Nocturnal Druid

Do one thing.

Start there, do ONE thing to help. Take an active role in bettering your little corner of the world by solving One Small Problem, whatever it might be.

It may not fix Everything, but it fixes Something. One less thing is broken. One less task needs doing. One less place is uncared for. One less heart is heavy. One less stomach is empty. One less voice is silent.

we couldn't find the "show them you're a Slimcea girl" advert, but

But wait, there’s more!

Ok so roads are important infrastructure. A lot of stuff that's important happens on roads. Now, let's imagine that quadrillionaire Matt Stench has decided that the next big tech innovation is the Wide Car. It's a car that takes up six lanes despite seating only one passenger.

The Wide Car is supposed to be the future, and everyone's going to be driving Wide Cars, even though nobody who makes Wide Cars is turning a profit. Employers are offering Wide Cars as an employee benefit, and getting "nah." Some employers are going as far as demanding their employees drive Wide Cars, and the result is that people take time out of their workdays to get in the mandatory gas usage for their Wide Car before driving home in a regular car.

In spite of the fact that the Wide Car is clearly set to fail, there's an enormous push to expand to twelve-lane roads to accommodate a bunch of Wide Cars that simply will not materialize. This is not an organic response to demand, but a speculative investment that amplifies the existing issues with road development for no good reason.

Part 2

—And you Waybread, mother of herbs,

Open from the east, yet mighty within.

Over you carts creaked, over you women rode,

Over you brides bellowed, over you bulls snorted

You withstood all of them, you pushed back against them

You withstood poison and air disease

you withstood the horror who travels over land.

—Anglo Saxon Nine Herbs Charm

Previous posts about plantain:

Plantain for Pálení Čarodějnic/Walpurgisnacht

"Jitrocelu, jitrocelu, vyhoj moji ránu v celku." (Jitrocel, jitrocel, heal my wound completely.) — Plantain in Czech folk magic

Plantains I’ve foraged so far this year: ribwort/narrowleaf plantain (top 2), American plantain, bracted plantain, and Virginia plantain

Those with long-term/worsened disabilities because of their parents telling them to just work through it/get over it/"it's not that bad"

Those with disabilities stemming from childhood abuse

Those who know that they're disabled or suspect such, but can't get it diagnosed or checked out because of their parents/guardians disapproving

Those who know/suspect that they're disabled, but won't be diagnosed or checked out because they're "too young"

Those who struggle in or had to drop out of the harsh and mostly unaccommodating school system because of their disability or disabilities

Those who were lied to or not told they were disabled growing up so they could be raised "normal"

Those who have their privacy and autonomy violated as a combination of being disabled and being a child, as both of those groups are seen as not deserving their autonomy

Those who are disabled or had their disability (or disabilities) worsened because of the school system pushing them too far

Those who feel that they can never be one of the "normal" kids and that they'll always be isolated because of their disability or disabilities

Disabled folks who don't know or didn't know much about their disability as a kid because doctors would only explain to the parents/caretakers and no one bothered to talk to you

All disabled children having to deal with the intersectuality of being oppressed by both ableism and adultism.

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.