tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13308732.post115583901037233333..comments2023-10-18T02:23:07.047-05:00Comments on A Pagan Sojourn: Beyond MidgardS. Nicholehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04751328960282952373noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13308732.post-1155943575552139212006-08-18T18:26:00.000-05:002006-08-18T18:26:00.000-05:00I'm glad you enjoyed the post! We say quite often ...I'm glad you enjoyed the post! We say quite often that Heathenry is a religion with homework...I'll take your compliment as a sign that I've been doing mine. Ancestor veneration is definitely an important aspect of Heathenry...we consider our gods to be honored ancestors, so it's fair to say that reverence for our ancestors is a fundamental aspect of Heathenry.<BR/><BR/>I think part of the disconnection to ancestors in America rests with the mass amount of immigration that built the country...record keeping wasn't as good as it could've been, and probably more than a few immigrants liked it that way. Another source of this could lie with the fact that ancestor veneration isn't a key component of the religion that's dominated America for the past 150 years or so. I still find it sad, whatever the reason.<BR/><BR/>Mike - getting back to something you said about Dante, I think that there are some interesting parallels. The division of the underworld seems to be a pan-European concept prior to Christianity, and I think that this is another of the Indo-European commonalities we touched on before :)Bernulfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12899674801628309805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13308732.post-1155925119200069212006-08-18T13:18:00.000-05:002006-08-18T13:18:00.000-05:00I'm glad that you enjoyed the post! I agree about ...I'm glad that you enjoyed the post! I agree about the incorporation of reincarnation and single-incarnation concepts - I also find it interesting. I think, though, that this is one of the strengths of Heathenry, in that it includes so many concepts that are opposite one another. This goes all the way back to our creation stories, where the first creations came from the intermingling of fire and ice.Bernulfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12899674801628309805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13308732.post-1155920795317150302006-08-18T12:06:00.000-05:002006-08-18T12:06:00.000-05:00I love your mythic descriptions of the various god...I love your mythic descriptions of the various gods' & goddess's halls! Such a rich pantheon. <BR/><BR/>I find it particularly interesting how the Heathen system incorporates both reincarnation and single-life concepts. It's also neat how Dante's Inferno mirrors, to some extent, the levels in Niflheim (with different philosophical underpinnings, of course).Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17934386917419130389noreply@blogger.com