I employ a lot of metaphors and intellectual tools when I try to teach a class.
Thing. The word is of Norse origin. Know what it means? Mystery. The allthing was a meeting of Norse spirituality. They didn’t really have a priesthood.
Luck is also Norse. Luck meant tendency/fate. The Norse had the habit of throwing a Christian priest overboard because of the story of Jonah and the whale. They figured if things looked threatening, they had to acknowledge that tendency and didn’t think about it as murder. They actually believed that their God would save them. The Norse actually had a doctrine of respecting other Gods. So as far as they knew it was just how it worked.
Their Gods would save them. Others would be saved by their own Gods. They took the Christians literally? Exactly, they did indeed. Otherwise, from their point of view the story didn’t make any sense. This is how they treated their own stories too. They didn’t actually have a double standard or anything.
So they respect other Gods, assuming their belief systems functioned the same way. How very logical. As far as they knew the Christian God was just very strange and must be very busy looking out for Christians. The Norse Gods were busy with their own affairs and didn’t directly look out for humans. The reason they revered their Gods was they believed that though they were busy, they could be asked for favours or guidance. It was seen as generosity much like they would receive from any member of their clan.
Gods were people too. The song “What if God was one of us?” would have seemed a silly question to them.
Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.
Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~