West Point, has been the U.S. Army's military academy for over 200 years, training the next generation of military leaders. But apparently there's a long standing tradition, that when there are about to be on-campus processional parades, or other type of outdoor activities that a cadet may want to get out of, that they chant to Odin, hoping for some foul weather to give them a respite.

( The Article )

Maybe the Empire isn't so bad...

http://unrealitymag.com/index.php/2009/07/21/a-lovely-gallery-of-sexy-stormtroopers/

Couple of these are smokin' hot, but safe for work...

Hail Mundilfari the time-turner
for another year's ending,
and another's beginning
has come upon us again.

In the spirit of the season
we have braved the dark nights and cold,
traversed snow and ice,
to visit and make merry
with our family and friends,
our neighbors and community.

When we have seen those in need
we gave generously of ourselves
to brighten and warm their days,
for the health and well-being of all.

Mundilfari we hail your children,
through whom we measure the passage of time:

• Sunna, the Ever-shining one,
  Goddess of the dancing Sun in the sky
  
• Mani, who waxes and wans
  swaying us with silver glow
  

Their guiding light
reminds us in the darkest of times
that there are paths yet to travel
and hope yet at hand,
and that You are with us always,
as constant as the passage of time.

Hail to Night and Her Daughters,
and Day and His Sons!
May we know no evil in the days
of promise that lie ahead.
May this new year be ripe
with blessings for us to harvest.

So we hail!

So few prayers (or things that suggest prayers) survive from ancient times in our tradition.

I knew of Sigdrifa's Prayer (Sigdrifumál, 2-3) of course, but recent readings had me discover another. While this is an Anglo-Saxon Charm and written laid, long after the time of conversion. I think it clearly still demonstrates it's pre-Christian origins.

A prayer spoken by a farmer as he tilled the land:

• Hail to thee, earth
  mother of men
  Be thou fruitful in God's protection,
  with food filled
  men to benefit.
  (Cotton Caligula A VII, ff. 176a-178a, 12th cen.)

So I thought I'd share it. :)

I was ruminating over the subject of Ragnarok recently, and it made me realize something for the first time that should have been glaringly obvious before now. In the various bits of lore that talk about Ragnarok, while we have a great deal of detail about what male forces and male gods are doing, there's hardly more than a peep about what the females/Goddesses are supposed to be up to.

If we look at Ragnarok, the Goddesses aren't mentioned at all except that Frigg will know sorrow (from Odin's death) in Volupsa, and in Vafþrúðnismál that Sol/Sunna will bear a daughter that will take her place when she is killed during Ragnarok. That's it.

So here we have a major part of our mythos (which I've always had significant issues with as being authentic to the pre-Christian belief structure), and the women aren't really there at all, it's all about the men. When they talk about the continuation of the Gods, it's in pairs of male gods: Hodr & Baldr, Modi and Magni, Vidar and Vali. Only the mortal human pairing that continues on after this massive destructive has a male/female pairing. The only female deity specifically mentioned as carrying on, is Sunna's unnamed daughter.

Lack of female involvement is yet another reason why I am personally suspicious of the events as foretold in the stories concerning Ragnarok as evidence of tampering of the mythos by the Christian scholars that wrote the tales. Does not the actions in Ragnarok support the destruction of our Gods both ldirectly via the war, and indirectly through a euhermistic process? If they can be killed off, isn't that a convenient thing for Christians to want to show their God is better? I’ve seen a lot of scholarship (from outside of our community) debating the authenticity of the events in Ragnarok to the pre-Christian beliefs. (But of course this can be argued both ways and unfortunately without discoveries that pre-date the
Christian conversion of Europe I doubt we’ll ever know for certain, save perhaps when we die and meet up with our Gods in the halls we go to.)

Does anyone have thoughts about the absence of the Goddesses in the tale?