Did you see the article on a few channels yesterday about

the woman who was the last of her tribe in India?

 

Well, I was a little irritated by that.

It always irritates me when the media

covers something like that in

an offhanded way as though they

were doing a Coke commercial.

 

I found a link though;

Survival International

 

Which is an organization dedicated

to helping Indigenous peoples all over the

world.

You can sign up, donate, do other stuff..

whatever you wanna, or can do,

you should.

I try to keep the focus here on the Argr Seids

but when the issue of Indigenous peoples

comes up I get a little high-horsey.

 

This is not because I'm a rabble rouser

or because I'm anti-modernity. The issue

for me is more religious in orientation...

(come to think of it...that's almost always

the issue for me...teehee)

 

Anyway, I won't bore you with the

"right now your guhvurnmint is helping

to destroy a tribe somewhere" speech.

I'll just say that Indigenous peoples

MUST have help.

 

And here are a few ways you can.

 

..................

 

Here is a gigantic list of old, old

texts from the

School of Celtic Studies

 

(Again, I try to keep on the ball for Norse practitioners,

but say I'm a Argr Seid and I go to

London and meet a guy who's

into Cernunnos or something...you know how it goes)

 

On that note;

 

Here's a link to Norse Religion on the Isle of Man

 

AND;

 

An Ibiblio link to all kinds of things

from Ancient Scotland...like

pics of old axes,

documents, wall carvings and such.

The site is tricky to navigate,

I'd do a lot of "open in new window"

if I were you.

 

Good hunting!

 

....................................................................

 

  Lastly;

I wanted to mention the concept of

"reconstructionalism" as it applies

specifically to Argr SeidVolk.

It gets a little tricky, see...when history

is written (and in this case...re-written)

by the victors and we get stuck with

words like Argr...which means "feminine"

and is supposedly a derogatory term,

but which...in our little magazine, we've taken back

much like the term Queer.

However, because of  the recons efforts

(and I don't deny them a thing... feel they are

doing a fine job...)

they have to use what they have and in order

to increase the "validity" of their respective faiths

MUST adhere to what is in the Eddas and Sagas

simply because these writings are the oldest

on record...even though history buffs will tell you outloud

that they are quite aware that the texts were written AFTER

the Chrisitanization of Northern Europe.

Therein, our problem...well, actually, it's not OUR problem...it's theirs.

I believe that the term Argr Seid is the best way to

describe persons of G,L,B, or T orientation who

honor the Norse gods and practice majick.

the Argr Seid is something of a mystery

to your standard Norse polytheist.

Why?

Well, in the texts...even Loki and Odin

"make fun" of each other for being Argr

"unmanly" in some way.

So why would they want to know about Argr SeidVolk

when even their gods deride being gay?

This is why I've chosen to write this magazine for

gay, lesbian, bi and transsexual Indigenists (pagans)

because I believe a very important part

of history was left out or changed when Christianity

came along.

That being that it is highly...highly likely that,

following the trend of most other tribal societies,

that in Ancient Scandinavia, people of

variant sexuality were considered

"touched by the gods" and were given,

not derision, but a separate place in the tribe

as holy person.

I'm not making this up people...check out

"two spirits" on google...you'll see what I mean.

Anyway, I'm using Argr SeidVolk to describe,

not just gay Norse pagans, but more along the lines

of a Queer norse priesthood...

even though the text will tell you that the term

for priest is "godhi"

(a great little article by Chris Haviland)

I would submit to you that this phrase was likely

only used AFTER Christianity came to the Northland

and Seid or ArgrSeid is probably

a more accurate term.

Now,don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to

discriminate against

Str8 Reconstructionalist Asatru/Vantru/heathen priests,

I wish them all the best

(provided they're not discriminating against others)

however, it is my firm belief that as a GLBT person

it is your calling...literally...to be priest for your tribe.

That said, YAY YOU!!!

Go forth and be the best Queer Shamans you can possibly be!!!

 

 

 

Alright, today what's going on here at Baldur Magazine

is a couple of things of note;

 

.....................

 

First America...then Ireland...now Germany

is facing scandal of biblical proportions

(pun intended)

Again, I'm not trying to make light of

peoples suffering, but this is definitely

one issue that needs to be talked about;

child abuse in the Catholic church

 

on a completely different note in Deutschland;

Apparently some bigwigs from the You-S

and Germany are meeting to

see if they can resolve the issue

of Nuclear weapons

 

.......................................................................

 

A moment, if you please,

for Dylan Thomas...who

amoung the histories poets

stands out for me personally.

I can't say enough about this crazy, drunken Welshman.

I've always been a fan...I shall always remain a fan.

I donno, I've read enough of his stuff to

come to at least a mild conclusion that

he was quite possibly Gay and Pagan...

and in both closets...but hey...

I don't know for sure...

A recent gaggle of You-S scholars, on a trip

to the UK were given VIP status

at the Dylan Thomas Centre

 

........................................................................................

 

Aha! Copehagen...

and a lovely article

on the GLBT scene there entitled;

"Take a Liking to a Viking"

 

.............................................................................

 

Oh no! Armani is Gay!!!

 

You'll find this article amusing

and a link to Armanis page...

which is really quite gay.

 

......................................................................

Blabbermouth.net shoots its mouth

off again revelaing that

BEHEMOTH and NAPALM DEATH

are confirmed for CopenHell Festival!

All you SeidVolk should head to celebrate

your ancestors in the loudest way possible!

 

.................................

 

You'll Luuuuv this!

The Helsinki Times reports that a study

was done around Northern Europe

based on the "7 Deadly Sins"

of catholic dogma and it turns out that

Finland wins the coveted

"Most Lustful Country" award.

You get 'em Finland

Get laid for me tonight!!

 

..............................................................

 

Oh oh! I almost forgot to tell you!

So the Pope is trying to visit the UK this coming fall...

this is after he publically attacked Britains

Equality Legislation.

Well...apparently the folks in the UK aren't taking this

lying down. See, London wants to foot the bill for the visit

and there are plenty of citizens who are mad as hell about it.

Well, I went to the comments to find some links

and discovered that report actually flooded

the prohthest site with signees

and there are now over twice as many people

who've signed the petition as the report indicated.

The other petition is here

Get out there and sign those phucking things!

I say.

How awesome would it be if the guvt in London

says boo! to the Popes visit eventually...?

ahahahahahhahha!

 

...........................................................................................

 

  Alright, lastly, a short note on the

"niiiiiiinnnnne woooorrrrlllllds!" wooooooo

(Meant to sound grand and kinda spooky)

 

Lot's of cultures postulate that there are other worlds

beyond/surrounding or in opposition to the world

where we live.

 

I prefer to think of the issue as being not limited to

one religious philosophy or cultural story

and there being many many worlds

more or less accessible

by various means,  including (but not limited to)

physical death.

 

I've prepared some pics which I feel adiquately

demonstrate the nature of this multi-world reality

(as was taught to me through divination)

 

Also the 1st pic was sneakily swiped from Deviant Art

the artists name is MarieCannibis and is based

on Blizzard World games..but the concept is similar;

 

Alright, first off qualifications and admissions;

The above pic was sneakily swiped from the "Gay Tarot" available at most online tarot dealers. It's also photoshop'd to give the pics a more etheral quality and is only intended to represent what one might call "gay spirits". I did this because I couldn't find any illustrations of Loki as a woman, or Thor, or Odin in a dress. (more about that later in the broadcast)

Ask google and you'll find lot's of links to Queer mythos...some of which I'll throw up here.

Todays article is mostly about not only the important role that the GLBT community has played in the Spiritual evolution of humanity, but also some deities which arewritten about as hermaphroditic, or transgendered. I'm listing them because as Gay Indigenists (Argr Seids), we often find a world which is sometimes unfriendly to queer folk or at very best...mildly tolerant.

There are, as I've mentioned, certain European polytheists who believe in these deities, but choose to turn a blind eye to the fact that many of them engage in cross-dressing, shape/sex-changing and otherwise "unmanly" behaviors.

(I'm looking at you Asatru.de...)

Many of our Str8 brothers and sisters dislike my "Primoris" theory which states that, until the advent of monotheist faiths, it was the GLBT community that acted as spiritual leaders and holy persons in their respective tribes AND that, until Christianity came along, homosexuality was broadly accepted in almost every culture.

I believe this is true. Even such stalwart religions as Islam and Taoism were infected with this anti-queer agenda by the Church. There is ample evidence that in the Middle East and Asia, homosexuality was widley practiced and not given

a second thought until the encroachment of Christianity and...ironically, those systems embraced the "No Homo" philosophy with zeal...sort of making it theri own.

Alright, enough of my anti-queer conspiracies...;)

On with the awesomeness!

The above is a relatively recent addition to Cassells' long list of scholarly works. I wink a nudge a little bit, because eve the reviewer on a certain unnamed book site has to admit that the bibliography and footnotes are a little askew.

It is for this reason that I highly recommend all the Argr SeidVolk (and every other Queer Pagan on earth) rush out and buy this book. Why? Well, I mean, I haven't read it...(these things are difficult to come by in Chynah) but it is obvious that the authors had to use their intuition in order to compile what is apparently a long list of historical  references to GLBT spirituality and deities and shamans...etc...which are gay friendly. i was going to link to the unnamed book site...but I kinda felt like I'd be advertising for them, instead of the book, so you just go ahead and type that title into your search engine and DIY. ;)

 

 

O.K., I want to continue this line of thought and talk a little about Nothern European gods and the mention of Thor, Odin and Loki in context of gender-bending.

 

As I stated above, I feel the need to express my dismay at Norse/Celtic/Germanic groups who are anti-gay. See, much like my argument for Christians who say they believe in the bible, but don't believe being Queer/Pagan or a Shell fish eater is wrong, I have to ask them...do you believe in the Eddas and Sagas or not?

 

If you do, then you have to accept the fact that All three of these gods engaged in what, in old Norse is called Argr behavior.

Loki especially literally turned into a woman on more than one occasion and even gave birth. (I'll refrain from commenting further on this as a human factor...we all know men can't give birth)

So I have to shake my finger at our anti-gay family members and just say

.

"guys...your favorite patron gods were sometimes gay"

.

As to my own practice,

yes..there are instances of homosexuality

amoung the Egyptian gods.

Particularly between Set and Horus,

but I refute a large portion of

of this these texts.

(Dissimilar to my above argument,

I don't believe in the ancient writings,

I believe in divination and what I learn

from it)

I've learned that, yes, Prince Horus was gay.

But that's about it.

Further; There are plenty of deities from other pantheons which are written to have engaged in homosexual behavior

(Special thanks to one of our currect rock stars Christopher Penczak)

As well as the obvious set of facts that

point to cross-gendered religious themes

in world mythology.

I do want to take a moment to

speak out on the historical references

to gay men, post monotheism.

After researching this topic for over a decade,

I've come to the conclusion that, while history

is written by the victors and that over all,

Christianity has been the #1 victor

for the last 1000 years; in it's attempt

to demonize homosexuality in whichever

culture it found itself it not only

derided homosexual priests/shaman,

witch doctors etc...but, where it could not

initially convince the population that homosexuality

was antithetical to nature, it (by which I mean

historical-Roman-RCC, observers, historians and

translaters) inserted the concept of pedophilia

in it's writings regarding these practices.

Follow me on this.

I'm Father whats-his-face, I've been assigned to

x-province, x-state or x-country.

I go there on a fact finding mission but my

"factual report" is intended to downplay any

really significant cultural aspects and put them

all in context of the Roman church.

So, say I find a village where the holy person is dedicated

to more than one god and is a man dressed in womyns clothing.

I'm going to write that their religious practices are barbaric and

an effeminate man kills animals and sleeps with young boys to

make sure that Rome is satisfied as well as the

history books will include my fact-finding mission

and once the natives  learn English they will be embarrassed to

continue their own religious practices once they find that

I have completely slandered them to my society.

After all, I have aqeducts and food starage,

they only have animal skins and shit in the woods,

they will view my opinion with respect and the

Vatican will give me a thumbs up for the

moral derision I have caused.

That happened everywhere.

Bearing in mind what I have related,

I must absolutely reject most historical writings

on homosexual practices (except when they have been

given from the culture itself, and even then I have to keep an eyebrow raised because of Christian influence) in relation to pederasty.

 

Many sites you'll visit

in searching for the Queer history will list "young boys"

as the relevant reference to homosexual

practices in a particular culture.

I refute this.

And you'd be wise to do so as well.

What we have today are societies that are finally

coming around to the idea that being

gay does not make you a pedophile,

unfortuantely for us, we're still

dealing with the horrific bias of 1000 years

of Church authorship which still, in 2010

causes gay teachers to get fired,

GLBT people to be denied jobs

(especially in working with children)

and scores of other examples

which, while not directly stating that

gays are child molestors, at least to some degree

implies it.

 

(On another side of this argument, please note:

the Sharayat statement on child abuse on the links page)

 

Finally, I will not completely disregard

the history as it is written.

After all, it is widely known that the Ancient Greeks

engaged in man-boy  and there are other instances

in which this was true.

I'm simply saying that the over all feeling of modern

people towards gay men (especially) tends to

be accusatory; making the historical references

the rule, rather than the exception.

In Japan, for example, while a male warrior

commonly chose a younger recruits a

significant other, often for life;

the records are skewed to indicate that

the 2nd was chosen in pre/early adolescence

and this is absolutely false.

 

 

 

  ..................................................................................................................

.

.

In other news, I'd like to say something about Scotland (I'd always like to say something about Scotland...teehee)

It seems that volk in the West Highlands are

going berserk...(and not in an awesome way)

killing red Deer

While I don't approve of killing animals

for any reason, this phenomenon

has to stop.

the Red Deer is important for Scotland in

a spiritual context and in divination

I was taught that it is important

for Scotland at large to care for this animal

specifically.

I would urge those who are devoted to

a hunter/huntress deity to meditate on

this issue and if capable, try to do

something about the problem in your local area.

.

.

.

lastly, Please visit our new page on Daily and Family life for links to organizations, forums and such that the Argr Seid can use as well as some new links on our link page.