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Worlds of Design: RPG Gods - Benign or Malign?
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<blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 8730499" data-attributes="member: 58172"><p>But these shamans do not "serve" the æsir. At all. They dont seem to mention them, even when doing shamanic activities.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>For example, regarding the æsir natural features of the sky, there is a rare Norse term called a "house of the invoked ones" (goðahús). This term refers to any person who has a house, who invites in nature beings.</p><p></p><p>There are no "priests". It is any individual who feels a personal affinity with one or several nature beings. These kinds of dinner party traditions tend to be unique to a particular family. Kids grow up with the custom of their parent. There is no organized religion.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But shaman dont "worship" nature beings. Indeed, if a shaman gets annoyed, a shaman has the knowhow to punish a nature being. Some beings are friends, but other beings are hostile. Most are neutral.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Compare. If you pick up a phone to call a friend, you arent "worshiping" your friend. There are simply better words in English to describe what you actually are doing, including, "picking up a phone" "to call a friend".</p><p></p><p>It is entirely wrong to inject the words "worship", "gods", "priests", into a Norse context.</p><p></p><p>The Norse are doing something else.</p><p></p><p>The theism is ethnocentric and inappropriate.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Scandinavian archeologists are clear. There were no priest. There were no temples. There were no "gods", in the English meaning of the word. These foreign concepts never existed in Norse culture.</p><p></p><p></p><p>A fantasy need not be Christian-centered, with its lore about the polytheistic traditions that existed in the lands where Christianity came from and spread to.</p><p></p><p>Fantasy includes nontheistic cultures too.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Yaarel, post: 8730499, member: 58172"] But these shamans do not "serve" the æsir. At all. They dont seem to mention them, even when doing shamanic activities. For example, regarding the æsir natural features of the sky, there is a rare Norse term called a "house of the invoked ones" (goðahús). This term refers to any person who has a house, who invites in nature beings. There are no "priests". It is any individual who feels a personal affinity with one or several nature beings. These kinds of dinner party traditions tend to be unique to a particular family. Kids grow up with the custom of their parent. There is no organized religion. But shaman dont "worship" nature beings. Indeed, if a shaman gets annoyed, a shaman has the knowhow to punish a nature being. Some beings are friends, but other beings are hostile. Most are neutral. Compare. If you pick up a phone to call a friend, you arent "worshiping" your friend. There are simply better words in English to describe what you actually are doing, including, "picking up a phone" "to call a friend". It is entirely wrong to inject the words "worship", "gods", "priests", into a Norse context. The Norse are doing something else. The theism is ethnocentric and inappropriate. Scandinavian archeologists are clear. There were no priest. There were no temples. There were no "gods", in the English meaning of the word. These foreign concepts never existed in Norse culture. A fantasy need not be Christian-centered, with its lore about the polytheistic traditions that existed in the lands where Christianity came from and spread to. Fantasy includes nontheistic cultures too. [/QUOTE]
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