a pendant of Aphrodite which I wear occasionally, but I don't usually like anything confining on my body. However, I wouldn't mind a nice 12-pointed star :).
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-20 06:15 pm (UTC)2. What's your favorite thing about yourself?3. What's something you like about someone you're not too happy with right now?
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-20 06:27 pm (UTC)You have a remarkably creative approach to religion without losing sight of its roots--a real talent for innovation that holds to the spirit of the original practice.
2. What's your favorite thing about yourself?
That I never find an end to things, and that process is as important as product to me.
3. What's something you like about someone you're not too happy with right now?
Hmm...s/he goes out of his/her way to create a full experience for others (and for him/herself, presumably). (Not that that really makes up for some of the other stuff--I don't hold a lot of grudges, but when I do, they tend to stick!)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-20 06:52 pm (UTC)2. Good. Many people have trouble identifying something likable in themselves.
3. Fascinatingly worded. If I'm ever on your bad side, I hope you can speak as well of me.