Not an actual moon

Silver buckle, Sweden, 1100-1500 AD

Axe head, Scandinavia, 11th-12th century

1,500-Year-Old Gold Sword Fitting Found in Norway

A 1,500-year-old gold sword-scabbard fitting found by a local walker beneath a storm-felled tree in Sandnes, Norway, is offering archaeologists a rare glimpse into a powerful warrior elite that ruled the region during the Migration Period.

The discovery was made in Austrått, a district of Sandnes in Rogaland county, near the hill known as Riaren. The finder, a father of two who lives nearby, had been exploring the local walking area when he noticed an old tree that had been torn from the ground by a storm years earlier. Curious about the soil exposed beneath its roots, he used a stick to prod a small rise in the earth. Something flashed.

At first, he did not know what he had uncovered. Archaeologists at the Archaeological Museum, University of Stavanger, soon realized the object was extraordinary: a richly decorated piece of gold, most likely once mounted on the scabbard of a high-status sword.

Only 17 comparable pieces are known from Northern Europe, and this is the first discovery of its kind in Rogaland. That rarity alone would make the object important. But its location, wear and decoration make it even more valuable for understanding the political landscape of western Norway around 1,500 years ago.

The gold fitting measures about six centimeters wide, a couple of centimeters high and only a few millimeters thick. It weighs 33 grams. Though small, it belonged to a world of power. Such fittings were associated with prestigious swords carried by men at the very top of society.

NO ONE CAN TELL ME WHERE THE GIANT PRIMORDIAL NORSE COW WENT

STILL

there is a giant cow out there

licking shit, possibly bringing other giant beings into creation

and like no one ever thought to mention it?

And in the gap

My busy tung

Dus lick and lap

My huf is strong

My horn is curld

I wandr round

ek sleiki ís.

_______

Rough translation:

My name is cow from me ther flow all the rivers down belo. and tho my tung  do pay the price, now i stand here.

Candle Safety Rule #2: Do not add flammable items to candles or burn candles with embedded items!

In 2022, the National Candle Association conducted a safety test for candles with added botanicals and reported that the candles did not meet fire safety standards. [Source]

We get it. They look cool, and if you're of a witchy persuasion, they seem like a great way to put together a candle spell. But adding things like paper, herbs, flowers, crystals, or oils to a candle is a major, major fire hazard. They can cause the candle to burn in unexpected ways, experience rapid changes in flame height, put off smoke, throw sparks, ignite from multiple points, or even combust.

General Christianity

“The first and most important thing you need to do to practice Heathenry is read the Eddas.”

“You must worship Odin even if you don’t want to, because he’s the head god.”

“The point of being Heathen is to live life in a way that grants you entry to Valhalla.”

“Valhalla is the good/awesome afterlife and Helheim is the bad/boring afterlife.”

“The Æsir are good and the jötnar are evil.”

“Odin is like God, Loki is like the Devil, and Baldr is like Jesus.”

“Odin is more powerful than the rest of the gods.”

“Ragnarok is the End Times.”

(“Us vs. them” attitudes.)

(Not knowing what to do with the the goddesses in general, regardless of one’s gender.)

Catholic-Specific

“To be Heathen, you must serve the gods.”

“We can’t truly know the gods, only attempt to understand them through the Eddas.”

“The gods are distant and don’t care about our personal needs or lives.”

“We must act as the gods’ ambassadors on Earth.”

“Making sacrifices should be painful. That’s why it’s called a sacrifice.”

“Ragnarök is the End Times and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

(Treating the Hávamál as scripture.)

(Using medieval Icelandic law-tracts as a stand-in for Heathen religious orthodoxy.)

(Observing strict worship and insisting others do the same.)

(Adopting a very feudalistic relationship with the gods; lord/servant dynamics.)

Protestant-Specific

“Showing devotion to the gods is done by acting as their hands and feet on earth.”

“You must think about the gods all the time and involve them in everything you do.”

“Why should we merely ‘work with’ the gods when we can worship them?”

“Ragnarök is the End Times and we must prepare to fight on the side of the gods.” OR...

“Ragnarök is the End Times and we must help fulfill it.”

(Behaving as marginalized on the basis of their faith.)

(Reacting badly when confronted with new information about Heathenry.)

(Making bold or even standoffish declarations of faith.)

If you come from a Christian background and hear someone make statements like this, you’re probably going to feel pressured to come up with a counterargument for why it’s okay for you to disagree. What you actually need to do is dismiss the premise entirely. These arguments aren’t reflective of Heathen truths and you don’t have to argue with them as though they are.

This is also not a dig at those who’ve made these statements / done these behaviors before. It’s not exactly second-nature for us to break out of the habit of believing in a specific idea or behaving in a specific way when we believed / behaved that way for most of our lives. However, it’s still worth understanding how specific to Christianity these things are and trying to move away from them.

It’s up to you if you want to point out the nature of these arguments to the people making them. But if you do, I recommend doing so tactfully, with a clear head, and with a very clear understanding about what makes the premise Christian in nature.

May I add:

* Verses and prayers. Like: "may Odins spirit entering me and take out the evil and ... etc ...etc."

* Lists of heathen Virtues.

* Alternatively treating Thor or Tyr as Jesus.

* You can sin and be forgiven by saying the right things.

As Skaldish say, it is not a dig or admonishing. Everyone know it's hard to figure it out on your own. Especially when young. And those who make groups are often inspired by Christian ideals of a congregation.

As far as I know Bryan said in a commentary that it was a conscious decision to not put religions in atla, much like what Tolkien did, so no the people in the FN or any other nation don't worship gods.

I don't think that characters of Avatar literally practice our world's religions like Buddhism or Hinduism, but they do practice religions and philosophies that strongly resemble Eastern religions and philosophies in aesthetics, rituals, and (to a lesser extent) beliefs.

For example, the concept of an Avatar comes from Hinduism, Yangchen pretty much gives Aang the definition of a bodhisattva when describing the duty of the Avatar, the Air Nomads' society is oriented around four temples, monk and nun and sage exist as occupations in their world, etc...

The series gets around the issue of using words like "gods" by using the word "spirit", and the more important spirits have the same function as gods in their world. The Northern Water Tribe literally get on their knees in reverence when they see the Ocean Spirit. Similarly, Zuko's meditation room on his ship looks pretty religious, as it involves concentrating on what looks to be a representation of a dragon head.

To summarize:

Anyways, I wanted to highlight @ranilla-bean's response, which was a really great read. Don't know why it's hidden in the hashtags!

my hashtag hot take is there is here (ie this post and replies) a clash in the understanding of modern vs ancient religion or i should say christian vs nonchristian? this is how i learnt roman religion so i tend to think ancient v modern lol the idea of ‘religious faith’ is a very new postchristian concept (and arguably it could even be considered postprotestant-) and nonchristian religion is not typically based on faith but ritual i would argue that bryan thinks his world is nonreligious because the characters don’t ‘believe in’ spirits - spirits just exist nor do they ‘believe in’ things they perform ritual activities or build temples or dedicate their lives to monasticism for whereas these behaviours are quite clearly religious and are in fact based on actual existing religions religion isn’t only the worship of gods as buddhist philosophy is a good example of or even taoism or confucianism which is to say i concur with atlaculture i don’t think u can extricate religion from the atla world and i think attempts to do so are misguided and to be honest a bit colonialist not to mention doesn’t properly credit the cultural practices that these elements from the show come from (anyway not to make this a whole blather about how the showrunners though thoughtfully inspired are not necessarily the cultural guardians of or even the most informed when it comes to these practices) atla EDIT: coming in also with an addendum that it’s inaccurate to characterise eastern religions as purely philosophical with no gods (this is ofc a hyuge topic that i can’t get into atm and ofc im not expert on) but ‘belief in’ such gods/deified/venerated persons is not the driver of these religions

The point about religious faith possibly being a post-Protestant conception of religion is something I hadn't really thought about but makes so much sense.

Protestantism is quite literally a direct product of the printing press, and it reconfigures religion into an atomized subject that any individual can study, interpret, critique, and ultimately choose to accept or reject. This form of religion also creates a clear delineation between the religious and the secular.

This distinction isn't so clearly defined in most other cultures and religions, where the practice of ritual takes precedence over some grand acceptance of belief. With Eastern religions, these repeated actions and learned behaviors shape your mindset, in addition to creating meaning and community. Culture and religion become inextricable.

My entire life, I've described myself as having been raised with Buddhist and Confucian traditions but never identified as simply being a Buddhist or Confucian because I'd never seriously studied the theology/philosophy. Now I'm realizing that my "Americanized" mentality is actually just my brain being culturally Protestant.

Red ribbon to protect milk and butter for mí na Bealtaine!

It's an Irish folk tradition to tie a red ribbon and sometimes the twigs of specific trees to your cows tail to protect the milk and butter they will produce from theft. Especially because if someone milks your cow before you on the festival of bealtaine they will be stealing not only your milk that day but all your milk for the whole year!

Viking treasure hoard of silver objects uncovered at Westerklief in The Netherlands, dated circa 850-880 AD