A story about the original Father Christmas.

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The old gods are returning, or have they always been here?

Odin wakes to the call of a dying warrior crying out to be taken to Valhalla. Roused from his centuries of slumber, the All-Father wanders the Earth until he finds gods old and new. Do they have the answers he seeks? How does an ancient god of war find his place in the modern world?

A short story on the nature of religion and spirituality. We may no longer need a patriarch, but do we need to rediscover our divinities?

James L. Wilber is a writer, game designer, and ceremonial magician. Find out about more of his works at jameslwilber.com.

My Babylon, his serial novel about the occult and dark desire is now available wherever ebooks are sold.

Why do you worship Loki?

An answer given to a friend of mine who has little experience with paganism. I thought others might find it useful.

You asked, “Why do you worship Loki?” That’s a complex question. If you don’t get the answers you were looking for from this letter, please feel free to ask more. But understand, I don’t think my “faith” for lack of a better term, is any better than any other. I wouldn’t try to convince people to the righteousness of my beliefs. Everyone has their own path should they seek it. I am happy to tell you what little I know and believe, just for the sake of spreading knowledge. That point will be important later.

Understand first that I don’t “worship” Loki in the same sense that Christians and other mainstream religions ask for worship of a creator god. I don’t view him as a master, or someone who takes care of me. I view him more as a powerful being I respect, may occasionally ask favors from, and he expects something in return. In fact, I’m pretty sure Loki would secretly or openly loathe anyone who did worship him. He leaves that to the self-important and self-righteous.

Also keep in mind that I am not Asatru. The Asatru are modern pagans that follow the Norse deities. They have a code of beliefs and shared rituals. You can find out more here: http://www.asatru.org/. I find myself a bit too pacifistic to consider myself Asatru. I am sure there are some Asatru pacifists out there, but I don’t think the Asatru code makes it easy to believe in non-violence. I do, however, feel a strong attraction to the Norse gods. I know their stories better than other pantheons, and I think my German heritage makes them easier for me to understand. I do not feel as attracted to the Greek and Celtic gods that most pagans follow. That is not to say I don’t venerate gods from other cultures.

So, why Loki? Mostly because Loki is a trickster god. Like many tricksters, the myths often portray him as an enemy, but there’s more to it than that. While the other gods may hate Loki, they call on him to do the dirty work. Like the time he tricked one of the dwarves into building a wall around Asgard.

http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/mythology/myths/text/wall_of_asgard.htm

Loki also tends to let the other gods know when they are acting like arrogant assholes. As in the most well known Loki story, when he tricks Hod into killing the god Balder. Did Balder deserve it? No, not really. But the other gods were showing their arrogance and hubris when they playfully took turns throwing shit at Balder. Loki only pointed out that even the gods are fallible.


http://library.thinkquest.org/C0118142/norsepan/balderde.php

Like other tricksters, such as Prometheus for the Greeks and Coyote for many Native Americans, Loki is a fire bringer. He taught mankind how to make fire. So he seems to be the only Norse god who actually gives a shit about mankind when they are not fighting and killing each other.

Now, let go of some of those cultural prejudices we all have, and try to keep an open mind about what I am about to say. Fire often symbolizes knowledge, so that Loki is actually bringing the light of knowledge. That puts him in the same category as Lucifer in Christian mythology.

You can make arguments to the contrary, but it seems to me that the Big Three Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, and to a lesser extent Judaism), are very anti-intellectual. The guy who gave people the ability to determine when they are being assholes, is called the Adversary. They generally believe that you need to shut up and learn to do what you are told. I find this attitude chaffing and a waste of our greatest gift, the ability to reason. It strikes me as a means to control people more than a way to help people realize their full potential.

I’m not saying don’t be Christian. There’s plenty of good stuff there. Just like I don’t appreciate the warlike nature of the Asgard, there’s plenty of examples in Christianity that promote free thinking. Or Buddhism, or Islam, or atheism for that matter. It’s just not for me.

I also venerate Thoth as a god of knowledge, but play down his role as Herald of Ra. I venerate Mahatma Gandhi as an ascended being, but disagree with his views on denying our animal nature. All religion is full of contradictions.

I have a statue of Loki on my alter to be mindful of these things in my daily life. To appreciate the gift of knowledge, and to be thankful for it.

Magick Working Journal

10/06/11

I usually keep my eyes closed when I meditate. Today, a few minutes in, I smelled something burning that wasn’t incense, so I opened my eyes. I noticed nothing amiss but kept my eyes open anyway and fixated on my bust of Loki. He always looks ominous in the smoke and flickering candle light. Turns out he had some advice for me on how to be a good trickster.

One, if you’re going to steal something, steal an item that person would be better off not having anyway. For example, if you know a guy who only uses his TV for Fox News and football, jank his TV.

Second, if you steal something, always give a little to people less fortunate than you. Using the above example, sell the TV at a cut-rate price to some guys who just need it to play games on their Xbox.

Third, if you attack someone, attack their pride, it’s the most vulnerable point.

After meditation I noticed one of my candles was close to the end, so I got out a new one and placed it on my altar. Then I started my banishing ritual. I keep my eyes closed for the first few minutes for better visulization. When I opened my eyes it was the Shit Is On Fire Show, starring my altar. The new candle had leaned over and caught the black backdrop. So much for ritual, I blew it out for the most part and then got a spray bottle from the kitchen to squelch the smoldering embers.

Since I have been pontificating lately on my skills as a magus, I’m counting this as an example of lesson three.