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Things pagans say, Part 2
Jul. 19th, 2010 04:31 pm"[Insert pagan faith here] is a nature religion."
I am, to put it mildly, not the outdoorsy type. I'm not a fan of camping (and particularly not a fan of setting up a campsite!). I don't like bugs. I don't like the heat. I do like flowers and trees, and the occasional walk in the woods. I like to look at the lake and pick through rocks on the beach. I'm glad it's there, I'd miss it if it weren't, but I'm not someone who is really all that consciously connected to nature.
I wonder if part of this has to do with having grown up in the country--sunsets over the lake, acres of green, fall colors, all that is everyday stuff. Even now, living in town, my yard is full of natury gorgeousness. I like nature. Nature is good. But I don't spend a lot of time waxing rhapsodic about it. (Not that I'm a waxing-rhapsodic type anyway, but you get my gist.) I've never in my life had to go looking for it. It has always just been there. And I appreciate it, but I really don't think I am as moved by it as much as a lot of pagans and heathens are.
So the whole "It's a nature religion" thing isn't something I personally relate to. As I say, I like nature, I wouldn't want to live in a city under any circumstances, but making it the main focus of my religion does not work for me. I think that's been one thing that's led me toward a more reconstructionist approach (well, that and the polytheism).
How does one balance this with a basically Vanic focus? I've heard it said that the Aesir are the gods of culture and the Vanir are the gods of nature. I think this is a gross simplification, but there is a bit of truth to it. I think potentially a better way to say it is that the Aesir are more about reason, and the Vans are more about instinct. Not as in an either/or thing, but as a first-impulse thing. Frey certainly seems to embody this. So is this worth exploring?
I am, to put it mildly, not the outdoorsy type. I'm not a fan of camping (and particularly not a fan of setting up a campsite!). I don't like bugs. I don't like the heat. I do like flowers and trees, and the occasional walk in the woods. I like to look at the lake and pick through rocks on the beach. I'm glad it's there, I'd miss it if it weren't, but I'm not someone who is really all that consciously connected to nature.
I wonder if part of this has to do with having grown up in the country--sunsets over the lake, acres of green, fall colors, all that is everyday stuff. Even now, living in town, my yard is full of natury gorgeousness. I like nature. Nature is good. But I don't spend a lot of time waxing rhapsodic about it. (Not that I'm a waxing-rhapsodic type anyway, but you get my gist.) I've never in my life had to go looking for it. It has always just been there. And I appreciate it, but I really don't think I am as moved by it as much as a lot of pagans and heathens are.
So the whole "It's a nature religion" thing isn't something I personally relate to. As I say, I like nature, I wouldn't want to live in a city under any circumstances, but making it the main focus of my religion does not work for me. I think that's been one thing that's led me toward a more reconstructionist approach (well, that and the polytheism).
How does one balance this with a basically Vanic focus? I've heard it said that the Aesir are the gods of culture and the Vanir are the gods of nature. I think this is a gross simplification, but there is a bit of truth to it. I think potentially a better way to say it is that the Aesir are more about reason, and the Vans are more about instinct. Not as in an either/or thing, but as a first-impulse thing. Frey certainly seems to embody this. So is this worth exploring?
