Sunday, December 30, 2012

On Offerings


This morning, as I was making pancakes, I began to think about offerings. Every Sunday, I make pancakes for the family, and one of them goes into the offering bowl for our house-wight.

Yesterday, on G+, an atheist I have circled posted a link to an article about Richard Dawkins. It excerpted parts of a letter he had written to his (then) ten year old daughter on the importance of critical thinking, and of having evidence for all things, rather than blind belief in them. Now, normally I very intensely dislike Dawkins, as his whole approach to atheism tends to be "I'm right, and you're an idiot." But the excerpts in this article were very good, and very well written. They made me think.

So, back to where I started: Offerings. In light of teaching critical thinking skills to my offspring, why should I teach her to make offerings to a house spirit that many would argue doesn't exist? Adherance to tradition? Honestly, that's really not a good answer. Belief? I hate that word, as it has become one of the most loaded terms in our modern lexicon (but I'll save that rant for another entry).

But there are other good reasons to make offerings, whether to a house wight, or to gods, ancestors, or landwights. Reciprocity. Generosity. Thankfulness.

Reciprocity is doing something for someone who has done something for you. It should usually be in equal measure or value to what you recieved, to the best of your ability. It naturally goes hand in hand with thankfulness, because it recognizes the value of what you recieved.
These are things that can be debated in light of one's opinion of the reality of these beings (wight just means "being" or "entity", btw), but if one behaves as though they are real and have an effect on the world, then teaching this attitude of reciprocity, of thankfulness to them is good - and useful when dealing with other people. If we get in the habit of saying thank you for favours done, of sharing a drink, or giving a gift, then we increase our worth as citizens. So long as we don't become trapped in the thought that we only do this for gods/ancestors/wights and not for people, we ourselves become better people.

Generosity also reflects this. In making offerings, we should always be generous - though not so generous as to bring harm to ourselves. Don't be stingy. Share. Again, a useful attitude to cultivate in society, whether to human or other wights. Giving generously when you are able increases the chances that others will be generous with you. We don't necessarily *need* to give a pancake to our house-wight. But we do, because doing so makes it more likely that favours will be done for us, perhaps something we thought lost will be found, or perhaps we will have fewer troubles with all the little things that seem to go wrong in a house.

These actions cultivate a culture of charity, that only benefits the world as a whole. If we teach these things early, then their value is learned and ingrained, even if the child grows up deciding that theism and spirits are a lot of hooey.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Because we have gods


We're coming soon to that time, the one where we tell our daughter that the old man in the Coca Cola suit is just some guy hired by the mall to bring children in with their parents, so that the parents can figure out what their kids want for Gifting Season. Some will tell their kids that the stories about this man were lies, that he is "not real." Some that tell their kids may not be so harsh, but the kids will nevertheless walk away with that impression.

"Santa isn't real," is the message. "God/the gods aren't real." "It's all just stories."

But that's disingenuous. It sends a false message. We live in a world of gods. We live in a world where a man fell from the stars and walked away. We live in a world where another man walked upon the desolate landscape of the moon. We live in a world where every day thousands fly through the sky, some on missions martial, but most merely going from one land to another, far off. We plumb the depths of the ocean, plan visits to other worlds, create miracles every day. We create new life forms, and argue whether that's wise.
We live in a world of gods. We are those gods.

So our tales of gods become ever more fantastic. Santa originally drove a sled pulled by horses - one or two, I can't remember. Now he flies in a sleigh pulled by eight caribou. We say he covers the entire planet in the course of one night, carrying enough for children everywhere, so that he doesn't need to restock midflight.

This can't be true. It doesn't make sense. It can't be literal.

Well, no, perhaps it isn't literal. But it's true. All around the world, children recieve gifts from Santa. Therefore, it is true that Santa gives gifts to children around the world. Does it matter if those children's parents are the proxy used?

Tales of gods (and yes, I consider Santa Claus a god), are meant as much to inspire us to our own greatness. Does it matter if they are literal? Does a thunderstorm have to only be an electrical discharge during a meteorological event, or can it also be Mjollnir smashing into the face of some evil giant trying to destroy us? Because I see no giant, does that mean it was not a hammerblow?

An old man dressed in red winterwear inspires us to give generously to one another, and to care for one another during the winter storms. Frankly, he does a better job of inspiring us than the tale of a baby born in a barn in a Mediterranean desert town.

A large, middle aged fellow with red beard and hammer inspires (some of) us to be strong and stand up for what is right. A one-eyed old man teaches us to be wise, and look beyond the obvious. A young man who was nailed to a tree teaches us to be forgiving.

So we follow these inspirations. We look to the stars, and say, "Let's see what is out there." We heal people of illnesses and wounds that could never before be fixed. We talk to people on the other side of the globe as if they were our next door neighbors. We eat foods from far off lands, or make new foods. We speak in one language to a person, and they read or hear our words in their own.  The blind can be made to see, the legless to walk, the deaf to hear. We can give you a new face.

Because we have gods, and they show us that it can be done.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Touching base

Got one or two things coming, but at the same time, I am looking to figure out how to import (some of my) entries from LJ.  While I probably won't delete the account there, I am looking to tighten up my digital footprint, so am eliminating old stuff and tightening things up a bit.

Admittedly I rarely blog much these days, as I don't have enough big stuff to say, but at the same time, I am rather loathe to delete my words entirely. They are, after all, who I am, or at least who I was at the time I wrote them. We shall see what ends up happening. Perhaps I shall merely print them off.