God-Slave<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The religion website Patheos has an interview with Galina Krasskova, who calls herself a \u201cfree range tribalist Heathen.\u201d The interview is titled \u201cHeathen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/08\/god-slave.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God-Slave\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The religion website Patheos has an interview with Galina Krasskova, who calls herself a \u201cfree range tribalist Heathen.\u201d The interview is titled \u201cHeathen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/08\/god-slave.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-17T21:47:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/08\/god-slave.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/08\/god-slave.html\",\"name\":\"God-Slave\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-17T21:47:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-08-17T21:47:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"The religion website Patheos has an interview with Galina Krasskova, who calls herself a \u201cfree range tribalist Heathen.\u201d The interview is titled \u201cHeathen\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/08\/god-slave.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/08\/god-slave.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/08\/god-slave.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"God-Slave\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. 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{"id":374,"date":"2010-08-17T21:47:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-17T21:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/08\/god-slave\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T21:47:00","modified_gmt":"2010-08-17T21:47:00","slug":"god-slave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/08\/god-slave.html","title":{"rendered":"God-Slave"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The religion website Patheos<\/a> has an interview with Galina Krasskova, who calls herself a \u201cfree range tribalist Heathen.\u201d The interview is titled \u201cHeathen Piety\u201d<\/a> and it presents some good insight into contemporary Heathenism, a tradition with which I have very little first-hand knowledge. <\/span><\/p>\n

Krasskova describes herself as a \u201cgod-slave\u201d \u2013 she does not merely follow Odin or honor him or serve him, she is \u201cowned\u201d by him. I\u2019ve been a UU for a good while now \u2013 I\u2019m a strong believer in individual autonomy and I shuddered when I first read that description. But she explains it as an extremely committed devotion, and in other writings (her\u00a0website is here<\/a>) makes it clear this isn\u2019t everyone\u2019s calling. <\/span><\/p>\n

While this is extreme, in many ways it\u2019s a welcome change from the casual approach to spirituality prevalent among most folks of all religious persuasions. Here are a couple quotes I find particularly informative:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re conditioned in many ways to assume that spirituality should make us feel good, should not inconvenience us, should be about what we want to do, not what might be necessary.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

and<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the Modern Pagan movement would benefit greatly from embracing the idea that sometimes it is right and proper to pour out an offering, or do a ritual, or say a prayer not for any gain, but because it is the right and respectful thing to do<\/em><\/strong> [her emphasis, not mine]. We need to remove ourselves from the equation. Without knowing it, we can be so tremendously self-centered, and while the Gods can bring immense healing, there\u2019s more to religious practice than free self-help.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It would be easy to recast Krasskova\u2019s words into the context of dedicated and selfless service to the community and to the world. Certainly that\u2019s one aspect of Divine service. But her commitment flows out of her hard polytheism \u2013 the belief that the gods and goddesses of our ancestors are real, unique, individual beings and not simply aspects of one great Mother\/Father\/Creator. Her slavery \u2013 which she wears as a badge of honor \u2013 must be understood in that context.<\/span><\/p>\n

Further, this whole arrangement wouldn\u2019t be possible without her hierarchical worldview. Here\u2019s another quote:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPart of it is about knowing one\u2019s place \u2026 knowing who is below you so you know who you have an obligation to protect and mentor; knowing who is above you so you know who to go to for help, who is deserving of respect as an elder. We\u2019ve lost this. We\u2019ve lost even the sense that it is something to be valued.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t share Krasskova\u2019s worldview and I\u2019m not likely to declare myself a god-slave to Danu or Cernunnos or anyone else. But there is much we can learn from her about the commitment necessary to move from ordinary spirituality to extraordinary mysticism.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"