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According to this Danish site, http://www.nenne.com/nordicway/index.html

quote:...
So when we today speak of asatro, asatru or Norse Paganism, we must be careful not to misunderstand each other--this because there are all different kinds of people who call themselves "Asatruars"--not even mentioning all New-Agers and suchlike that desecrate and abuse the Way by stealing and misusing sacred signs and practices in the same, most sacrilegious, way that they expropriate traditions and desecrate objects, places and symbols that are sacred to, say, native Americans.
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First there are those who confess to and pay hommage to the Norse Gods--period--who leave out the "rest". By this I mean that they seem to have little or no place in their world for the other parts of "the Ancient Way"--the popular faith, traditions and culture as well as moral, customs, the spirits of the land and all those other beings and creatures that I cannot start to mention, mainly because there are no words for them in the English language. Many of these people you'll find outside of Scandinavia or the Nordic countries. They might live in the United States or Australia, but you might also find these people in the bigger towns and cities of Scandinavia. They therefore have little or no contact with said spirits of the land, the non-Scandinavians among them also, naturally, lack the natural connection to the "Ways" and popular faith of the Scandinavian people that have "survived" christianity. These people often define "Asatru" or ("Asatro" if they're Scandinavians) as a reconstruction of the faith in the Old Gods which, of course, is exactly what it is all about -- as far as asatru goes...
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Finally, there are those who follow the "Nordic Way" or the "Ancient Way" . Confusingly, these people might also refer to themselves as "Asatruars" (or "Asatroende" in Scandinavia) "Pagans" or "Heathens", but have a different approach to life and the world they live in than do the others I mentioned earlier. You could say that both "Asatru" and "The Nordic Way" are founded upon the same basic values--tolerance, honesty, loyalty, reverence for nature and all life. Using the name Asatru or Asatro when speaking of the Way is however misleading, because the faith is not restricted to the Aesir Gods alone. There are other gods in Norse mythology and folk religion as well, there are the spirits of the land, there is the culture and the customs--the Way of the Nordic people. In recent times confessional societies have been formed in the Nordic countries, open to those who wish to restore the Ancient Way, reclaim their cultural heritage and honour the ways of the old Gods. You might recognize these confessional societies by name (with a few exceptions they're called something containing the word "Sed" or "Sidr"--meaning "The Way").

It seems the spelling is a regional thing... perhaps it's an Anglicization, I don't know, though it doesn't appear so...
Why don't you ask one?

Hillerman's works are good... some are'nt as strong as others, but they all stand up well and are very readable.

Baldur is a valid spelling.
Thunur or Thunor is Saxon, also ligit.

Try Raven Kindred or Ring of Troth or Angelseaxisce Ealdriht... there's 3 responsible Asa related groups, just off the top.
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The 'concept' of it might be hilarious to you, I can't quite see why though... these people base their religious and spiritual beliefs on that of their ancestors, researched and documented.
Asa Tru (and it's near-cousins Vanu Tru and Anglo Saxon Heathenry, etc) is the only existing European spiritual system that is being worked from historical and documented roots.
What's funny about that?

... their magical work is pretty solid too, even though those aspects are reconstructed as much as they are descended.
tHey've got my respect.
<shrug>

And mine.
Heart-felt.

Namaste
What a punny fellow you are, Shadowdancer!
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Interesting thoughts, and born out by historical records.
However, traditionally the most powerful woman magically speaking is the Crone, the woman who has matured beyond the age of fertility.
What are your thoughts on this?

Aye, I meant to make it clear that it doesn't describe all, sorry if it was ambiguous.
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Yes, I agree both sexes will look for emotional intimacy through physical intimacy - please note that I was talking about boys and girls, not men and women.
Those teen years are a time for maturing.
Once they get there, things are more even and balanced (as well as can be balanced, at any rate), but until then they are in hormonal flux and needing experience to compel that maturity.
Which is also why "just say no" works so poorly in cutting the kids off experimentation.

I agree that a partner adds emotional content that masturbation can't have, there is also an element of unknown that incites awareness and anticipation.
And there's still the plain old animal lust to procreate to be considered.
We can analyze this to death (which I sometimes have a tendency to do, in case ye hadn't noticed []), but we are still animals with built-in urges to continue the species, thus sex with another person is a built-in desire.

The person who's put in the time,effort,and energy tobuild theskills is most "powerful".
Men and women think differently, hence they access energy differently.
Don't ask me how it's different, 'cause I haven't done both this timearound.
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I do know that watching my husband cast can make me itch to do it my way, but casting with him doesn't do that.
That's more like a symbiotic partnership.

Aye, really good stuff.
She's definitely done her homework, and to her credit she cites everything she uses.
... I just think she gets carried away sometimes and isn't quite as objective as perhaps she could be... but that's just an opinion.
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... and another bit;
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1479852/20031021/spears_britney.jhtml?headlines=true

and another;
http://tv.oneworld.net/tapestry?article=33

[my]

ahh.. Fat Turkey, you're partly right... but only partly.
I would say that the damage you suffered kinda slanted your perspective, perhaps.
I'm sorry for your pain, I can empathise.
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I was fortunate to have my eldest kids at a time in my life that I could still remember my teens, we adopted them when they were 12 and 13, and the oldest was born when I was 15 - there is an upside to being a young parent, sometimes... but it's a dam hard job as a single teen mother - or father, but it's usually the girl that gets stuck holding the bag, better that she has a condom in her purse.

The reasons mentioned for girls to be carrying condoms already mentioned are good ones - plus the fact that girls do mature faster than boys, and that doesn't really even out until adult-hood.

Another is something you're probably not aware of, still pertinent to this society as I see it and goes back to a saying from my teen years, "girls **** for love, and boys love to ****.
Crude, yes, and please remember that it's just a truism that relates to just enough of the population to make it valid, but not everyone.
What it means is, girls more often than not relate sex with emotional attachment - love - and will have sex in order to extend their emotional intimacy into the physical realm, and the belief that their feelings will be returned during the act. They have sex in order to prove their love, and to prove they are loved.

Unfortunately, Fat Turkey, a lot of girls do believe by the time they hit their mid-teens that maturity comes with loss of virginity... but perhaps that's because we're told that sex is only for grown-ups, that sex is only for married people, marriage is an adult relationship, they're too young to even know what "real" love is.

I think I know enough about human nature (if not about current teen sub-culture, though I do try for the sake of my kids) to know that telling someone they aren't good enough and can't have something is a good way to get them to try to get it anyhow, if only to see what the big deal is.

And then there's the hormone thing.
hormones cannot ever be under-rated, they can make people go squirrely and change their thought patterns, mildy stated.
Teens are not in control of their hormones, and in fact the surges that males go through would be extremely difficult for an experienced adult male to handle, let alone the teen novice.

In older cultures, girls attained adult status too, by proving their maturity and throwing off the ways of childhood.
However, in many many of those cultures, sexuality was not an ownership thing as it's become in this day and age, sex was just sex, and virginity wasn't a way to gauge purity or worth.

Anyhow... there's a few more thoughts to stir the pot.
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Yeah, like that.

Nicely said, Wisp.
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By the 14th century the word generally meant "wicked".
According to J.O.Halliwell's Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words From the 14th Century;
Wic - A Week.

Wicche -1. A Witch (A.S.)
2. To use witchcraft, to bewitch

Wich - 1. Quick, alive (North)
2. Salt-work (West)
3. A small dairy house (Essex)

Wichdome - Witchcraft\Wich-elm - Broad leaved elm

Wichene - Witches

Wich-waller - A salt-boiler (cheshire)

Wick - 1. A bay, small port, or village on the side of a river
2. Quick, alive.
3. Wight; fit for war (Scott.)
4. A corner (North)

Wicke 1. Wickedness
2. Wicked

Wicken-tree Mountain ash.

Wicker - To castrate a ram (West)

Wight - 1. A person
2. Active, swift
3. A weight
4. White
5. A small space of time
6. A witch

Witch - 1 To bewitch
2. A small candle to make up a pound

Witchify - To bewitch

Witch-ridden - Having the nightmare

Witchraft - Logic, art of wit

Wite - To know

Witch-knots - Elf-knots.

This is considered a good authority of the common speech at that time... it's apparent that the witch is not yet completely vilified.
In fact, the witch never does get completely vilified, except in pockets of the country and some periods of time... think of the fact that the talesof the "good witch" have still made it into our culture, and remained there... think Mother Goose,if nothing else.

Regretfully, I have a tough time accepting Barbara Walker's work without censure. I've got a lot of her stuff, and much is very very good... however, there's enough in her Dictionary of Myths and Secrets and her Encyclopedia of sacred Objects that is tenuous, academically speaking... again, it kinda shadows the good stuff too.

Another very plausable reason for sorcerers being acceptable and witches not was the difference in education and literacy.
A witch doesn't need incantations and forlmulae to work magic, they don't need a formal education... not saying they don't need knowledge, just the kind of knowledge. Herb wifery takes years and years of apprenticing and practice, but there ain't much money in it and ye don't need letters to be proficient.

Men were tried for witchcraft too, not in the numbers of women, definitely, but it did still happen... Barbara Walker's focus is on women, naturally.

My interest is that it exists, it is a renewable resource, and it works if manipulated correctly.

Finding the keys to make it work, and why those keys work, is a fascinating study.

Rather than rewrite it myself, I'll quote someone who's already said it;

quote:The Old English words for witch, wicce "a female witch" or wicca "a male witch" in no way means "wise one," by the way.  Neither word is even remotely related to our words wit, wise, wisdom, or their Old English equivalents. As near as scholars can tell the words either derive from an Indo-European *wik- meaning "to bend," or another Indo-European root, *weg-  related to words for "lively, watchful."  Old High German had a cognate to witch, wikkerie, as did the Saxon German dialects in the term wikker as does Dutch with wikken. The term does not appear however in the Scandanavian languages (Old Norse vitki is cognate to Old English witega "wise one"). Similarly, there are no cognates in the Scandanavian languages for High German Hexe or Old English hæg (which was once used interchangeably with witch).

The rest of the text can be found here;
http://ealdriht.org/witchcraft.html

There is belief that "to bend" related to the wicc's use of ecstatic dance - not their weak will, that's the first I've heard that, but it makes good propaganda. []

The word "hag" used to be a term of respect... know what hagriography is?
It's the study of saints.
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Modern times, and in only the most basic and cursory description, a witch is a practitioner of natural magic.
Some use more formal ritual, some use none at all.
They are not shamans, although some basic shamanic elements may be used by a witch, depending on his/her own strengths and inclinations.

I'm a witch, if I go by any kind of title at all it'd be a kitchen witch because my magic focuses on hearth and home.

Yes, there are many different ways to assist healing, some of them are considered magical.

Energy healing, whether Reiki or Qi dong or another kind, is valid, there are a lot of people who will do the treatments for free or nominal fee.
In his own twisted way Red is partly right.
Blockage of energy is often the culprit of dis-eaase, which is how magic works to heal - by unblocking or re-directing the excess or stagnant overflow.

Thee are stones to help, I met one just yesterday that has been found useful in cancer treatment, I can't remember the name but will get back to you as soon as I can contact my friend.

Stones used for energy healing are empowered to focus the intent, then either slipped under the pillow or carried about the person, they can also be left in the bath or in a central location in the home, depending on circumstances.

The hardest part, though, T_Kman0610, is what you already know... your beloved Grandma is an old woman who's time will come whether we want it to or not. She sounds like an incredible woman, and I have no doubt she's already lived a rich and full life so far.
But she's nearing the end of her time - which may come in 10 years, or 2 or in months.
Learn from her, help make her life continue in as rich a manner as you and she can, help her deal with the inevitable pain... and make sure you show her how much you love her, as you've shown us.
Best of luck and many Blessings,
Lilith

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No it's not necessary to use intent for cleansing, but if you do it won't take as long.
Saving time is not always what you want, though.

If you're going to consecrate in the same session, you'll definitely want to use intent.

Unfortunately, the bias in that site is apparent, which casts a bit of a shadow on the accuracy of their information.

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There's no arbtrary documentation stating exactly the origins of the word witch... unfortunately, I don't have time to type tonight, but I'll be back as soon as I may.

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It is a fact, if masturbation were accepted as appropriate and normal, we wouldn't have near the troubles we do.

<snicker>

interesting question, Fenris... no answer for you, as such, sorry... but have you perhaps read "American Gods", by Neil Gaimon?
If not, I highly recommend it.
Some concepts there that sort of parallel your question, very intriguing despite it being fiction.

[can]

tsk tsk
The answer is there for anyone with a rudimentary grasp of English, Elementary comprehension, and a Will to communicate.
[8D]
Go look up "goad" in your Icelandic/English dictionary, Red, and try to understand that some of us are adults, not children, and don't need tinkling contests to prove anything to anyone, especially such as you are proving to be.
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<poke>
... and no, it doesn't rhyme.
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</poke>


You are correct, by many accounts, KoolGZe, although I've never heard it needs a sharp point, nor necessarliy needing magnetism, although for the kind you're specifically talking about I expect you're right.
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You too are correct, Tisha, except that wands can be more than symbols if constructed/used correctly.
I don't, but I do know some that have, and it has been explained to me (the making of this kind of wand/staff), and metaphysically it makes sense, though I haven't tried it.
As yet.
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[is]

Thank you jc84corvette... I honestly believe that communication can solve a great deal of our current problems, it's a great thing.


From my own experiences, there's no one single answer to the who/what/when/how questions.

I've been in the same monogamous relationship for 25 years, the value of a sharing, loving, sexual relationship simply cannot be understated, and especially the Spiritual aspects of such.
However, in my wild and reckless youth, before my vows, I slept with whom I pleased, by mutual consent of course.
Thus, I know that it is possible to share as little or as much of your Self as you choose during sex... and that without the sharing of Self, you're basically practicing mutual masturbation with penetration.

The physical stimulation is there, without a doubt, and even if that's all that's being stimulated, it's fun.
If Spirit is involved... that goes well beyond fun and into the realm of ecstasy - in a mutual relationship, of course. If it ain't mutual, great Spiritual damage can be done I'm sure - although never having tried it, I can't say absolutely.

My kids, as my siblings and I before them, were interested in the novelty of it all, and regardless of my efforts were at least partially suckered in by the prevalent societal mores, I had to get them to stop and really think about a lot of stuff they would just habitually take for granted.

I did my best to teach them to keep safe, and part of that was in that sex can be fun, sex can be great, but it takes a partnership to make it great and it takes maturity to make it really satisfying.
They thought about it, they experimented - safely and with my blessing - found out I was right, and were very very choosy about who they shared themselves with.
Now they're grown up, two are in very good long term relationships, and the third is very happy with her cat, for the time being.


I also know several people who are in polyandrous (sp?) and they and their partners seem quite satisfied with that particular lifestyle... although i do beleive that an extra level of maturity and superior communication skills is required for that.

In any case, if you're going to practice sex, practice safe sex, on all levels.

Jean Markale.
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