October 29, 2011

Runic template

In my rune research the other day, I followed a hypothesis that “eight” and “ætt” are cut from the same cloth. That there is more than phonetics connecting the two. It turns out that I wasn’t far off. Átta is the Old Norse word for the cardinal number eight, descended from átt which relates to directions (north, north-west, west, south-west, south, south-east, east, north-east). Also according to Cleasby-Vigfusson, certain writers would write átt and ætt indiscriminately which tells me that at some point they held the same meanings. In other words, during the development of the Old Norse language, the word that references the cardinal directions could have been the same as the word for family (though a comment in CV calls this “fanciful”, it is the only thing that explains the shared usage).For me, this was the trigger for further exploration.

We already know that the heavens are divided into eight segments (cardinal directions, as well as mythologically) for Norse Heathens. Add to that this idea of “family”, and we end up with an interpretation of ætt as a possible social compass (which I’ve seen mentioned in a few different places over the last month or so). A guidance given to us by our connection to our kin. This idea struck me as very powerful, and I started to re-examine the Elder Futhark with it in mind. Three rows of eight (átta). Each row referred to as an ætt.

When I started to replay the meanings of the runes with this idea in mind, I noticed a kind of story arc  from rune to rune. This idea had occurred to me before, too, but I figured I would stick with it this time and see what happend. Especially since it was a story arc that I was also noticing in my readings of Njal’s Saga and Egil’s Saga and that I had seen inklings of in the Havamal. In short, the order of the runes through the Elder Futhark can be seen as a template for living, as a model to follow in order to get the most out of Heathen life.

For example, the meaning of FEHU is clear as being about wealth, but wealth in a more transient mode — ie, pocket money — with a warning that it can spoil relationships (Gunnar returning from his adventures dressed in fine furs, Sigurd and his “river fire”: neither of which led to great happiness). Whereas the meaning of OTHALA is also wealth, but wealth that is able to be bequeathed to next of kin (what Flosi and Kari end up with at the end of Njal’s Saga). Wealth that is in the form of a stable home, family, inheritance. Even just looking at those two runes, we can start to see the beginnings of a story — from pocket money to transferable wealth — but can’t make much more out of it other than the idea that money now can become an inheritance later.

Looking at the Futhark in this light also helps with some of the more confusing interpretations. KENAZ is a great example of this. It’s a real puzzler. Across the three rune poems, it is represented as meaning three different things: a scab from a skinned knee or a battle scar, the weight of misfortune, or the lamp-lit safety of a cozy cottage. Looking at the rune by itself poses a challenge for interpretation — though it is possible, and most runesters ignore the Icelandic and Norwegian poems altogether. However, when looking at it from the point of view of ætt-as-story-arc, we can begin to see that KENAZ is the wound you live from and tell stories about. Especially coupled with RAIDHO to its left and GEBO to the right. H0w many sagas are there, heroic tales are there, that tell of a hero who goes on a journey (RAIDHO) only to return home with scars and stories (KENAZ) and gifts (GEBO) for his friends? And this continues through every row: each rune has a meaning that sets it as a particular place in a person’s life.

FEHU and OTHALA, KENAZ can all be viewed with this overarching idea, and so can the other 23 runes. Using this interpretation, each rune represents a moment or concept within the progression of one’s life. Either it is a moment that must happen in order to move forward, or it’s a moment that — if it does happen — has to be handled in a certain way or with a certain process.

The first row represents the arc of youth: get some money together (FEHU), prove yourself in tests (URUZ) and against strong opponents (THURISAZ). Journey off into the world and return with stories and gifts to the joy of your clan (WUNJO). The second row is the introspective process of middle age. It’s about internal needs (NAUTHIZ) and their relationship with the forces of nature (ISA) and how we control our interactions with them (PERTHRO). The third row is old age, then. Great sacrifice starts it off (TIWAZ) and there are images of rebirth (BERKANO) and renewal (reconciliation? retirement?), connections with other people (MANNAZ) in a more profound way than before, and then the end. OTHALA and our ability to bequeath some legacy to the next generation’s youth. Obviously there are runes I’m not mentioning, but you get the idea.

Once we have a template, we can do all kinds of things with it. We can use it as a guide for our children, we can use it as a foundation on which to build a society. We can even use it as a map to find ourselves if we’re feeling lost or as a guide to what might be coming up next. I’m using it as a way of trying to find more accurate interpretations of each rune’s meaning. It makes sense that a society priding itself on wordplay, wisdom, and storytelling would have developed a system like this. Given that, I feel comfortable continuing in this vein in the hopes of putting more of the pieces together.

I’ve got a lot more work to do with this line of work, but I figured I would share what I’ve got so far in the hopes we can all help add to the collective thought and work towards recreating so much of what has been lost over the years.

Filed under: philosophy,runes,thoughts — Tags: , , , , — Sabin @ 23:54

September 25, 2011

From a comment to a translation of KENAZ

In the process of posting to a blog (http://heksebua.com/linda/2011/09/rok-runes-6-kaun/), I made a breakthrough in my attempt at trying to come to terms with KENAZ.

This has been a tricky one because the Old Norwegian and Old Icelandic poems talk about wounds while the Anglo Saxon talks about safety and light inside a cabin.

For the Old Norwegian poem, I had translated it as this: “Scab is a bending child; misfortune makes pale humans”. Literal, to be sure, but implies bending from pain and does indeed imply that death can come from misfortune.

The puzzle with this one is the similarity between Icelandic and Old Norwegian, but the vast difference in the Anglo-Saxon version. A well-lit cabin is very different than infection and pain caused by a wound.

This is where I start to ask myself contextual questions. Wounds when survived are talking points, triggers for stories around a fire. As with most runes, I think there’s a story — instead of simple meaning — with this one. It’s about adversity.

A child’s scrape from playing is a mark of their passing through life, a battle wound is a mark of passing through adult life, and then you can sit around the fire and tell the stories. KAUN (KENAZ) then is the adversity or pain itself and the surviving of that pain and a reminder that we should remember what we’ve been through to get where we are.

This is also in keeping with the progression of the Elder Futhark from FEHU to OTHALA.

Anyhow, I’m glad there are others out there working these through. It’s going to take all of us to reclaim the information the runes represent. Thanks for allowing the space for commentary.

Filed under: philosophy,runes,thoughts — Tags: , , , , — Sabin @ 10:03

June 8, 2011

Heathenism in the 21st century

Kind of a short post here, but the sentiment is from my heart: stop creating “Heathen” groups. It doesn’t make any sense.

Heathenism is powerful because of its decentralized and unorganized nature. Families on disparate farms had their own ways of tracking and marking holidays, prayer and sacrifice were — for the most part — individualistic (Uppsala was a huge center for worship where yearly feasts were held, however, and is an example of there being some kind of organization). Part of this decentralized nature could be attributed to regional weather, travel difficulties, distances between farms, perhaps; though it must be said that if any group of people took to travel, the Northern Europeans did. I think, though, that the greater proportion of reason for a lack of centralization lies in the very nature of what Heathenism is.

To be a Heathen is to simply be. To live as a human and get the most out of each day. To strive forward and live with a code of ethics based on honor. To care for your family and friends, to help your neighbors if they need it, to treat each day as though it could be your last. To be a Heathen is to enjoy the hell out of living. You don’t need an organization and weekly meetings and reading assignments to do that.  In fact, it’s better to start your own kindred among your family and close friends. Share old heathen stories with each other, vent about the work day, make a good meal, revel in your shared and personal existences. Work together to understand your place in the scheme of things, and let your common sense guide you in how you will represent heathenism to your neighbors and community.

The constant influx and arguments from the neo-Heathens about which organized group best represents “true” Heathenism is absurd. Those are the arguments for Christians, not for us. There’s no need for a Heathen Martin Luther with his 99 points. Each kindred is going to have different needs, experiences, and expectations out of life. There’s just no way or need to force all of those people to follow the same tenets, rituals, rules, etc. If you must have an example, look to the philosophers.

Existentialism in its simplest form is Heathenism. The understanding that our reason for being here may never be known, that there is no universal moral compass, that we are in charge of our own destinies and decisions. There is great freedom in these things. Great freedom and tremendous responsibility and room for error. These are the foundations upon which an ethical and powerful life can be built if one chooses to do so. These are the foundations of Heathenism. Unfortunately, attaching yourself to a pre-fab neo-Heathen group’s not going to help you. It’s going to turn you into a sheep who cowers from the adventure of free choice, who follows instead of leads. A sheep who might as well be Christian. This is something we each have to find and understand on our own.

So in closing, there’s nothing wrong with a good bonfire a few times (or more) a week, some good mead or beer to clear the head, and a few raucous cries to the heavens in case the gods are listening. Just don’t let anyone else tell you when or how you should do it. Make your own noise as you barrel through life. Laugh at your troubles. Brace yourself for the challenges. Live full and proud and as long as you can. It’s what life is for, after all.

 

April 18, 2010

Rune Explorations: Fehu

FEHU (FAY-hoo) is the first rune of the three rows or Aetts of the Elder Futhark. The word FEHU comes from the Proto-Germanic and is the origin of our modern word “fee”.

The literal and pictographic representation of FEHU is the domesticated cattle. Cattle were often used to pay debts, settle disputes, and establish other types of trade. The use of cattle in this way is documented in Tactitus’ “Germania” (Germania 12.80) as a way of paying societal or criminal fines.  The rune still brings to mind that kind of association we have with “fee”: the stuff we use to pay our debts and obligations. Though sought after and valued as a means to an end, this is not the kind of wealth you want to focus on for your entire life.

FEHU represents money and the problems caused by valuing it above all else. “Money is kinsmen’s quarrel,” the rune poem says. “Path of grave-magic,” it continues, then “fire of the sea” or “flood-tide’s token”. Retrieving the wealth FEHU describes can require a dangerous and strife-filled path if we’re not careful. The Anglo-Saxon poem says it’s better to give it out if you have it. The Havamal and many of the sagas support this opinion.

The Havamal says (trans. Carolyne Larrington):

Even a man who knows nothing
knows that many are fooled by money;
one man is rich, another is not rich,
he should not be blamed for that.

Fully stocked folds I saw for Fituing’s sons,
now they carry beggar’s staffs;
wealth is like the twinkling of an eye,
it is the most unreliable of friends.

I believe that FEHU should not be used to represent some kind of originating force or essence. It’s connection with monetary wealth and the dangers of same are so obvious that the esoteric leap to originating force seems to me a stretch. To call it also an originating force of the universe (as Edred Thorsson does), we are in essence saying that the origins of our universe are connected to money. Disposable cash. If FEHU is a beginning or originating force, it may be as the means to undertake a journey, but not as the journey itself, and certainly not as some primal force.

It is significant that FEHU is the first rune and OTHALA — the rune representing homestead, hearth, permanent home — is the last. FEHU is the beginning of the journey. The hacksilver in your pocket or on your wrist that gets you from one place to another. It’s your cab fare, bill money, the stuff you need on hand in order to make ends meet. It’s never the end goal, however. It’s just your first step. A head of cattle aren’t worth much if you’ve got no farm on which to feed them, an old Norse philosopher might say.

So with FEHU  must come the understanding that a quest for money for its own sake is foolish and possibly dangerous (“grave-magic” and the story of Fafnir’s gold come to mind). Goals in life should be broader, farther-reaching, and have more personal and societal impact than simply wanting to accumulate disposable wealth. Money is fleeting, the Havamal tells us. It’s best not to rely on it more than necessary. Perhaps FEHU is a fitting rune for us to meditate on even — or perhaps especially — in the 21st century. FEHU is the money itself, the advice on how to use it best, and a warning against greed.

Filed under: philosophy,runes — Tags: , , , — Sabin @ 01:10

July 7, 2009

One week plus with my tattoo

My tattoo has been healing nicely. The initial layer of inked skin has peeled off leaving the impression that I’ve had these symbols etched into my skin with a long piece of burning charcoal. I’m actually really digging it, and am glad I’ve had it done.

Some of you may know that I’ve been wanting a tattoo for some years now, the design and message of which was unknown to me, however. I expected after getting this done that I would be pleased with it. I didn’t expect, however, the effect it’s had on me.

These seemingly innocuous marks of ink have a weight — a solidity about them. I find myself checking my left wrist as though I were wearing a watch — it feels as though something tangible is attached to me. An echoing tendency to think twice about things that will affect my household has become ever-present, and I’ve realized that I’m a lot less likely to shirk my homestead chores. In short, my tattoo has become an indelible reminder of what it stands for. It is the symbol,  meaning, and literalness of that which it represents: family. Household. Skuldalið. All of that makes sense because that triptych of meaning is the ultimate purpose of runes.

Runes are an abstract picture of a people’s concept of an idea. Within each shape is found the sound, symbol, and definition of the concept for which they stand. Taken in of themselves, each rune is a kind of tiny poem. Wordless in its chanting, but as poignant as Haiku in its directness. When placed together, the effect is simply multiplied.

For me the result can be felt physically. The weight of my action, the talisman of the combined runes, and the meaning of the word they together represent will continue to live with me and inform my actions from here on out. All of which was my intent.

I didn’t, after all, get the tattoo to add to my collection or separate me from the pack. I didn’t get it to represent to the outside world some puffed up idea of my own identity. I got it as the talisman it’s become. The tattoo is a constant reminder of the joyful burden that is family, and because of that it is serving its purpose.

Filed under: philosophy,runes,tattoos,thoughts — Tags: , — Sabin @ 18:19

February 28, 2009

from “Progress Report for a Goodthinking UniSocAm”

I found this fragment buried in a government website a few weeks ago and wanted to share it. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to be public, as I haven’t seen it since. I don’t know the author or to whom it’s addressed, but it’s obviously fairly recent and seems to be part of a larger document or book. Please read it and spread it around. It’s important we don’t allow this kind of thinking to continue. In the meantime, I will see if I can find more.

- sd

There are five primary beliefs that must be imparted upon any citizenry in order to ensure the party’s long life. They are as follows:

  1. Participation in a republic is voluntary
  2. Responsibility for the republic rests solely on the shoulders of the elected
  3. Public is private
  4. Protection is control
  5. War is peace

During the early and middle stages of conversion to a single system of political and social thought, we must put all of our efforts into the five beliefs above. As the years go by and we find that the citizenry truly believes in the five points above, we can turn our efforts to other efforts (outlined in chapter 5 below).

At this point in time, we are very close to a complete adoption of the above beliefs by the majority of the voting public. The rest of this report will outline how we’ve accomplished what many people have said is impossible.

First is the task of getting the public to believe that participation in a republic is voluntary. We worked towards this goal first as it is the single weakness of our current government’s constitution. If enough people are convinced of a voluntary participation, then general human apathy will ensure that only a handful of the total population will turn out to vote. By limiting the numbers of voters, we can ensure a larger percentage of our own sympathizers, or sympathizers of issues that are not important to the running of a government. Recent history can give us many examples: religious freedom, abortion, homosexual marriage. None of those issues are truly important to the longevity of our current republic, but by ensuring that the only people participating are those who see them as issues, we have created a distracted and frustrated citizenry that is – in turn – less likely to vote in the next election.

How have we done this? The primary method is by not revealing to the public the weakness of the constitution. While our publicly funded education programs certainly outline the structure of the government, they do very little to educate students on the reasons for the structure or, indeed, the participation from the governed on which that structure depends. That added to a general human apathy, confusion around what the electoral college is, which election cycle is truly important (as an aside, we have been working very closely with the press on this one and have truly convinced citizens that the presidential election is more important than the congressional), and the convoluted unimportant issues mentioned above, we have come very close to bringing the voting pool down to a manageable and steady 30 percent of the populous.

Second on the list is to convince that the tasks of governing and oversight are the sole responsibilities of the elected and appointed officials. This is a key point. Imagine for a minute what might happen if each citizen took it upon himself to keep track of what government was doing. It would undermine our current progress and become very difficult to implement some of the future changes that are being planned. However, by the combination of human apathy mentioned above and a belief that governing is not a citizen’s responsibility, we can foster feelings of frustration and helplessness within the general public. These feelings lead to a continued trend of non-participation which leads to deeper feelings of alienation. When citizens feel alienated and disenfranchised, it makes it easier to suppress them with work, entertainment, the lottery, etc. (more on our work in those areas in chapter 2).

Third is that the public must believe that the behavior of government is private while their own private information is in fact public. The accomplishment of this step has taken many years and is only 60 percent complete at this point; however we anticipate great strides in this area with our current administration. The keys to this are jargon and volunteerism. Let me explain.

By wrapping governmental work within complicated language specific to certain areas of expertise such as law, science, economics, etc. the government can actually convince citizens that there’s nothing within the information for them. Additionally, our current administration’s pledge of openness will convince citizens to look at only what they are told to monitor – www.recovery.gov for instance – and keep them away from the inner workings that could actually tell a complete story. The press, of course, will request deeper access, but these few individuals are easy enough to control (more on this in chapter 3). With the citizenry volunteering to be left out of public processes, it’s very easy to convince them that those processes are actually private. From there, it’s even easier to convince people to volunteer personal information to the government: spending, travel, food preferences, closest friends’ names, political and religious views, etc. We can accomplish this in one of two ways.

The first is to simply say that we require such information to better understand their needs in order to properly govern. We could conceivably use the current US Census for such a purpose if necessary. The second method – which is also beneficial to our business interests and therefore preferred – is to allow the public to willingly send all kinds of information to their favorite companies. Once that’s gone on for a couple of years, we can institute oversight on the companies to ensure a protection of privacy. Of course, in doing so we gain access to unprecedented amounts of data.

In these ways we can ensure that the information our citizens think of as private becomes public, and at the same time generate a disinterest in government processes without passing any laws that could raise suspicious too early.

Fourth, we must convince the public that protection and control are the same activities with the same ends. Already there is evidence that people believe protection can only be gained by giving up control of their lives. This is a good first step. The next step is to demonstrate how without the government controlling their lives they would lose the protection that it offers. This demonstration has already begun, in fact, with the advent of the current financial crises and our work towards indicating blame.

People already believe that the sole reason for the banks’ collapse was lack of government oversight, and that it had nothing to with greed, mismanagement, and a healthy shove from the Fed. Now are nationalizing the problem banks, increasing oversight, and gaining control of those finances. The people – according to stock market movement – have reacted favorable. It’s apparent that society is beginning to equate control with protection.

Outside of the financial arena, we are using fear and paranoia in order to increase people’s desire for protection. This works especially well where many people are gathered together: airport, subway, train station. This, too, seems to be having a positive effect. We’re able to request identification at our leisure, subject anybody to an invasive and unwarranted search, as well as broadcast messages to everyone that encourage them to be suspicious of others’ behavior. All of this with little or no protest. We are very close to accomplishing our goals in this area much sooner than we expected.

The last important item to discuss is a concept popularized by George Orwell’s 1984. Surprisingly, the widespread popularity of this novel has not prepared people against many of the practices it attempts to vilify, among them the concept that war is peace.

We have been able to quite successfully convince citizens that only by violently protecting our interests in an area of the world can we assure a peaceful existence in our own country. Of course, this is not a new concept and precedent for such a philosophy can be found throughout documented history. Luckily, however, we have at our disposal governmental approvals of such behavior with the Monroe and Truman Doctrines. This ensures that even if a body of citizenry were to point out the fallacies of such a philosophy, we can simply respond that it is in the nature of our country and begin the process of proving them unpatriotic (chapter 6 for more on this).

Admittedly, we have had undreamed of success in this area over the past 20 years. There was some initial concern among some of our group based on how the constitution set forth the rules of declaring war. This was soon overcome, however, through a steady application of principals one through three and we eventually saw put in place a congress fitting our needs. That body put into law the War Powers Act in 1973 which gives the president the ability to preemptively invade another country. This relegated congress to the role of financiers, and while that could theoretically lead to problems, the successful disenfranchisement of citizens has ensure a steady stream of war-bound funds even to the point – if we may celebrate a bit – of bankrupting the country for generations to come. There is always a risk of relapse, however, so we must continue to devise a method of ensuring a steady stream of money (see chapter 4).

We hope you’ve found this overview of principles and application of same to be enlightening. Remember: through the steady, confident, daring, and unwavering application of the five principles outlined here, we will continue to march towards a future we can all be proud of.

February 14, 2009

Alternatives to Google

As I do this little experiment, I’m making some finds and reconfirmations of things that are viable replacements for google-based technology. Here’s my list so far:

  • Jabber is a great, free, open source IM protocol. Keep all of your contacts from GTalk, too. I’m using the chrome.pl server.
  • Free office software such as openoffice.org, AbiWord, etc. should serve all your writing needs.  I’m still looking for a remote solution with collaboration, which is a really important feature.
  • Ask.com has been working very well for me: mobile, images, video, maps, etc.
  • I realize I don’t need iGoogle with Firefox’s built-in RSS feeds. Netvibes is a fair alternative, though.
  • Still looking for a Feedburner replacement, but systematic use of RSS feeds using Firefox should cover it.
  • WordPress for blogging. I can host it on my own server, and it beats blogger hands-down.
  • Still looking for photo management/hosting, though both Windows and Apple have system-based solutions for management.
  • Web-based email solution is pending, as well.

That’s my list so far. Of course, I’m not paying much attention to webmaster tools such as AdSense or Analytics because I don’t use those in my daily life, anyhow. If you’re a webmaster or just interested in analytics, what do you use instead of Google?

I guess what I’m really doing is working to wrest back control of my life. It’s not an easy path, though. My wife and I are often working to simplify our daily interactions with the world, except that in order to do so one often has to do some up front work.

While google certainly simplified my life, I began to feel as though the trade-off — not actually being in control of my own stuff — was too expensive.

I will continue to share the results of my experiment here.

Filed under: philosophy,thoughts — Sabin @ 10:22

November 7, 2008

My Tattoo (Redux)

It looks as though I’ll have to go over my tattoo one more time once it heals. There are some parts of it — the intersecting lines, particularly — that didn’t take. Hopefully it will be healed enough to do this weekend.

Since my tattoo is of a bind-rune, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how atheism and spirituality can be combined. In my view, the runes are keys to certain philosophical truths or states of mind without anything more than a metaphorical connection to “gods” or other supernatural beings. Naturally, there are Asatru-folk out there who will completely disagree with me. As an atheist, though, I have a pretty clear view of gods and extra-human beings: they don’t exist.

That said, however, the ideas that those gods represented to people who did believe in them are not to be taken lightly. Those ideas are what I take from the past and bring into my life. Examples that the gods — as characters — set for us in their stories are still valid. Qualities they represent as indicators of both how we should and should not behave still apply to my life. Even if I don’t believe there’s really a gang of blustering, angry Aesir, Vanir, and Jotuns galumphing around the worlds above Midgard.

Humanity on its own is a powerful force that should not be taken lightly. History is filled with non-mythological stories that show this to be true — in positive and negative lights. So how does this all lead to the runes?

To me, the runes were created in an effort to document, represent, and use the forces humans felt that they were able to harness. In the world-view of the people who crafted them gods and giants, elves and dwarfs were all alive and romping about the hidden planes, but after nearly 2000 years we should know better. There are no gods, just us humans. The giants we have to fear are nothing more than our own elongated shadows. The elves and dwarves no longer craft weapons, but we do. The world is different, but humanity’s capacity for power is not.

An atheist is one who does not believe that there are supernatural, extra-human powers in the universe. Hence, I’m an atheist. In the same way a philosopher puzzles over a question of existence, or a priest ponders the idea of original sin, or a Buddhist works towards enlightenment, I will work with runes towards a deeper understanding of myself, my family, and — ultimately — humans in general. In short, I meditate, craft with, and dedicate myself to the runes because I think there’s real truth within the ideas they represent. My tattoo represents this dedication. It does not represent a change in beliefs, or adherence to Asatru or any other reconstructionist/new age fallacy.

The power of the self, devotion to family and clan, the belief that one step is enough to start yourself towards a “destiny”: these are all ideas that transcend belief systems, organized religions, philosophies, and the like. These are all ideas that are represented by the runes. They also happen to be ideas represented within existentialist philosophy and probably quite a few world religions. In other words they are ideas that resonate — as I believe they should — with all humans.

Filed under: atheism,philosophy,religion,runes,tattoos — Sabin @ 21:17

September 5, 2008

The Awe of Nature

While gathered around our dining table last night, Gabe, Danielle and I talked about the possibilities of the nature of the universe. We pulled out a pad of graph paper and sketched out the various theoretical shapes of the flow of time, the warp of the universe, and the theories that have been proposed because of such things: wormholes, faster-than-light travel, out-of-time experiences, multiple quantum dimensions. The more we talked and sketched, the more Gabe’s eyes reflected a glowing sense of amazement at the possible answers to the question: “How does our universe work?”. Never once did our nine-year old son feel discouraged, lonely, estranged, or depressed about the universe, the world, or his place in it.

There is a frightening tendency to paint atheists as cold, calculating, science worshipers: a group of people who eschew the spiritual for the logical. Some people believe that raising a child in an atheist household is akin to stamping out imagination and murdering the soul. I’ve heard the argument stated that if we use science, philosophy, and logic to find the answer to “How”, we remove our capacity for wonder and awe at the answers we may find. All of these statements are absurd.

Atheism is simply a word that defines us as living without a need for gods to help us feel a sense of wonder and awe. Atheists understand that the way things are put together has nothing at all to do with an outside, super-human force. Rather, nature itself is awe-inspiring and fills us with wonder. Atheism — and science in general — is not capable of providing us answers for the most burning question humans have: why.

Gabe left that discussion last night with a head filled with the possibilities that logic, philosophy, and science offer. Never, however, did he feel as though they were providing him with the reason for existence. And that’s okay. Finding our purpose, we told him, the answer to “Why?” is not something science will provide. The only way to find that answer is by working at it ourselves. That journey to find the answer provides the joy of living.

Our family has tended to eschew the label of atheist because of the vast amount of misunderstanding around what it means. For us, though, being atheist simply means that the human journey is experienced without any assistance from one, three, or multiple “gods”. So far, this has done nothing to diminish our excitement for life, joy of the journey, or wonderment at the universe around us.

Filed under: atheism,atheist,parenting,philosophy,science — Sabin @ 05:10

here it is.
TikiTikiTiki.
copyleft. 1996 ad infinatum Sabin Densmore send some mail.