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<\/a>Nevertheless, the big monotheistic faiths of the last couple of millennia and their many, many offshoots seem very concerned with how individuals behave. \u00a0People coming to a modern Pagan practice from those religions seem to have a desperate need to codify rules of proper behavior for themselves and others. \u00a0While examination of the texts that we use to guide our spiritual lives and the conclusions that we draw from our experiences may engender values in us, that is a far cry from creating rules of conduct that we and others who follow our paths must follow.<\/span><\/p>\n Constructs like the Asatru Nine Noble Virtues and ADF\u2019s Nine Virtues have always seemed rather arbitrary to me. \u00a0There\u2019s a quality to them that makes me wonder if those that created them wanted to say, \u201cSee, we\u2019re a real religion too! \u00a0We have morals (\u2122)!\u201d \u00a0There have been a lot of actions and trends in modern Pagan movements (and for the sake of this discussion I\u2019m including Heathenry and other Recon paths) that seemed to have occurred in a struggle for religious legitimacy as we try to squeeze our paths into molds that fit commonly-accepted concepts of what a religion is. \u00a0For some reason the artificial codification of morality is one of those trends that bothers me deeply.<\/span><\/p>\n I will admit, one of the things that bothers me about it is that the Gods themselves don\u2019t hew perfectly to the moral codes supposedly inspired by their tales. \u00a0In Norse mythology, the Gods break hospitality, deceive one another and humans, shatter one another\u2019s trust, trick others into doing work for them \u2013 the list goes on, and for every example I can find that fits one of the NNV I can find another couple where one of the Gods (and no, not always or even mostly Loki) does something that flies in the face of them. \u00a0Including Odin Allfather, whose words are recorded in Havamal, one of the major inspirations for them. \u00a0I don\u2019t expect our Gods to be perfect by our standards, or even have comprehensible motives, but I am surprised at using their words to derive codes of morality that they themselves do not seem to adhere to.<\/span><\/p>\n My morality is personal; I don\u2019t expect other people to follow it. \u00a0I might not want to associate with someone with significantly different values than I have, and I might stand up to try and prevent them from doing something that I consider harmful, but by and large I\u2019m not going to try and tell them how to live. \u00a0My values are generally inspired by people (and, given that I\u2019m an animist and polytheist, I\u2019m going to include non-corporeal beings under that heading) who I admire. \u00a0When someone\u2019s behavior strikes a chord in me I try to take note and compare it against my own life and how I feel about it, and if it\u2019s an example that I consider worthy I\u2019ll attempt to follow it.<\/span><\/p>\n This does tie into my religion, however, from the long way around. \u00a0The Gods that I honor most are the ones whose actions I most admire. \u00a0So while I don\u2019t believe in codifying them for other people, as my Pagan practice has evolved and changed over time, I\u2019ve learned to look to my Gods for inspiration in ways to behave.<\/span><\/p>\n Many polytheist-type people will remind each other that our Gods aren\u2019t (by and large, depending on the tradition) considered perfect. \u00a0In my own Heathen tradition there are no Gods who I view as absolute moral guides; nearly all of them that are portrayed with any complexity are portrayed with weaknesses or behavior that not everyone will agree with. \u00a0That does not mean that their examples cannot be learned from. \u00a0In my case, and in the case of others who feel the draw to a particular deity or group of deities, it is possible to construct examine their behavior and find qualities that you may consider worthy of emulation.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m a Freyjaswoman. \u00a0I have a personal oath of devotion to Her. \u00a0There is no Power out there who I admire as much as I do Her. \u00a0Being devoted to Her, I find the values in Her that I consider worthy and seek to emulate them; I would not honor Her with such singular devotion if I did not think that She was worthy of respect, and many of the reasons that I respect Her revolve around Her deeds.<\/span><\/p>\n So, in meditating on Freyja<\/a> I\u2019ve come to personally codify the Virtues that I see in the Lore about Her and Her actions:<\/span><\/p>\n Integrity:<\/b> \u00a0Freyja is honest and keeps Her word. \u00a0In the Lay of Hyndla, She goes out of Her way to help a follower of Hers because he has given Her much and served Her well. \u00a0She does not shrink from Loki\u2019s accusations of having slept with all the Gods in the hall. \u00a0In modern times, She is well-known for challenging devotees of Hers who are lying to themselves or hiding from themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n Self-Determination, Personal Sovereignty:<\/b> While Her brother and father were taken as part of the hostage exchange in the Aesir\/Vanir war, I have yet to find a reference to the same happening to Her. It seems that She comes to Asgard of Her own accord and will. \u00a0When the Gods promise Her hand in marriage to a giant (this happens twice, you\u2019d think that they\u2019d have learned the first time) She refuses with such vehemence that in both cases they decide to trick the giants rather than risk Her wrath. \u00a0Modern gnosis is full of tales of Her encouraging people to own their decisions and take responsability for their own lives.<\/span><\/p>\n Passion:<\/b> \u00a0Freyja saw Brisingamen, and She wanted it. \u00a0The dwarves who crafted it wanted to be intimate with Her, and She paid their price for what She wanted. \u00a0As mentioned above, She had slept with every God at the feast in Aegir\u2019s hall and likely others aside. \u00a0When the Lady truly wants to do or have something She will find a way and none can gainsay Her in the end. \u00a0Her passion fuels Her will and drive. \u00a0Those who feel close to Her often experience hidden desires becoming manifest, and as a result find new fuel for the fires of their own wills to achieve what they truly want.<\/span><\/p>\n Love and Devotion:<\/b> \u00a0Freyja\u2019s devotion to Her lost husband Odr has Her flying from one end of the worlds to the other searching for him, weeping tears of amber and gold. \u00a0The Lady knows love, knows how to love truly and deeply, as an action as well as a devotion. \u00a0Many pray to Her in matters of love, and She is well known for her spectacular responses to these entreaties.<\/span><\/p>\n Beauty:<\/b> \u00a0Many epithets and tales about Her speak of Her beauty. \u00a0Beauty is a thing that can be cultivated, and is not limited to physical beauty (although that is a component about it). Beauty as a virtue includes finding value in things and bringing that value to light and empowering it. \u00a0It can also refer to living in such a way that your life is a thing of beauty, creating a divine aesthetic through your deeds that any who look at the tapestry of your experiences will be in awe of their richness, symmetry, consistency and experience admiration for them.<\/span><\/p>\n Because I love, respect, and admire Her, these are qualities that I try to emulate in my own life. \u00a0I think that meditation on the actions of the deities that we are most drawn to can help us to understand not only the Gods better but why we are drawn to them and what sort of moral qualities we admire and value. \u00a0I know that I\u2019m not the only polytheist or Pagan type person to feel uncomfortable with the sets of rules laid down by others based on their own interpretations of our lore. \u00a0I encourage everyone to find examples among the Gods, Ancestors, spirits, animals, manifest nature, and other living human beings to inspire their behavior and morality. The Lady\u2019s Quill<\/em> is published on the second and fourth Thursday of every month.\u00a0 You can subscribe by RSS<\/a> and e-mail<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Please use the links to the right to keep on top of activities here on the Agora<\/em><\/a> as well as across the entire Patheos Pagan<\/a> channel.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Gods that I honor most are the ones whose actions I most admire. So while I don\u2019t believe in codifying them for other people, as my Pagan practice has evolved and changed over time, I\u2019ve learned to look to my Gods for inspiration in ways to behave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2370,"featured_media":11907,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[330,1703],"tags":[359,1762,792,820,1535,25,26,205,2097,62,123],"class_list":["post-11902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-the-ladys-quill","tag-devotion","tag-freyja","tag-heathen","tag-heathenry","tag-morality","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-polytheism","tag-polytheist","tag-religion-2","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"the](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/124\/2016\/03\/flame-1197179-639x852.jpg\")
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