Author Topic: Honoring Loki and The Problems That Go With It (Read 2840 times)

FollowerofOdin · « **on:** January 17, 2013, 01:39:08 pm »

I've been honoring Loki for sometime and I'm proud to say that I feel a connection to Loki as much as I feel a connection to Odin. One of the things that I've noticed is that there is plenty of bad mouthing of Loki and I really feel that this is something that's not warranted in the Heathen community. One person said that they are nothing but bullies and others that clearly state that worship of Loki is a New Age thing.

Any thoughts on this subject would be great and advice on how to handle the bullies would be lovely as well. Personally I was thinking about going to Loki for guidance.

Hyacinth Belle · « **Reply #1 on:** January 17, 2013, 08:15:53 pm »

Quote from: FollowerofOdin;91856

One of the things that I've noticed is that there is plenty of bad mouthing of Loki and I really feel that this is something that's not warranted in the Heathen community. One person said that they are nothing but bullies and others that clearly state that worship of Loki is a New Age thing.

You are absolutely right that Loki is not worshipped in the Asatru / Heathen community. The main reason for that is because Asatru is a reconstructionist religion, meaning it seeks to recreate the original Norse religious practices. Do a search for Loki here on TC (specifically in the A&H SIG) to get a feeling as to why.

Now, there are people who are NOT Asatru or Heathen who seem to follow Loki and get along just fine. Perhaps some of them can comment on your thread here. But those who worship him would be more eclectic or Northern Tradition type folks... again, NOT reconstructionists.

FollowerofOdin · « **Reply #2 on:** January 17, 2013, 08:25:39 pm »

Quote from: Hyacinth Belle;91946

You are absolutely right that Loki is not worshipped in the Asatru / Heathen community. The main reason for that is because Asatru is a reconstructionist religion, meaning it seeks to recreate the original Norse religious practices. Do a search for Loki here on TC (specifically in the A&H SIG) to get a feeling as to why.

Now, there are people who are NOT Asatru or Heathen who seem to follow Loki and get along just fine. Perhaps some of them can comment on your thread here. But those who worship him would be more eclectic or Northern Tradition type folks... again, NOT reconstructionists.

That sucks! I don't know why we can't all just get along. So I have to abandon Loki to be a Polytheist. No way, I'm not abandoning him just to make people happy. I'm happy with my path and I'm not changing it for anyone.

hlewagastir · « **Reply #3 on:** January 17, 2013, 08:36:12 pm »

Quote from: FollowerofOdin;91950

That sucks! I don't know why we can't all just get along.

Some can, some can´t.

Quote

So I have to abandon Loki to be a Polytheist.

Nobody said that

Quote

No way, I'm not abandoning him just to make people happy. I'm happy with my path and I'm not changing it for anyone.

Then go with it (:

FollowerofOdin · « **Reply #4 on:** January 17, 2013, 08:40:04 pm »

Quote from: hlewagastir;91955

Some can, some can´t.

Nobody said that

Then go with it (:

Thanks, you made me emotional. Got to go and grab a hanky and blow my nose. Thanks for your advice and I'm following not only that but what I believe.

Snowdrop · « **Reply #5 on:** January 17, 2013, 08:41:39 pm »

Quote from: FollowerofOdin;91950

That sucks! I don't know why we can't all just get along. So I have to abandon Loki to be a Polytheist. No way, I'm not abandoning him just to make people happy. I'm happy with my path and I'm not changing it for anyone.

What?

No, you don't have to abandon Him to be a polytheist. Unless I'm very much mistaken, what Hyacinth Belle is saying is that you would have to do so to be a reconstructionist. But you know, you're perfectly free to be a non-recon polytheist. (Says a non-recon polytheist.)

PS - I'm one of the non-Asatruar/Heathen Loki lovers whose existence HB mentioned, so seriously, I would say do whatever appeals to you. But it really wouldn't be accurate to call it reconstructionism.

FollowerofOdin · « **Reply #6 on:** January 17, 2013, 08:49:04 pm »

Quote from: Snowdrop;91957

What?

No, you don't have to abandon Him to be a polytheist. Unless I'm very much mistaken, what Hyacinth Belle is saying is that you would have to do so to be a reconstructionist. But you know, you're perfectly free to be a non-recon polytheist. (Says a non-recon polytheist.)

PS - I'm one of the non-Asatruar/Heathen Loki lovers whose existence HB mentioned, so seriously, I would say do whatever appeals to you. But it really wouldn't be accurate to call it reconstructionism.

Thanks, time for another hanky. You guys are great and that's what I'll be a non-recon polytheist. I want to add that I really love being a Lokean as well as a follower of Hel and Odin.

Hyacinth Belle · « **Reply #7 on:** January 18, 2013, 09:44:58 pm »

Quote from: FollowerofOdin;91950

That sucks! I don't know why we can't all just get along. So I have to abandon Loki to be a Polytheist. No way, I'm not abandoning him just to make people happy. I'm happy with my path and I'm not changing it for anyone.

I double Snowdrop's "What?"

That's not what I meant at all... I'm not sure how you got the conclusion you couldn't be a polytheist. And I'm not sure you got to the conclusion that I would want you to abandon Loki to make "people" happy.

Perhaps a few definitions would help...
- polytheist = someone who believes in more than one god. I never mentioned such a thing in my first post.
- reconstructionist = someone who seeks to recreate the practices of pre-Christian religions, generally through studying primary sources and legitimate scholarship. Due to the role of Loki in the lore (myths), a reconstructionist would not be too fond of Loki.

FollowerofOdin · « **Reply #8 on:** January 18, 2013, 11:49:50 pm »

Quote from: Hyacinth Belle;92223

I double Snowdrop's "What?"

That's not what I meant at all... I'm not sure how you got the conclusion you couldn't be a polytheist. And I'm not sure you got to the conclusion that I would want you to abandon Loki to make "people" happy.

Perhaps a few definitions would help...
- polytheist = someone who believes in more than one god. I never mentioned such a thing in my first post.
- reconstructionist = someone who seeks to recreate the practices of pre-Christian religions, generally through studying primary sources and legitimate scholarship. Due to the role of Loki in the lore (myths), a reconstructionist would not be too fond of Loki.

I didn't mean to make you think that I thought that you had said that. I was making a personal statement that I'm not allowing anyone to tell me that I can't worship, or honor, Loki.

Hyacinth Belle · « **Reply #9 on:** January 19, 2013, 10:14:02 am »

Quote from: FollowerofOdin;92255

I didn't mean to make you think that I thought that you had said that. I was making a personal statement that I'm not allowing anyone to tell me that I can't worship, or honor, Loki.

Discussion threads may not be the best place for personal statements that don't add to the conversation.

Although, the fact that you began your post with a pronoun ("That sucks!") naturally makes me think you are referring to my post.

If you still feel the need to make personal statements, then I suggest you quote your original post instead of whatever post happens to be last. If you quote a post, that means you are replying to the contents of that post, unless you state otherwise. Clarifying your post was a "personal statement" could have saved me two posts on this thread now.

EDIT: Where exactly did anyone in this thread tell you you couldn't worship / honor Loki?

FollowerofOdin · « **Reply #10 on:** January 19, 2013, 11:46:52 am »

Quote from: Hyacinth Belle;92352

Discussion threads may not be the best place for personal statements that don't add to the conversation.

Although, the fact that you began your post with a pronoun ("That sucks!") naturally makes me think you are referring to my post.

If you still feel the need to make personal statements, then I suggest you quote your original post instead of whatever post happens to be last. If you quote a post, that means you are replying to the contents of that post, unless you state otherwise. Clarifying your post was a "personal statement" could have saved me two posts on this thread now.

EDIT: Where exactly did anyone in this thread tell you you couldn't worship / honor Loki?

No one on this thread said that but I feel that some Heathens don't like Lokeans and all that.

sassafras · « **Reply #11 on:** January 23, 2013, 02:57:43 pm »

Quote from: FollowerofOdin;92368

No one on this thread said that but I feel that some Heathens don't like Lokeans and all that.

Some don't. I've even had other Lokeans advise me not to tell anyone online where I live and to thoroughly vet out any Asatru/Heathen group's standpoint on Loki before joining. Some people regard Loki as the Norse 'devil' and thus consider Lokeans satanists. Which is ridiculous (and what's the problem with Satanists anyhow) but yeah.

Many followers of Loki consider themselves Rokkatru... which includes Loki, his family, and other Jotnar. But there are some who consider themselves Heathen or Asatru and still include Loki. There's a much wider community of Lokeans on tumblr, I've met a lot of people on there.

There's also mischiefandawe.forumotion.com which is a forum for people who work with, follow, or worship Loki. You'll probably have more luck finding like minded people on either, I've learned a lot from both communities.

Megatherium · « **Reply #12 on:** January 24, 2013, 02:23:27 pm »

Quote from: FollowerofOdin;92368

No one on this thread said that but I feel that some Heathens don't like Lokeans and all that.

Yeah, a lot of recon-oriented heathens don't like Loki. To be fair, there are perfectly acceptable and defensible reasons for that, just as there are perfectly acceptable and defensible reasons for worshipping Loki.

Basically, I just think it comes down to an awareness of, and respect for the fact that there are a wide variety of ways Pre-Chrisitian Germanic traditions are practiced today. There are Recon-based heathens, Norse Wiccans, Atheistic/naturalistic heathens, and more deity-focused "devotional polytheists", among other approaches.

Though divisions between these groups are can be very fuzzy, they do represent meaningfully different philosophical and theological perspectives.

One way of looking at it might be to think of how some Protestant groups may perceive a Catholic who comes to a Protestant church and then loudly wonders why nobody is venerating the saints. I don't see anything objectively wrong with venerating saints, and there are good reasons to do so. However, if you choose to do so, then you will simply not be in philosophical agreement with the Protestant denomination whose church you are attending. Luckily, there are other (Catholic) churches where your perspective works just fine.

I've struggled to reconcile my own beliefs with the "heathen worldview" as espoused by recon-oriented heathens, and I have to admit, that sometimes the two perspectives just don't match up. It took me a little while to feel comfortable with that, but ultimately you can only really believe what makes sense to you. As long as people like me and you don't claim to be 100% accurate recon-heathens, then I don't think there should be a problem.